US judge gives life term to Canadian ISIS propagandist

By MATTHEW BARAKAT
Associated Press

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — A Canadian citizen who led propaganda efforts for the Islamic State group and personally executed two Syrian soldiers in widely circulated videos has been sentenced to life in prison by a U.S. judge. Prosecutors sought the life sentence Friday at a hearing in Alexandria, Virginia, for 39-year-old Mohammed Khalifa, a Saudi-born Canadian captured in 2019. Khalifa played a key role in the group’s successful efforts to recruit tens of thousands of foreign fighters to defend its self-proclaimed caliphate. In two notorious videos titled Flames of War, Khalifa narrates the action and can be seen shooting Syrian soldiers in the back of the head after they dug their own graves. Khalifa’s defense attorneys had sought a term of just 20 years.