After conflicting reports on the fate of German ISIS leader, of Egyptian origins, Reda Siyam, German security sources confirmed he was killed last year during counterterrorism operations in Mosul, Iraq.
Siyam, dubbed by Zul Qarnain, served as the ISIS education minister in the city. Siyam led a seismic shift in the education sector in favor of radicalism.
German authorities refused to confirm news on Siyam’s death in air strikes in December 2014, and refrained from confirming consecutive reports on his death again that came in during the liberation of Mosul.
Siyam was appointed as the minister of education for the terror group and was behind the issuing of instructions to ISIS-controlled schools and universities in Mosul. Among his roster of instructions was preventing the teaching of music, art, geography and social sciences.
Born in 1960, Siyam had two wives and six children. He lived in Germany for over 15 years and received 3,000 euros a month from the state. He angered authorities after insisting on naming his baby ‘Jihad’ - a name banned in Germany. Siyam was considered a ‘fanatic’ and an advocate of extremism in Germany and had no popular welcoming.
Siyam, left Germany in 2012 and joined the militant group in Syria, before he became in charge of the group’s education department in Mosul. He used to live in Berlin, where his wife stays.
More so, he is accused of involvement in planning and carrying out bombings in Indonesia during 2002, which killed 202 people and wounded 240.
After the start of the Syrian crisis, Siyam headed to Syria and acted out as a correspondent for “Al Jazeera” channel in Syria.
Observers said that Siyam was arrested in Indonesia and interrogated by the CIA in the aftermath of an al-Qaeda operation that blew up a tourist club frequented by Bali tourists in 2002 that left 202 victims .
Siyam is believed to be one of the masterminds behind the attack.
His first wife, who deserted Siyam 15 years after their marriage, said in the same year the Bali bombing took place Siyam displayed signs of deep radicalism.
It is worth noting that the wife’s testimonies are made while she is in a witness protection program.
The Munich prosecutor probed Siyam and seven others on charges of being linked to terror group ISIS and reaching out to young converts in order to draft them into ISIS’ self-proclaimed anti-West jihad campaign.
Siyam has confessed to working as a freelance photographer for the Qatari-owned Al Jazeera channel.
Dr. Rasmi Ajlan, a specialist in fundamentalist movements in Egypt, said that according to available information, Siyam had a rugged appearance and did not trust any Iraqi members of the organization.
He chose his entourage exclusively from Arabs, yet did not allow any Iraqi to accompany him.
According to testimonies of those close to Siyam, his name rung louder among the sons of Mosul - louder than that of the ISIS Caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the top ISIS leader.
Siyam introduced radical changes to the educational system in Mosul, including gender-based segregation, the abolition of colleges and scientific departments in the University of Mosul and its institutes, as well as the abolition of curricula in universities and schools.
He is also responsible for imposing a mandatory Niqab for female students as of primary schools, and for a strong campaign to tempt male students to join fighting ISIS ranks.
