WASHINGTON: Elusive Daesh leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi is probably still alive and likely hiding in the Middle Euphrates River Valley, a senior US general said Thursday.
“We’re looking for him every day. I don’t think he’s dead,” Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander of the counter-Daesh coalition in Iraq and Syria, told reporters in a conference call.
Townsend admitted he didn’t “have a clue” where Baghdad is precisely, but believes he may have fled with many other Daesh soldiers into the Middle Euphrates region stretching from Syria to Iraq, after coalition and local force assaults on the Daesh bastions of Mosul, Raqqa and Tal Afar.
“The last stand of Daesh will be in the Middle Euphrates River Valley,” Townsend said.
“When we find him, I think we’ll just try to kill him first. It’s probably not worth all the trouble to try and capture him.”
With a $25 million US bounty on his head, Iraq-born Baghdadi has successfully avoided an intense effort to seek him out for six years or more.
Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a longtime conflict monitor, said in mid-June that it had heard from senior Daesh leaders in Syria’s Deir Ezzor province that Baghdadi was dead.
Russia’s army said in mid-June that it was seeking to verify whether it had killed him in a May air strike in Syria.
“I’ve seen no convincing evidence, intelligence, or open-source or other rumor or otherwise that he’s dead.... There are also some indicators in intelligence channels that he’s still alive,” said Townsend.
Daesh chief Baghdadi likely still alive: US general
Daesh chief Baghdadi likely still alive: US general
Indonesia’s first woman president awarded honorary doctorate by Princess Nourah University
- Megawati was recognized for her leadership and contributions to social, legal affairs
- She has received 10 other honorary degrees from Indonesian and foreign institutions
JAKARTA: Megawati Sukarnoputri, who served as Indonesia’s fifth president and was the country’s only female head of state to date, has been awarded an honorary doctorate by Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University in Riyadh, becoming the first foreign national to receive the title.
Megawati, the eldest daughter of Indonesia’s first President Sukarno and chairwoman of the country’s largest political party, the PDIP, served as president from 2001 to 2004.
The 79-year-old was awarded an honorary doctorate in organizational and legal affairs in Riyadh on Monday during a ceremony overseen by Princess Nourah University’s acting president, Dr. Fawzia bint Sulaiman Al-Amro.
“This recognition was given in appreciation of her efforts during her presidency, her significant contributions to social, organizational, and legal fields, and her role in strengthening institutional leadership in Indonesia,” the university said in a statement.
This is Megawati’s 11th honorary doctorate. She has received similar degrees from Indonesian and foreign universities, including the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 2003 and the Soka University of Japan in 2020.
She has also been awarded the title of honorary professor by several institutions, including by the Seoul Institute of the Arts in 2022.
“We gather at the Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, a university that stands as a symbol of women’s progress in education, knowledge and public service … To see so many intelligent women, I feel very proud,” Megawati said in her acceptance speech.
“Women’s empowerment is not a threat to any values, culture or tradition. It is actually a condition for nations that believe in their future … A great nation is one that is able to harness all of its human potential. A strong nation is one that does not allow half of its social power to be left on the sidelines of history.”
Megawati is the longest-serving political leader in Indonesia. Indonesia’s first direct presidential elections took place during her presidency, consolidating the country’s transition to democracy after the downfall of its longtime dictator Suharto in 1998.
