[[3]]Observers had long speculated that two important Daesh war videos, Flames of War and Flames of War 2, were narrated by a Canadian.[4] Khalifa was captured in January 2019, and acknowledged he was the narrator.[5]
The Flames of War was described as one of the most influential Daesh war videos.[5] It is 55 minutes long, much of the footage filmed with a GoPro style body-camera, worn by a fighter, who first digs in, then charges Syrian soldiers. Other footage records prisoners first being made to dig their own graves, then showing their brutal executions.
The New York Times hired three voice recognition experts, who had served as expert witnesses, Catalin Grigoras, Jeff M. Smith and Robert C. Maher, who all agreed recordings made when Rukmini Callimachi interviewed him matched the narration of the videos.[5]According to Charlie Winter, a counter-terrorism specialist from the International Center for the Study of Radicalization, “His voice is the most recognizable English-speaking voice to have ever appeared in Islamic State propaganda.”[5]
Winter called The Flames of War
According to Amarnath Amarasingam, of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, “He is a symbol — the voice coming out of ISIS, speaking to the English-speaking world, for the better part of the last four to five years.”[5]
References
1. ^1 {{cite news | url = https://globalnews.ca/news/4966956/canadian-admits-narrated-isis-execution-video/| title = Canadian captured in Syria admits to role in gruesome ISIS execution videos| work = Global News| author = Stewart Bell| date = 2019-02-17| archiveurl = | archivedate = | accessdate = 2019-02-24| deadurl = No | quote = {{'}}Our sources in YPG confirmed that he is the narrator of both FoW [Flames of War] videos,{{'}} the group said. }}
2. ^1 {{cite news | url = https://globalnews.ca/news/4556747/isis-execution-video-canadian/| title = Narrator of ISIS execution video is Canadian, says captured Mississauga ISIS member| work = Global News| author = Stewart Bell| date = 2018-10-16| archiveurl = | archivedate = | accessdate = 2019-02-24| deadurl = No | quote = But the statement supports speculation that a Canadian has been narrating ISIS English-language recruitment videos and claims of responsibility for some of its deadliest attacks.}}
3. ^1 2 3 4 5 {{cite news | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/17/world/middleeast/isis-islamic-state-narrator.html| title = The English Voice of ISIS Comes Out of the Shadows| work = The New York Times| author = Rukmini Callimachi| date = 2019-02-17| page = | location = Hasaki, Syria | isbn = | language = | trans_title = | archiveurl = | archivedate = | accessdate = 2019-02-24| deadurl = No | quote = Speaking fluent English with a North American accent, the man would go on to narrate countless other videos and radio broadcasts by the Islamic State, serving as the terrorist group’s faceless evangelist to Americans and other English speakers seeking to learn about its toxic ideology. Now a 35-year-old Canadian citizen, who studied at a college in Toronto and once worked in information technology at a company contracted by IBM, says he is the anonymous narrator.}}
4. ^1 {{cite news | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/22/world/canada/canadian-citizens-isis.html| title = They Left Canada for ISIS. Should They Be Allowed Home?| work = The New York Times| author = Ian Austen| date = 2019-02-22| archiveurl = | archivedate = | accessdate = 2019-02-24| deadurl = No | quote = The ISIS narrator, Mohammed Khalifa, said: {{'}}I do not regret what I did, I stand by the Islamic State.{{'}} He made that very clear.}}