British Hostage Cantlie Appears in New Islamic State Video

NEW DELHI: British journalist John Cantlie, who is being held captive by the Islamic State (IS), appeared in another video shot by the terror group, this time, showing him in the Syrian-Turkish border town of Kobani.

Kobani has been under siege for over a month, with reports emerging that US-led airstrikes -- that are heavily concentrated on the town -- have helped Kurdish forces push back the militants. In the video, however, Cantlie offers a different account, saying that Kobani is almost entirely under the control of IS.

In this video, Cantlie appears on his own, and, in addition to the status of Kobani, speaks of the half billion dollars that the US has spent on the air campaign against IS. "Now the battle for Kobani is coming to an end," Cantlie says, adding that "the mujahideen are just mopping up now, street to street, and building to building.”

"For a month now the soldiers of the Islamic State have been besieging this city and despite continual American air strikes, which so far have cost nearly half a billion dollars, the mujahideen have pushed deep into the heart of the city. They now control the eastern and southern sectors," Cantlie continues.

“Contrary to what the Western media would have you believe, it is not an all-out battle here now. It is nearly over. As you can hear, it is very quiet, just the occasional gunfire," Cantlie says in reference to reports that Kurdish forces are successful in pushing back IS militants. "Urban warfare is as about as nasty and tough as it gets, and it's something of a specialty of the mujaheddin," the Briton continues.

This video appearance is Cantlie’s sixth thus far, and follows an article allegedly written by by the Briton and published in issue four of the group’s English-language magazine, ‘Dabiq’. The article, like the videos Cantlie has appeared in, pointed a finger at the United States and the United Kingdom for not negotiating the possibilities of the release of previous IS victims, namely, US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning.

The video appearances and the article prompted a debate on whether Cantlie has been turned. It is imperative to note that the Islamic State runs a sophisticated propaganda machine, with a dedicated media production unit, “Al Furqan” media -- which regularly posts videos and audio clips. Cantlie -- although appearing relaxed in the videos -- seems scripted, and there is no way of verifying whether the article that appeared under his name was penned by him or someone on his behalf.

Cantlie had even responded to this allegation of scripted videos in his article, saying, “One observation is that the videos are scripted, and that perhaps I have no choice in the content.” “This is not true,” ‘Cantlie’ asserted, adding, “The mujahideen suggest initial titles, I write the scripts, hand them over for any copy changes that need to be made and the videos are shot.”

Willing or not, Cantlie is without a doubt a pawn in the Islamic State’s elaborate propaganda set up.