Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al Qaeda’s commander in Iraq, has released “the first [videotape] to contain a ‘message’… U.S. intelligence officials told NBC News.” The tape is titled A Message to the People. This is his first video without a mask and directly posted on internet, not released through Al Jazeera. Zarqawi “needed” to be seen. Fox News reports US officials are very confident the tape is authentic and this is indeed Zarqawi, he is still force to be reckoned with, and he appears healthy and is working with the Mujahideen Shura Council.
Here is a link to the full video, available for download, courtesy of Bare Knuckle Politics
Walid Phares comments at MSNBC on Zarqawi’s videotape [paraphrased]: The decision on Iraq’s new PM is obviously not what Zarqawi wanted… this is the third event in 3 days and linked strategically if not logistically. Coordination is required on when to release tapes – each event takes time to prepare – the rumors of splits put pressure on him to end rumors – we will know more soon about Zarqawi’s real status in iraq – he tried to provoke iraq political collapse and failed – now he wants a caliphate after US leaves – we are still waiting for someone to take responsibility for Egypt – so we’ll see if there are more events.
Zarqawi’s tape follows yesterday’s multiple bombings of a scubadiving resort in Dahab, Egypt, and this weekend’s release “State of Jihad” audiotape from Osama bin Laden.
The full transcript is not yet available, but MSNBC provides an excerpt:
“Your mujahideen sons were able to confront the most ferocious of crusader campaigns on a Muslim state. They have stood in the face of this onslaught for three years.”
Reuters provides an additional quote:
“When the crusader enemy entered Iraq, he intended to control the Islamic nation and supported the Zionist state.”
Al Jazeera quotes Zarqawi as saying:
“By God, America will be defeated in Iraq.”
Athena at Terrorism Unveiled notes: “He is also wearing a suicide vest, which would corroborate statements by Sheikh Abu Omar al-Ansari, who met him in Iraq, that he wears this vest in order to “martyr” himself in this instance that Coalition forces (or angry Iraqis) come very close to apprehending him.”
The video contains three scenes of Zarqawi in various different settings:
“In the video, al-Zarqawi, who wears a beard and mustache, sat dressed in black, with an ammunition vest. An automatic rifle was propped against the wall to his right. He wore a black scarf wrapped on his head and around his neck, while the black flag of his group, al-Qaida in Iraq, was superimposed on the screen. In another scene, he was shown sitting on the floor with four other men, all wearing black masks. In a third scene, al-Zarqawi could be seen in a desert, holding a heavy automatic rifle as if ready to fire.”
There has been specualtion Zarqawi is no longer the political leader of al Qaeda in Iraq. In February, the Mujahideen Shura Council appointed Abdullah Rashid al-Baghdadi its leader and Zarqawi stopped releasing statements.
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