CAIRO, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- The new al-Qaida head in Iraq Abu Hamzaal-Muhajir has called for Muslim unity against the enemy, Qatar's al-Jazeera television reported late Thursday with an audio tape.

    "Place your hands in our hands ... our enemy has unified his ranks, now is the time to unite," said the speaker, identified by al-Jazeera as al-Qaida's new leader in Iraq.

    The audio tape is said to be the first released by Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, who succeeded the slain militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi three months ago.

    In the tape, al-Muhajir said he was confident that victory will be achieved and called on all mujahedeen to unite on the battlefield, according to al-Jazeera.

    Meanwhile, he also criticized the participation of Sunni Arabs in the Iraqi government.

    In June after his predecessor al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. air strike in Iraq, al-Muhajir had issued a public statement and vowed to punish Sunnis who had embraced the political process.

    The U.S. military has put a bounty of 5 million U.S. dollars on al-Muhajir's head. Enditem