Thursday, March 15, 2007
Islamic State of Iraq calls America 'chicken'
Insurgency
(RFE/RL) Abu Umar al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq, said in an audio recording posted on the Internet on March 13 that the United States is trying to come between his group and other jihadist groups. The message appears to have been recorded on February 6, because al-Baghdadi refers to an insurgent raid on a Mosul prison as happening "today".
Al-Baghdadi claimed that the current "media campaign against" his group is aimed at separating it from its "massive popular base" of support, and to distance the global jihad movement from the battlefield in favor of the nationalistic movements that are more moderate and more open. The statement referred to media reports that the United States may decide within six months to pull out of Iraq, calling U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney a "chicken" and saying the U.S. goal is now to return home with honor.
Al-Baghdadi also listed some 19 beliefs of his group in the March 13 statement, saying it wants to respond to lies written about it in the media. Among the beliefs listed are: an obligation to rule according to God's law, and a belief that secularism in all its facets and variations, such as nationalism, communism, and Ba'athism, is a clear heresy. "Therefore, we consider everyone who was involved with the political process, like the parties of [Sunni leaders Salih] al-Mutlaq, [Adnan] al-Dulaymi, [Tariq] al-Hashimi, and others to be infidels.... We also consider the [Iraqi] Islamic Party's methodology to be one of infidelity and apostasy.
Its creed and its path do not differ from those of the rest of the infidel and apostate methodology such as those of the parties of [Shi'ite leaders Ibrahim] al-Ja'fari and [Iyad] Allawi." Al-Baghdadi said his group considers it an obligation to fight the police and army and other security services "and to eliminate and destroy any building used" by the government. He added that the group considers non-Muslims enemies not protected under Islamic law.
Labels: Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, Islamic State of Iraq, Sunni leaders
