Islamists’ ‘caliphate’ derided in Arab world

BAGHDAD // The declaration of an "Islamic caliphate" was condemned and derided across the region yesterday.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant proclaimed its leader, Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, the caliph, and demanded that Muslims everywhere pledge allegiance to him.
The announcement was greeted with condemnation and even ridicule, including from rival Islamist rebel groups who have been fighting the Islamic State since January across Syria's north and east.
"The gangs of Al Baghdadi are living in a fantasy world. They're delusional. They want to establish a state but they don't have the elements for it," said Abdel Rahman Al Shami, a spokesman for the Army of Islam, an Islamist rebel group. "You cannot establish a state through looting, sabotage and bombing."
Mr Al Shami described the declaration of the caliphate, a state governed by Sharia, as "psychological warfare" that he predicted would turn people against the Islamic State.
In Iraq, where the government has launched a counteroffensive to try to claw back some of the territory lost to a sweeping Sunni militant offensive spearheaded by the Islamic State, the declaration was viewed through the prism of the country's rising sectarian tensions.
"This project was well-planned to rupture society and to spread chaos and damage," said Hamid Al Mutlaq, a Sunni politician. "This is not to the benefit of the Iraqi people, but instead it will increase the differences and splits."
The Islamic State has seized upon widespread grievances among Iraq's Sunni minority and opposition to prime minister Nouri Al Maliki's Shiite-led government to help fuel its blitz through north and west Iraq. It had already captured areas of north and east Syria, including Raqqa, parts of Aleppo province, and Deir Ezzor.
Now, through brute force and meticulous planning, the extremist group – which said it was changing its name to just the Islamic State, dropping the mention of Iraq and the Levant – has carved out a large chunk of territory that has effectively erased the border between Iraq and Syria and laid the foundations of its proto-state.
After the announcement on Sunday, Islamic State fighters paraded through their north Syria stronghold of Raqqa.
Some of the revellers wore traditional robes and waved the group's black flags in a central square, and others zoomed around in pickup trucks against a backdrop of celebratory gunfire.
The Islamic State had expelled rival rebel groups from Raqqa this spring, turning the city of 500,000 along the banks of the Euphrates River into an image of the state it envisions. Activists from Raqqa say music has been banned, Christians must pay an Islamic tax for protection and offenders against the strict interpretation of Islamic law are killed in the main square.
It is unclear whether the Islamic State's declaration heralds the imposition of the same rules elsewhere. So far, the group has taken a more moderate approach in cities under its control in Iraq, including the northern city of Mosul and the central city of Tikrit, choosing to overlook some practices it considers forbidden. But the extremist faction was also more lenient in towns in Syria before eventually tightening its hold.
Its leader Al Baghdadi, who once spent time in a US military prison in Iraq, is touted by the Islamic State as a battlefield tactician, and is increasingly seen as even more powerful than Al Qaeda leader Ayman Al Zawahiri.
Experts say the announcement of the caliphate could open a new era for Islamist militants.
The caliphate is "the biggest development in international jihad since September 11", said Charles Lister of the Brookings Institution in Doha.
"It could mark the birth of a new era of transnational jihadism … and that poses a real danger to Al Qaeda and its leadership." Mr Lister said.
Others were not convinced the announcement would rally allies to the Islamic State.
Aymenn Al Tamimi, an analyst who specialises in Islamist militants in Iraq and Syria, expects some could be disillusioned by the declaration.
"Now the insurgents in Iraq have no excuse for working with ISIL if they were hoping to share power with ISIL," he said. "The prospect of infighting in Iraq is increased for sure."
The group's offensive has prompted Iraq's Shiite militias to reconstitute themselves, deepening fears of a return to the sectarian bloodletting that pushed the country to the brink of civil war in 2006 and 2007.
Alarmed world leaders have urged a speeding up of government formation following Iraq's April elections, and warned the conflict cannot be resolved by force alone.
* Associated Press and Agence France-Presse