BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi guerrillas resentful of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's growing influence are giving the government information putting security forces hot on his trail, a senior official said Wednesday. "The Iraqi insurgents have watched Zarqawi's people grab the limelight and gain ground. They are angry. So some are coming forward with information," National Security Advisor Mowaffaq al-Rubaie told Reuters in an interview. | Even if it's not true, it's a nice story to spread around. Might give people ideas and make Zarqawi start looking at them funny and purge a few. Now where have I heard that before? |
Staring at a photograph of the elusive Zarqawi, Rubaie said the interim government was closer than ever to tracking down the most wanted man in Iraq, to its unlikely allies. "We missed him by two days a few weeks ago and he is running out of places to hide," Rubaie said. Rubaie, named National Security Adviser by former U.S. administrator Paul Bremer, was sidelined after the June 28 handover to the interim government. He retains his post but a minister of state now handles most of his functions.
Zarqawi, a self-declared ally of al Qaeda, is the biggest security nightmare for the Iraqi authorities, masterminding suicide bombings, kidnappings and beheadings. The U.S. military stages almost nightly air strikes on suspected Zarqawi safe-houses in the rebel-held city of Falluja, though residents deny all knowledge of his presence. | "Who? Never heard of him." |
Rubaie said evidence was found a few weeks ago in a safe-house that suggested Zarqawi had been there two days earlier. He declined to say where the house was located.
"The government is in contact with insurgents who have been following Zarqawi's movements," he said.
Although some guerrillas were stepping forward with information on Zarqawi, Rubaie said there was still some cooperation between insurgents and the Jordanian militant's followers because the insurgency is not united. "There are no ties on the leadership level. But there is some cooperation in terms of insurgents providing safe-houses and getting something in return," he said.
Rubaie said Zarqawi, whom he described as a "master of disguise," is always on the move, setting up safe-houses in several cities including Falluja, the northern towns of Mosul and Baquba, and even Baghdad. | That's what Sammy & Son's did. We only have to get lucky once. |
Iraqi officials and the U.S. military have long insisted Zarqawi was holed up in Falluja with foreign fighters. But Rubaie said 80 percent of Zarqawi's followers were Iraqi Muslim militants and only 20 percent were foreign fighters from countries including, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Egypt and Somalia, including some with European passports. Rubaie said the authorities had so far captured 93 foreign fighters. They have never been presented to the press. | We've noticed that. They just disappear into that Black Hole no one talks about. |
A former physician based in Britain, Rubaie returned to Iraq after the fall of Saddam in 2003 hoping to help transform Iraq from a dictatorship to a democracy. But he spent much of his time watching one Zarqawi attack after another. He said Prime Minister Iyad Allawi was pursuing a hard-line security strategy that would backfire.
"You need a carrot and stick approach. You cannot just use force. You need to engage in a serious dialogue not just hold a few talks," said Rubaie. He said the government had failed to dispatch the right people to deal with influential clerics and tribal leaders who could help isolate guerrillas and Zarqawi's supporters. Looking at the photograph of a clean-shaven Zarqawi, Rubaie shakes his head. "I am obsessed with Zarqawi. How can anyone behead a human being?" he asked. Rubaie said he hopes the government can impose security before elections scheduled for January. But he worries about the consequences of crackdowns. "We can't just use security to justify using force. This will undermine what we came back to Iraq to accomplish in the first place," he said. |