Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader paid
tribute to the slain Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in a video Friday, extolling him as
"the prince of martyrs" despite the rocky relationship that the terrorist leader
in Iraq had with the al-Qaida command.
The video, aired on the Qatari-based TV channel Al-Jazeera, was the first
acknowledgment by al-Qaida's central leadership of the death of al-Zarqawi, who
was killed in a U.S. airstrike northeast of Baghdad on June 7.
The clip showed al-Qaida's deputy leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, wearing a white
robe and black turban, speaking to the camera with a picture of a smiling
al-Zarqawi over his left shoulder.
Al-Zarqawi was "a soldier, a hero, an imam (Islamic cleric) and the prince of
martyrs," al-Zawahri said, adding his death "has defined the struggle between
the crusaders and Islam in Iraq."
Al-Zawahri, who is believed to be hiding in the mountains on the
Pakistani-Afghan border, did not mention al-Zarqawi's successor, named by
al-Qaida in Iraq as Abu Hamza al-Muhajer. The omission might mean the tape was
recorded before the successor was chosen, or it might indicate that al-Zawahri
does not endorse the new leader.
A U.S. counterterrorism official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in
compliance with office policy, said authorities believe the statement is part of
al-Qaida's ongoing campaign to appear relevant by showing it is aware and part
of current events, such as al-Zarqawi's death. U.S. intelligence experts are
reviewing the tape to determine its authenticity, but there is no reason to
doubt that it is him, the official said.
In addition to repeating his customary attacks on the U.S., al-Zawahri
vilified the American ambassador to Baghdad, Zalmay Khalilzad, who was born in
Afghanistan. Khalilzad is "an Afghani renegade who has abandoned his religion,
emigrated to America and bowed at the feet of the Zionists," al-Zawahri said.
He also attacked Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, accusing him of
betraying the Islamic principles of his Dawa party.
"Nouri al-Maliki, who has been selling out Islam to reach the chair of power,
collaborated with the crusader invaders before and after the invasion (of
Iraq)," al-Zawahri said.
Al-Zawahri and his colleagues had clearly taken pains to make the video into
a homage to al-Zarqawi. Normally, al-Zawahri appears on video against a plain
background with no feature other than an automatic rifle.
In Friday's tape, however, the background was an elaborate affair: a mournful
mixture of blacks and dark reds, dominated by the photo of al-Zarqawi, and two
dull gold columns. Whereas al-Zarqawi photographs often show a stern, if not
threatening face, the picture chosen for the video showed a smiling al-Zarqawi,
who was probably laughing at a joke. Just a glimpse of al-Zawahri's rifle was
visible at the extreme left of the background.
During his leadership of al-Qaida's Iraqi branch, al-Zarqawi swore allegiance
to
Osama bin Laden, the network's overall leader, but often had tense
relations with him and al-Zawahri.
In July 2005, al-Zawahri reportedly wrote a letter to al-Zarqawi criticizing
his attacks on Iraqi Shiite mosques and civilians, saying they hurt the
mujahedeen's image. The al-Qaida deputy also asked al-Zarqawi for money,
according to the U.S. military, which said it intercepted the message.
Al-Zarqawi apparently brushed off the criticism as he continued to attack
Shiites, a strategy intended to spark a Sunni-Shiite civil war.
Al-Zawahri's reported request for money suggests that funds were flowing more
readily to al-Zarqawi than to the al-Qaida command. The money probably came from
supporters in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf, where many of al-Zarqawi's
fighters came from.
With his spectacular bomb attacks, al-Zarqawi vaulted to a hero's status
among Islamic extremists across the world, stealing the spotlight from bin
Laden.
In 2005 bin Laden vanished from the public eye, issuing not a single audio or
videotape, but al-Zarqawi's group frequently put out messages. He portrayed
himself as al-Qaida's fighter on the hottest front of "jihad" or holy war.
The tension between al-Zarqawi and al-Qaida's command appeared to have faded
by early 2006, because al-Zawahri has now issued three videotapes this year in
which he effusively praises al-Zarqawi.
