Exclusive peek into Baghdadi's meetings in Anbar

 The promulgation of what came to be known as Daesh in June 2014 was shocking to many people. This did not shock either governments or peoples alone, but rocked jihadist circles where cracks started to appear, especially inside al-Qaeda which became at loggerheads with the new organization. These cracks opened the door for holding a series of meetings between representatives of the two terrorist organizations. Neutral jihadists also attended the samemeetings in order to help Daesh and al-Qaeda reach a common ground. The Reference has obtained the minutes of one of these meetings. Daesh leader and the presumed caliph of Muslims, Abu Bakr al￾Baghdadi, attended this meeting which was held in the western Iraqi province of Anbar soon after the presumed Islamic state was declared. A man, who requested anonymity, recorded the minutes of the meeting. This man has already died. Nonetheless, he asked his wife to publicize these minutes after his death.This late jihadist divided the minutes into a number of messages. His wife says she found them on her late husband's phone. First message The main figure in this message is a jihadist called Abu Abdullah. This jihadist was held in high esteem, even by Baghdadi and his Iraqi deputy Abu Ali al-Anbari. Both Baghdadi and al-Anbari used to stand up in respect whenever Abu Abdullah arrived. Abu Abdullah, according to the late jihadist, was connected to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the founder of al-Qaeda in Iraq. The same groupevolved into Daesh later on. This gave Abu Abdullah prestige among Daesh leaders and members. The message focuses on a meeting between Abu Abdullah and representatives of Daesh in al￾Anbar. The late jihadist does not, however, mention the date of the meeting. Those meeting were there to discuss the status of the new organization and its ideology. Abu Abdullah, the jihadist says in the message, goes out of his prison in Baghdad and then heads to Anbar in the company of three members of Baghdadi's Consultative Council.Abu Abdullah had earlier received a message from Baghdadi in which he asked him to attend to his hideout. Abu Abdullah had, however, refused and preferred to head to Anbar and asked Baghdadi to follow him there. Anbar, which is located 108 kilometers away from Iraqi capital Baghdad, was of special importance to Daesh. Five months after it declared its presumed state, Daesh started fighting the Iraqi army in Anbar to overrun the city. It took Daesh six months to capture Anbar, even as the organization was at its strongest. Iraqi army troopsand police pulled out of Anbar only on May 17, 2015. It left the whole city behind for the new radical organization to give it the chance to found what came later to be known as "Anbar Province". The stage was set for Baghdadi's arrival for the meeting, according to the late jihadist who recorded the minutes of the meeting between Daesh and al-Qaeda representatives. Tents were set up for the arrival of Daesh representatives who came to discuss the conflict with al-Qaeda. The promulgation of the Daesh state in 2014 causedembarrassment for al-Qaeda which became face to face with an organization that succeeded in realizing a dream al-Qaeda failed in realizing over the years, namely the founding of a state. This was why Daesh worked to attract al-Qaeda sympathizers and supporters to it. Daesh, according to the late jihadist, wanted al-Qaeda to merge into it and even swear allegiance to it. It took Baghdadi three days to arrive at the scene of the meeting. In those three days, the late jihadist said, Abu Abdullah talked with 13 Daesh leaders, including Abu Mohamed al-Iraqi, a close associateof Baghdadi, on whether al-Qaeda had already sworn allegiance to Daesh. According to the late jihadist, Daesh representatives insisted that al￾Qaeda had already sworn allegiance to their organization. However, Abu Abdullah believed that it was an al-Qaeda member, namely Aby Ayoub al-Masry, the al￾Qaeda leader in Iraq then who swore allegiance to Daesh. This, Abu Abdullah said, did not mean that al￾Qaeda had sworn allegiance to the new organization. First caliphAl-Masry outrivaled five other al￾Qaeda leaders in reaching the top spot in the organization following Zarqawi's death. Soon after the American pullout of Iraq, al-Masry thought of establishing an Islamic state in the Arab country, for fear that al-Qaeda branches would start pointing their guns at each other. Al-Masry then nominated Abu Omar al-Baghdadi to be the head of this state. Abu Omar is considered by Daesh members as the first caliph of the presumed Islamic State. Abu Abdullah said the allegiance al￾Masry swore to Daesh was a personal affair, because he was nolonger the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq. He said Ansar al-Islam, which was also known as Daesh, was also a branch of al-Qaeda in Iraq. This was why some organizations tended to believe that Daesh was originally a byproduct of al-Qaeda in Iraq. A Daesh representative at the meeting got angry because of Abu Abdullah's views. He even accused Abu Abdullah of working for the CIA with the aim of sabotaging the Daesh project. Nonetheless, other Daesh members rejected this criticism and asked this person to get out.Abu Abdullah asked about the identity of the person who attacked him. Other Daesh members said this person did not represent their organization. Abu Abdullah said, however, that this person was Daesh's emir in Nineveh and Saladin, which meant that he was a senior Daesh figure. Daesh's main problem, Abu Abdullah said, was inherent in its methodology. He said the organization denigrated the others and accused those who had different views of being infidels. Abu Abdullah went on to say that although he was in prison, he wasaware of all details about the new organization. "You accuse everybody of being infidel, " the late jihadist quoted Abu Abdullah as telling Daesh representatives in the meeting. "All your followers inside the prisons accuse everybody of being an apostate, even for personal reasons." Second message Soon after Baghdadi's arrival in Anbar, he held a meeting with his deputy, Abu Abdullah and the late jihadist.Baghdadi, the late jihadist said, told Abu Abdullah that what he said about Daesh was not true. "Daesh is a Sunni organization that does not accuse anybody of being an infidel, " Baghdadi said. Abu Abdullah said Daesh had to determine its methodology and its goals and the mechanisms it would use in achieving those goals. He said the lack of clarity on those fronts might cause the failure of the new organization. Daesh laments loss of its caliphate Baghdadi initially approved of what Abu Abdullah said. He thencomplained against some Islamist groups in Syria that fought against Daesh. He said these groups acted in a similar fashion to Sunni militias (known as Sahawat) formed in Iraq by the US army to fight against al￾Qaeda. This, he said, made it necessary for Daesh to accuse these groups of being infidel. Abu Abdullah opposed this view. He said comparisons should not be made between Sahawat and groups fighting Daesh in Syria. Anbari and Nusra Front Anbari's intervention had its own peculiarity. He mentioned al-Nusra Front, now Tahrir al-Sham, to backBaghdadi's view. He said the front turned against Daesh which was necessary for Daesh to accuse it of being an infidel group. The formation of al-Nusra Front dates back to the release of Abu Mohamed al-Julani from prison in Syria after he was granted presidential pardon in 2011 in response to the protests that erupted there. Soon after his release, Julani headed to Iraq where he joined Daesh. Daesh welcome Julani and his companions. Daesh leaders even asked him to found a branch of the organization in Syria. Theorganization even gave him arms and recruits. Tensions then started to emerge between Daesh and its Syrian branch. Organization leaders believed that Julani had a tendency for independence. Julani even received help from al-Qaeda to do this. He then formed al-Nusra Front. This was why Daesh accused the new group of being a bunch of apostates. Baghdadi accused al-Nusra of intentionally smearing his organization. Abu Abdullah contended that Daesh followed a wrong course in dealingwith Julani. He said Daesh should have immediately sacked him once it felt he planned independence. He also faulted Daesh in selecting Julani for the mission of heading the Daesh Syrian branch. He said Daesh lacked sound criteria in the selection of its members and leaders. Baghdadi accuses Muslims of ignorance Daesh insisted that it did not accuse its opponents of being infidel. Baghdadi and his colleagues even justified this accusation at every turn, according to the late jihadist.Daesh has been accusing its opponents of being apostates since its emergence in 2014. This is why al-Azhar accuses the organization of being a bunch of Kharijites.