July 9, 2007, RFE/RL -- The leader of an umbrella group of Iraqi insurgents linked to Al-Qaeda has threatened to wage war against Iran unless it stops supporting Shi'a in Iraq.

The warning came in an audio recording posted on the Internet and attributed to Abu Umar al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State in Iraq, an alliance of Sunni groups led by Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

The voice in the recording said the group would give Iranian leaders two months to end all of its support for Iraq's Shi'ite-led government and to stop intervening in Iraq. Otherwise, it said, a "severe war" awaited.

The authenticity of the tape could not be verified.

(AP, AFP)

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