Zarqawi: Israelis in Fallujah

2005-01-20 16:29

Dubai - Al-Qaeda's Iraq frontman Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi claimed 800 Israeli soldiers as well as Jordanian troops took part in the US-led assault on Fallujah in November, according to an audiotape posted on the internet on Thursday.

"It is known that 800 Israeli soldiers ... participated in the battle; just like the participation by the Jordanian military, whose officers contributed to the planning and the military assault against the city," he said.

The authenticity of the 75-minute tape, posted on the first day of the Muslim holidays of Eid al-Adha, could not be verified.

US and Iraqi forces retook the rebel stronghold of Fallujah, west of the Iraqi capital, from insurgents in an all-out assault last November.

Iraq's most wanted man also claimed that Israeli soldiers in Fallujah "were accompanied by 18 rabbis, some of whom were killed, as newspapers and Israeli media announced".

"The battle of Fallujah removed the ugly mask of the doomed 'Rafidha' (a derogatory term for Muslim Shiites), whose hatred (for Sunnis) was manifested in this battle," Zarqawi said.

"They participated in the military campaign for the battle against Fallujah with the blessing of the imam of infidelity and apostasy, Sistani," he added, in reference to Iraqi Shiite spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

"They played a big role in the massacre, the looting, the sabotage and the spilling of innocent blood among children, women and the elderly," he added.

The speaker charged that Shiites "occupied (Sunni) mosques, sticking on their walls photos of their Satan, Sistani, and writing 'Today (we take) your territory, and tomorrow your honour' with hate".

"Ninety percent of the (Iraqi) national guard is composed of hateful Rafidha and 10% peshmerga (Kurdish fighters)," he said.

- SAPA