 The statement put out by al-Zarqawi's al-Qaeda in Iraq group on Tuesday, saying they would only strike the Shiites who don't condemn attacks on Sunnis or the US occupation of Iraq, has provoked a harsh response from one of the groups named as not being a target. "In Abu Musab al-Zarqawi making an exception in our case, the Jordanian terrorist is trying to force a split within the Shiite world," said Riad Nur, spokesman for the movement of rebel Shiite imam Moqtada al-Sadr, when interviewed by the Arab newspaper al-Hayat. "With yesterday's statement, in which our movement was excluded from al-Qaeda's total war on the Shiites, he is trying to divide the Shiite school, insinuating that there is a internal conflict between the groups," Nur said. The Shiite spokesman went on to call on the Jordanian insurgent leader and his followers to immediately leave Iraq and stressed that "for our movement, al-Zarqawi is nothing but an enemy and if he falls into the hands of our militia he will be torn apart." |