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Lebanon Is Said to Detain Wife and Child of ISIS Leader Lebanon Detains Relatives of Islamic State Leader, One of Them His Daughter
(about 5 hours later)
BEIRUT, Lebanon — The Lebanese authorities have detained a woman and child whom they believed to be a wife and son of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the extremist group Islamic State, officials said on Tuesday. BEIRUT, Lebanon — The Lebanese authorities have detained a daughter of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State extremist group, as well as the child’s mother, American officials said Tuesday, possibly granting Lebanon leverage in its efforts to free Lebanese captives held by the group.
The two were arrested more than a week ago while trying to enter Lebanon from Syria, the officials said. Lebanese security officials had reported earlier that Mr. Baghdadi’s wife and one son had been arrested more than a week ago while trying to enter Lebanon from Syria. But American officials said that the child was a girl and that it remained unclear whether her mother was Mr. Baghdadi’s legal wife, common-law wife or former wife.
Some of the officials provided a name for the woman, but did not give her nationality, nor the child’s age. They did not explain how they had determined that the two were related to Mr. Baghdadi, although one official hinted that a foreign intelligence service was involved. The arrests appeared to be the first time that one of the governments that have battled the Islamic State had taken into custody any relatives of the jihadist leader, who has not been seen in public for months. The detentions raised the possibilities that the woman could provide valuable information on the group’s operations or be used as a bargaining chip in hostage negotiations.
The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the news media. The Lebanese state news service remained silent on the matter. Asked about the reports in Brussels, Secretary of State John Kerry said that he did not know the details of the case and that the United States would not take part in such talks.
Although the Islamic State has drawn international attention for seizing territory in Syria and Iraq and for distributing brutal videos of its fighters beheading hostages, little is known about its leader, whom the group has declared to be caliph, or leader of the world’s Muslims. “I don’t think we engage in that kind of negotiation, period,” Mr. Kerry said.
Mr. Baghdadi has not appeared in public since July, when he delivered a sermon in the Iraqi city of Mosul. Since then, he has addressed his followers only through audio recordings or through spokesmen. Yet the Islamic State is one of the insurgent factions holding more than 20 Lebanese soldiers and police officers who were captured this year near the Syrian border, and the Lebanese authorities have been struggling to secure their release. As negotiations have dragged on, a number of captives have been released or beheaded, and the families of the remaining prisoners have publicly criticized the government for failing to do more.
The United States has offered up to $10 million for information on his whereabouts. But analysts and security officials who track the group differ on his ultimate importance, debating whether he is the organization’s operational commander or merely a figurehead. The American officials did not give the woman’s name, but two Lebanese officials identified her as Saja Hamid al-Dulaimi, a name indicating that she was probably Syrian or Iraqi. One of the Lebanese officials said that her relationship to Mr. Baghdadi had not been confirmed.
Little is known for certain about Mr. Baghdadi’s personal life. Many leaders of jihadist groups have multiple wives, but the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, has not given specifics about Mr. Baghdadi’s marital status. An official biography released this year said only that he is married.
Lebanese officials themselves appeared to be in some doubt about the identities of the woman and child.
One army official reached by phone said the woman was still being questioned and that the army was unsure how much information she possessed about ISIS’s operations. “We still don’t know how valuable she is,” the army official said.
Two officials gave the woman’s name as Saja Hamid al-Dulaimi, but one added that her relationship to Mr. Baghdadi had not been confirmed.
“The investigation is still focusing on whether Dulaimi is really Baghdadi’s wife,” the official said, adding that there were strong indications that she was.“The investigation is still focusing on whether Dulaimi is really Baghdadi’s wife,” the official said, adding that there were strong indications that she was.
Lebanese news media reported that a woman of the same name was detained earlier this year by the Syrian authorities, and then released as part of a prisoner swap that secured the release of a group of Syrian nuns held hostage by antigovernment insurgents. The Lebanese news media reported that a woman of the same name had been detained earlier this year by the Syrian authorities, and then released as part of a prisoner swap that secured the release of a group of Syrian nuns held hostage by antigovernment insurgents.
The Reuters news agency reported that the child detained in Lebanon with Ms. Dulaimi was a daughter, not a son. Although the Islamic State has drawn international attention for seizing territory in Syria and Iraq and for distributing videos of its fighters beheading hostages, little is known about its leader, whom the group has declared to be caliph of the world’s Muslims.
The Islamic State does not control territory in Lebanon the way it does in Syria and Iraq, but support for the group has been growing in some predominately Sunni Muslim areas of Lebanon, like the city of Tripoli in the north. The Islamic State is one of the factions that is currently holding a group of Lebanese soldiers and policemen who were captured this year near the Syrian border. Mr. Baghdadi has not appeared in public since July, when he delivered a sermon in the Iraqi city of Mosul. Since then, he has addressed his followers only through audio recordings or through spokesmen.
Hassan Abu Hanieh, a Jordanian expert on Islamist groups, said that the mystery surrounding Mr. Baghdadi made him different from other jihadist leaders. The United States has offered up to $10 million for information on his whereabouts. But analysts and security officials who track the group differ on his ultimate importance, debating whether he is the organization’s operational commander or a figurehead.
In contrast, Osama bin Laden was married and divorced a number of times, and the identities of his wives and many of his children are known. And Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian militant who headed Al Qaeda in Iraq, the organization that evolved into the Islamic State, is known to have had more than four wives, including a Saudi, an Iraqi and a Jordanian, though not all at the same time, Mr. Abu Hanieh said. Mr. Baghdadi’s personal life remains something of a mystery. Many leaders of jihadist groups have multiple wives, but the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, has not given specifics about Mr. Baghdadi’s marital status. An official biography released this year said only that he was married.
“We can be sure that Baghdadi is married, but to whom, we just don’t know,” he said, adding that keeping secrets was part of the Islamic State’s strategy. Lebanese officials appeared to be in some doubt about the identities of the woman and the child.
“ISIS is not like Al Qaeda,” Mr. Abu Hanieh said. “They like to work on these ambiguities to keep people confused.” One army official reached by telephone said that the woman was still being questioned and that the army was unsure how much information she possessed about the Islamic State’s operations. “We still don’t know how valuable she is,” the official added.
The Lebanese state news agency reported on Tuesday evening that gunmen had killed six Lebanese Army soldiers as they patrolled near the Syrian border outside the town of Ras Baalbek, and there was speculation in the Lebanese news media that the attack might have been a response to the news of the arrests. But there have been many similar attacks by militants in the area, which is crowded with Syrian refugees, and there was no immediate indication of any link. A former senior American military official said he discounted the woman’s intelligence value and was skeptical that the Lebanese would be able to gain leverage over Mr. Baghdadi by holding her.  
As reports of the arrests of the woman and child surfaced on Tuesday, Islamic State supporters took to social media to declare them false. The group’s opponents, on the other hand, joked that perhaps Mr. Baghdadi’s wife was on her way to party at Lebanon’s famous casino or to attend the funeral of the Lebanese singer Sabah, who died last week. Either activity would surely draw a death sentence from the Islamic State. During the Iraq war, the official said, the Americans seized a wife of Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, the head of Al Qaeda in Iraq, the predecessor to ISIS, in an effort to extract information about the group. “We got little out of her, and when we sent her back, Zarqawi killed her,” the official said. 
All officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the news media. The Lebanese state news service remained silent on the matter.
The Lebanese state news agency reported on Tuesday night that gunmen had killed six Lebanese soldiers as they patrolled near the Syrian border outside the town of Ras Baalbek, and there was speculation in the news media that the attack might have been a response to the arrests. But there have been many similar attacks by militants in the area, which is crowded with Syrian refugees, and there was no indication of a link.
As reports of the arrests of the woman and the child surfaced on Tuesday, Islamic State supporters took to social media to declare them false. The group’s opponents, on the other hand, joked that perhaps Mr. Baghdadi’s wife was on her way to Casino du Liban, the famous Lebanese casino, or to attend the funeral of the Lebanese singer Sabah, who died last week. Either activity would surely draw a death sentence from the Islamic State.