'Zarqawi behind poll attacks'
2005-01-30 15:33
Cairo - A website statement purportedly from insurgency leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's group claimed responsibility on Sunday for a series of election-day attacks across Iraq.
The group, al-Qaeda in Iraq, said its "lions" attacked at least four voting centres in Baghdad, including one in the upscale Mansour neighbourhood. A later statement claimed a series of attacks in the northern city of Mosul.
The statements' authenticity could not immediately be verified. They were posted on a website noted for carrying militant messages and were purportedly issued in the name of the group's media coordinator, Abu Maysarah al-Iraqi.
The group claimed to have killed "police, national guards and Americans," without giving specifics.
It also claimed responsibility for an attack on the Green Zone, the fortified Baghdad enclave holding the U.S. Embassy and Iraqi government buildings, which it called the "Black Zone".
The group also said it was active in Samarra and Baqouba as well as the Anbar province.
- AP