Discreet in his youth and invisible as the world’s most wanted man, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi rose through the ranks quietly and patiently to become the undisputed supremo of global jihadists. The 46-year-old Iraqi-born leader of the IS, nicknamed ‘The Ghost’, has not been seen in public since he proclaimed himself “caliph” in the Iraqi city of Mosul three years ago. The fortunes of his “caliphate” have since turned — with massive simultaneous offensives by allied forces against both Mosul and Raqqa. The world’s most-wanted man has been rumoured wounded or killed a number of times in the past. “He had a vision, early on, of where he wanted to go and what kind of organisation he wanted to create,” she said.

Source: The Hindu June 17, 2017 00:45 UTC