Sunday Times 2
Jihadist chief orders Muslims to ‘obey’ in surprise sermon
View(s):BAGHDAD, July 05, (AFP) – The leader of a brutal jihadist group addressed worshippers in the militant-held Iraqi city of Mosul, ordering Muslims to “obey” him and calling for global jihad, in a video distributed online Saturday.
The appearance by the hitherto elusive Islamic State (IS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi at a mosque in Mosul for Friday prayers marks a significant change for the shadowy jihadist whose group has led a swift offensive that has overrun swathes of territory across five provinces north and west of Baghdad.
An image grab taken from a propaganda video: Al-Baghdadi adressing worshippers at a Mosul mosque.AFP.
The IS-led onslaught has alarmed world leaders, displaced hundreds of thousands and piled pressure on Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as he seeks a third term in office following April elections.
A video posted on social media today showed a portly man clad in a long black robe and a black turban with a long greying beard addressing worshippers at weekly prayers at Al-Nur mosque in central Mosul.
“I am the wali (leader) who presides over you, though I am not the best of you, so if you see that I am right, assist me,” said the man, purportedly Baghdadi.
“If you see that I am wrong, advise me and put me on the right track, and obey me as long as I obey God.”
Text superimposed on the video identified the man as “Caliph Ibrahim”, the name Baghdadi has gone by since the group on June 29 declared a pan-Islamic “caliphate,” a system of governance last seen in Ottoman times.
The video is the first ever official appearance by Baghdadi, according to Aymenn al-Tamimi, an expert on Islamist movements, though the jihadist leader may have appeared in a 2008 video under a different name.
Baghdadi is believed to have been born in the Iraqi city of Samarra in 1971, and joined the insurgency against the US military following the 2003 invasion that ousted executed dictator Saddam Hussein.
He spent time in a US military prison and eventually took over leadership of the group, which was then affiliated with Al-Qaeda and known as the Islamic State of Iraq, in 2010.