Iraq Qaeda ally urges resistance to security plan

Dubai, Jan 9: The leader of an al Qaeda-backed Islamist body in Iraq urged followers to be ready to confront a U.S.-backed security plan in Baghdad, saying it was an Iranian ploy to hit Sunni Muslims, an Internet statement said.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced a major security plan for Baghdad on Saturday, vowing to crush illegal armed groups ''regardless of sect or politics,' suggesting he may be ready to tackle militias loyal to his fellow Shi'ites, as demanded by Washington and the once dominant Sunni minority.

But the so-called Islamic state in Iraq, a body set up by al Qaeda in Iraq, called the plan an attempt to ''crush Sunnis in Baghdad and destroy their mosques'', according to the statement posted on a Web site used by Islamists which was monitored in Dubai today.

''Sheikh Abu Omar al-Baghdadi has issued orders to all ...

Baghdad brigades of the Islamic state in Iraq to be ready to repulse the attacks that the (Iranian) gangs are expected to launch on Sunni areas in coming days under the guise of the Baghdad security plan,'' said the statement.

The authenticity of the statement could not be immediately verified. The hardline Sunni al Qaeda sees Shi'ite Muslim Iran as an enemy.

Maliki promised a new crackdown on sectarian gunmen who kill hundreds of people a week in Baghdad. One of Maliki's Dawa party allies said the crackdown would start ''soon'', though no date was set.

Securing the capital is seen as crucial to stopping Iraq's descent into full-scale civil war.

US President George W Bush is reshuffling his commanders and diplomats in Iraq and preparing to unveil a new strategy this week that officials say may include a proposal to add 20,000 US troops to those already in Iraq.

''This ... treacherous and weak government is too weak to break the will of the true mujahideen (holy fighters) after its crusader masters failed to stop the march of jihad during the past four years,'' the statement said.

REUTERS

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