Cairo: The purported leader of al-Qaeda-linked insurgents in Iraq offered US troops a one-month truce to withdraw from the country without being attacked, according to a speech posted on an Islamic website.
The leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, on Friday said his fighters were now launching a new offensive — "the offensive of the strong" — that he said would last until the final day of the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha, which should finish about January 3.
Al-Baghdadi depicted his "Islamic state" as growing in support and organisation. He listed 20 Iraqi tribes he said had pledged their loyalty and said the "state" had set up Islamic courts that had executed a man and woman for adultery.
He called on former officers in Saddam Hussein's disbanded army to join, promising to provide them with a salary and house so long as they could recite three suras or chapters of the Quran to prove their Islamic credentials.
It was a first time a tape has been issued in the name of al-Baghdadi. The "Islamic State of Iraq" was declared in October by a coalition of Sunni Arab insurgent groups, chief among them al-Qaeda in Iraq.
The authenticity of the 20-minute audio tape could not be verified immediately. It appeared on an Islamic website known for displaying militant groups' statements.
In Washington, a senior US intelligence official said the CIA was reviewing the tape to determine its authenticity.
Addressing the United States, al-Baghdadi said: "We are announcing today our orders for you, so obey them before you regret it."
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