IS’s Baghdadi raped American hostage
An American hostage was repeatedly forced to have sex with Abu Bakr Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State group, U.S. intelligence officials told her family in June.
The news is but the latest in a litany of horrors perpetrated by the IS group, which has beheaded, burned and crucified male captives while passing around women as sex slaves.
The hostage was held for a time by an Islamic State and his wife. Al-Baghdadi took the hostage as a “wife,” repeatedly raping her when he visited, according to a Yazidi teenager who was held with the hostage and escaped in October 2014.
The 14-year-old made her way to Iraqi Kurdistan, where she talked to U.S. commandos in November 2014. Intelligence agencies corroborated her account and American officials passed it on to her parents in June. “They told us that he married her, and we all understand what that means,” the hostage’s father told The Associated Press on Friday.
The hostage was held for a time by an Islamic State and his wife. Al-Baghdadi took the hostage as a “wife,” repeatedly raping her when he visited
The Islamic State leader was killed in a Delta Force raid of his Syrian compound in June, which resulted in a treasure trove of intelligence about IS. His wife has been turned over to the Iraqi Kurds for trial.
The Islamic State leader’s wife confirmed that al-Baghdadi had “owned” the hostage during her’s lengthy American interrogation in Iraq, the hostage’s parents said they were told by American officials.
A U.S. official confirmed their account, first reported by London’s Independent newspaper. The official was not authorised to be quoted by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. The hostage’s parents have been told she can be expected to serve a long prison sentence, said a family spokesperson.
The hostage was held with three other women, all Yazidis, the parents were told. All were sexually abused. When al-Baghdadi visited, he would take the American hostage to his room, the witness told American officials.