ISIL Announces New “Currency”, Releases Alleged Audio of Baghdadi

Friday 14 November 2014

ISIL Announces New “Currency”, Releases Alleged Audio of Baghdadi

Local Editor

The terrorist militant group operating in Iraq and Syria, ISIL, announced it will mint its own “currency” in gold, silver and copper.

Meanwhile, the Takfiri group released an audio it said was of chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, after air strikes on extremist leaders in Iraq sparked rumours he had been wounded or killed.

ISIL announces new currency

ISIL issued on Thursday a statement in which it said the aim of this “currency” aim is to stay away from the "tyrant's financial system.”

The group also said it would issue another statement to explain the new currency's exchange rate, and where it can be found.

The currency will include seven coins: two gold, three silver and two copper.

The move is "purely dedicated to God" and will remove Muslims from the "global economic system that is based on satanic usury," the terrorist group stated.

Meanwhile, American economic expert, Jimmy Gurule warned that ISIL

“unlike its predecessor al Qaeda, which raised money principally from external sources ... ISIS is principally, primarily self-funded.”

Gurule, a former US Treasury undersecretary, told CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper" on Thursday that ISIL’s funding comes from oil, ransom payments, taxes and the sale of stolen artifacts.

"This is the wealthiest terrorist organization that the world has ever known, and so with that kind of money it's hard to understand -- what's the potential? What could they do with that?"

He added:

"The difficulty, of course, with that kind of money is you can't just put that money in shoe boxes and place it under your mattress. It has to enter into the financial system at some point in time. So I think the Treasury needs to be focusing on banks -- banks in Qatar for example, and in Kuwait -- that may be the recipients and handling money for ISIL."

Alleged Audio of Baghdadi
Abu Bakr al-Baghdaddi

In the 17-minute message, the man purported to be Baghdadi vowed that ISIL, which has overrun swathes of Iraq and Syria, will continue to expand despitethe US-led air strikes, and that its opponents will be drawn into a ground war.

"Be assured, O Muslims, for your State is good and in the best condition. Its march will not stop and it will continue to expand," said the man in the recording, whose voice sounded like Baghdadi's but whose identity could not be independently confirmed.

"Soon, the Jews and Crusaders will be forced to come down to the ground and send their ground forces to their deaths and destruction," he said.

The message was the first said to be from Baghdadi since a video released in July, shortly after ISIL proclaimed a "caliphate" over parts of Iraq and Syria.

While the recording seemed aimed at dispelling speculation that Baghdadi was seriously injured or dead, it did not mention the strikes against ISIL leaders.