Zarqawi links to al-Qaeda
2004-10-18 20:00
Dubai - The Tawhid wal Jihad group of Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, the most wanted man in Iraq, pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, in a statement posted Sunday on on Islamist website.
"We announce that Al-Tawhid wal Jihad (Unity and Holy War), its emir (Zarqawi) and soldiers have pledged allegiance to the mujahedeen (Islamic warrior) Osama bin Laden," said the statement.
It was the first such public pledge by the group which is led by Zarqawi, whom the United States has branded the chief operative in Iraq of al-Qaeda, which carried out the 9/11 anti-US terror attacks.
However, the authenticity of the statement could not be verified.
Zarqawi, who like bin Laden has a $25m US bounty on his head, has claimed responsibility for a string of deadly attacks in Iraq, including kidnapping and beheading of hostages.
"Sheikh Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi was in contact with the brothers within al-Qaeda for eight months.
"They exchanged points of view and then there was a cut due to fate," the statement read.
"Suddenly contacts were restored.
"Our brothers in al-Qaeda understood the strategy of Al-Tawhid wal Jihad group in the Land of the Two Rivers (Euphrates and Tigris) and were satisfied with our line," said the statement dated October 17.
"With the start of Ramadan, the month of victories and a time when Muslims need more than ever to close ranks, to gouge out the eyes of the enemies of Islam ..., we announce this good news to our nation, to the joy of Muslims."
But in a separate statement also posted on the internet and attributed to Zarqawi's group, it said one of its leaders, Abu Hafs Allibi, had "fallen in combat alongside the heroes" of the Iraqi rebel stronghold of Fallujah.
He headed the group's Islamic sharia law committee, it said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has ordered residents of the town of Fallujah in western Iraq to surrender Zarqawi and his supporters or face invasion by US-led forces.
On Sunday, US forces and insurgents battled around Fallujah, trading fire on the outskirts of the town as US aircraft pounded rebel positions.