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More on the Zarqawi succession issue
With the demise of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al Qaeda will be looking for a new sales approach in its worldwide fundraising campaigns. Al-Zarqawi had become a key part of al Qaeda's marketing: He was a terror operator who stole headlines with jarring, gruesome attacks carried out by a network of foreign and Iraqi fighters. For more than three years, he evaded an international manhunt.Counterterrorism officials have said al-Zarqawi served as a worldwide jihadist rallying point and a fundraising icon. "The terrorist celeb, if you will," said Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., a former FBI agent who serves on the House Intelligence Committee. "It is like selling for any organization. They are selling the success of Zarqawi in eluding capture in Iraq." Some intelligence operatives suggest al Qaeda is glad al-Zarqawi is dead because he was a divisive figure who attacked Shiites and was generally unpopular, reports CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer. Al Qaeda may put someone in place who can get along better with Sunni insurgents and form a united front, which would spell more attacks against the coalition and the Iraqi government, whom they regard as stooges of the American government, Palmer adds. The House Intelligence Committee's top Democrat, Rep. Jane Harman of California, said: "Even though he was the al Qaeda leader in Iraq, the threats around the world will not diminish because he is not there." Posted by: Dan Darling 2006-06-10 |
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