Hasan al-Salahayn Salih al-Sha'ari, known as Abu Habib al-Libi, is a Libyan man who has been a senior Islamic State leader in both Iraq and Libya.

History

He was born in Derna, Libya in 1975.

Iraq

After the

2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

, he traveled from Libya to Iraq via

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

to fight coalition forces. He was a member of

Al-Qaeda in Iraq Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI; ar, القاعدة في العراق, al-Qā'idah fī al-ʿIrāq) or Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia ( ar, القاعدة في بلاد الرافدين, al-Qā'idah fī Bilād ar-Rāfidayn), officially known as ''Tanzim Qaidat a ...

since at least 2004 and was an associate of

Abu Umar al-Tunisi Tariq bin al-Tahar bin al-Falih al-'Awni al-Harzi (1981; or 5 March 1982; or 3 May 1982 – 16 June 2015), also known as Abu Umar al-Tunisi, was a Tunisian man and senior leader of the Islamic State. History He was born either in 1981, 5 March 1 ...

since then. According to a description given by the United States Department of the Treasury, he was personally trained by

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Abu Musab al-Zarqawi ( ar, أَبُو مُصْعَبٍ ٱلزَّرْقَاوِيُّ, ', ''Father of Musab, from Zarqa''; ; October 30, 1966 – June 7, 2006), born Ahmad Fadeel al-Nazal al-Khalayleh (, '), was a Jordanian jihadist who ran a t ...

. He was captured by American forces in

Al-Karābilah Al-Karābilah ( ar, ناحية الكرابلة) is a subdistrict in the west of the Al Anbar Governorate of Iraq, beside the Syrian border in an area of high ground. Its seat is the city of the Al-Karābilah. Agriculture is the main industry in ...

Al Anbar Governorate Al Anbar Governorate ( ar, محافظة الأنبار; ''muḥāfaẓat al-’Anbār''), or Anbar Province, is the largest governorate in Iraq by area. Encompassing much of the country's western territory, it shares borders with Syria, Jordan, ...

on September 6, 2005. A press release at the time says he admitted to being the improvised explosive device emir of Karabilah, responsible for conducting numerous bombings against Coalition and Iraqi forces.

Libya

In mid-2012 he was freed from jail in Iraq and returned to Libya, where he continued to support IS, starting a branch of IS in Libya in late 2014. He provided Tunisian IS leader

hundreds of thousands of dollars and dispatched experienced, trusted personnel to aid him between late 2012 and early 2013. By early 2014, he had given his oath of allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and in late 2014 he was leading IS military convoys in Derna, Libya.

US and UN sanctions

On 29 September 2015 he was made subject to sanctions by the United States Department of the Treasury. On 29 February 2016 he was sanctioned by the United Nations Security Council.

References

{{Authority control Prisoners and detainees of the United States military Libyan Sunni Muslims Prisoners and detainees of Iraq Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant members Members of al-Qaeda in Iraq People from Derna, Libya Libyan Islamists 1975 births Living people