Al-Qaeda mocks Zarqawi claims

2005-02-27 20:32

Dubai - An internet statement posted in the name of Al-Qaeda's Iraq branch on Sunday mocked claims by Iraqi security chiefs that the noose was tightening around its leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the country's most wanted man.

"The crusaders are seeking to hide their defeats by announcing the arrest of a lieutenant of Sheikh Abu Musab," said the statement, the authenticity of which could not be independently verified.

"We've lost track of how many lieutenants they've claimed to have arrested... of how many times they have lied in a futile effort to improve the morale of their agents who are taking flight every time the mujahedeen (Islamist insurgents) launch an operation.

"We assure our brothers that our leaders are in the best of health... and in command of their men."

On Saturday, Iraq's national security chief Kassem Daoud said government forces were hot on the heels of the Jordanian-born Zarqawi after the arrest of a leading lieutenant was announced the previous day.

"We are really close to Zarqawi," Daoud said, adding: "You will hear very good news soon."

On Friday, the government said a senior Zarqawi aide had been arrested west of Baghdad on Monday, along with a man who had acted as the militant's driver.

"Security forces in Iraq conducted a raid in Anah on February 20 resulting in the capture of Talib Mikhlif Arsan Walman al-Dulaimi, aka Abu Qutaybah, a trusted lieutenant of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi," the government statement said.

"Ahmed Khalid Marad Ismail al-Rawi, aka Abu Uthman, was captured during the same raid. Abu Uthman arranged meetings for Zarqawi and occasionally acted as his driver."

Iraq's most wanted man, Zarqawi has a $25m US reward for his death or capture.

He has also been sentenced to death in absentia in his native Jordan for the murder of a US diplomat.

- AFP