BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A chilling, rambling audio file thought to be from the most-wanted man in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, says religious doctrine justifies the killing of innocent Muslims by insurgents.
Wave of car bombings tied to al Qaeda
Wednesday, May 18, 2005 Posted: 3:50 PM EDT (1950 GMT)
The message was posted on several Islamist Web sites Wednesday, the same day a senior U.S. military official said the Jordanian-born leader of al Qaeda in Iraq ordered the recent wave of car bombings in which more than 400 people were killed.
The audio -- in which al-Zarqawi is introduced but the speaker does not identify himself -- appeared during a slight lull in violence after three weeks of ferocious attacks.
CNNArabic.com's Caroline Faraj, who monitors militant Web sites, said the voice sounded like al-Zarqawi's.
On the audio, the speaker says in Arabic: "The shedding of Muslim blood ... is allowed in order to avoid the greater evil of disrupting jihad."
The speaker defends suicide attacks, saying, "killing of infidels by any method including martyrdom operations has been sanctified by many scholars even if it meant killing innocent Muslims."
"This legality has been agreed upon ... so as not to disrupt jihad," the recording says.
The only indication that the 67-minute recording released Wednesday is relatively new is a reference to Pope John Paul II. The voice says there was too much focus on the death of the pontiff in April and not enough on the "torture" of the Sunnis and "raping" of Muslim women in Iraq. :ugh:
The speaker said the landscape and terrain of Iraq has forced the insurgents to resort to suicide car bombings.
It is "very difficult for us, especially in Baghdad, which led us to increase our martyrs' attacks," a reference to suicide bombings.
The senior U.S. military official, citing various intelligence sources, said insurgents were ordered to increase the number of car bombings at a meeting in Syria last month.
The official said that it was unclear whether al-Zarqawi was at the meeting, but that it was possible because he still has the ability to move in and out of the country.
There is a $25 million bounty for the capture of al-Zarqawi.
More than 400 Iraqis have been killed during the three weeks since the formation of Iraq's new transitional government, and insurgents, who once favored roadside bombs, are using more car-borne devices.
In May, there have been 21 car bombings, mostly suicide attacks, in Baghdad and nearby areas. In 2004 in the same area, there were fewer than half that total of car bombings.
"I don't think they are gaining strength," the official said, but he conceded the insurgents are a "learning enemy."
The official indicated intelligence suggests some people have been forced to participate in suicide attacks.
In one recent car bombing investigators found a foot duct-taped to the accelerator pedal.
Intelligence suggests some drivers were unaware their cars were loaded with explosives when they were remotely detonated.
The military also theorizes some drivers have been forced at gunpoint into car bombings or that the drivers' families have been threatened with kidnapping.
In its quest to quell the spate of bombings, the U.S. military hunted for insurgents near Syrian border towns on the Euphrates River last week. The military estimated that more than 125 insurgents were killed and said 39 other suspected fighters were captured.
Nine U.S. Marines died in the fighting, the military said.
Several of people identified as al-Zarqawi aides have been captured in the past month, including a man named Ammar al-Zubaydi (also known as Abu Abbas).
The military said last week al-Zubaydi was responsible for a string of car bombs in the Baghdad area on April 29. On that day, 12 explosions were reported in eight areas of the capital within a matter of hours.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/05/18/iraq.main/index.html
