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 organisation."
TRIBAL HELP
In the recording, which Jazeera said was entitled "message to the people of Iraq", bin Laden mentioned battles in the province of Diyala, indicating that he made the remarks since the start of a U.S. offensive there in June.
He said he was addressing "mujahideen (holy warriors) in Iraq", Sunni Muslim militant groups fighting U.S.-led forces. Al Qaeda belongs to a school of Islam which regards members of Iraq's Shi'ite Muslim majority as heretics.
Jazeera said bin Laden urged Iraqi tribes to uphold their "tradition of resisting" occupation, in an apparent reference to the presence of British forces in Iraq in the last century.
The speaker urged "scholars, jihadist and tribal leaders to work for reconciliation between fighting groups".
He warned insurgents against enemy attempts to drive wedges between groups by planting agents among them, and said such agents should be punished, but only after their guilt was established through thorough investigations.
Last month, bin Laden issued three messages, including a video marking al Qaeda's September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington in which about 3,000 people were killed.
Bin Laden said in the video that United States was vulnerable despite its power and insisted only conversion to Islam would end the conflict.
(Additional reporting by Firouz Sedarat)
The leader of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, has released a new audiotape which was broadcast through ''Al Jazeera''. The tape is entitled ''Letter to the people of Iraq.''

On the tape, he reportedly calls for unity among insurgents in Iraq, but also says that insurgents have been "lax" in their duties. In the tape, bin Laden's main focus is on Iraq.

"Some of you have been lax in one duty, which is to unite your ranks. Beware of division ... The Muslim world is waiting for you to gather under one banner. The interest of the Islamic nation surpasses that of a group. The strength of faith is in the strength of the bond between Muslims and not that of a tribe or nationalism. Beware of your enemies, especially those who infiltrate your ranks. I advise myself and the Islamic nation not to follow individuals and countries. Everything should be seen in the light of Islam," said bin Laden on the tape.

The voice on the tape has yet to be confirmed to be that of bin Laden's and it is not known how the network received the tape.