Iraq, June 30 (ANI): An offshoot of al Qaeda which has captured territory in Iraq and Syria has declared itself an Islamic "caliphate" and called on factions worldwide to pledge their allegiance. The move poses a direct challenge to the central leadership of al Qaeda, which has already disowned it, and to conservative Gulf Arab rulers. The group, previously known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and also as ISIS, has renamed itself "Islamic State" and proclaimed its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as "Caliph" - the head of the state. Al-Adnani said the Islamic "caliphate" stretched from Aleppo in Syria to Diyala in Iraq.
