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Iraq analyzing video said to be of al-Baghdadi

This image made from video purports to show Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Sinan Salaheddin Associated Press

BAGHDAD – 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 be the first public appearance for al-Baghdadi, a shadowy figure who has emerged as perhaps the pre-eminent 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-Qaida affiliate focused on Iraq into an independent transnational force that controls 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 still are 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.”

The purported appearance in Mosul, a city of about 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.

During 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.

One of the main battlefronts now is the country’s largest oil refinery near Beiji, about 155 miles 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 about 20 militants and damaging eight vehicles. The casualty figures could not be independently verified.

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.

Late Saturday, Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said the next prime minister must come from State of Law, but he urged the bloc to put forward a candidate other than al-Maliki, saying an alternative nominee “will help end the suffering.”

The comments marked a shift in al-Sadr’s position. He previously said that the next prime minister must be Shiite, but not from State of Law.

Also, Iran’s state news agency said an Iranian pilot named Shoja’at Alamdari Mourjani was killed while defending Shiite holy sites in the Iraqi city of Samarra, which is home to one of the most revered shrines in Shiite Islam. It said Mourjani was buried Friday in a village in southern Iran.