Al Anbar Governorate
Despite his senior position within the ISIL hierarchy, very little is known about al-Iraqi. He has been referred to as a "shadowy persona". Al-Suwaydawi was a member of the Al-bu Swda clan of the Dulaim, the largest tribe in Iraq's Al Anbar Governorate. Al-Suwaydawi served under the Ba'athist regime of Saddam Hussein as a lieutenant colonel in the Iraqi Army. He also operated in Iraq's Air Defense Intelligence. According to Ahmed al-Dulaimi, the governor of Al Anbar Governorate, al-Suwaydawi graduated from the same military academy as future senior ISIL leaders Haji Bakr and Abu Abdulrahman al-Bilawi.