'Zarqawi' video appears on internet
'Zarqawi' video appears on internet
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Tuesday, 25, Apr 2006 08:54
Al-Qaeda's Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has posted a video on the internet denouncing the Iraqi government.
A man claiming to be Zarqawi, leader of the Iraqi insurgency and the most wanted man in the country, said that coalition and Iraqi forces "will not be able to end the battle with the mujahideen".
If authenticated as genuine, then it will be the first time that the Jordanian militant with a $25 million bounty on his head has appeared without a mask. As well as denouncing the Iraqi government as "Shi'ite agents" he called coalition forces "crusaders" that would be defeated.
Zarqawi has been blamed for suicide bombings at Shia mosques along with attacks on hotels that have been condemned in the Arab world.
He is also suspected as being the hooded figure who beheaded hostage Ken Bigley, along with other acts of brutality.
Jordan has already sentenced Zarqawi to death in his absence last December for a failed suicide bombing at a border crossing, on top of an earlier death sentence for his assassination of Laurence Foley in 2002.
Saying that western forces should not be in Iraq, Zarqawi adds in the video that "by God, America will be defeated in Iraq".