Washington (AFP) - A Canadian jihadist who fought for the Islamic State (IS) group and narrated violent propaganda videos pleaded guilty in a US court Friday, the Justice Department announced.
Mohammed Khalifa, 38, admitted to "conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization (ISIS), resulting in death," and will be sentenced on April 15, 2022, the department said in a statement, using another acronym for the jihadist group.
He faces a life sentence.
Khalifa, who was born in Saudi Arabia, was captured during a firefight in January 2019 by Kurdish-dominated Syrian forces allied with the United States.
He was turned over to US authorities and charged.
Khalifa left Canada in 2013 to join the Islamic State group in Syria, and by the next year had become a key member of its propaganda team because of his fluent English and Arabic, according to the statement.
The cell was behind videos showing the beheadings of foreigners including the US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, who died in 2014.
"Khalifa provided the narration and translation for approximately 15 videos created and distributed by ISIS," the Justice Department statement said.
The films he narrated included two of the most violent and influential propaganda films IS produced: "Flames of War," distributed in 2014, and "Flames of War II," three years later.
In a 2019 interview with Canada's CBC from his Syrian prison, Khalifa showed no regret for his actions.
He said he wanted to return to Canada with his wife and their three children, but on the condition that he would not be tried there.
