Abu Suleiman al-Naser
Neaman Salman Mansour al-Zaidi (Arabic: نيمان سلمان منصور الزيدي; died 24 February 2011), known as Abu Suleiman al-Naser (Arabic: أبو سليمان الناصر), was the military commander or "War Minister" of the militant group Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) during the Iraq War.
Abu Suleiman al-Naser | |
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أبو سليمان الناصر | |
War Minister of the Islamic State of Iraq | |
In office April 18, 2010 – February 24, 2011 | |
Preceded by | Abu Ayyub al-Masri |
Succeeded by | Haji Bakr |
Personal details | |
Born | Neaman Salman Mansour al-Zaidi نيمان سلمان منصور الزيدي |
Died | 24 February 2011 Hīt, Iraq |
Nationality | Iraqi |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Al-Qaeda (unknown–2011)
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Years of service | Unknown–2011 |
Battles/wars | Iraq War |
Little is known about Abu Suleiman. He is said to have been born into an ethnic Turkmen family. He reportedly trained at a foreign fighter camp in Rawa, Iraq, which was raided by US forces in 2003 and imprisoned at Camp Bucca. He succeeded Abu Ayyub al-Masri as Minister of War for the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) in April 2010, after al-Masri and ISI leader Abu Omar al-Baghdadi were killed in an operation by US and Iraqi forces in Tikrit. Abu Suleiman's appointment was announced in a statement in which he used the nom de guerre Al-Nasser Lideen Allah Abu Suleiman (Arabic: الناصر لدين الله أبو سليمان), meaning "Defender of God’s Religion, Father of Suleiman". He is reported to have been a detainee at Camp Bucca prison, and served as the ISI's leader in Anbar Province under the nom de guerre Abu Ibrahim al-Ansari.
Iraqi security forces claimed to have killed Abu Suleiman in February 2011, in the city of Hīt, west of Baghdad. However, ISI denied that al-Naser was killed a month later. Despite this, ISI spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani confirmed al-Naser's death in August 2011. ISI also released a statement confirming al-Naser's death in August 2011.
A report by Al Jazeera's Center for Studies, and an analysis of ISIL's leadership structure by a purported insider, also confirmed that Abu Suleiman had in fact been killed in 2011, and that following his death, the position of "War Minister" was replaced by a military council composed of former regime military officers under the leadership of Haji Bakr.