(Washington) A Canadian jihadist presented as a key player in the Islamic State’s (IS) propaganda group, and who lent his voice to his videos, pleaded guilty on Friday in a US court, the Justice Department said.
Mohammed Khalifa, 38, admitted to having “provided material support to an association of terrorist criminals who caused death” and will be fixed on his sentence on April 15, 2022, the ministry said in a statement.
He is punishable by imprisonment for life.
The Canadian born in Saudi Arabia was captured, in combat, in January 2019 by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a coalition dominated by the Kurds and supported by Washington, and entrusted in 2021 to the American authorities.
According to the indictment released on October 2, he left Canada in 2013 to join ISIS in Syria. He quickly rose to prominence in the self-proclaimed “caliphate” established by the group between 2014 and 2019, straddling Iraq and Syria.
As early as 2014, he had become a “key member” of the propaganda cell of the jihadist organization, in particular because of his mastery of English and Arabic.
This cell is notably at the origin of videos of executions of foreign hostages including American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, beheaded in 2014.
Mohammed Khalifa has personally been the English “voice-over” for several “extremely violent IS propaganda” videos, including two titled “Flames of War,” the first from 2014 and the second from 2017 in which he is featured. sees Syrian soldiers executed, can we read on this document.
He is also the alleged narrator of “recruitment videos” illustrated by images of the organization’s attacks in France and Belgium, to encourage other jihadists to take action.
In an interview with the Canadian channel CBC carried out in 2019 from his Syrian prison, Mohammed Khalifa, alias Abou Ridouane al-Kanadi, showed no regret for his actions. He said he wanted to return to Canada with his wife and their three children, but on condition that he was not tried there.