Will the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi provoke revenge attacks?

John Woodcock

THE most important thing to say is that the world is a safer place now this evil terrorist leader is not in it.

Under his control, the ultra-violent Daesh jihadist group was responsible for some of the worst atrocities the modern world has known. The mass graves of Yazidi women is seared in the memory, as is the hideous spectacle of journalists being led out for execution in orange boiler suits. The organisation slaughtered anyone who refused to bow down to their particular perversion of the noble, peaceful faith of Islam, including many fellow Muslims. There could be no accommodation with a group that vehemently opposes everything we hold dear in life and is intent on wiping out all that stands in its way.

Now that al-Baghdadi has been eliminated, Daesh will find a way to adapt – of that we can be certain – and there are reports that point towards a successor already being chosen.

Next week in parliament I will ask the Foreign and Commonwealth office what assessment has been made of the impact of the global coalition against Daesh in the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi?

It is vital that we understand how to defeat Daesh completely, not partially. I believe that working in partnership with our international friends is the best way forwards, as well as working to defeat the idea of Daesh, as it is only by defeating the idea that it will finally be eliminated. It is also important that western governments guard against the re-emergence of a successor organisation that shares Daesh’s extremist Islamist ideology.

A number of national news organisations have reported that UK security officials are increasing the monitoring of high-profile Islamist extremists in Britain following al-Baghdadi’s suicide.

British police and security agencies typically increase the monitoring of known, high-priority suspects in the wake of significant developments that might prompt reprisal killings or copycat incidents.

Compared to allies like the United States, the UK government has so far been relatively muted over al-Baghdadi’s demise, despite its leading role in the global coalition against Daesh.

Daesh already has a geographically distributed franchise around the world and that is not going to disappear overnight with al-Baghdadi’s death.

While the west will remain nervous, some valuable intelligence will doubtless have been gleaned by the US Delta Force commandos who spent two hours retrieving material from the ruins of al-Baghdadi’s hiding place.

Tim Farron

The UK has played a big role in the war against ISIS. Many of us who voted for military action back in 2015 were vilified for taking the decision.

I don’t back military intervention lightly.

I opposed the illegal and counterproductive war in Iraq.

What pushed me into the position where I felt that we had to back military action against Daesh is my personal experiences in the refugee camps.

I cannot pretend not to have been utterly and personally moved and affected by what I saw. I could give anecdote after anecdote that would break hearts but let me give just one in particular.

A seven-year-old lad was lifted from a dinghy on the beach at Lesbos. My Arabic interpreter said to me, “That lad has just said to his dad, ‘Daddy are ISIS here? Daddy are ISIS here?’”

I could not have stood and castigated the Prime Minister for not taking enough refugees and for Britain not standing as tall as it should in the world, opening its arms to the desperate as we have done so proudly for many, many decades and throughout our history, if we do not also do everything in our power to eradicate that which is the source of the terror from which people are feeling.

So, the removal of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is a very important step in defeating ISIS, but this extreme and dangerous ideology that will not have died with its leader.

The West failed to help rebuild Iraq and ISIS was able to grow from the chaos that was left.

It is now the job of our country and our allies to provide something to fill that space.

If we are to truly defeat ISIS once and for all, we need to help set up a stable future for Syria and Iraq.

Trudy Harrison

The first thing I would like to say on this is to congratulate all those involved in the capture of al-Baghdadi.

The bravery our troops have shown, along with US forces, in their presence in the Middle East is utterly commendable, and this event just proves that our fight against terror is working.

It is therefore astonishing that Jeremy Corbyn, the man who wants to be Prime Minister in six weeks’ time, refused to answer the question of whether he would have killed al-Baghdadi if he was in Downing Street.

This is in tune with his long-standing views regarding foreign policy, which frankly is a danger to our national security. Our next Prime Minister will face a real challenge on the global stage in facing international terrorism and we need a sensible, co-operative approach to do so.

This is where I have grave concerns over Jeremy Corbyn, his pro-Iran stance is extremely worrying for the Gulf States who are vital in the fight against Islamist terrorism in the region.

Corbyn has not only been a long-standing supporter of Iran, he has previously done paid appearances on Press TV, Iran’s state propaganda channel.

The fight against terror is truly one of the most important international issues today, it requires co-operation with our allies to beat it.

That’s why I would like to see a global Britain post-Brexit strengthening our international ties, engaging more with countries around the globe in trade and co-operation, and strengthening the economies of many developing countries. Our work on International Development is also critical, so that we don’t leave a vacuum that leads to the formation of new terror groups.