Podcast: The Mosul Historian Who Risked His Life To Blog About Life Under Isis

In this Global development podcast by The Guardian, presenter Lucy Lamble talks to Omar Mohammed (1986), a historian from Mosul in Northern Iraq. He was the anonymous blogger Mosul Eye for three years.

In 2014, his city was occupied by Islamic State. When he and his colleagues at the University of Mosul had to choose between teaching the IS syllabus or losing their job, he decided to leave and become a blogger.

He worked as a taxi driver and regularly accompanied his mother (who also didn't know he was Mosul Eye) to the market, so he could get information easily. The blog was the outside world’s main source of information about the fate of the Iraqi city under the rule of IS.

I was writing for the history. For the future. I made it as a platform to help civilians.

When I leave my house, the only question I have, and many other people, will I survive?

The risk was worth it to him to get his message and that of the people of Mosul across and to counter IS propaganda.

He received a lot of threats by email and Facebook from IS and was finally able to get asylum in Europe. He then decided to reveal his identity.

I had to. People were saying Mosul Eye is a CIA operation, Mosul Eye is fake.

His focus now is supporting social initiatives to bring music and art back to the historic city.