hello, good afternoon. us military sources say the leader of the islamic state group, abu bakr al—baghdadi, has been killed by us special forces, in an operation near the village of barisha in northwestern syria. president trump is due to make a statement any time now on the situation. we'll be hearing from washington in a moment but first our middle east correspondent quentin somerville has the latest.

the raid began in the pitch dark of northern syria. the ferocious sound of the firefight was heard for miles. us forces dropped from helicopters and surrounded a compound. it was destroyed afterwards by air strikes. this is the scene this morning. the house belonged to abu muhammad salama, a senior figure in the extremist group haras—al—din. when those inside refused to surrender, the attack began. translation: around 11 o'clock they started shooting the house of abu muhammad. he had a guest. the house was completely destroyed. we recovered seven bodies from under the rubble, and two others on the main street. it's thought that the guest was the world's most—wanted man, abu bakr al—baghdadi, the leader of the islamic state group. he was last seen earlier this year in a rare video, very much still in command of is. it's been a terrible yearfor the group. their last remaining territory was lost in a bloody battle in the spring, leading to the capture of thousands of its supporters and their families. but the leadership of is fled

before the attack began. baghdadi disappeared. if confirmed, this brings an end to the reign of a man who led an empire of terror across the middle east and clawed at the capitals of europe. his followers crowed earlier this year when he unexpectedly appeared alive in a video. today they are mostly silent. abu bakr al—baghdadi was thought to be farfrom here, possibly in iraq. but there is growing evidence that it may be in these olive groves that one of the most brutal and most successful extremists in modern times met his end. quentin somerville, bbc news, beirut. let's speak to chris buckler, who's in washington for us this lunchtime.

chris, president trump's expected to speak in the next few minutes. within minutes, after posting on twitter that there was something big to say, the world was wondering whether it was this. many people claim that donald trump allowed turkey to invade northern syria, essentially abandoning his allies there. the kurdish, who fought alongside the americans against is. now, donald trump can say that he has worked alongside turkish forces to finally bring this is leader, by the looks of things, to capture and death, something the americans have long wanted, you may remember, they offered a $25 million reward for his reward, —— information that led to his capture or death. the government says it will press ahead tomorrow

with efforts to call for a general election, but hasn't ruled out working with opposition parties to get one if that fails. it follows an attempt by the lib dems and the scottish national party to get a election on december the 9th. here's our political correspondent tom barton. it might feel like you've done this quite a lot recently. at the referendum in 2016, at the election in 2017. but could you be doing it again before the end of 2019? today the lib dems and the snp we have american media reporting that a special operation had eliminated al—baghdadi, and we are waiting for mr eliminated al—baghdadi, and we are waiting foertrump to eliminated al—baghdadi, and we are waiting for mr trump to make his announcement. he tweeted last night that something big has happened. without specifying what that was. lets put together the facts we have at the moment and see if we can just

check and challenge and look at some of the narrative. reports we have suggests that the radon al—baghdadi may have happened in the idlib region in north—west syria. that's a long way from his heartland. is that a place he could be, in idlib? he could have been anywhere. he was originally born in southern iraq, and when he founded the islamic state group and declared the caliphate across iraq and syria, then the last stronghold of islamic state was in north—eastern syria, across the border from state was in north—eastern syria, across the borderfrom iraq, that was taken over by the mainly kurdish forces back in march this year. the islamic state militants were there. that was across from the power base.

this is someone who didn't use mobile phones and has tried to stay as far away from being listened on as far away from being listened on as possible. and for good reason. he is very elusive, never gave interviews. he only made one public appearance, when he announced the creation of the caliphate in 2014. that is almost a single image we have of him. then he disappeared for five years. another video resurfaced of him in april of this year, and that was nearly a month after the downfall of the last stronghold, and he was talking about islamic state militants holding fort, so his video took a long time to resurface. when was the last time we heard from him? april. and then nothing since. lets

go back a bit while we wait for news from the white house. how did he rise up? fort was it about him that stood him apart from the other jihadists. he was born in iraq, and he was held in an american facility in southern iraq. apparently this is where he was radicalised. in an american camp? yes. that was in 2004. exactly. some reports say he was a leading jihadist of some minor groups. with the demise of al-qaeda, the islamic state group was formed

by merging with other groups. the islamic state group was formed by merging with other groupslj the islamic state group was formed by merging with other groups. i want to pause there. for anyonejust joining us, we have a picture of the white house. plenty of flags, including one of the marine corps. we expect president trump very shortly to come out and talk about the tweet that he sent last night when he said something big was happening. reports are that us special forces have carried out an attack on abu bakr al—baghdadi. we will continue talking while we keep an eye on those pictures and wait for an eye on those pictures and wait foertrump to an eye on those pictures and wait for mr trump to enter. if it is confirmed that al—baghdadi has been

killed, how does the islamic state movement regroup? the islamic state group itself has not really disintegrated. it had lost its power base and has been kicked out of iraq. the iraqi government two years ago declared victory over islamic state. was that too early to declare victory? if you are cynical, yes, but the facts on the ground say that, yes, the iraqi government declared victory two years ago, but we have a lot of the top leaders of islamic state moving to syria. the last stronghold was overrun by the mainly kurdish forces who were in alliance with the americans, and we had many of those leaders fleeing

across. with this raid, assumed rate, on mr al—baghdadi across. with this raid, assumed rate, on mral—baghdadi in across. with this raid, assumed rate, on mr al—baghdadi in a small video close to the turkish border, if he was really there, he was hedging his bets where he could flee next and remain alive and safe. hedging his bets where he could flee next and remain alive and safem is, of course, difficult for us to speculate, but how could he have been caught? do you think the inner circle of his islamic state movement would have given him up under interrogation, or could he have been caught a different way? that is highly unlikely, because his inner circle are extremely loyal to him and to the cause. i don't think any of them would betray him in that way. however, we have the top commander of the assyrian democratic forces —— of the syrian democratic

forces who said a few minutes earlier that after five months of cooperation with the americans, they helped the americans to reach the location of al—baghdadi. we will come back to those thoughts in a minute or so. i want to bring in our correspondent in washington. you are keeping an eye on those pictures. forgive me if i cut you off mid—sentence, but just to forgive me if i cut you off mid—sentence, butjust to start us off, how big a moment would this be politically for the president? watching that podium like everybody else, but this would be a huge moment for president trump. it has been a couple of weeks in which he has faced real difficulty and questions about his foreign policy strategy. at times, it has felt like

the white house has struggled to articulate any kind of strategy, because we have seen him criticised time and again by many people suggesting that he opened the door for turkey to invade northern syria and essentially put his american allies, the kurds, in danger. the kurdish forces of course fought alongside american troops to tackle islamic state. this idea that potentially this islamic state leader has been killed, captured or whatever is confirmed in the next few moments, that will be essential to president trump, who has faced a tough couple of weeks. domestically, he is facing impeachment enquiry is taking place inside congress, but on the world stage, i think his reputation has suffered time and again in recent weeks. you got a sense of how important it is to him when he tweeted last night those words — something very big has just happened. it gave you this idea that

he wanted to share information as quickly as possible, which is why this podium has been set up. within minutes of that, the rumour mill in washington was swirling with suggestions that abu bakr al—baghdadi had been killed. we are waiting for confirmation, but if it comes, it is a major victory for president trump. remember, this was an individual who had a $25 million bounty on his head for information that led to him being captured or killed. if president trump can confirm that, and can give information on that in the next few minutes, he will think it is something his presidency can be remembered for. in may 2011, a podium was set up from which president 0bama announced the death of 0sama bin laden. bin laden and al—baghdadi are different people in four different kinds of wars, but

could this be a bin laden moment for this president? i think the echoes are obvious, and the truth is, if you take a look at what president trump has been saying in recent weeks and months, he has boasted time and again that as far as he is concerned, the islamic state group has been defeated. he has claimed responsibility and claimed the victory against islamic state. but of course, there remain a number of islamic state fighters who continue to operate and have escaped capture. there has been real concern in washington, inside congress particularly over recent weeks, about this invasion by turkey and the danger that that could allow islamic state fighters to escape, and that they need to be recaptured. it was also said that some of the most dangerous fighters had been taken away to secure facilities by

us troops, but this idea that they have managed to capture or kill the leader is something president trump believes will be something he can really say proves that islamic state has been defeated. to him, you cannot overestimate just how important that is. it is essential for him to be able to say that islamic state are defeated. 0f course, whether or not that is the case on whether or not this group can regroup, that is another issue. chris, thanks. just to reiterate, we are keeping an eye on that podium in the white house. everything looks ready. all it needs now is the arrival of president trump. we are not quite sure where he is, but clearly everything is ready. in the meantime, we would like to continue talking, even though we can't

confirm the news. let's talk to doctor hellier in cairo. we are waiting to see what the president says, but if it turns out that al—baghdadi has been killed, captured, taken up, how important a step will that be in what is happening in the middle east? i think it would be significant, but it is important to keepin significant, but it is important to keep in mind that the isis group didn't simply depend on the existence of one man any more than al-qaeda depended on the existence of bin laden to continue. the difference between the two groups is that isis relied on the narrative of having had a piece of territory it governed, a state, whereas al-qaeda never made that part of its story in

terms of recruitment, so that will hit it quite hard in terms of the fa ct hit it quite hard in terms of the fact that the head of that so—called state has been taken out. sorry for interrupting, would you consider al—baghdadi to be more of a tactician or more of an ideologue, ora tactician or more of an ideologue, or a mixture of both? certainly not an ideologue. in fact, we haven't seen an ideologue. in fact, we haven't seen much evidence to suggest he was a man of ideas in any shape orform. he was far more an operational sort of individual will stop the ideology of individual will stop the ideology of the group predates him and i'm not sure that we could put much credit to him, for lack of a better word, when it comes to developing that ideological structure. that also means that the ideology that fed isis is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. there is a

constellation of different forces in northern syria at the moment, some in the area in which he might have been taken out in a raid. does his death, if it is confirmed, alter that constellation of forces between turkey, syria, the kurds, russia, iran and the united states? i'm not sure whether it has a direct impact, to be honest. those groups are already on the ground, transforming, shifting allegiances, trying to find a new way to follow their interests on the ground. his death doesn't necessarily bring about all that much. it might mean you find some people that show allegiance to him no longer feel they have that allegiance to isis and that it is better to sign up with other groups, or indeed desert the field of battle altogether. a lot of that is unclear as of now. when you study the region

in the group, is there any particular individual may come to prominence, may take over from al—baghdadi if it turns out he has been taken out? there are candidates, but unlike al-qaeda, the number two candidates, but unlike al-qaeda, the numbertwo in candidates, but unlike al-qaeda, the number two in isis, apparently a turkmen in origin, isn't particularly well known. it is more likely that the different affiliates that exist around the world may simply go their own way in terms of not necessarily openly breaking the affiliation but feeling that they are more independent and have more autonomy to do as they see fit. there were a number of different cells that existed in different parts of the world, notjust syria and iraq, that laid claim to being a pa rt and iraq, that laid claim to being a part of the broader franchise, and they may simply carry on in their own way from this point on. as far as you can tell, in the last few

months after the islamic state group had lost its line, was al—baghdadi able to influence his followers on the ground ? able to influence his followers on the ground? we will go live to the white house. we hear president trump is walking in. let's listen. last night, the united states brought the world's number one terrorist leader to justice. abu bakr al—baghdadi is dead. terrorist leader to justice. abu bakral—baghdadi is dead. he terrorist leader to justice. abu bakr al—baghdadi is dead. he was the founder and leader of isis, the most ruthless and violent terror organisation anywhere in the world. the united states has been searching for al—baghdadi for many years.

capturing or killing al—baghdadi has been the top national security priority of my administration. us special operations forces executed a dangerous and daring night—time raid in north—western syria, and accomplished their mission in grand style. though us personnel were incredible. i got to watch much of it. no personnel were lost in the operation, while a large number of al—baghdadi's fighters and companions were killed with him. he died after running into a dead end tunnel, whimpering, crying and screaming all the way. the compound had been cleared by this time, with people either surrendering or being shot and killed. 11 young children

we re shot and killed. 11 young children were moved out of the house and are uninjured. the only ones remaining we re uninjured. the only ones remaining were al—baghdadi in the tunnel, and he had dragged three of his young children with him. they were led to certain death. he reached the end of the tunnel as our dogs chased him down. he ignited his vest, killing himself and the three children. his body was mutilated by the blast. the tunnel had caved in on it in addition. but test results gave certain, immediate and totally positive identification. it was him. the thug who tried so hard to intimidate others spent his last moments in utterfear, in total

panic and dread, terrified of the american forces bearing down on him. we were in the compound for approximately two hours, and after the mission was accomplished, we took a highly sensitive material and information from the raid, much having to do with isis origins, future plans, things that we very much want. al—baghdadi's demise demonstrates america's relentless pursuit of terrorist leaders, and our commitment to the enduring and total defeat of isis and other terrorist organisations. 0ur reach is very long. as you know, last month, we announced that we recently killed hamza bin laden, the very

violent son of 0sama bin laden, who was saying very bad things about people, about our country, about the world. he was the heir apparent to al-qaeda, terrorists who oppress and murder innocent people should never sleep soundly, knowing that we will com pletely sleep soundly, knowing that we will completely destroy them. these savage monsters will not escape their fate, savage monsters will not escape theirfate, and savage monsters will not escape their fate, and they will not escape their fate, and they will not escape the finaljudgment their fate, and they will not escape the final judgment of their fate, and they will not escape the finaljudgment of god. al—baghdadi has been on the run for many years, long before i took office. but at my direction, as commander—in—chief of the united states, we obliterated his caliphate 100% in march of this year. today's events a re 100% in march of this year. today's events are another reminder that we will continue to pursue the

remaining isis terrorists to their brutal end. that also goes for other terrorist organisations. they are likewise in our sites. al—baghdadi and the losers who worked for him, and the losers who worked for him, and losers they are, they had no idea what they were getting into. in some cases, they were very frightened puppies. in other cases, they were hard—core killers. but they were hard—core killers. but they killed many, many people. there murder of innocent americans james foley, stephen sought lough, peter carsick and kayla muller were especially heinous. the shocking publicised murder of a jordanian

pilot, a wonderful young man. i spoke to the king ofjordan, and they all knew and loved him. he was burned alive in a cage for all to see, and the execution of christians in libya and egypt, as well as the genocidal mass murder of the seds rank isis among the most depraved organisation in the history of our world. the forced religious conversions, the orange suits prior to so many beheadings, all of which we re to so many beheadings, all of which were openly displayed for the world to see, this was all that abu bakr al—baghdadi, this is what he wanted. this is what he was proud of. he was a sick and depraved man, and now

he's gone. al—baghdadi was vicious and violent, and he died in a vicious and violent way, as a coward, running and crying. this raid was impeccable and could only have taken place with the acknowledgement and help of certain other nations and people. i want to thank the nations of russia, turkey, syria and iraq. and i also want to thank the syrian kurds for the support they were able to give us. this was a very very dangerous mission. thank you as well to the great intelligence professionals who helped make this very successful journey possible. i want to thank the soldiers and sailors, airmen and marines involved in last night's

operation. you are the very best there is anywhere in the world, no matter where you go. there is nobody even close. i want to thank general mark millie and ourjoint chiefs of staff, and i also want to thank our professionals who work in other agencies of the united states government and were critical to the mission's unbelievable success. last night was a great night for the united states and for the world. a brutal killer, one who has caused so much hardship and death, has violently been eliminated. he will never again harm another innocent man, woman or child. he died like a dog, he died like a coward. the world is now a much safer place. god

bless america. thank you. any questions? we have had him under surveillance for a couple of weeks. we knew a little bit about where he was going, where he was heading. we had very good information that he was going to another location, but he didn't go. two or three efforts we re he didn't go. two or three efforts were cancelled because he decided to change his mind, constantly changing his mind, and finally we saw that he was here, held up here. we knew something about the compound, that it had tunnels. the tunnels were dead end for the most part. we think there was one that wasn't, but we had that covered just in case. the level of intelligence, the level of work, was pretty amazing. when we landed with eight helicopters, a

large crew of brilliant fighters ran out of those helicopters and blue holes into the side of the building, not wanting to go through the main door, because that was booby—trapped. there was something really amazing to see. i got to watch it along with general millie, the vice president and others, in the vice president and others, in the situation room. and we watched it so clearly. how did you watch it? i don't want to say, but absolutely perfect, as though you were watching a movie. the technology there alone is really great. a big part of the trip that was of great danger was, it was approximately a one hour and ten minute flight, and we were flying over very dangerous