Lebanon 'holding IS chief's relatives'

Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk said tests had shown that Lebanese authorities were holding a daughter to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (pictured above), the leader of the self-proclaimed "Islamic State" (IS) terror group.

Lebanon first said it was holding a wife and son of the purported "caliph" of the group's territory last month, but their identities came under question.

The woman, who has been named as Saja al-Dulaimi, was not al-Baghdadi's wife as initially reported, but rather an ex-wife, Machnouk told Lebanese channel MTV late on Wedensday. She was arrested with two boys and a girl; the minister said that DNA tests showed the girl to be al-Baghdadi's child.

"Dulaimi is not Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's wife currently. She has been married three times: first to a man from the former Iraqi regime, with whom she had two sons," Machnouk said. "Six years ago she married Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi for three months, and she had a daughter with him. Now, she is married to a Palestinian and she is pregnant with his child."

Machnouk gave no details on Dulaimi's nationality, but said that the children were in a care facility while she was being interrogated.

The Islamic State is yet to publicly comment on Dulaimi's detention, but the Syrian al Qaeda affiliate, the al-Nusra Front, issued a statement condemning the arrest. Dulaimi is currently belived to be a member of the al-Nusra front. The group referred to her as "sister Saja al-Dulaimi," saying her detention was a sign of Lebanon's "weakness."

Lebanon has also detained the wife of Anas Sharkas, a senior figure within al-Nusra.

In August, during an attack on the border town of Arsal by IS and al-Nusra fighters, members of Lebanon's security forces were taken captive. Three of the 30 have been executed, while 27 are believed to still be in captivity; the AFP news agency reported, citing sources, that Dulaimi and her children might prove useful bargaining chips for the government in Beirut.

msh/jr (AFP, AP)