Mohammed Abdullah, also known as Abu al-Baraa el-Azdi, is a

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

i militant and member of the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...

. Both names are ''noms de guerre''. He was reported to originally be a preacher who joined ISIL in

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 ...

. He rose to prominence in mid-November 2014 when ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi appointed him Emir and leader of the city of Derna in

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

, soon after the partial takeover of the city by ISIL and declaration of the Wilayah Barqah (Province of Eastern Libya). He also became the city's top religious judge. ISIL regularly appoints foreigners to key government positions.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Azdi, Abu al-Baraa Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant members Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Yemeni Islamists