'Al-Zarqawi Tape' Calls Iraq MPs 'Apostates'
An internet audiotape posted today, purportedly by the leader of al Qaida in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, denounced Iraq’s Shiites as collaborators with the Americans and called the country’s rulers “apostates.”
The tape was the first said to be from the Jordanian-born militant since a new, Shiite-dominated government was put in place in early May. In the past weeks, al Qaida in Iraq and other militant groups have wreaked a stepped-up campaign of car bombings, suicide attacks, shootings and kidnappings.
“What Sunnis have suffered and are still suffering from the Shiites is far worse than what they saw from the Americans,” said the speaker on the recording, purported to be al-Zarqawi.
Shiites are “collaborating with the worshippers of the cross,” who invaded Iraq, corrupted the country and violated holy sites, the speaker said. “This is all taking place under of a state of apostasy of the rulers of this nation.”
The authenticity of the tape, posted on an internet web forum where al Qaida in Iraq statements are often posted, could not be independently verified. The voice resembled that on previous al Zarqawi tapes.
The speaker also justified the deaths of fellow Muslims in attacks against US troops and their Iraqi allies, saying jihad – or holy war – was too important to be hindered.
“God ordered us to attack the infidels by all means ... even if armed infidels and unintended victims – women and children – are killed together,” he said. “The priority is for jihad so anything that slows down jihad should be overcome.”
A senior US military official said lieutenants of al-Zarqawi – and perhaps al-Zarqawi himself – held a meeting in neighbouring Syria about a month ago to plan an intensified series of car bombings and other attacks throughout Iraq.
The official said there had been 21 car bombings in Baghdad during May, compared with 25 such attacks in the capital in all of 2004.
An internet audiotape posted today, purportedly by the leader of al Qaida in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, denounced Iraq’s Shiites as collaborators with the Americans and called the country’s rulers “apostates.”
The tape was the first said to be from the Jordanian-born militant since a new, Shiite-dominated government was put in place in early May. In the past weeks, al Qaida in Iraq and other militant groups have wreaked a stepped-up campaign of car bombings, suicide attacks, shootings and kidnappings.
“What Sunnis have suffered and are still suffering from the Shiites is far worse than what they saw from the Americans,” said the speaker on the recording, purported to be al-Zarqawi.
Shiites are “collaborating with the worshippers of the cross,” who invaded Iraq, corrupted the country and violated holy sites, the speaker said. “This is all taking place under of a state of apostasy of the rulers of this nation.”
The authenticity of the tape, posted on an internet web forum where al Qaida in Iraq statements are often posted, could not be independently verified. The voice resembled that on previous al Zarqawi tapes.
The speaker also justified the deaths of fellow Muslims in attacks against US troops and their Iraqi allies, saying jihad – or holy war – was too important to be hindered.
“God ordered us to attack the infidels by all means ... even if armed infidels and unintended victims – women and children – are killed together,” he said. “The priority is for jihad so anything that slows down jihad should be overcome.”
A senior US military official said lieutenants of al-Zarqawi – and perhaps al-Zarqawi himself – held a meeting in neighbouring Syria about a month ago to plan an intensified series of car bombings and other attacks throughout Iraq.
The official said there had been 21 car bombings in Baghdad during May, compared with 25 such attacks in the capital in all of 2004.
posted by Casey Britton | 5:56 PM
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