UK hostage tours Mosul in new video, says life under IS rule is 'business as usual'

Baghdad: In what is apparently aimed to build a positive image of the ISIS administration in Iraq, the Islamic State has released a new video featuring British captive John Cantlie, who is seen giving the low-down on how life is “business as usual” on the streets of Mosul, the heartland of ISIS Caliphate in Iraq.

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.

Throughout the video, Cantlie mocks and rejects the Western media reports that paint a grim picture of Mosul. The British captive, instead, is seen lauding the services provided by the Islamic State (including better healthcare and policing) to establish the point that life is “business as usual” in Mosul.

“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.

The IS' al-Hayat Media Center released a video of British captive John Cantlie giving a tour inside the city of Mosul pic.twitter.com/ZBbotC3DjD — SITE Intel Group (@siteintelgroup) January 3, 2015

Cantlie is shown driving a vehicle, walking around a market and purchasing items, and visiting a hospital and sick children. — SITE Intel Group (@siteintelgroup) 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”.

Showing the busy marketplace, he adds that the prices have not gone up and that there is no electricity problem in the city (he says pointing to “lot of neon signs and flashing bright lights”).

In one part of the video, Cantlie is also seen riding a police motorcycle as he applauds the lack of crime in city and he mocks the previous policemen of Iraq “who would run at the slightest sign of trouble”.

Cantlie also speaks from an IS police motorcycle and touts the services provided by the IS and lack of crime. pic.twitter.com/EPl592SkJt — SITE Intel Group (@siteintelgroup) January 3, 2015

To laud the ISIS “healthcare” system, Cantlie also visits a paediatric hospital where he shows what he called children with psychiatric problems “as a direct result of bombs and explosions falling from above”, as per a SITE report.

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 himself 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”.