.......people fainting with fear
and with foreboding of what is coming on the world.
Luke 21:26 ESV
"Armed group ISIL changes
name to Islamic State,
and says its empire extends
from Diyala in Iraq to Syria's Aleppo
A Sunni armed group which controls large areas of Iraq and Syria has announced the establishment of a "caliphate" straddling the two countries, urging other groups to pledge allegiance.
In an audio recording released on Sunday, the group formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant declared its chief, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, "the caliph" and "leader for Muslims everywhere".
"The legality of all emirates, groups, states and organisations becomes null by the expansion of the caliph's authority and the arrival of its troops to their areas," said the group's spokesman Abu Mohamed al-Adnani.
"Listen to your caliph and obey him. Support your state, which grows every day.''
"The words 'Iraq' and 'the Levant' have been removed from the name of the Islamic State in official papers and documents."
It describes Baghdadi as
"the sheikh,
the fighter,
the scholar who practices what he preaches,
the worshipper,
the leader,
the warrior,
the reviver,
descendant from the family of the Prophet,
the slave of God".
It urges Muslims to "gather around your caliph,
so that you may return
as you once were for ages,
kings of the earth
and knights of war."
AlJazeera