Al-Qaida in Iraq names new leaders after top militants killed in US-aided raid

Al-Qaida in Iraq replaces leaders killed in raid

BAGHDAD — The insurgent group that commands al-Qaida in Iraq named a new leader to replace their top militant, who was killed in a joint U.S.-Iraqi raid in April near Saddam Hussein’s hometown Tikrit.

The Islamic State of Iraq said Sunday it has chosen Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi al-Husseini al-Qurashi as emir, or leader, according to an announcement posted on a militant website.

The group said al-Qurashi replaces Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, who was killed in an air and ground assault by a team of U.S. and Iraqi forces on April 18 along with al-Qaida in Iraq’s last leader, Egyptian Abu Ayyub al-Masri.

The group also named Abu Abdullah al-Hassani al-Qurashi as deputy to the emir and prime minister. The two men are not related, but both use a last name that implies descent from the Prophet Muhammad’s tribe, Quraish. According to the group’s ideology, its leader should be a descendant of Quraish.

“The two virtuous sheiks have deep knowledge of theological sciences and … jihad,” the statement said. “We ask God to help them continue the road of their predecessors, the martyr sheiks.”

The group created the post of deputy leader for the first time to avoid a gap in the event of the top leader’s death. It took the group 25 days of consultations to choose a new leader this time.

The Islamic State of Iraq is an insurgent umbrella organization with al-Qaida in Iraq as the largest group under its control.

On Friday, the group said it had replaced al-Qaida leader al-Masri with al-Nasser Lideen Allah Abu Suleiman, and designated him as the new “minister of war.” Abu Suleiman then claimed a new campaign of attacks was already under way and warned Iraqi Shiites of “dark days soaked with blood” ahead.

Shortly after Abu Suleiman’s warning on Friday, three suicide bombers blew themselves up at a sports field in a predominantly Shiite town in northern Iraq, killing at least 10 people. Days before that, a spate of attacks in 10 cities killed 119 people — most of them Shiites or Iraqi security forces — in the worst violence this year.

Iraqi authorities have blamed Sunni insurgents for recent attacks targeting Shiites. They accuse al-Qaida of trying to provoke a backlash against ordinary Sunnis to re-ignite sectarian fighting that brought the country to the brink of civil war in 2006-2007.

A measure of fragile calm has returned in the past two years. But there are fears of a resurgence in sectarian bloodshed after inconclusive elections in March raised tensions between Shiites and Sunnis over who will control the next government.

Iraq’s government has been dominated by Shiites since 2005. Saddam’s government, overthrown in 2003, was dominated by minority Sunnis.

Youssef reported from Cairo.