US ready for al-Qaeda backlash

2006-06-11 16:34

Washington - The United States is prepared for retaliation by al-Qaeda, the commander of US-led forces in Iraq said on Sunday about internet threats from the group following last week's assassination of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

The internet message attributed to al-Qaeda in Iraq threatened "great operations to shake the enemy" following the death of its leader Zarqawi in a US air strike.

But US General George Casey, the leader of coalition forces in Iraq, said on Sunday that such an reaction had been anticipated, and that coalition forces and the Iraq government were taking the necessary security precautions.

"I expect them to say what they said. I expect them to try and do what they said," Casey told the Fox News Sunday television programme.

"I think what you're going to see is an enhanced security operation here announced by the prime minister (Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki) in Baghdad over the course of the coming week, and a tightening of security in the Baghdad area," the general said.

"I think we'll be prepared for it, but again, you can't stop terrorist attacks completely," Casey said.

He added that Wednesday's military strike near the city of Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, did untold damage to the international terror network.

"They are hurt badly," Casey said.

"And it's not just the Zarqawi operation, but we have had a series of operations in the aftermath of that, based on intelligence we have gathered over the past weeks while tracking this one individual," he said, speaking from Iraq.

"We have had a steady drum beat of operations against the al-Qaeda network here in Iraq since the Zarqawi operation," said Casey.

- AFP