'Caliph' demands obedience in video

Iraq analyzing tape purported to show top militant

Self-proclaimed caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made an unprecedented appearance in the Iraqi city of Mosul, which his forces helped capture last month, and ordered Muslims to obey him, according to a video posted online on Saturday.

That marks a significant change for the shadowy jihadist, whose Islamic State group led a lightning offensive that overran swaths of five provinces north and west of Baghdad.

The onslaught has alarmed world leaders, displaced hundreds of thousands and piled pressure on Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as he seeks a third term in office following April elections.

The video posted on Saturday showed a portly man clad in a long black robe and turban with a long graying beard addressing worshippers at weekly prayers at Al-Nur mosque in central Mosul.

The 21-minute video was released on at least two websites known to be used by the Islamic State group and bore the logo of its media arm.

"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."

Iraq's military spokesman said officials were working to determine the authenticity of the video. Lieutenant General Qassim al-Moussawi said on Sunday Iraq's security services were still analyzing the video.

He says the government will "announce the details once they are available".

Text superimposed on the video identified the man as "Caliph Ibrahim", the name Baghdadi took when the group on June 29 declared a "caliphate", a Pan-Islamic state last seen in Ottoman times, in which the leader is both political and religious.

The video is the first ever official appearance by Baghdadi, said 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 president Saddam Hussein.

He spent time in a US military prison and eventually took over leadership of a group, then affiliated with al-Qaida and known as the Islamic State of Iraq, in 2010.

Influential Sunni Muslim scholar Yusef al-Qaradawi, meanwhile, warned that the establishment of a caliphate by "a group known for its atrocities and radical views does not serve the Islamic project".

The title of caliph can only be "given by the entire Muslim nation", not by a single group, the cleric added.

AFP - AP

(China Daily 07/07/2014 page12)