Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, shadowy ISIS leader, makes first public appearance

Officials attempting to authenticate 21-minute video showing al-Baghdadi giving a sermon

The Associated Press Posted: Jul 07, 2014 1:09 AM ET Last Updated: Jul 07, 2014 1:09 AM ET

The elusive leader of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, reportedly delivered a sermon at a mosque in Iraq on Friday. The video was uploaded to militant online networks on Saturday, and is currently being probed by investigators. If authenticated, it would mark possible the first public appearance of the group’s infamous and shadowy leader. (Militant video/Associated Press)

Iraq security agencies are working to verify the authenticity of a video that purportedly shows the elusive leader of the Sunni extremist group that has declared an Islamic state in a large chunk of territory it controls leading prayers this week in northern Iraq, authorities said.

The video said to show Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the head of the Islamic State group, was reportedly filmed on Friday at the Great Mosque in Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul. It was posted on at least two websites known to be used by the organization and bore the logo of its media arm.

The sermon in Mosul would the first public appearance for al-Baghdadi, a shadowy figure who has emerged as perhaps the preeminent figure in the international jihadi community. Al-Baghdadi, who has a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head, took over the group four years ago and has since transformed it from an al-Qaeda affiliate focused on Iraq into an independent transnational force that controls of a huge stretch of land straddling the Syria-Iraq border.

Iraqi military spokesman Lt. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi told reporters Sunday the country's security services are still analyzing the 21-minute video to verify whether the speaker is indeed al-Baghdadi, and that the government will "announce the details once they are available."

Al-Baghdadi declared caliph

The purported appearance in Mosul, a city of some 2 million that the militants seized last month, came five days after al-Baghdadi's group declared the establishment of an Islamic state, or caliphate, in the territories it has seized in Iraq and Syria. The group proclaimed al-Baghdadi the leader of its state and demanded that all Muslims pledge allegiance to him.

Wearing black robes and a black turban, the man in the video said to be al-Baghdadi urges his followers to jihad, and emphasizes the implementation of a strict interpretation of Islamic law. He strikes an almost humble tone, telling listeners: "I am not better than you or more virtuous than you."

A senior Iraqi intelligence official told The Associated Press on Saturday that an initial analysis indicated that the man in the video is indeed al-Baghdadi. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.

The government carried out at least three airstrikes Sunday in Mosul, two of which hit the Rashidiyah neighbourhood and one of which targeted the 17 Tammuz district, residents said. It was not clear whether the raids were related to the video.

Air strikes target area shown in video

A medical official in the city said seven people were killed and 30 wounded in one strike in Rashidiyah. Casualty figures were not immediately available for the other air raids.

Both the residents and the official spoke on condition of anonymity over fears for their safety.

It was not clear what the air raids targeted, and the Iraqi military could not immediately be reached for comment.

Over the past month, al-Baghdadi's fighters have overrun much of northern and western Iraq, adding to the territory they already control in neighboring Syria. The group's initial surge in Iraq has crested, at least for now, after having grabbed most of Iraq's predominantly Sunni Arab regions and reaching majority Shiite areas, where resistance is tougher.

One of the main battlefronts now is the country's largest oil refinery near Beiji, some 250 kilometres north of Baghdad, where government forces are besieged by Islamic State group fighters.

Al-Moussawi, the military spokesman, said security forces repelled an overnight attack on the facility, killing around 20 militants and damaging eight vehicles. The casualty figures could not be independently verified.

The Sunni militant offensive has ramped up the pressure on Iraq's political leaders to quickly form a new government that can confront the insurgents and keep the country from fracturing along ethnic and sectarian lines.

Al-Maliki under fire

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite whose State of Law bloc won the biggest chunk of the vote in April elections, is angling for a third consecutive term, and vowed last week he would not withdraw his candidacy — despite calls for him to step aside.

He has been widely accused of trying to monopolize power. Rivals and former allies alike say he has exacerbated the crisis by failing to pursue reconciliation with the country's Sunni minority, which complains it is treated like second-class citizens by al-Maliki's government.

Iran, the regional Shiite power, has said it will provide any help necessary to aid Iraq in its current crisis. Tehran has maintained close ties with successive Shiite-led governments in Iraq since the 2003 ouster of Saddam Hussein, a Sunni who oppressed the Shiites.

Late Sunday, a bomb exploded inside a coffee shop in the primarily Shiite neighbourhood of Washash in western Baghdad, killing five people and wounding 17, police officials said. Hospital officials confirmed the casualty figures.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to brief the media.

Full Speech with English Subtitles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOORW63ioY0

ISIS: 5 things to know about the Iraqi jihadist group

Sunni militant group wants to create Islamic state that spans territory in Iraq and Syria

CBC News Posted: Jun 24, 2014 5:00 AM ET Last Updated: Jun 25, 2014 3:06 PM ET

Within just a few months, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has become the most feared jihadist organization on the planet — even more so than its parent group, al-Qaeda.

In early June, ISIS conquered the northern Iraqi cities of Mosul and Tikrit, and has more recently been threatening to overtake the capital, Baghdad.

In response, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has called on his countrymen to take up arms against the group, while also beseeching the United States to provide military assistance, including air strikes.

Many analysts believe that the future of Iraq lies in the balance.

Here's a look at the group's genesis and what ISIS hopes to achieve.

What is it and what do members want?

ISIS is a group of Sunni jihadists led by 43-year-old Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the nom de guerre of Awwad Ibrahim al-Badri al-Samarri.

Fighters with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria recently overtook the Iraqi cities of Mosul and Tikrit and have threatened to attack Baghdad, the capital. (Reuters)

Baghdadi fought in an armed rebellion in western Iraq after the U.S. invasion in 2003, and was captured by U.S. forces in 2006. Upon his release towards the end of the decade, Baghdadi rejoined al-Qaeda affiliates in Iraq.

ISIS seeks to create an Islamic state in eastern Syria and northern Iraq based on sharia law. Thus far, the group has captured territory from the fringes of Aleppo in eastern Syria to Falluja in southern Iraq to Mosul in the north.

There has been much conjecture about the size of this group. According to London's Guardian newspaper, ISIS was thought to have around 6,000 members prior to seizing Mosul and Tikrit. But the conquest of key Iraqi cities has undoubtedly inspired many jihadis, both in and outside Iraq, to join.

How did the group emerge?

The roots of ISIS are in Iraq, but the group was greatly influenced by its experiences fighting in Syria, says Kamran Bokhari, vice-president of Middle Eastern and South Asian affairs for the geopolitical intelligence firm Stratfor.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, shown here in a U.S. State Department wanted poster, is the commander of ISIS. (Reuters)

ISIS's etymology can be traced to al-Qaeda in Iraq, which arose in response to the U.S. invasion in 2003. The group was active in the insurgency in Iraq, but when civil war broke out along sectarian lines in Syria in 2011, many ISIS members crossed the border to fight with other al-Qaeda-affiliated groups against the Shia Alawite regime of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.

In 2013, ISIS came into a conflict with fellow jihadists, says Bokhari.

ISIS "hit a dead end in Syria, because it was fighting on two fronts – both the Assad regime and its allies as well as rival rebel groups that were relatively moderate," says Bokhari. As a result, "It decided it was in its interest to go back into Iraq."

Is it a part of al-Qaeda?

No. That's because while ISIS was fighting under the auspices of al-Qaeda in Syria, Baghdadi clashed with Ayman al-Zawahiri, the reclusive head of al-Qaeda, over strategy.

When the Syrian war broke out, Baghdadi sent an envoy to create the al-Nusra Front, which became the main Sunni jihadist group fighting the Shia regime of Assad. Zawahiri became angered, however, when Baghdadi tried to merge the al Nusra Front with ISIS, says Jabeur Fathally, a Middle East expert at the University of Ottawa.

ISIS ultimately split from al-Qaeda because Baghdadi's group had a different goal in mind: capturing swaths of territory to establish a caliphate, or Islamic state.

Many Iraqi observers believe Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki must be removed to quell the unrest in Iraq. (Hadi Mizban/Associated Press)

Differing goals also means differing enemies, says Fathally.

In October 2013, Zawahiri released a statement commanding al-Qaeda members "not to fight the deviant groups like the [Shia], the Ismailis, the Qadiyaniat, and deviant Sufis," and focus on "fighting the head of international infidelity," namely the U.S.

ISIS, on the other hand, is more focused on regional battles, especially against those who support the Shia-led Iraqi government under Nouri al-Maliki, says Benjamin Friedman, research fellow in defence and homeland security studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think-tank headquartered in Washington, D.C.

"I think it's unfortunate that [ISIS is] often referred to as an al-Qaeda group," Friedman says.

"Their ideology tends in that direction, but their actions so far, no matter how violent and terroristic, are of a group interested in local politics."

How is ISIS funded?

ISIS's funding is "a combination of outside private donations and domestically generated revenue in areas that they control," says Rex Brynen, a political science professor at Montreal's McGill University.

The group's biggest patrons are in the Gulf states, says Fathally.

"A large part of their financing comes from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, but it's not from official institutions, but from private wealthy people," he said.

ISIS gunmen on patrol in Fallujah. (File/Associated Press)

The group is also enriching itself every time it conquers territory. Earlier this month, ISIS members reportedly looted $450-million from a bank in Mosul and helped themselves to military equipment left behind by members of the fleeing Iraqi army.

Brynen says ISIS also raises significant money through taxation and extortion.

Some of the territory it has captured, including the town of Raqqa in Syria, contains oil fields, which provides the group with another form of revenue. According to Stratfor's Bokhari, ISIS has sold oil to foreign buyers, including one of its stated enemies — the Syrian regime.

How much support does the ISIS get from regular Iraqis?

While much of the world has been surprised by the speed with which the ISIS has been able to take over Iraqi cities, "this could not happen without local support," says Henry Habib, professor emeritus of political science at Montreal's Concordia University.

He says that the group has been able to take advantage of Sunni outrage with the Shia-led government of Nouri al-Maliki.

"The failure of the Iraqi government in including the Sunnis and giving them positions in the government and so on and so forth has [had] a direct effect" on the ISIS's strategic success, Habib says.

One of the reasons they were able to take cities like Mosul and Tikrit is "because these are fundamentally Sunni cities that are tired of Maliki," says Michael O'Hanlon, director of foreign policy research at the Brookings Institute in Washington, D.C.

Cato's Friedman says that although the ISIS is getting most of the credit for its strategic gains, it has been abetted by a variety of smaller Sunni organizations, including tribal militias and Baathist fighters with links to the deposed regime of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

In a video posted to YouTube, ISIS spokesman Shaykh Muhammad Adnani said that the group "has not prevailed by numbers, nor equipment, nor weapons, nor wealth, rather it prevails by Allah’s bounty alone, through its creed.”

ISIS in Iraq: What is a caliphate?

Iraqi jihadists announce establishment of new Islamic state

CBC News Posted: Jun 30, 2014 6:12 PM ET Last Updated: Jun 30, 2014 6:12 PM ET

When the jihadists within the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)declared a caliphate, or new Islamic state, covering a large swath of territory in the two countries, they were reintroducing a political and theological concept that dates back to the time of the Prophet Muhammad.

Here's a look at the concept, the complexities of understanding it today and the potential observers consider it has for finding legitimacy outside the ISIS leadership.

What is a caliphate?

ISIS commander Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, shown here in a U.S. State Department wanted poster, has renamed himself Caliph Ibrahim of the new Islamic State and called on Muslims worldwide to swear loyalty to him. (Reuters)

A caliphate, from the word "succession" in Arabic, is an Islamic state that has its roots in the seventh century immediately after the death of Muhammad.

"He was a prophet and he was also a political leader. So the idea of the caliphate was born on that basis," says Noomane Raboudi, an assistant professor in the school of political studies at the University of Ottawa.

Four people — known as caliphs — succeeded Muhammad.

Chosen by "shura" — or consultation among Muslims — Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman and Ali led the community in its dramatic expansion from the Arabian Peninsula to rule over North Africa and the Middle East.

When was the last caliphate?

There have been various caliphates ruling in areas ranging from Morocco to Central Asia, but the most recent one was the Ottoman Empire.

It was abolished in 1924 by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the first president of the Republic of Turkey, who removed the last caliph, Abdulmecid.

After the abolition of the Ottoman Empire, "the so-called nation-state concept, which is a European innovation, was imported into the Middle East," says Houchang Hassan-Yari, a political science professor at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ont.

Can someone declare a caliphate?

"They can call it caliphate. They can call it something else," says Hassan-Yari. "Since they are in control of a territory, they command the territory, the people living on that territory."

Hannan-Yari says ISIS will offer a "very austere reading of the situation."

"To them it means practically imposing, or exercising as they would like to say, this Islamic value, Islamic law, the Shariah and so forth, based on their understanding of what those terms mean."

Is it legitimate?

It all depends on who is answering that question. For the jihadists who made the declaration, the answer is obvious.

"It's legitimate as far as they concerned, because they are the source of legitimacy themselves. They decide what is legitimate and what is not," says Hassan-Yari.

"In other words, they are not going to ask other countries to recognize their existence."

But there is also the sense that the declaration is intended to send a message.

"I think it's more bluster than reality," Fawaz Gerges, a professor of international relations at the London School of Economics, told the BBC.

ISIS has been using social media and observers also see the term "caliphate" being deployed on that battlefront.

"This old-new political-religious entity has been given its own hashtag, #CaliphateRestored — a potent weapon in a digital propaganda war," Ian Black, the Middle East editor for the Guardian newspaper, wrote Monday.

Will the caliphate find support?

Some observers are doubtful.

"At this point I cannot imagine any existing Muslim or majority-Muslim country would recognize the existence of a state, of such a caliphate, because it poses a real threat to everybody," says Hassan-Yari

Others do see a potential for the caliphate finding favour elsewhere.

"I think there is the capacity for expanded support," Aymenn al-Tamimi, an expert on ISIS, told the Guardian.

"There was already a pro-ISIS trend in Gaza and Sinai and from Ansar al-Sharia in Libya and Tunisia. This declaration will reinforce that trend. This is unprecedented — even if it was predictable."

Is the idea of a caliphate unique to ISIS?

No.

Nearly all Sunni political Islamist movements dream of the eventual resurrection of the caliphate, most by political means, though jihadi groups call for establishing it by violence.

It has been the ultimate ambition of al-Qaeda, but while its late leader Osama bin Laden could once claim leadership of the international jihadi movement, he never went so far as to declare himself caliph.

Is there more at stake than theology and politics?

Raboudi, of the University of Ottawa, says yes.

There are social and economic issues involved, he says.

And he cautions against trying to understand what is happening in the region from a Western perspective.

"We should not use the political science of the Western mind, which was created to understand the national state in the Western society, to understand" what is going on there, he says.

"It's extremely complicated."

Khan Yazdani Library

Monday, 7 July 2014