BEIRUT — The Lebanese army detained a wife and daughter of the self-proclaimed Islamic State leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi as they crossed from Syria nine days ago, security officials said on Tuesday. The officials declined to give the name or nationality of the woman whom they described as one of his wives. The Lebanese newspaper As-Safir reported the army had detained her in coordination with “foreign intelligence apparatus.”
The arrest is a blow to Baghdadi and could be used as a bargaining chip against his group which has captured many foreign, Iraqi and Syrian prisoners and declared a caliphate across territory his group seized in Syria and Iraq.
A senior Lebanese security official said Baghdadi's wife had been traveling with one of their daughters, contradicting earlier reports that it was his son. DNA tests were conducted to verify it was Baghdadi's child, the official said. They were detained in northern Lebanon. Investigators were questioning her at the headquarters of the Lebanese Defense Ministry, the security officials said.
There was no immediate reaction from IS websites to the arrest. — Reuters
