TEMPO.CO, Amman – King Abdullah II of Jordan said the war against ISIS was a third World War and reaffirmed his commitment to stop ISIS.
“This is a third World War by other means, this brings Muslims, Christians, other religions together in this generational fight that all of us have to be in this together,” he told CNN in his first interview since ISIS released the video documenting the burning of Jordan pilot Muath al-Kasasbeh.
Abdullah called ISIS fighters "outlaws in a way of Islam" that use intimidation as their weapon. “They have been trying to use expansionist policy the minute that they set up this irresponsible caliphate to try and expand their dominion over Muslims,” he said.
In the interview, King Abdullah repeatedly called ISIS "Daesh", which stands for Al-Dawla al-Islamiyal al-Iraq al-Sham. He said Arabic countries preferred to call them Daesh as they refused to acknowledge ISIS. “They're trying to invent falsely a linkage to a khalifate, a caliphate, link to our history in Islam, which has no truth or bearing to our history,” he said.
He went on to say ISIS militants were trying to make themselves look as the victims. “What about the hundreds if not thousands of Muslims that they have killed in Syria and in Iraq over the past year and a half?”
Based on the data from the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, ISIS has killed 1,969 people since establishing caliphate last June. Two-thirds of them were civilians while one-third were Syrian rebels and government forces. ISIS has also executed 125 of its own members.
THE INDEPENDENT | CNN | SITA PLANASARI AQUADINI