Saddam Hussein's former intelligence officer masterminded rise of IS, says report

According to a new report, it has emerged that one of Saddam Hussein's former intelligence officers masterminded the rise of the Islamic State (IS) in northern Syria after being jailed by the US authorities.

According to the Guardian, the document identifies the man as Samir Abd Muhammad al-Khlifawi, a former colonel in the intelligence service of Saddam Hussein's air defence force, who went by the pseudonym Haji Bakr.

Haji Bakr drew the entire "blueprint for a caliphate" after he was jailed, said the report that was uncovered in Aleppo.

Documents revealed careful planning for the IS' structure and organisation with the 31 pages of handwritten charts, lists and schedules amounting to a blueprint for the establishment of a caliphate in Syria.

Abu Ghraib was reportedly killed in a firefight with Syrian rebels in January 2014 before which he had helped secure swathes of Syria that strengthened IS' position in neighbouring Iraq.