UPDATE 2145 GMT: A spokesman for Iraq’s Interior Ministry has asserted that the man in the Friday Prayers video from Mosul is “indisputably” not Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the head of the Islamic State.
Brigadier General Saad Maan said, “We have analyzed the footage … and found it is a farce.”
He claimed Iraqi forces had recently wounded al-Baghdadi in an airstrike, with Islamic State fighters moving him to Syria for medical treatment.
Footage has been posted of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the first time he has appeared on video.
Al-Baghdadi is shown in Mosul, Iraq second-largest city, captured by insurgents on June 10. He is addressing a congregation in a mosque, with the Islamic State flag draped near the pulpit, in Mosul.
The Islamic State leader proclaimed himself “Caliph Ibrahim” last week. Before today, he was only widely seen through a couple of photographs.
A claimed translation of al-Baghdadi’s address has been posted:
If you are pleased with the promise of Allah, then make jihad in his sake! And call the believers to this, and have patience in the times of doubt. If you knew what was in the jihad, from the ajr (reward), karama (generous blessing), raising in rank, the honor in this life and the next, none of you would stray from the path of jihad!