Special to WorldTribune.com

BAGHDAD — Al Qaida’s Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has declared a state.

ISIL said it changed its name to “Islamic State” and would be headed by Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi. The movement called for support from Islamists around the world.

“He is the preacher and caliph for the Muslims everywhere,” movement
spokesman Abu Mohammed Al Adnani said. “It is incumbent upon all Muslims to
pledge allegiance to and support him.”

In a statement on Islamist websites on June 29, Al Adnani did not define
the boundaries of the caliphate. Over the last year, ISIL, with an estimated
100,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria, said it would expand throughout the Arab
world.

“The legality of all emirates, groups, states, and organizations,
becomes null by the expansion of the caliphate’s authority and arrival of
its troops to their areas,” the statement said.

The statement was issued amid ISIL’s drive through northern Iraq and
toward Baghdad. The Iraqi military has reported heavy ISIL casualties around
Tikrit but acknowledged that most of the city remains under Al Qaida
control.

“The Shura [council] of the Islamic State met and discussed this issue
[of a caliphate],” the statement said. “The Islamic State decided to
establish an Islamic caliphate and to designate a caliph for the state of
the Muslims.”

  Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, Abu Mohammed Al Adnani, ISIL, ISIL declares ‘Islamic State’ and calls for allegiance from ‘Muslims everywhere’