Alarm, ridicule for declaration of Islamic state

An al-Qaida breakaway group's formal declaration of an Islamic caliphate
across the stretch of territory it controls in Syria and Iraq
sparked celebrations among the group's followers Monday but condemnation and
even ridicule from its rivals and authorities in Baghdad and Damascus.
The declaration was a bold move by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, not
just announcing their own state governed by Shariah law but also claiming legitimacy as a
successor to the first Islamic rule created by the Prophet Muhammad in the
Arabian Peninsula 14 centuries ago. In an audio recording Sunday evening, the
group proclaimed its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as caliph and demanded all
Muslims around the world pledge allegiance to him.
The announcement risks straining alliances with other Sunnis in Iraq that have
helped the Islamic State achieve its blitz this month, seizing control of a
large swath of the country's north and west.

Those Sunnis, including former officers in the military of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein, have backed the Islamic State  in hopes of bringing down Iraq's Shiite-led government but not necessarily its ambitions of carving out a transnational caliphate.

Through brute force and meticulous planning, the Sunni 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. Along the way, it has battled Syrian rebels,
Kurdish militias and the Syrian and Iraqi militaries.

Following the group's announcement, Islamic State fighters in their
northern Syrian stronghold of Raqqa paraded through the city to celebrate. Some
of the revelers wore traditional robes and waved the group's black flags in a
central square, while others zoomed around in pick-up trucks against a
thundering backdrop of celebratory gunfire. Video of the celebrations was posted
online, and activists in the city confirmed the details.

The Islamic State expelled rival rebel groups from Raqqa this spring, turning
the city of some 500,000 along the banks of the Euphrates River into an image of
the state it envisions. Activists from Raqqa have described life under the
group's strict interpretation of Islamic law: music has been banned, Christians
have to pay an Islamic tax for protection and people are executed 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.

The announcement was greeted with condemnation and disdain elsewhere in
Syria, including from rival Islamist rebel groups who have been fighting the
Islamic State since January across northern and eastern Syria.