An image grab taken from a video released on Saturday by al-Furqan Media allegedly shows the leader of the Islamic State jihadist group, Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
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Man Claiming to Be Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi Calls for Support of Muslims
Updated July 5, 2014
BAGHDAD—A man claiming to be the self-appointed caliph of the Islamic State jihadist group made what is thought to be his first taped appearance in a video that circulated on social media Saturday.
Previously there were only two known images of the notoriously elusive Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi.
But Mr. Baghdadi's appearance in the high-quality video, in which he demanded that Muslims swear allegiance to his recently announced caliphate, looked set to further strengthen the jihadist bona fides of a militant leader whose power, popularity and strength have already eclipsed that of older militant groups such as al Qaeda.
The speech also served as a rebuke to critics, many of them fellow Islamists who have criticized Mr. Baghdadi's aspirations to rule over the Islamic world while remaining in hiding.
Mr. Baghdadi's Islamic State seized huge parts of northern and western Iraq after staging a well-organized assault from the northern city of Mosul on June 10.
The group was known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS, until the cleric declared a caliphate on June 29 through a spokesman in a recorded audio file.
Much of the speech and its presentation appeared to be a conscious attempt to connect Mr. Baghdadi to historical caliphs who ruled Islamic empires.
"I am the wali who presides over you, though I am not the best of you, so if you see that I am right, assist me," he said, using an Islamic term for leader. Mr. Baghdadi was purportedly speaking from an ornate pulpit at Mosul's Al Nouri Mosque on Friday. "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 in you."
The authenticity of the video, as well as the location and time at which it was made, couldn't be verified on Saturday.
But the man who claims to be the caliph in the images bears a strong resemblance to known images of Mr. Baghdadi.
The heavily bearded Mr. Baghdadi wore a black turban and a black abaya—a costume that seemed to mimic the style of the Abbasid caliphs who ruled much of the Islamic world from Baghdad in the eighth century, according to Hassan Hassan, an expert on Islamist movements at the Abu Dhabi-based Delma Institute.
"Baghdadi had to make a move like this, making a public appearance after announcing himself caliph," said Aymann Jawad Al Tamimi, a researcher on jihadist movements and a fellow at the Philadelphia-based Middle East Forum.
Unlike Osama bin Laden and Aymen al-Zawahiri, whose statements would be released several days after being made and would show the al Qaeda leaders in secluded forests or bland rooms without any objects to identify their location, Mr. Baghdadi's public appearance at Mosul's main mosque appeared to be intended as a statement about his authenticity as an Islamic leader and as a slight to the Iraqi and American governments that have been hunting him for years.
"Baghdadi's project is already more successful than bin Laden or Zawahiri's. bin Laden had to attach himself to the Taliban in Afghanistan to be part of a state. Baghdadi has created a state by himself," said Mr. Tamimi. "This has been taken to the next level."
U.S. officials have said they believed Mr. Baghdadi was in Syria, and the Islamic State leader's appearance in Mosul shows the limits of American intelligence on the group.
But so far, the Islamic State hasn't launched the global terrorist operations al Qaeda became known for, but that may change, European and American officials have warned. The Islamic State has successfully recruited hundreds of European, American and Australian jihadists to fight in Syria and Iraq, an aggressive recruitment drive never before seen by any other jihadist network. The ability of these Islamic State militants to travel to Europe or the U.S. without visas or the same security scrutiny as Arab citizens has alarmed Western governments who fear the group will capitalize on its fighters' Western passports.
By European estimates, some 1,400 citizens have traveled to Syria to fight with jihadist groups—most joining the Islamic State. The U.K. has one of the highest counts—with a police estimate of 500 Britons fighting in Syria—but a British lawmaker said last month that the number is likely higher, at 1,500.
The flow of Western citizens to fight in Syria and Iraq has continued despite measures taken since last year such as blacklisting the Islamic State across most of Europe or stripping Britons of their citizenships if they fight in Syria. Just last week, a collection of British imams signed a joint statement condemning any Briton for fighting in Syria and claiming it un-Islamic.
Write to Matt Bradley at matt.bradley@wsj.com
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