Iraqi Islamist Group Urges Resistance To Government

Iraqi security forces carrying out an inspection in Al-Najaf on January 8 (epa)

January 9, 2007 -- In an Internet posting, the leader of an Al-Qaeda-backed Islamist body in Iraq has urged followers to resist a proposed government security operation in Baghdad.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has vowed to crush illegal armed groups in Baghdad "regardless of sect or politics."

But the so-called Islamic State in Iraq said the plan was an Iranian ploy against Sunni Muslims.

The group's leader, Sheikh Abu Umar al-Baghdadi, urged followers to be ready to "repulse the attacks."

(Reuters)