DHAKA: The leader of the Islamic State jihadist group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, purportedly ordered all Muslims to obey him in a video released on Saturday on social media.

The hitherto elusive Baghdadi, who on June 29 proclaimed a ‘caliphate’ straddling Syria and Iraq, made his appeal in a sermon delivered on Friday in the militant-held northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

‘I am the wali (leader) who presides over you, though I am not the best of you, so if you see that I am right, assist me,’ he said, wearing a black turban and robe, reports The Straits Times.

‘If you see that I am wrong, advise me and put me on the right track, and obey me as long as I obey God in you.’

BDST: 2136 HRS, JULY 05, 2014