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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Zarqawi may be ill |
| 2005-05-05 |
| The U.S. military is examining reports that insurgent leader Abu Musab Zarqawi was present last week at a hospital in Anbar province and the possibility that he may be ill or wounded, officials said Wednesday. U.S. officials gave no details as to why they believe Zarqawi may be sick or injured. But U.S. military authorities were quoted this month as saying that Zarqawi had left medical information about himself on a laptop computer that was seized Feb. 20 in his closest known call with American pursuers. When his car was pulled over at a checkpoint outside Ramadi, Zarqawi fled on foot, leaving behind the laptop, photos of himself and contacts, officials said. It was not clear whether suspicions about his health were linked to the seizure of the computer or grew directly out of Zarqawi's reported presence last week at a hospital in Ramadi, the capital of restive Anbar province. Zarqawi's group asserted in a written statement posted at two mosques, one of them in Ramadi, that the Jordanian-born militant was at the hospital last Thursday during a raid by U.S. forces but that the Americans missed him. A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, Lt. Col. Steven Boylan, confirmed Wednesday that officials had "received a tip that there were terrorists in and around the hospital in Ramadi." U.S. and Iraqi forces "did go to the hospital to act upon the information," Boylan said. He did not confirm that Zarqawi was the target of the raid. The forces left without detaining anyone but were reviewing information from the operation, Boylan said. Zarqawi is the most-wanted man in Iraq, and the United States has offered a $25 million reward for information leading to his death or capture. Zarqawi is believed by U.S. officials to lead a network of insurgent cells that has been behind many violent attacks in Iraq. American officials say Zarqawi is linked to some of last year's hostage beheadings and such attacks as the military-style assault last month on U.S. Marines at Abu Ghraib prison. Known sightings of Zarqawi in recent months have all been in Anbar province. The district's tens of thousands of square miles are largely guarded by a scaled-back American force, with few Iraqi troops stationed outside Ramadi. Wide-open spaces and a generally porous border with Syria give militants room to roam and hide. Military officials said this week that reported sightings of Zarqawi include one several weeks or months ago in the small town of Haqlaniyah, where he was believed to have given a sermon at a blue-domed hilltop mosque. There were reports that Zarqawi was at the main hospital in Ramadi both on Wednesday and Thursday of last week. The Wednesday sighting was reported by Islamic newspapers. Separately, several people at the hospital said they had seen a group of armed men arrive at the hospital Thursday, followed by the Americans. "They searched us one by one, and they checked our IDs," said Saad Safi, a patient at the hospital at the time of the U.S. raid. "The occupation forces searched the whole hospital but did not find anything. We hadn't expected them to come search for Zarqawi." In a written statement Friday, Zarqawi's al Qaeda in Iraq group said Americans searched all the rooms down to the air-conditioning ducts but "were not able to find Sheik Abu Musab Zarqawi, even though he was inside the hospital." The statement did not say why Zarqawi would have been at the hospital. He has not been known to have health problems or to have been injured. An Islamic Web site reportedly made a point of saying this year that Zarqawi was in good health. Riyadh Abu Dhiba, an insurgent in an Iraqi militant group, said Thursday that Zarqawi had been visiting his top aide, who was hurt in an unspecified clash. Abu Dhiba, who belongs to a group called Mohammeds Army, said the Zarqawi aide is a foreigner. The insurgent said Zarqawi at times has brought doctors to his hiding places to care for the injured. "Zarqawi is not ill at all," Abu Dhiba said. Iraqi authorities say a suspected top lieutenant of Zarqawi's, Talib Mikhlif Arsan Walman Dulaymi, was captured in February. The government said Dulaymi moved money and equipment around the country for Zarqawi and arranged for safe houses. Zarqawi's reported near-capture in February raised hope among U.S. military officials of apprehending him. Zarqawi is believed to move frequently to evade American forces. U.S. military officials said capturing Zarqawi would not end the insurgency. Some say that eliminating the lieutenants who carry out operations for him is more important. But removing Zarqawi from the scene would be seen as a setback to insurgents in general, they said. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #38 Dearest Zarqawi, Take two bullets (by mouth) and call me in the morning. |
| Posted by: FeralCat 2005-05-05 22:11 |
| #37 Not from the Southwest are ya, Bomb-a-rama? I am, but I tend to steer clear of that sort of thing. I used to patronize the festivities regularly until I started to notice the subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle racism in a lot of Latino behavior. When I talk about ''we'', I mean us as Americans. When most Latinos talk about ''we'', they're likely to mean just their ethnic group, or ''Hispanics'' in general. I dunno, that just rubs me the wrong way I guess. (Btw, I'm not white, just to be clear on that) |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-05-05 17:26 |
| #36 We don't have Christmas We have ''The Holidays'' ''The Holidays'' is our way of celebrating without acknowledging there is anything to celebrate; you go to a party, but it is considered bad form to mention why there is a party. Me, I just stay home. |
| Posted by: Michael 2005-05-05 17:05 |
| #35 California takes most any excuse to party, except Christmas. |
| Posted by: RWV 2005-05-05 16:50 |
| #34 The 5th of May is pretty much a big deal in this part of California we were only part of Mexico/Spain for easily 2X as long as we have been part of the Union. Who wouldn't party over kicking the French Foreign Legions ass any how. I am praying for some creeping massive infection of his stump. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom 2005-05-05 15:47 |
| #33 pleny non-irish celbrate saynt paddys to. :) |
| Posted by: muck4doo 2005-05-05 14:45 |
| #32 Not from the Southwest are ya, Bomb-a-rama? Cinco de Mayo is a pretty widely accepted holiday 'round these parts. |
| Posted by: Secret Master 2005-05-05 14:45 |
| #31 Yah, but Cinco de mayo is a fine excuse to go out for Margaritas! Or at least for fajitas! Plenty of us who are not at all Mexican, who celebrate Cinco de Mayo after a fashion :) |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2005-05-05 14:38 |
| #30 duly noted. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2005-05-05 14:34 |
| #29 hapy cinco de mayo yalls! Chances are, the majority of us aren't of Mexican ancestry. We're Americans, and CDM isn't an American event. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-05-05 14:16 |
| #28 "The 'Merkins celebrate because the French lost..." Well, now, wait a minute. We can't celebrate every French defeat. If we did that, we'd have 4 holidays a week and our productivity would be no better than EUrope's. |
| Posted by: Jackal 2005-05-05 12:44 |
| #27 Colllect three dozen Shia and Kurdish women. Priority goes to those in their 50s who have lost their husband and/or their remaining offspring the Zarqawi and his ilk. The Kurds have many recent deaths due to the Ansar al Islam crowd, give them priority too. Strip him naked, dump him in the town square in the blazing heat, surrounded by them. Pick up whatever scraps are left when they're done. |
| Posted by: older woman 2005-05-05 12:25 |
| #26 I think we should set up Zarkawi with an appointment with Dr. Kervorkian. |
| Posted by: JackAssFestival 2005-05-05 12:13 |
| #25 Howard UK, Interesting how you got taller as a fullback I went the other way and it had the opposite effect for me. I used be 6' until they moved me from Inside Center to Hooker now I'm a paltry 5'9''. Lot's of Ale in Providence RI although never heard of the Cruise a matics. Back to Zarq - Kurds might know a thing or two. I have a feeling we've held that river back way too long. Brian |
| Posted by: Rightwing 2005-05-05 11:57 |
| #24 Chupame los sobacos, Zarqawi. Everyone else, Happy Cinco de Mayo! Drink some habenero beer! |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2005-05-05 11:18 |
| #23 BH - beautiful countryside but former mining/steel community.. say no more. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2005-05-05 11:11 |
| #22 The Mexicans celebrate because they won the Battle of Puebla. The 'Merkins celebrate because the French lost... |
| Posted by: mojo 2005-05-05 10:53 |
| #21 Okay, what's the deal with Ilkestone? From the link Howard posted, it looks nice. |
| Posted by: BH 2005-05-05 10:51 |
| #20 Me neither! |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2005-05-05 09:57 |
| #19 hehe never heard Ilkestone been called a lovely town before *chuckle* ! |
| Posted by: MacNails 2005-05-05 09:47 |
| #18 PEST? (Post Election Selection Trauma) |
| Posted by: JackAssFestival 2005-05-05 09:41 |
| #17 VD? |
| Posted by: JackAssFestival 2005-05-05 09:38 |
| #16 I'd be sick to, if they got that close to me. Knowing someone in my circle had to give me up. |
| Posted by: plainslow 2005-05-05 09:30 |
| #15 I don't want Zarqawi to be ill--I want him to be DEAD! Although an advanced case of leprosy would be good for him. Or that flesh-eating bacteria. |
| Posted by: Dar 2005-05-05 09:14 |
| #14 It's a nasty rash, caused by using rancid goat grease as a lube. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2005-05-05 09:01 |
| #13 Happy fifth day of May Mucko! |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2005-05-05 08:43 |
| #12 hapy cinco de mayo yalls! hapy cinco de mayo zarq! |
| Posted by: muck4doo 2005-05-05 08:40 |
| #11 http://www.ilkcam.com/ |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2005-05-05 08:37 |
| #10 Scrum down! Used to play myself - flanker moved to the wings and ended up as full back - I got taller and thinner! Hope they made you welcome - can be a bit of an intimidating town - here's a good site for pics to remind you... anyway back to Zarq I guess... yup they're obviously well financed I guess, and there is something that doesn't quite add up about the bridge nr Ramadi incident. The powers that be are certainly crowing long and loud tho' |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2005-05-05 08:36 |
| #9 It is a rugby club from Columbus, GA. What the name means I have no idea. |
| Posted by: incarnate of lee atwater 2005-05-05 08:28 |
| #8 iola - God, you're a brave man! Hope they got a few pints of ale down you! What are the cruise-a-matics?? |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2005-05-05 08:21 |
| #7 Howard, they are well financed. |
| Posted by: too true 2005-05-05 08:17 |
| #6 Howard I've been to Ilkeston for the 91 RWC. Satyed 10 days in your lovely town. I came over with the Cruise-a-matics. |
| Posted by: incarnate of lee atwater 2005-05-05 08:15 |
| #5 Its Bush's fault. If Zarqo had free health care, he wouldn't be a peg leg terrorist. |
| Posted by: JackAssFestival 2005-05-05 08:14 |
| #4 Doubtful that terrs would giveaway that amount of cash ($50000-$100000??) unless they were incredibly well financed. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2005-05-05 07:56 |
| #3 Is Z man a peg-leg like Basayev? Maybe he was the ADA hire for the Thugadeen between two open sewers. Hopefully somebody can do stump revision surgery somewhere near his neck next time he comes to the hospital! With the bounty on Z's skull, the doctor wouldn't have to worry about having his professional bill paid. |
| Posted by: Tkat 2005-05-05 07:54 |
| #2 The question is, was that laptop planted as disinformation? |
| Posted by: too true 2005-05-05 07:45 |
| #1 He's made some pretty nifty getaways for an ill man with one leg. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2005-05-05 07:44 |