The speaker, identified as Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, head of the so-called Islamic State in Iraq, which was announced in October by al Qaeda and groups affiliated to it, said Washington had two weeks to accept the offer.

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POLITICAL PILGRIMAGE

Officials in the Shi'ite Alliance said leaders would head to Najaf, home to Iraq's most powerful Shi'ite clerics, within two days to seek their help in uniting the Shi'ite factions.

The alliance was created with the blessing of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most senior Shi'ite cleric.

"There will be a total review of the Alliance and the government's situation," said Haidar al-Ibadi, a member of parliament in the Alliance.

The Pentagon said this week that Sadr's Mehdi Army militia had overtaken Sunni Islamist al Qaeda as the greatest threat to Iraq's stability. Sadr's supporters say it is for self-defense only and does not launch revenge attacks against Sunni Arabs.

Revenge was on the minds of angry residents of Haditha northwest of Baghdad on Friday.

They called for the death penalty for four US Marines charged on Thursday by the U.S. military with murder over the killing of 24 unarmed civilians in Haditha in November 2005.

"Those soldiers killed 24 people. They killed women and children, isn't that enough for them be executed? Just so that the family can have peace," said Khaled Salman, whose sister Asmaa was among those killed.

None of the murder charges carries a possible death sentence because the Marines are charged with unpremeditated murder, and the maximum possible sentence is life in prison

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