Iraq's al-Qaida wing said on Tuesday in an audiotape that it had formed a new brigade to fight the Shiite militia Badr Brigade and considered the Iraqi army an enemy just like the Americans.

The group also claimed it had kidnapped an Egyptian envoy to Baghdad, according to the audiotape purportedly attributed to the al-Qaida leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

"We in al-Qaida Organization for Holy War in Iraq announce the formation of a military brigade named Omar Brigade, to uproot the symbols and cadres of the treacherous Badr Brigade," said the voice, as he was reading a statement posted on an Islamic website.

The audiotape said "some have said there are two kinds of a resistance, an honorable resistance fighting the occupier and a dishonorable resistance which fight Iraqis."

"We consider the Iraqi army is an army of apostates and mercenaries that has allied itself with the Crusaders and came to destroy Islam and fight Muslims. We will fight it," Zarqawi added.

The most wanted man in Iraq also claimed in his audiotape that his group had kidnapped the Egyptian ambassador to Iraq, Iyhab al- Sharif.

"The Egyptian ambassador has been kidnapped by our mujahideen and he is now under the control of our mujahideen," the speaker said.

Ihab el-Sharif was kidnapped by a group of gunmen last Saturday near the Egyptian consulate in al-Rabie Street in western Baghdad.

Zarqawi's statement made no threat to kill the diplomat and did not present any demands.

Last month, Egypt became the first Arab and neighboring country to respond to US calls for upgrading their diplomatic missions in Baghdad.

Up to 49 countries have now different grades of diplomatic representations in Iraq, including 18 Arab and Muslim countries, according to Iraq's Foreign Ministry Website.

Source: Xinhua