Bin Laden urges Iraq rebel unity, admits wrongs

DUBAI (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden urged insurgents in Iraq to unite with his al Qaeda followers, admitting that wrongs had been committed because of fanaticism, according to an audio recording aired on Monday.

"The interest of the Islamic nation surpasses that of a group ... the interest of the (Islamic) nation is more important than that of a state," said a voice which sounded like the al Qaeda leader's in the tape carried by Al Jazeera television.

The recording was aired as Iraq's government reported violence had dropped by 70 percent since the end of June, following a series of U.S.-led offensives against insurgents.

Iraq's wing of al Qaeda is one of the key groups fighting U.S.-led forces and the Baghdad government, but bin Laden's followers have angered other Sunni groups and tribes through their hardline interpretations of Islam and indiscriminate killing of civilians.

In Anbar, a former insurgent hotbed where Sunni Arab tribes have joined U.S. forces against al Qaeda, there has been an 82 percent drop in violent deaths, the government said.

Bin Laden acknowledged that some insurgents were involved in "wrongdoings", mentioning a particular group of holy commandments that includes killings. He did not give further details.

"The mujahideen are the children of this nation ... they do right things and wrong things," bin Laden said. "Those who are accused of violations of God's commandments should face trial," he added.

"I advise ... our brothers, particularly those in al Qaeda wherever they may be, to avoid fanatically following a person or a group," he said. "The strength of faith is in the strength of the bond between Muslims and not that of a tribe, nationalism or an organization."

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