Baghdad (ANTARA News/AKI) - The Al-Qaeda-linked umbrella group the Islamic State of Iraq has issued a call to Muslim militant fighters who have laid down their arms to return to its ranks.
"Return to your religion in the name of the book of Allah. Whoever of you repents, returns to us and asks for foregiveness will recevei this," said an audio tape message purportedly from the group`s spokesman Abu Mohammad Adnani, posted to jihadist websites.
"They have used you like human shields to prevent us from attacking. We promise that we won`t kill any of you if you return to us," the message added.
The US-backed Sunni tribal Awakening Councils set up in 2006 dealt a severe blow to Al-Qaeda in Iraq, as they attracted a number of armed groups with were previously aligned with the Islamic State of Iraq.
In June, 2006, Al-Qaeda`s leader in Iraq, Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a US raid on his isolated rural hideout some 50 kilometres northeast of Baghdad.
(T.A045/H-AK)
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