‘Ideology has not died with IS leader’

THE brother of a Perth aid worker executed by so-called Islamic State (IS) said the group’s dead leader’s “poisonous ideology” has not died with him.

David Haines was beheaded in 2014 after being captured in Syria while working in a displaced persons camp. Following the news that IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed by US forces, David’s brother Mike, from Dundee, said: “Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was responsible for countless disgusting and despicable acts.

“His evil and cowardly beliefs and actions lack any humanity and caused the death of many innocent people including my brother, thousands of Muslims throughout Syria and Iraq, and even his own three children whom he dragged with him into a closed tunnel in his final moments. The confirmed death of Daesh leader al-Baghdadi is an important step in the continued downfall of Daesh.

“However, the poisonous ideology of Daesh has not died with al-Baghdadi. We must continue to work together to identify and stamp out the threat.”

President Trump confirmed the shadowy leader of so-called Islamic State, who presided over its global jihad and became arguably the world’s most wanted man, is dead after being targeted by a US military raid in Syria.

“Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead,” Mr Trump announced at the White

House, saying the US had “brought the world’s number one terrorist leader to justice”. Addressing the nation from the White House, the president described a daring airborne raid by American special operations forces in Syria’s north-western Idlib province and said they flew over heavily militarised territory controlled by multiple nations and forces.

As US forces bore down on al-Baghdadi, he fled into a “dead-end” tunnel with three of his children, Mr Trump said, and detonated a suicide vest.

The killing marks a foreign policy success for Mr Trump, coming at one of the lowest points in his presidency as he is mired in impeachment proceedings and facing widespread condemnation for his Syria policy.