OMEN
06-12-2006, 08:51 PM
AL-QAEDA in Iraq named a successor to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and said he would pursue the gruesome campaign of suicide bombings and beheadings begun by the Jordanian militant killed last week.
"The shura council of al-Qaeda in Iraq unanimously agreed on Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, to be a successor to Sheikh Abu Musab al-Zarqawi," said a statement signed by al-Qaeda and posted on a website frequently used by Islamist militants.
"Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Muhajir is a good brother, has a history in jihad and is knowledgeable. We ask God that he continue what Sheikh Abu Musab began," it said.
Muhajir, little known in the West, was not among the names that al-Qaeda experts had expected to succeed Zarqawi.
Al-Qaeda makes up about five per cent of Iraq's Sunni Arab insurgency but its suicide bombers have been responsible for the most spectacular violence, sometimes killing over 100 people in a single attack.
Although US and Iraqi leaders have hailed Zarqawi's death in an American air strike as a major blow against al-Qaeda, no one has suggested the 227kg bombs that ended his life will halt the violence in Iraq.Al-Qaeda is far more extreme than any other militant or insurgent group.
It is comprised of Iraqis and Arab militants who travel to Iraq to wage what they see as a holy war against US occupation troops and anyone linked to them.
The US military said US-led forces killed seven militants with links to senior al-Qaeda leaders in a raid this week near the area where Zarqawi was killed.
AAP
"The shura council of al-Qaeda in Iraq unanimously agreed on Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, to be a successor to Sheikh Abu Musab al-Zarqawi," said a statement signed by al-Qaeda and posted on a website frequently used by Islamist militants.
"Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Muhajir is a good brother, has a history in jihad and is knowledgeable. We ask God that he continue what Sheikh Abu Musab began," it said.
Muhajir, little known in the West, was not among the names that al-Qaeda experts had expected to succeed Zarqawi.
Al-Qaeda makes up about five per cent of Iraq's Sunni Arab insurgency but its suicide bombers have been responsible for the most spectacular violence, sometimes killing over 100 people in a single attack.
Although US and Iraqi leaders have hailed Zarqawi's death in an American air strike as a major blow against al-Qaeda, no one has suggested the 227kg bombs that ended his life will halt the violence in Iraq.Al-Qaeda is far more extreme than any other militant or insurgent group.
It is comprised of Iraqis and Arab militants who travel to Iraq to wage what they see as a holy war against US occupation troops and anyone linked to them.
The US military said US-led forces killed seven militants with links to senior al-Qaeda leaders in a raid this week near the area where Zarqawi was killed.
AAP