Iraq's most wanted man accuses ulemas of "betraying mujahedeen": website
11-24-2004, 11h28

DUBAI (AFP) - Iraq's most wanted man, Jordanian Islamist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, hit out at ulemas (Muslim theologians) for "betraying the mujahedeen", especially in Iraq and Afghanistan, in a recording on an Islamist Internet site.

"Oh ulemas of the nation... you have betrayed us in the darkest circumstances. You have delivered us to our enemy... you have left the mujahedeen to confront (alone) the greatest world power," said the voice attributed to Zarqawi, who has a 25-million-dollar US bounty on his head.

"Until when will you abandon the nation to the tyrants of the east and of the west, who are inflicting the worst suffering, cutting the throats of the mujahedeen, the best children of the nation, and taking its riches?" said the recording, whose authenticity could not be verified.

"Hundreds of thousands of Muslims are having their throats cut by the infidels, because of your silence. If you are not knights of God's war, let women do it."

The message came as Iraqi security forces were searching for Zarqawi north of Baghdad after receiving reports of his presence in the region.

In Iraq, where he is seen as the frontman for the Al-Qaeda network, he is accused by the US military of some of the deadliest attacks in the war-wracked country and the beheading of hostages.