Gunmen in Iraq's Ramadi announce Sunni emirate

A graphic video showed Iraqi National Guard members executed by the Mujahideen Shura Council in June

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Dozens of al Qaeda-linked gunmen took to the streets of Ramadi on Wednesday in a show of force to announce the city was joining an Islamic state comprising Iraq's mostly Sunni Arab provinces, Islamists and witnesses said.

Witnesses in Ramadi, the capital of western Anbar province, said gunmen dressed in white marched through the city as mosque loudspeakers broadcast the statement by the Mujahideen Shura Council, a Sunni militant group led by al Qaeda in Iraq.

"We are from Mujahideen Shura Council and our Amir (Prince) is Abu Omar al-Baghdadi. God willing we will set the law of Sharia here and we will fight the Americans," said a man who identified himself as Abu Harith, a Mujahideen field leader.

"We have announced the Islamic state. Ramadi is part of it. Our state will comprise all the Sunni provinces of Iraq," he told Reuters in a telephone interview.

The group often claims responsibility for attacks against U.S.-led forces and the Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad.

Last week the Mujahideen Council announced the formation of the Mutayibeen Coalition to step up the fight against U.S.-led forces and urged Sunni Muslim tribal leaders to join.

The coalition called for a separate Islamic state "to protect our religion and our people, to prevent strife and so that the blood and sacrifices of your martyrs are not lost."

Abu Harith said the state would be headed by Amir Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, a little-known militant. It would include Sunni areas of Baghdad, and the provinces of Anbar, Diyala, Kirkuk, Salaheddin, Nineveh and parts of Babil and Wasit. Iraq has 18 provinces.

The U.S. military said it was unaware of any marches by gunmen in Ramadi.

Read the rest at the Washington Post

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