Iraqi officer under Saddam masterminded rise of Islamic State - Spiegel

Iraqi security forces ride a vehicle past a wall painted with the black flag commonly used by Islamic State militants, near former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's palace in Tikrit April 1, 2015. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani

BERLIN (Reuters) - A former intelligence officer for the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was the mastermind behind Islamic State's takeover of northern Syria, according to a report by Der Spiegel that is based on documents uncovered by the German magazine.

Spiegel, in a lengthy story published at the weekend and entitled "Secret Files Reveal the Structure of Islamic State", says it gained access to 31 pages of handwritten charts, lists and schedules which amount to a blueprint for the establishment of a caliphate in Syria.