“We say to our (Sunni) brothers: do not be fooled by what you have heard of the propaganda from the crusaders and their footmen.

“The coming days will show you the fate of this “democratic marriage’ and the marriage of prostitution that it celebrated,” the group said in a statement on a frequently used Islamist website.

“Their armed forces (of the Iraqi government) will be useless. Know that the decision of the crusaders to pull out of Iraq has already been taken,” reads the statement, whose authenticity could not be verified.

The group, led by Jordanian Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, is threatening to continue its attacks in Iraq and says it did not halt them during last Thursday’s elections for a full-term parliament.