Baghdad: The Islamic State has released a new propaganda video featuring British hostage John Cantlie, in which he gives a tour inside the city of Mosul in Iraq. The country’s second largest city was captured by ISIS militants during a blitz in June when they murdered more than 2,000 Shiite prisoners and soldiers, according to Human Rights Watch.
The video that is 8 minutes and 15 seconds long, seeks to project a picture of normalcy and kosher governance under the ISIS rule as the British captive is seen touring through the marketplaces, hospitals and even driving a police motorcycle.
The media likes to paint a picture of life in the Islamic State as depressed, people walking around as subjugated citizens in chains, beaten down by strict, totalitarian rule. But really apart from some rather chilly but very sunny December weather, life here in Mosul is business as usual,” the SITE monitoring agency quotes Cantlie speaking in the video.
Cantlie says that Sunni Muslims can now walk on the streets of Mosul without fear of sheer oppression.
According to SITE monitoring agency, the video was produced by the IS’ foreign language division, al-Hayat Media Center, and was distributed on Twitter and jihadi forums on January 3, 2015.
In the start of the video, Cantlie is seen visiting a marketplace in Mosul as he describes it as a “bustling, crazy markets where you can buy anything from books to lighters to perfumes to bags. Mentioning some Western media reports, Cantlie reiterates that contrary to what they write, Mosul is a normal city “going about its daily business and not a city living in fear”.
At one point, Cantlie is shown pointing towards hovering planes overhead (possibly of US-led coalition) and in an apparent quip, mocks them shouting, “Here! Here! Over here! You’ve come to rescue me again? Do something! Useless! Absolutely useless!
The video ends with Cantlie showing a prior clip of him reporting from Kobani – the Syria border town – in the background. Cantlie ends the video by highlighting the extent of areas under the IS influence as he says, “And now here I am in the streets of Mosul. It just goes to show the stretch of territory the Islamic State holds all the way from Kobani to all the way here in Mosul”.
Bureau Report
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