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Al-Qaeda vows to continue war
08/06/2006 13:30 - (SA)
Baghdad - Al-Qaeda in Iraq confirmed the death of its leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and vowed it will continue its "holy war" in a statement posted on the web on Thursday.
"We want to give you the joyous news of the martyrdom of the mujahed sheik Abu Musab al-Zarqawi," said the statement, signed by "Abu Abdel-Rahman al-Iraqi," identified as the deputy "emir" or leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq.
"The death of our leaders is life for us. It will only increase our persistence in continuing holy war so that the word of God will be supreme," it said.
Support for bin Laden
The group also reiterated its support for al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
"We tell our prince, Sheikh bin Laden, your soldiers in al-Qaeda in Iraq will continue along the same path that you set out for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi," the statement said.
Still a threat from '1 000 bin Ladens'
The killing al-Zarqawi deprives Islamic terrorism of one of its most high-profile leaders. But it leaves largely intact the threat of attacks from small, independent cells - the "1 000 bin Ladens" that Egypt's president once said could be spawned by the US-led war on terror.
Once they absorb the psychological blow of his death, al-Zarqawi's followers and other militants outside Iraq who were not directly associated with him could regroup and continue with their bomb plots and killings.
Al-Qaeda has shown great resilience, continuing even as top leaders have been killed or captured. Even with Osama Bin Laden in hiding, other militants have stepped forward to carry out his calls for terror.
Hundreds of arrests in France, Britain, and elsewhere in Europe have thwarted plots but did not stop the attacks on transport systems in Madrid and London.
Boost for war on terror
But for Western intelligence agencies and troops on the front lines, al-Zarqawi's killing is an undoubted boost.
With his horror videos - including one that showed the beheading of American hostage Nicholas Berg - the Jordanian-born militant had seemed to revel in taunting those seeking catch or eradicate him.
His bloodshed made the US-led war on terror look impotent to some extent, an impression that the air strike that killed him helped to dispel.
"It indicates that the intelligence services and police are now more capable of infiltrating the terror groups," said Italian expert Stefano Silvestri, president of the Institute of International Affairs in Rome.
Made his name through brutality
Because he was such a thug, al-Zarqawi does not seem likely to now become a widely respected martyr for Islamic militants. Experts say he was not respected as an ideologist or as thinker, having made his name through brutality.
"He was a particularly ruthless and malignant force, responsible for the death of hundreds of Iraqi civilians," said Paul Wilkinson of the centre for the study of terrorism and political violence at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
"He's killed so many of his fellow muslims that I think there will be a general sigh of relief in the Middle East," Wilkinson said.
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