DUBAI - The Islamic Army in Iraq, one of the main armed groups fighting US forces in the war-torn country, has threatened to carry out attacks inside the United States, according to a statement posted on a website Monday.
This year "will bring woes on America. The mujahedeen (holy warriors) have prepared big surprises for your sons outside America and a big surprise for you inside America," said the statement whose authenticity could not be confirmed.
The statement appeared to mark a disturbing shift in strategy by the shadowy Sunni Muslim group which has claimed a number of attacks and killings of hostages in Iraq, including an Italian journalist and two Pakistanis.
But last month it freed two French journalists held hostage for four months.
The mujahedeen "will take the battle from inside our country (Iraq) to yours," the statement said.
"We address you after you finished celebrating the new year, hoping that you are no longer drunk ... We will give American civilians a taste of what civilians in our country go through," said the statement, presented as a "message to the American people."
The message, which described the American people as "uncivilized" and "ignorant," claimed that "the whole world" hates America.
"Are you aware that the number of those who support striking America on its own turf has greatly increased?" it said.
"Last year was a picnic for your soldiers (in Iraq). The year 2005 will witness a quantitative and qualitative change in the operations against your army, which will go down in history," the statement said.
The Islamic Army was one of three radical Islamist groups, along with the Al-Qaeda linked Ansar Al-Sunna and the previously unknown Army of the Mujahedeen, which warned in an Internet statement last week they would strike at anyone taking part in the January 30 elections in Iraq.
"Those who participate in this dirty farce will not be sheltered from the blows of the mujahedeen," said the statement.
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