ISIS Rebels Declare 'Islamic State' in Iraq and Syria

Jihadist militant group ISIS has said it is establishing a caliphate, or Islamic state, on the territories it controls in Iraq and Syria.
It also proclaimed the group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as caliph and "leader for Muslims everywhere".
Setting up a state governed under strict Islamic law has long been a goal of many jihadists.
The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis) announced the establishment of the caliphate in an audio recording posted on the internet on Sunday June 29,2014

What is a caliphate?

• An Islamic state ruled by a single political and religious leader, or Caliph

• Caliphs are regarded by their followers as successors to the Prophet Muhammad and the leader of all Muslims

• First caliphate came into being after Muhammad's death in 632

• In the centuries which followed, caliphates had dominion in the Middle East and North Africa

• The last widely accepted caliphate was abolished in 1924 by Turkish leader Kemal Ataturk after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire

• The Ahmadiyya sect of Islam has recognised a caliphate for the last century, but it is only this group that does so