Haitham al-Badri

Jamaat Ansar al-Sunna (2003–2004) Al-Qaeda (2004–2007) Haitham Sabah Shaker Mohammed al-Badri (Arabic: هيثم صباح شاكر محمد البدري, died 2 August 2007) was a commander of Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) in Salahuddin Province[1] who reportedly masterminded the 2006 al-Askari mosque bombing which substantially damaged the Shiite mosque and set off a wave of retaliatory violence by the Shiites against other Muslims.

He was a former Iraqi government official under Saddam Hussein while other sources state he was a warrant officer in the Republican Guard; and following the US-led invasion in 2003, joined Jamaat Ansar al-Sunna before becoming a member of Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

[2] Badri was killed in a US airstrike east of Samarra on 2 August 2007.

[3][4] He was a distant relative of future Islamic State leader Ibrahim al-Badri al-Samarrai (Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi), being the son of one of al-Baghdadi's cousins.

This biographical article related to a paramilitary organization in Iraq is a stub.