Cairo –The Fatwa Monitoring Observatory of Dar Al-Ifta Al-Misryah (Egyptian House of Fatwa) said on Tuesday that the delay in naming a new leader of the Islamic State (ISIS) proves that the members of the extremist group are vying for leadership. The observatory's comment came after the terrorist group announced earlier on Tuesday the death of its leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, noting that ISIS would shortly announce his new successor. ISIS issued a statement calling on its members to be stable in their strongholds and not to be dragged behind the sedition. This note demonstrates the possibility of internal divisions inside the group. The terrorist group acknowledged that Al-Baghdadi died a few days after the observatory confirmed that death. The observatory added that ISIS attempted to avoid announcing the death of Al-Baghdadi and delayed in naming his successor due to the division and strife among the group's members over ISIS leadership. The observatory added that it is likely that the new leader will move to a new stronghold in Afghanistan or south of the Philippines after the extremist group has been expelled from Mosul in Iraq and Al-Raqqa in Syria. The Russian Defense Ministry said last June that there was information on the killing of Al-Baghdadi by one of the Russian air force raids on the Syrian capital Damascus. Al-Baghdadi was the world's most wanted man and there were many rumors on his killing and it was said that he had left Mosul earlier this year, but his whereabouts were never confirmed. Al-Baghdadi became the overlord of the extremist group in 2014, ruling over millions of inhabitants and has not been seen in public.
