New ISIS leader confirmed as hardliner ‘the Professor’ who led enslavement of Yazidi women after al-Baghdadi death
THE new leader of ISIS has been revealed as Amir Mohammed Abdul Rahman al-Mawli al-Salbi - an Iraqi extremist nicknamed "the Professor."
Two intelligence services said Salbi seized control of the death cult following the death of former boss Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the reports.
The ruthless Islamic scholar, who is also known by the nom de guerre Haji Abdullah, helped found the sick terror group and was involved in the enslavement of Yazidi sex slaves.
Last year, he was referred to as Abdullah Qardash - however Iraqi officials now believe this was a separate militant who died two years ago, the report says.
Nicknamed "the Professor" and "the Destroyer", Salbi is said to have assumed control of the day-to-day running of the jihadi group immediately after Baghdadi used a suicide vest to kill himself during a US raid in October in north west Syria.
Other reports suggest the militant was running the death cult from July or August because Baghdadi's health was failing after he was wounded in an air strike.
'THE PROFESSOR'
Salbi is a former officer in Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's army and is reportedly a hardline policymaker within ISIS who has overseen operations around the world.
Born into an Iraqi Turkmen family in the town of Tal Afar - he holds a degree in sharia law from the University of Mosul and is one of the few non-Arabs in the cult.
As the group's chief legislator he was directly involved in homosexuals being thrown off roofs and women accused of cheating being stoned in the street, it has been reported.
He grew close to Baghdadi, 48, when they were both jailed in Basra by US forces for their links to al-Qaeda in 2003.
It was in the Iraqi prison that Baghdadi became a jihadist demagogue converting hundreds of prisoners to his sick vision of a so-called caliphate.
Salbi, whose age is unknown, is believed to have worked alongside him ever since.
He was also a confidante of Abu Alaa al-Afri, Baghdadi’s previous deputy, who was killed in a US helicopter gun raid in 2016.
Since the fall of Baghuz, ISIS’s last urban stronghold in March, the group has been reduced to pockets of resistance across Iraq and Syria.
Before news of his appointment was confirmed, the US state department had already placed a $5m bounty on Salbi’s head.
His role as leader is trying to consolidate the new ISIS regime which is made up of almost entirely young men.
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There has been an increase in attacks by the terror group last year in central and northern Iraq.
The militant group claimed to have carried out 106 assaults between December 20 and 26 to avenge the killing of Baghdadi and ISIS propaganda chief Abu Hassan al-Muhajir.
Salbi’s exact location is unknown although his brother, Adel Salbi, is a politician in Turkish political party Turkmen Iraqi Front.
He reportedly maintained connections with his brother right up until he was named the new boss of ISIS.
Intelligence officials believe Salbi could be hiding in Idlib province in north west Syria much like his predecessor.
