BAGHDAD, Oct 18: Dozens of Al Qaeda-linked fighters 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 provinces.

Witnesses in Ramadi, the capital of western Anbar province, said militants 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 Shariat 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 said in a telephone interview.

The group often claims responsibility for attacks against US-led forces and the government in Baghdad.

Last week the Mujahideen Council announced the formation of the Mutayibeen Coalition to step up the fight against US-led forces and urged Sunni 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 US military said it was unaware of any marches by gunmen in Ramadi.

Wednesday’s announcement could create tension among Sunni Arabs and could bring further conflict over who will control the Sunni heartland.

—Reuters