they were meeting, they were playing soccer together, they were strategizing together. one thing is clear, al baghdadi went through a transformation at camp bucca. baghdadi was an average person. he was just a sunni foot soldier when he was arrested by the americans. but by the time al baghdadi left, he was someone else. all we know is that baghdadi became an entirely different creature, in terms of radicalization, in terms of militarization, in terms of building a huge network of militants in the prison. at camp bucca, al baghdadi networked with hundreds of jihadis, at least some of whom would join isis, the day would come when he would need military expertise. enter saddam hussein s army. dismissed by the americans, many now at camp bucca. men with exactly the skill set al baghdadi could later make use of, and then he was set free. the future leader of isis was recommended for unconditional release by a military review board in december 2004. they did not consider him a t
escaped. into this area, a new man arrived. we know him now as abu baghdadi, the leader of isis. and, yes, he was in american custody during the iraq war. he s shown his face publicly only once. last year when he gave a sermon to his followers. back when the u.s. had him under lock and key, he was seen as believe it or not, a man who could be trusted. the americans seem to see him
as someone who could keep the prison quiet. there are 24 camps within the sunni side of camp bucca, he was allowed open access to all of them. he wasn t considered from everything we know now, a high level detainee, and he was allowed to lead to prayers, he was allowed to give religious lessons. the future leader of isis was giving other inmates lessons on islam. those inmates were jihadists or former baathists, henchmen of saddam, or simply common criminals. it most assuredly was a jihadist university. unquestionably. put them all together in the baking heat of southern iraq, without baghdadi, a man who dreamed of a new kind of terror, it was a recipe for isis.
from the southern most island of europe. let s bring in ian lee. you know, it s not something that s happened overnight, this foothold that isis has now in libya. why now this report? reporter: allison, they have been able to exploit the war between two warring factions. you have ilammist governments in the western part of libya that it ranges from moderate to extremists. have you the internationally recognized governments. in between that, they have been able carve out their territory in the central part of libya along the coastline. we are hearing the isis leader abu baghdadi has been in more control of this isis affiliate than any other ones that are out there. and it has become a beacon for fighters, not only in will beia, but also in other parts of africa, they say there is
the base of the coastal city of sirt. for the latest, we want to bring in ian lee. this is an alarming report, no question. reporter: that s right. christine, isis being able carve out territory in the central part of libya on the coastline. we are hearing the isis leader abu baghdadi has been sending 800 fighters to iraq and sir what to provide a back boep to isis. therefore, urban warfare and explosives making and it also has become a beacon, one of the fighters if africa, there are fighters from egypt, tunisia and other parts of africa joining this isis afillia. we are hearing they have about 3,000 fighters in total and they have been describing out in neighboring countries as well.