Haitham al-Badri | |
---|---|
Birth name | Haitham Sabah Shaker Mohammed al-Badri |
Born | unknown likely Samarra (origin of the al-Badri clan and his principal area of operations) |
Died | Samarra, Salahuddin Governorate, Iraq | 2 August 2007
Allegiance |
Baathist Iraq (until 2003)
Jamaat Ansar al-Sunna
|
Service/ |
Republican Guard (Iraq) (until 2003) Military of al-Qaeda in Iraq (2004–2007) |
Rank |
Warrant Officer (until 2003) Commander ( Al-Qaeda in Iraq) (2004–2007) |
Battles/wars | Iraq War (2003–2007) † |
Haitham Sabah Shaker Mohammed al-Badri ( Arabic: هيثم صباح شاكر محمد البدري, died 2 August 2007) was a commander of Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) in Salahuddin Province [1] who reportedly masterminded the 2006 al-Askari mosque bombing which substantially damaged the Shiite mosque and set off a wave of retaliatory violence by the Shiites against other Muslims.
He was a former Iraqi government official under Saddam Hussein while other sources state he was a warrant officer in the Republican Guard; and following the US-led invasion in 2003, joined Jamaat Ansar al-Sunna before becoming a member of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. [2] Badri was killed in a US airstrike east of Samarra on 2 August 2007. [3] [4]
He was a distant relative of future Islamic State leader Ibrahim al-Badri al-Samarrai ( Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi), being the son of one of al-Baghdadi's cousins. [5]