Listened to a tape of a rant by a claimed leader of ISIS, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Sham). His nom de guerre (and nom de polygamie) Shaikh Abu Muhammad al-’Adnani as-Shami. The added last name , Al-Shami, is supposed to indicate he is from Syria (smaller Syria but also greater Syria). But I doubt that. One thing is almost certain: he is not Syrian. His recorded Arabic is generic classical, but his accent (how letters are pronounced) is NOT Syrian. Almost certainly not Iraqi, something about the inflection of his speech, but I can be wrong on rare occasions. He sounds much more Saudi, or another GCC Gulfie, or maybe Yemeni. Not Syrian.
In addition to the rant, I found out that a ‘knight of Islam’, Shaikh Leader Feuhrer Doko Omarov Abu Othman, from the Islamic Emirate of Caucasus (WTF that be) has died. He is expected to go to Paradise, according to the ISIS leader. (You can count on one thing about Salafis: they claim they are Muslims, and they always tell the truth about one thing and only one thing. They would not lie about death: never deny a death nor claim a death that did not happen. Which is about their only true concession to Islam and the truth).
Cheers
mhg
