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ISIS Video's Chilean Tour Guide Identified

I've been wondering about the real identity and background of the English-speaking Chilean ISIS tour guide from the group's End of Sykes Picot video.

Is Abu Saffiya really a fighter, or an actor hired by ISIS's production company? He seems straight out of central casting. Where is he really from? I haven't seen pictures of him anywhere else. Would ISIS trust a basic street fighter to give such an important tour? Or does he play a prominent role in the group? He is very comfortable in front of the camera -- too comfortable for a "nobody."

Abu Saffiya has now been identified. He is Bastián Alexis Vásquez Nunez, a 24 year old Norwegian citizen and former rapper. His parents emigrated from Chile to Skien, Norway when he was young. He hasn't been back to Chile since 2001. [More...]

Norwegian police have opened a new investigation into Vasquez and his ties to ISIS.

In 2012 he was arrested for making threats against the Norwegian royal family and former Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in a You Tube video. His Norwegian lawyer, John Christian Elden, says in an interview in El Mercurio that he became radicalized after his arrest:

"He could not believe that an arrest like that possible in a democracy ... He was an ordinary young man with a family who came from Chile.

His lawyer said that after the arrest he felt “stigmatized by the PST and Norwegian media.”

Apparently, he failed to appear in court for the charge, and the case is still open.

Also in 2012, he protested the involvement of Norwegian troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. (A photo is here, he is in the center wearing the white robes). It is believed he went to Syria shortly after the 2012 protest.

Vásquez is also known to be a friend of Mohyeldeen Mohammad, a Norwegian-Iraqi who made headlines in 2010 when he called for a “Norwegian Sept. 11” after newspaper Dagbladet published a cartoon of the prophet Muhammad. According to Akerhaug, Mohammad is a central figure in the Norwegian jihadi movement and one of the first to travel to Syria.

There aren't a lot of articles in English about him. Most are from the Norwegian and Chilean media, which you can roughly translate using Google translate or Chrome. Links below are to the articles in their original language.

In Norway, in 2008, he was a rapper and member of the Norway's hip-hop and skateboarding community, who showed no signs of radicalism. Then he began associating with the group Profeta Ummah. He converted to Islam in 2008 or 2009. He told a reporter he planned to go to Syria to join the fight there. In 2013, he posted on Facebook (under the name Abu Safiyya) that he was with ISIS in Aleppo

Norway is being tight-lipped about its newest investigation into Vasquez. It does say the basis for the investigation is a suspected violation of a 2013 law, Penal Code section 147d, which is essentially providing material support to a terror organization. The penalty is six years in prison.

Some articles say he is a leader in ISIS. One says it is unknown why he has risen higher in ISIS than other Norwegians, of whom about 50 are believed to have joined foreign terror groups. It says it is unlikely to be his fighting ability, as he's quite small in stature.

How about this: He's quadri-lingual (speaking Spanish, English, Norwegian and Arabic) and a performer who is comfortable in front of a camera, with charismatic appeal to potential young recruits. As I said previously, he seems straight out of Central Casting. Perfect for the role of ISIS tour guide. Watch the video and see if you don't agree.

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  • Display: Sort:
    Thanks Jeralyn (5.00 / 1) (#1)
    by ragebot on Fri Jul 04, 2014 at 06:09:02 PM EST
    You always come up with stuff no one else does.

    "A question for Obama:" (5.00 / 1) (#2)
    by Mr Natural on Fri Jul 04, 2014 at 08:54:54 PM EST
    "Did you prepare enough diapers for your soldiers?"

    Parent
    Words like "chilling" are overused, but (5.00 / 1) (#15)
    by Mr Natural on Sat Jul 05, 2014 at 12:36:19 PM EST
    did anybody else find this video, in particular, its casualness, more than a little chilling?

    um, which "central casting" did (none / 0) (#3)
    by cpinva on Fri Jul 04, 2014 at 11:52:13 PM EST
    you have in mind?

    I suppose if you're trying to attract young men, with nothing to lose, because they feel they have nothing, yeah, ok. of course, most of them also have other issues going on, such as being emotionally stunted and socially inept. this makes them prime candidates for either right wing christian extremist groups, or Islamic extremist groups, whichever gets to them first.

    So far the Islamic extremist groups (none / 0) (#4)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jul 05, 2014 at 09:55:18 AM EST
    are way way ahead.

    Parent
    BS (5.00 / 1) (#5)
    by squeaky on Sat Jul 05, 2014 at 10:03:19 AM EST
    "Some 11,000,000 Muslims have been violently killed since 1948, of which 35,000, or 0.3 percent, died during the sixty years of fighting Israel, or just 1 out of every 315 Muslim fatalities. In contrast, over 90 percent of the 11 million who perished were killed by fellow Muslims."

    link

    And considering your cheerleading for bombing and killing Muslims, you and your pals appear to be as extremist as your stated enemies.

    Parent

    And your point is?? (none / 0) (#6)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jul 05, 2014 at 10:09:51 AM EST
    That Muslim terrorists are killing Muslims???

    Gee, squeaky, we all know that.

    It is the attacks on the West that we worry about.

    And when I and my friends start hijacking airliners, sending our children into Muslim cities as human bombs, etc., etc. please come back and let me know.

    In the meantime I'll try to not be insulted by a George Bush cartoon.......and start riots......

    lol

    Parent

    My Point (5.00 / 3) (#7)
    by squeaky on Sat Jul 05, 2014 at 10:25:07 AM EST
    You have become what you hate. Rather obvious to all here but yourself.

    Parent
    Wrong (none / 0) (#8)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jul 05, 2014 at 10:34:15 AM EST
    I have always hated groups that kill millions in their attempt to establish world wide domination.

    Nazis, Communists come immediately to mind. Muslim terrorists is a recent addition.

    And yes, I would be happy to see them shut down by any means.

    Parent

    thread cleaned (none / 0) (#16)
    by Jeralyn on Mon Jul 07, 2014 at 08:16:07 PM EST
    please stay on topic. And Jim, stop insulting Muslims.