When al-Zarqawi's successors,
Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and
Abu Ayyub al-Masri were killed in a joint U.S-Iraqi raid in 2010, the
Islamic State of Iraq had to choose a new successor. According to
Al-Monitor, Osama bin Laden wanted al-Qaduli to become the group's new leader. Islamic State sources confirmed that Osama bin Laden appointed Abu Ali al-Anbari to lead ISI, but affirm that his instruction came too late, two weeks after a pledge had already been made in May 2010 to appoint
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as the new leader. Islamic State sources affirm that he was in charge of coordinating day-to-day military operations of the Islamic State in
al-Sham. He was seen as a gifted speaker and served as a Sharii, and while he was in
Raqqa, he gave a series of recorded lectures (over than 40 hours) at al-Imam al-Nawawi Mosque, that summarise the
Aqida of the Islamic State and attempted to break down the arguments of man-made constitutions and laws, parliaments, courts, and democratic norms like devolution of power and popular sovereignty. One of his lectures in the northern
Aleppo area was included in the 19th episode of the “Messages from the Land of Epic Battles” series by
al-Furqan Media Foundation.
Syrian Civil War and ISIL In early 2012, al-Qaduli was released from prison in
Iraq, after which he rejoined the
Islamic State of Iraq only a few days after his release. His first task was to establish communications with the various
al-Qaeda affiliates around the world, which had been broken due to the security circumstances the group faced. The leaders of the central command of al-Qaeda had criticised the Islamic State of Iraq and ISI leaders believed that was due to their ignorance of the situation on the ground. During late 2012, al-Qaduli was sent to Syria to keep an eye on
Ahmed al-Sharaa and investigate the situation there, since Julani was failing to follow IS policy in various respects and had been building up his own power base in an attempt to split
Jabhat al-Nusra from
ISI. Qaduli sent messengers and held meetings with field commanders of various Syrian rebel groups, offering them money and weapons to switch allegiance to ISIL. Some did so publicly, defecting with men and weapons, others did so in secret, remaining affiliated with their existing groups while organising the targeted assassinations of rivals. Memory sticks found by Iraqi security forces during a 2014 raid on the home of
Abu Abdulrahman al-Bilawi, ISIL's military chief of staff, identified al-Qaduli, named as Abu Ali al-Anbari, as being the overall head of ISIL military and non-military operations within Syria. According to his IS biography, at first Qaduli was not overly concerned by Julani since he "thought well of him, and thought the reports about him were the pure quarrels of a kind that occur between soldiers and their leaders." He later "saw with his own eyes the errors in the conduct of the work, and the deviation that was common among the soldiers and the leaders" due to a "neglect of shari’a education and training". Despite this, Qaduli felt that these mistakes could be remedied by more effort, and so he decided to live in the same house as Julani to "study his personality, and to assess his ability to lead." In January 2013, Qaduli sent a message to IS leader
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in
Iraq, warning him about
al-Sharaa. He wrote "He is a sneaky person with two faces. He loves himself and does not care about the religion of his soldiers. He is willing to sacrifice their blood just so he is mentioned in the media. He flies with joy like a children when his name is mentioned on the TV channels." Upon receiving the letter from Qaduli, Baghdadi decided to travel to Syria himself to try and correct the situation. In March 2013 there was a meeting between Qaduli, Baghdadi, Julani,
Abu Maria al-Qahtani and some others where Julani cried and promised he would renew his allegiance to Baghdadi. Through this deception Julani hoped to buy time to split the organisation, though Baghdadi was not deceived. While in Syria, he was responsible for the Shari’a Council and a member of the Delegated Committee in Syria. He also worked to build the Dawawin or ministries of the new state and he was working from
Raqqa which was the capital of the
Islamic State. Sometime after the June 2014
Fall of Mosul, Qaduli decided to return to
Tal Afar in Iraq where he participated in battles around the city and near
Sinjar against the
Peshmerga and the
Kurdistan Workers' Party. He actively took part in the
Sinjar massacres of the minority religious group
Yazidis. Some time later, he moved to
Mosul and returned to government work on the Islamic Monetary Project, introducing the new gold currency of the Islamic State. Al-Qaduli was a key coordination link between al-Baghdadi and his inner circle and his emirs in different provinces across the group's territory in Syria, Iraq and Libya. In March 2015, it was rumoured that
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of IS, had suffered injuries, leaving him incapacitated.
Hisham al-Hashimi wrote of al-Qaduli: "He is smart, and a good leader and administrator. If Baghdadi ends up dying, he will lead them." According to
The New York Observer, al-Qaduli was described by people who knew him as being dynamic, possessing operational experience and having very good contacts. It was reported that he was a charismatic preacher. But most importantly, al-Qaduli supposedly excelled in battle strategy. That is where he made his mark both in al-Qaeda and in IS. ==Reports of death==