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An Islamic State organization flag on an Iraqi road (illustration image). REUTERS / Stringer

According to " The Guardian ", the new head of the Islamic State group is called Amir Mohammed Adbul Rahman al-Mawli al-Salbi. He is one of the veterans of this group and one of the most extremist.

Until now, we knew him by a war name. This time, the intelligence services are sure to have identified it, reports the British daily newspaper The Guardian .

Originally, he was literate. A graduate of the University of Mosul in Iraq, Amir Mohammed Adbul Rahman al-Mawli al-Salbi studied religious law. And this curriculum has served him as a passport and a letter of nobility within the Islamic State group for years.

According to the Guardian , we have seen him issue religious opinions to justify the worst atrocities of the jihadists. Like the massacre and slavery of the Yezidis or the policy of terror waged against Christians in the plain of Nineveh from August 2014.

Detained with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Al-Salbi is said to have been born into a family of Turkmen descent in Tal Afar, in the north of the country. We do not know his exact date of birth, but he is part of the old generation. He is one of the founders of the EI group, a pillar of the organization, who met Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in prison. Fifteen years ago, they were detained in the same place by American forces.

Religion, seniority, loyalty. Al-Salbi ticked all the boxes. For several months, the intelligence services had identified him as a very large fish. A possible buyer of the Islamic State group. And put his head at a price: five million dollars offered for his capture or his body by the American State Department.