Al Qaeda slams IS

Islamist terror group Al Qaeda has slammed fellow jihadi Islamic State (IS) militants followed by an angry speech by its leader, the media reported on Friday.

Ayman al-Zawahiri, who replaced slain Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden four years ago, blasted IS in an audio message, the Mirror online reported.

Al-Zawahiri accused IS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of sedition for declaring himself the leader of all Muslims - the fourth Caliph.

"We have endured a lot of harm from Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and his brothers, and we preferred to respond with as little as possible, out of our concern to extinguish the fire of sedition," al-Zawahiri said in the audio message.

"But Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and his brothers did not leave us a choice, for they have demanded that all the mujahideen reject their confirmed pledges of allegiance, and to pledge allegiance to them for what they claim of a caliphate."

Al-Baghdadi had called on the world's Muslims to obey him as the head of the caliphate in a rare public speech in Mosul, Iraq last year.

Zawahiri said "everyone was surprised" by al-Baghdadi's declaration and he had done this "without consulting the Muslims".

IS was formerly the Al Qaeda branch in Iraq but split from the larger group two years ago.