Chief of the al-Qaida terror network Osama bin Laden urged Islamist fighters to free Iraq, according to an audio posted on the Internet on Saturday.

"You, God's trusted fighters, will liberate the country (Iraq) from the crusaders," bin Laden said in the audio.

He also said that Sunni Muslims in Iraq were being " exterminated" by Shiites, warning that Shiite-populated areas might subject to attacks.

He also endorsed Abu Hamza al-Muhajer as the new leader of al- Qaida in Iraq to succeed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi who was killed in a U.S. airstrike north of Baghdad last month, wishing al-Muhajer " good luck."

The al-Qaida chief also urged militants in Iraq to "continue fighting", saying that participation in the country's political process would lead nowhere.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has recently proposed a national reconciliation plan which is designed to defuse a largely Sunni-backed insurgency and invited some insurgent groups for talks.

In addition, bin Laden called on leaders of Iraq's al-Qaida to continue to take part in the Mujahideen Shura Council.

The council, believed to be an umbrella grouping several insurgent groups in Iraq including al-Qaida, claimed responsibility for killing four Russian Embassy employees kidnapped by its militants last month.

In addition, bin Laden urged all the Somali people to support the Islamic Courts Union, which took control of the Somali capital Mogadishu in June.

"You... should join hand in hand with the Islamic Courts to build an Islamic state in Somalia," he said, warning other countries against sending troops to Somalia.

Meanwhile, bin Laden also said that his group had the right to "punish" the United States inside its territories, in Somalia and everywhere in the world.

The audio was posted on a Web site frequently used by Islamist militants, but it cannot be verified whether the man speaking in the audio is bin Laden.

Source: Xinhua