From The New York Times: Tape in Name of [Zarqawi] Declares 'All-Out War' on Iraq Elections and Democracy.
"We have declared an all-out war on this evil principle of democracy and those who follow this wrong ideology," said the speaker, identified on the tape as Mr. Zarqawi. Renewing warnings by Zarqawi-linked groups to attack voters, election workers and polling stations, as well as journalists and election monitors, he added, "Anyone who tries to help set up this system is part of it." ...Just as much, as Sunday's tape showed, the elections have become a defining moment for the insurgents. The man identified as Mr. Zarqawi, who has claimed responsibility for many of the insurgency's most brutal attacks, including dozens of bombings causing mass casualties as well as kidnappings and beheadings, railed against democracy, saying supplanting the rule of God with that of a popular majority was "infidelity itself." The fit punishment for any Muslim "apostates" joining in, he said, was death.
From FoxNews: Iraqis Nab Top Zarqawi Aide.
Iraqi security forces have arrested the "most lethal" top lieutenant of Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq -- a man allegedly behind most of the car bombings in Baghdad since the U.S.-led invasion, including the 2003 assault on U.N. headquarters that killed 22 people, the prime minister's office said Monday.
Also from FoxNews: Car Bomb Explodes Near Allawi HQ.
The suicide bomber struck at a police checkpoint on the road leading to Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's Iraqi National Accord offices in central Baghdad, shaking the city center with a thunderous explosion. The wounded included eight policemen and two civilians, said Dr. Mudhar Abdul-Hussein of Yarmouk Hospital.Posted by Forkum at January 24, 2005 08:04 PMAl Qaeda's wing in Iraq said in a Web posting that "one of the young lions in the suicide regiment" carried out the attack against the party office of Allawi, "the agent of the Jews and the Christians."
|