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Iranian official says prominent Saudi jihadist 'man in control' in Syria

In Syria, a Saudi jihadi is becoming a paramount figure for militants opposed to President Bashar al-Assad — but will he become the "new bin Laden"?
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On April 24, 2013, Saudi national Omar al-Muhaysini  was killed in Deir ez-Zor in eastern Syria, alongside his fellow countryman Abdul Aziz al-Othman, aka Abu Omar al-Jazrawi, who is said to be the first Saudi national to join al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra. Muhaysini, the younger brother of Sheikh Mohammad al-Muhaysini, a leading Saudi cleric and the former head of the country’s powerful Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, was allegedly assassinated by the Islamic State (IS) along with Jazrawi.

A few months later, Omar Muhaysini’s nephew Abdullah Muhaysini, a renowned young cleric, announced that he was headed to Syria, leaving behind his family in Mecca. The nephew said he came to Syria to bridge the gap between IS and other factions. In an interview with the Swiss Islamic Central Council, he said, “I was an admirer of al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Islamic State of Iraq, and I thought they were victims of lies.” He said he decided to travel to Syria despite the travel ban imposed on him by the Saudi authorities. “They impose travel bans to prevent those who support the mujahedeen on the path of Allah from going to Syria.”

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