Iraq says it has arrested deputy to ISIS slain leader Baghdadi
Monday, 11 October 2021 (17:18 IST)
Iraqi forces captured a high ranking "Islamic State" figure who served as deputy to the slain leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi announced on Monday.
"While our ISF [Iraqi security forces] heroes focused on securing the elections, their INIS [Iraqi national intelligence services] colleagues were conducting a complex external operation to capture Sami Jasim," he said in a post on Twitter.
Jasim ran the terrorist group's finances and was the subject of a reward issued by the US government. He also served as an aide to the group's late leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
US forces killed Baghdadi in a raid in northwestern Syria in 2019.
Jasim, whose full name is Sami Jasim Muhammad al-Jaburi, also goes by Hajji Hamid. The FBI describes him as "a legacy member of ISIS's predecessor organization, al-Qa'ida in Iraq (AQI)" on its Rewards for Justice website.
The FBI adds, "While serving as ISIS deputy in southern Mosul in 2014, he reportedly served as the equivalent of ISIS's finance minister, supervising the group's revenue-generating operations from illicit sales of oil, gas, antiquities and minerals."
The US Treasury placed him on a sanctions list in September 2015.
