The Iraqi intelligence services captured during an operation outside Iraq a leader of the Islamic State (IS) group, Sami Jasim al-Jaburi, wanted by the United States and presented as a financial official of the jihadist organization, tweeted Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kazimi. Washington offers a reward of five million dollars for any information concerning this official, presented as a former deputy to the former head of the IS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, having played “an essential role in the management of the finances” of ISIS, according to a US State Department anti-terrorism program.
The Iraqi Prime Minister does not specify where the jihadist leader was captured, but assures that the operation coincided with the early legislative elections on Sunday, when “the heroes of the security forces were protecting the elections”. The last major terrorist attack claimed by ISIS in Iraq last July targeted a market in the Shiite district of Sadr City in Baghdad, which killed around 30 people.
Sami Jasim al-Jaburi is “considered one of the most sought after at the international level, and he is close to the current head of the jihadist organization”, Abu Ibrahim al-Hachemi al-Qourachi, according to a statement from the forces of security. Also presented as “the supervisor of the financial and economic files of the terrorist organization EI”, Sami Jasim al-Jaburi has been on the list of “terrorists” targeted by US Treasury sanctions since September 2015. He would have notably “occupied a position of finance minister of the IS, overseeing the group’s income from illicit sales of oil, gas, antiques ”.