Controversy Grows Over Supposed Unity of Iraqi Mujahideen as Al-Qaida Announces Founding of Sunni Islamic State

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The Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC)--the Al-Qaida umbrella group for extremist mujahideen factions operating in Iraq--has attempted to make history today by announcing the foundation of a Sunni Islamic state out of the remnants of Iraq. In a video statement, an MSC spokesman (whose identity was concealed) accused Kurdish and Shiite militia forces of establishing their own zones of control in the north and south of Iraq in the face of "this farcical state of al-Maliki, which unfortunately some Sunni traitors have joined." As a result, in partnership with several other Iraqi mujahideen factions considered outside the MSC--including Jaish al-Fatihin ("The Conquering Army")--the spokesman declared the establishment of "the Islamic State of Iraq in Baghdad, Al-Anbar, Diyala, Kirkuk, Salahuddin, Ninewah, and sections of the Babil and al-Wassat provinces." The spokesman also explained that the leader of the new state would be the "Amir al-Mumineen Shaykh Abu Omar al-Baghdadi" and asked "all the mujahideen, the clerics of Iraq, the tribal chiefs, and the Sunni people to swear an oath of allegiance" to Abu Omar."
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