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Online video depicts Al-Baghdadi, leader of Islamic State group, making public speech

This image made from video posted on a militant website Saturday purports to show the leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in Iraq. (Associated Press)
Ryan Lucas Associated Press

BAGHDAD – A man purporting to be the leader of the Sunni extremist group that has declared an Islamic state in territory it controls in Iraq and Syria has made what would be his first public appearance, delivering a sermon at a mosque in Iraq’s second-largest city, according to a video posted online Saturday.

The 21-minute video that is said to show Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the head of the Islamic State group, was reportedly filmed on Friday at the Great Mosque in the northern city of Mosul. It was released on at least two websites known to be used by the organization and bore the logo of its media arm, but it was not possible to independently verify whether the person shown was indeed al-Baghdadi.

There are only a few known photographs of al-Baghdadi, an ambitious Iraqi militant believed to be in his early 40s with a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head. Since taking the reins of the group in 2010, he has transformed it from a local branch of al-Qaida into an independent transnational military force, positioning himself as perhaps the preeminent figure in the global jihadi community.

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

In the video, the man said to be al-Baghdadi says that “the mujahedeen have been rewarded victory by God after years of jihad, and they were able to achieve their aim and hurried to announce the caliphate and choose the Imam,” referring to the leader.

Speaking in classical Arabic with little emotion, he outlines a vision that emphasizes holy war, the implementation of a strict interpretation of Islamic law, and the philosophy that the establishment of an Islamic caliphate is a duty incumbent on all Muslims.

He is dressed in black robes and a black turban – a sign that he claims descent from the Prophet Muhammad. He has dark eyes, thick eyebrows and a full black beard with streaks of gray on the sides.

The brazenness of his purported appearance – nearly unheard of among the most prominent global jihad figures – before dozens of people, and issued on a video only a day after its occurrence, suggested the Islamic State’s confidence in their rule of Mosul.

A senior Iraqi intelligence official said that after an initial analysis the man in the video is believed to indeed be al-Baghdadi. The official said the arrival of a large convoy in Mosul about midday Friday coincided with the blocking of cellular networks in the area. He says the cellular signal returned after the convoy departed.