Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, an Islamic militant with suspected ties to al Qaeda, has demanded that Japan pull its troops out of Iraq or face attacks, according to a statement posted on Tuesday on an Islamist Web site. "This message is directed to the Japanese government. Do what the Philippines has done because no one else can help you... Your fate will be like that of the Americans and others," read the statement, posted on a Web site that has carried previous messages from Zarqawi. The warning coincided with the release in Iraq of Filipino truck driver Angelo de la Cruz a day after Manila withdrew its small contingent of troops a month early in response to demands from kidnappers who had threatened to behead him.
Zarqawi also warned Muslim and Arab states against sending troops to Iraq or supporting the U.S.-led coalition and Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's government. He issued the same warning to Arab and Muslim companies operating in Iraq. "This message is especially directed to Pakistan, Jordan, Turkey, Iran, Gulf Arab states and Middle East, to Indonesia, Malaysia and all Muslim countries...We warn you for the last time that we will strike with an iron fist anyone who backs the Americans and Allawi and his gang," it said.
This just in: Purported Zarqawi Statement Disowns Japan Threat
DUBAI (Reuters) - A purported statement from the group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, an Islamic militant with suspected ties to al Qaeda, disowned a threat against Japan that was posted in Zarqawi's name on a Web site earlier on Tuesday. "To correct the mistake, we want to clarify to Muslims and the Mujahideen that the statement attributed to the group has caused us surprise and astonishment," the statement signed by Zarqawi's al Tawhid and Jihad group said on another Islamist Web site. The earlier statement in the name of Zarqawi's group had demanded that Japan pull its troops out of Iraq or face attacks.
| I don't think they are disowning the Japan threat, I think the threat to brother muslims is the one they are disowning. |
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