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Baghdad under curfew
09/06/2006 11:24 - (SA)
Baghdad - Iraq's capital Baghdad was under curfew on Friday to enhance security in the wake of two evening bombings that followed news that al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had been killed.
Even as US and Iraqi officials predicted that Zarqawi's surviving lieutenants would launch new attacks to assert their organisation's continued presence in the country, two car bombs exploded in predominantly Shi'ite neighbourhoods, killing 15 people.
"The curfew is a measure to keep people indoors as there could be more bombings like the ones last night, following Zarqawi's death," a defence ministry official said.
Vehicles were banned from the streets of Baghdad and nearby Baquba, close to where Zarqawi was killed, from 11:00 until 17:00, coinciding with Friday prayers.
Zarqawi was killed on Wednesday in a joint US-Iraqi raid.
Wave of violence
Imposition of curfews in Baghdad and Baquba addresses the main question in the wake of his death, namely the extent to which it will affect the wave of violence claiming dozens of lives across the country each day.
In marked contrast to the aggressive and victorious rhetoric characteristic of the weeks after the fall of Saddam Hussein in April 2003, or even Saddam's capture that December, US officials have been remarkably cautious.
US President George W. Bush described the event as a "victory" in the war on terror and a chance to "turn the tide".
But he warned that violence that has claimed the lives of nearly 2 500 US troops and left many more wounded will "carry on without him (Zarqawi).
"We have tough days ahead of us in Iraq that will require the continued patience of the American people," he said.
Support for al-Qaeda
Websites devoted to al-Qaeda and other jihadist causes have been flooded with messages of support for the organisation and pledges to continue the fight.
Joost Hiltermann, Middle East director for the International Crisis Group and a long time Iraq observer, pointed out that Zarqawi's legacy will long outlive him.
"He has helped unleash a sectarian dynamic which is going strong and has gained momentum and is difficult to resist," he said.
Flexible organisation
He has also left behind a flexible, decentralised organisation spread around the country that is capable of functioning without him, said Shi'ite Ali Dabbagh, a political analyst and former parliamentarian.
"We cannot expect a halt to the violence in the country because Zarqawi stayed a long time in Iraq during which he formed cells working independently from each other and recruited an unknown number of Iraqis and Arabs."
Iraq watchers add the bulk of Iraqis opposing US troops are nationalists and Saddam loyalists, with foreign Islamic fighters representing only five to seven percent of the total.
The US military, however, has always described al-Qaeda as a key segment of the insurgency since it carries out a disproportionate number of suicide attacks and focuses its efforts on killing civilians and inciting sectarian civil war.
The Sunnis, however, point out that Shi'ite militias are carrying out their fair share of violence as well, especially in the case of feuding between rival groups in the predominantly Shi'ite southern provinces.
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