Al-Qaeda ‘sets up umbrella body’

Al-Qaeda in Iraq and some other militant groups have set up an umbrella body to coordinate their fight against US-led forces and the Iraqi government, according to a Web statement posted today.

The Mujahideen Council aims to confront the “crusaders and their rejectionist (Shiite) and secularist followers who have seized Baghdad”, said the statement attributed to al-Qaeda, the Army of the Victorious Sect and four less known Sunni Muslim groups.

The council, which does not include leading groups such as the Army of Ansar al-Sunna and the Islamic Army in Iraq, said it “welcomes anyone desiring (Islam’s) victory to join”.

The statement’s authenticity could not be verified. It was posted on a website often used by insurgents, which subsequently carried messages from the council claiming responsibility for attacks in recent days.

“The council also calls on Muslims in Iraq and across the world to join the jihad in Iraq to fight for the victory of religion and to defend the oppressed,” it said.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi – Washington’s most wanted man in the country, is one of the main insurgent groups fighting US-led forces and the US-backed Iraqi Government, which is dominated by Kurds and Shiite Muslim Arabs.

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