(Refiles to add dropped word in first paragraph) By Inal Ersan DUBAI, Nov 10 (Reuters) - The leader of Iraq's al Qaeda wing on Friday gloated over forcing outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to flee the Iraqi battlefield and said his group would not rest until it blew up the White House. Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri, said in a purported audio recording posted on the Internet that the group has 12,000 armed fighters and 10,000 others waiting to be equipped to fight U.S. troops in Iraq. "I swear by God we shall not rest from jihad until we ... blow up the filthiest house known as the White House," he said. The Democrats' victory at U.S. Congressional elections on Tuesday were a step in the right direction, the speaker said. "I tell the lame duck (U.S. administration) do not rush to escape as did your defence minister ... stay on the battleground," the speaker said. "The American people have taken a step in the right path to come out of their predicament ... they voted for a level of reason." The authenticity of the tape could not be verified. "The (U.S.) enemy if now wobbly. Today they are loading their gear to flee," the speaker said. ALLEGIANCE The speaker vowed allegiance to Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the head of a Sunni Islamic state of Iraq's mostly Sunni Arab provinces announced in October by al Qaeda and groups affiliated to it. "I say to ... the ruler of believers (Baghdadi), I vow allegiance to you," he said, calling on all Sunni insurgents to follow suit. "I put under your command 12,000 fighters who are the army of the al Qaeda," he said. The speaker blasted Bush as "the most stupid leader that America, the country of slaves and narcotics, has ever known". He said Bush's policies had allowed Iran to spread its influence in Afghanistan and Iraq after Washington toppled their Sunni rulers, and expanded Iran's reach into Syria and Lebanon.
