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Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi 'no longer in Mosul'
Source: The Guardian
Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi 'no longer in Mosul'
UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson tells MPs that intelligence
sources believe Baghdadi ‘has vacated the scene’
Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
Thursday 3 November 2016 15.45 GMT
Western intelligence sources believe the Islamic State leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is no longer in Mosul, Boris Johnson has said.
In an unusual reference to intelligence, the British foreign secretary said Baghdadi’s audio recording issued on Thursday calling for the defeat of the Iraqi forces fighting to liberate Mosul was “cruelly ironic since some of the intelligence we have suggests he had himself vacated the scene himself and is yet using internet media to encourage others to take part in violence”.
In his first address for a year, Baghdadi called on his supporters to “wreak havoc”, saying the struggle was a prelude to victory. Isis fighters patrolled the Mosul streets broadcasting Baghdadi’s call.
Johnson said the battle to recapture Mosul, in the face of Isis’s “scorched earth campaign”, would take time and represented “the coalition’s greatest challenge”. He also insisted lessons had been learned from the aftermath of the 2003 Iraq war, making post-victory stabilisation in Mosul as important as the military capture of the city.
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UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson tells MPs that intelligence
sources believe Baghdadi ‘has vacated the scene’
Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
Thursday 3 November 2016 15.45 GMT
Western intelligence sources believe the Islamic State leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is no longer in Mosul, Boris Johnson has said.
In an unusual reference to intelligence, the British foreign secretary said Baghdadi’s audio recording issued on Thursday calling for the defeat of the Iraqi forces fighting to liberate Mosul was “cruelly ironic since some of the intelligence we have suggests he had himself vacated the scene himself and is yet using internet media to encourage others to take part in violence”.
In his first address for a year, Baghdadi called on his supporters to “wreak havoc”, saying the struggle was a prelude to victory. Isis fighters patrolled the Mosul streets broadcasting Baghdadi’s call.
Johnson said the battle to recapture Mosul, in the face of Isis’s “scorched earth campaign”, would take time and represented “the coalition’s greatest challenge”. He also insisted lessons had been learned from the aftermath of the 2003 Iraq war, making post-victory stabilisation in Mosul as important as the military capture of the city.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/03/isis-leader-abu-bakr-al-baghdadi-no-longer-in-mosul