ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A pro-ISIS imam has rejected prisoner swaps of captured Peshmerga, calling the any possible hostage exchange a “lie of the media,” a Rudaw reporter in Mosul has learned.
“Whoever flees the frontlines, will be immediately executed,” said Abu Asad al-Ansari, the ISIS cleric in his sermon for Friday prayers at Mohammad Rasul Alla mosque in Mosul.
“Over the last few days, rumors are being published concerning negotiations for exchanging Peshmerga hostages with ours in the hands of the Peshmerga, but these rumors are untrue,” said al-Ansari.
Speaking to roughly 250 people at the mosque amid tight security, he continued: “Whoever fights for Allah must reach prosperity or receive the reward of martyrdom. We must not comply with the enemy at all.”
He also had fierce words for those who have joined Mosul Governor Asil Nojaifi to fight the Islamic State to recapture Mosul.
“Nojaifi is leading the infidels and traitors of the Islamic State, but the fate for all of them is fire,” he said.
“Whoever flees the frontlines, will be immediately executed,” said Abu Asad al-Ansari, the ISIS cleric in his sermon for Friday prayers at Mohammad Rasul Alla mosque in Mosul.
“Over the last few days, rumors are being published concerning negotiations for exchanging Peshmerga hostages with ours in the hands of the Peshmerga, but these rumors are untrue,” said al-Ansari.
Speaking to roughly 250 people at the mosque amid tight security, he continued: “Whoever fights for Allah must reach prosperity or receive the reward of martyrdom. We must not comply with the enemy at all.”
He also had fierce words for those who have joined Mosul Governor Asil Nojaifi to fight the Islamic State to recapture Mosul.
“Nojaifi is leading the infidels and traitors of the Islamic State, but the fate for all of them is fire,” he said.
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