Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi

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This file image made from video posted on a militant website July 5, 2014, purports to show the leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, delivering a sermon at a mosque in Iraq during his first public appearance. (AP Photo/Militant video, File)

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FILE - This file image made from video posted on a militant website Saturday, July 5, 2014, purports to show the leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, delivering a sermon at a mosque in Iraq during his first public appearance. Iraq’s Ministry of Defense says the Islamic State group destroyed the al-Nuri mosque in Mosul and the iconic leaning minaret when fighters detonated explosives inside the structures late Wednesday night on June 21, 2017. The mosque — also known as Mosul’s Great Mosque — is where IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a so-called Islamic caliphate in 2014 shortly after the city was overrun by the militants and was seen as a key symbolic prize in the fight for Iraq’s second largest city.(AP Photo/Militant video, File)

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This file image made from video posted on a militant website Saturday, July 5, 2014, purports to show the leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, delivering a sermon at a mosque in Iraq during his first public appearance. The Russian military claims it has killed the leader of the Islamic State group in an airstrike. The ministry said Friday, June 16, 2017, that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in a Russian strike in late May along with other senior group commanders. (AP Photo/Militant video, File)

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This file image made from video posted on a militant website Saturday, July 5, 2014, purports to show the leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, delivering a sermon at a mosque in Iraq during his first public appearance. Al-Baghdadi released a new message late on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016, encouraging his followers to keep up the fight for the city of Mosul, which they are defending against Iraqi government forces, the SITE Intelligence Group, a U.S. organization that monitors militant activity online said Thursday. (Militant video via AP, File)

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This file image made from video posted on a militant website Saturday, July 5, 2014, purports to show the leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, delivering a sermon at a mosque in Iraq during his first public appearance. (AP Photo/Militant video, File)

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From the Islamic State's circulation on social media of photos depicting a so-called "cyclops baby" to its fixation on a Syrian town where the prophecies say the final battle will occur, analysts say the group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is tapping mythology to convince his followers that the apocalypse has already begun. (Associated Press)

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Analysts say that the Islamic State terror group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is tapping into mythological writings known as the Hadith to convince his followers that the apocalypse has already begun — as well as to lure new adherents. (Associated Press)

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This file image made from video posted on a militant website Saturday, July 5, 2014, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, purports to show the leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, delivering a sermon at a mosque in Iraq. (AP Photo/Militant video, File)

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The leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, delivers a sermon at a mosque in Iraq on July 5, 2014. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

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** FILE ** Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the al Qaeda splinter group the Islamic State, has rarely been photographed. (Associated Press)

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Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is shown in a video delivering a sermon Friday at the Grand Mosque in Mosul, Iraq. His sudden public appearance after years of building and running his militant operations from hideouts suggests growing confidence in his security. (Associated Press)