An Arrest in Lebanon Lifts the Veil on Private Life of Islamic State Leader

posted on: Jan 28, 2015

For months, the ex-wife of perhaps the most wanted man in the world used Lebanon as a base to secretly transfer cash to Islamist militants, according to Lebanese military officials.

They say that she concealed her identity with fake documents, which listed her as a Syrian citizen named Mallak Abdullah. Eventually, officials say, they discovered that she was Saja al-Dulaimi, an Iraqi who had been briefly married six years ago to the man who now heads the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. In November, the army detained Dulaimi with a girl who is Baghdadi’s biological daughter, the officials say.

The expanding investigation into Dulaimi has offered a rare peek into the family lives of Islamist extremists. Organizations like the Islamic State are known for portraying women in traditional roles — like cooking and cleaning for men. But the allegations against Dulaimi reflect how some women have assumed more dangerous jobs in militant Islamist groups.

Dulaimi has had at least three husbands and lived in several countries in the region, according to the military officials. They describe her as strong-willed and independent. Military officials say that she transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past year to Sunni militants operating along Lebanon’s border area with Syria.

Source: www.washingtonpost.com