Al-Qaida plan to start US-Iran war

A BLUEPRINT for trying to start a war between the United States and Iran was among a “huge treasure” of documents found in the hideout of terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Iraqi officials said yesterday.

The news came the same day as 10 labourers were taken off a bus in Baqouba by gunmen and shot dead.

Meanwhile, the number of US military dead in Iraq has now reached 2,500, the Pentagon said.

And the US also released a photo of the man claiming to be the new leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, an Egyptian with ties to Osama bin Laden’s deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri.

The al-Qaida document, purporting to reflect al-Qaida policy and its cooperation with groups loyal to ousted President Saddam Hussein, also appears to show that the insurgency in Iraq was weakening.