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Zarqawi 'in good health'
28/05/2005 09:40 - (SA)
Baghdad - Al-Qaeda's frontman in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is in good health after suffering a reported gunshot wound, his organisation said on Friday in an internet statement whose authenticity could not be verified.
"Our leader is in good health. He is directing the jihadist operations and has been following the details right up to the time that this statement was drafted," according to the statement Friday signed by the "information chief" of the Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Land of Two Rivers, Abu Maisara al-Iraqi.
That was the same name used Tuesday to announce that Zarqawi, Iraq's most wanted man with a $20m United States bounty on his head, had been wounded.
"Much has been said in the media on the appointment of a deputy to Sheikh Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, but everyone knows that was the work of the enemies of God which never stops conspiring," the latest statement read.
War on internet statements
A war of internet statements has escalated since Islamist websites first posted the announcement of Zarqawi's injuries, adding to confusion about the fate of the man accused of being behind the bloodiest attacks in Iraq.
The latest statement also reiterated that no stand-in leader had been named.
Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan Baqer Solagh said Thursday that his government received information five days ago that Zarqawi was wounded but did not know the seriousness of his injuries.
The Washington Post quoted a Zarqawi lieutenant by the nom-de-guerre of Abu Karrar as saying the Jordanian militant was shot and wounded in fighting with US forces near the western city of Ramadi on March 21-22.
Meanwhile, a US marine was killed Thursday in a rocket-propelled grenade attack during Operation New Market in the northwestern city of Haditha aimed at flushing out Zarqawi-linked insurgents, the United States military said.
A second marine died Wednesday in the same operation when he came under fire from insurgents.
Elsewhere, another two US soldiers were killed late on Thursday when their helicopter was shot down, as the Iraqi government sealed off Baghdad in a bid to quell mounting attacks in the capital. Around Baghdad, where car bombs explode almost daily, the government has launched the biggest Iraqi-led operation since US forces invaded more than two years ago, using tens of thousands of Iraqi police and soldiers and setting up hundreds of extra checkpoints.
- AFP
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