Iraqi TV Bosses are Beating ISIS...With Jokes

Iraqi TV bosses have unveiled their latest line of attack against ISIS militants - a comedy sketch show.

The "State of Superstition" is designed to fight back against the ongoing jihadist propaganda onslaught.

The show, which is broadcast on the state-owned Al-Iraqiya network features a host of characters including an Abubakr al-Baghdadi look-alike, alongside Batman's The Joker, Dracula and a dwarf.

The "State of Superstition" is designed "to remove this phobia that has taken root in a lot of people's minds" according to the channel's chief supervisor Thaer Jiyad.

The programme's opening theme credits feature the al-Baghdadi figure growing out of the shell then leading a choir of officers from Saddam Hussein's ex-ruling Baath party through a tale of Iraqi bloodshed.

The song continues: “Oh where are you, you decapitator? We prohibited all pornography except for sexual jihad... We prohibited smoking and displaced all Christians.”

The credits end when the so-called "caliph" ends up shooting all of the Baathists on screen.

Jiyad added: "Ultimately, with fundamentalist organisations, the only solution is to confront them, and that starts with the leaders."