ISIS leader raped American hostage, U.S. finds

American hostage Kayla Mueller was repeatedly forced to have sex with Abu Bakr Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State group, according to accounts provided to U.S. intelligence officials.

Mueller, whose death was reported in February, was held for a time by Islamic State financier Abu Sayyaf and his wife, known as Umm Sayyaf. Al-Baghdadi took Mueller as a “wife,” repeatedly raping her when he visited, according to a Yazidi teenager who was held with Mueller and escaped. The 14-year-old talked to U.S. officials, who corroborated her account with other intelligence and passed it on to her parents, Carl and Marsha Mueller, in June, according to a family spokeswoman, Emily Lenzner.

A U.S. official confirmed the account, first reported by London’s Independent newspaper. The official was not authorized to be quoted by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Abu Sayyaf was killed in a Delta Force raid of his Syrian compound in June, which resulted in a treasure trove of intelligence about the Islamic State group. Umm Sayyaf gave extensive information to American interrogators and has been turned over to the Iraqi Kurds for trial.

The Muellers have been told she can be expected to serve a long prison sentence, Lenzner said.

 

al-arabiya