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Zarqawi is believed to be behind many attacks in Iraq
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DUBAI,
April 6 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Mussab Al-Zarqawi, the
alleged mastermind of many attacks in Iraq, vowed Tuesday, April 6, to
carry out more deadly operations against the U.S.-led occupation
forces as he was sentenced to death in absentia by a Jordanian court
for the killing of an American diplomat.
In
a recording broadcast on an Islamic website, Jordanian Zarqawi claimed
that his “heroic Mujahedin have killed more than 200 soldiers from
the coalition of the crusaders” so far, reported Agence
France-Presse (AFP).
Taking
credit for several attacks against the U.S.-led occupation, Zarqawi
said “the most recent and not the last was against the Israeli
Mossad in the Jabal Lebanon hotel”.
A
strong car bomb
explosion in front of that hotel last March killed 17
people and wounded a dozen people.
“We
have torn up their bodies in several places: at the U.N. in Baghdad,
occupation forces in Karbala, the Italians in Nasiriyah, American
forces on Al-Khalidiya bridge, U.S. intelligence agents at the Hotel
Chahine and the presidential palace in Baghdad, the CIA at the Hotel
Rashid, Polish forces at Hilla,” he numerated the attacks.
An
expert told AFP on condition of anonymity that the voice on the tape
was identical to that of three previous recordings attributed to
Zarqawi.
Criticizing
Shiites
In
his message, Zarqawi also sharply criticizes Iraq's majority Shiites
as a “Trojan Horse” used by “the enemies of the nation” to
take over the country.
He
also had sharp words for the spiritual head of Iraq's Shiites, Grand
Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who has appealed for calm and urged dialogue
amid recent clashes between Shiites and occupation troops.
“The
Shiites are the allies of the Jews and Americans. They are helping
kill Muslims," he said.
A
close aide to Sistani said Tuesday that the veteran Shiite leader has
voiced his solidarity with Sadr in his confrontations with the
U.S.-led occupation troops.
Sistani
said “the demonstrators' demands are legitimate” and “condemns
acts waged by the occupation forces and pledges his support to the
families of the victims”, the aide said.
A
total of 87 Iraqis have
been killed and some 400 wounded in the clashes across
Iraq between occupation forces and Shiites, which erupted on Sunday,
April 3.
The
clashes have occurred in the Shiite-dominant areas of Sadr City and
nearby Shoula neighborhood, as well as cities south of Baghdad,
including An-Najaf, Karbala, Kufa, Amara, Nasiriyah and Basra.
Zarqawi,
whose real name is Fadel Nazzal Al-Khalayleh, is considered by U.S.
officials as one of Al-Qaeda's top experts in biological and chemical
weapons.
U.S.
occupation authorities have placed $10 million bounty on his head.
Sentenced
To Death
Zarqawi
was also sentenced to death by a Jordanian court in absentia along
with seven others to the killing of a U.S. diplomat in October 2002 in
the Jordanian capital Amman.
Two
other people were sentenced to six and 15 years of hard labor, and the
11th defendant was acquitted, said an AFP correspondent in the court.
Laurence
Foley, of the U.S. aid agency USAID, was shot dead at close range on
October 28, 2002, outside his home in west Amman by a lone gunman.
It
was the first murder of a U.S. diplomat in Jordan and the first in the
Middle East since the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and
Washington.
Of
the 11 people on trial for Foley's murder, five were present in court
and the other six are on the run.
Among
the defendants, suspected ringleaders Libyan Salem Saad bin Sweid and
Jordanian Yasser Freihat were given death sentences.
Jordanian
Mohammed Demes received 15 years of hard labor and his compatriot
Mohammed Said six-year term. The court said it believed they were
unaware that Foley was to be killed.
Numan
Al-Hirshi was found not guilty because of a lack of evidence.
All
five defendants who were present in court had denied any involvement
in the murder. The four men convicted have the right to appeal.
One
of the defendants shouted from the prisoner box during the verdict,
“We haven't killed anybody and you invented these accusations”.
The
U.S. embassy in Amman welcomed the verdict.
“We
appreciate the diligence of the Jordanian investigators, judicial
officials, police and other security personnel involved in bringing
those responsible for Larry's murder to justice,” it said in a
statement.
