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| Iraq |
| Debka sez Zarqawi successors proliferate |
| 2006-06-13 |
| President Bush says the military will now target Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s successor. But who is that successor? Al Qaeda is offering a selection. The latest statement released Monday, June 12, says: “The shura council of al Qaeda in Iraq has unanimously agreed on Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Muhajir as successor to Sheikh Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.” It was posted on a Web side the Islamists frequently used and added a pledge that the new leader would keep up his predecessor’s campaign of beheadings and suicide bombings. DEBKAfile’s counter terror sources report al Qaeda experts in Western agencies running the global war on terror, or even circles close to al Qaeda, have never heard of Mr al-Muhajir. His name, they say, hints at a possible Afghan origin. Even al Qaeda’s adherents in Iraq are stumped by the identity of their new commander – doubly confused by the bulletins on similar Web sites which all name different successors. Our Iraq sources list them as: Abdul Rahman al Iraqi, Zarqawi’s deputy; Rashid Baghdadi, an Iraqi believed to head the shura council; Abu Asil, an ex-colonel in Saddam Hussein’s general intelligence service. DEBKAfile offers three optional reasons for the profusion of published successors: 1. A deliberate campaign to obscure the real identity of the new al Qaeda commander in Iraq. 2. A split in the shura council or a dispute in the top command over the choice. 3. A power struggle among local al Qaeda branches - each with its own commander, which would mean a serious division in al Qaeda’s ranks in Iraq. Time will tell which of the three is closest to what is happening in the jihadist organization five days after its decapitatation. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #6 "Zarqawi successors proliferate" Proliferate away. Offer up all the |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2006-06-13 22:23 |
| #5 Zarqawi successors proliferate ... |
| Posted by: doc 2006-06-13 14:03 |
| #4 Ooops Should have been How about if they elected Zarakawi's succesor? :-) |
| Posted by: JFM 2006-06-13 10:57 |
| #3 How about if they selected Zarakawi's succesor? :-) |
| Posted by: JFM 2006-06-13 10:19 |
| #2 You boyz all go into that conference room over there. The first one that detonates the 500 lb bomb in the center of the room can be the sheik. |
| Posted by: ed 2006-06-13 07:49 |
| #1 "I'm Zarqawi's successor!" "No, I'm Zarqawi's successor!" "You're both wrong--it's me!" "Oh yeah, sez who?" "I do." "You an' what army?" "You wanna make somethin' of it?" |
| Posted by: Mike 2006-06-13 07:41 |