Terror leader's warning probably authentic, says CIA

An audiotape from a shadowy terrorist linked to al-Qaida is “probably authentic,” marking the first time Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has made a taped public statement, a CIA official said today.

The 33-minute tape appeared on a Web site known for distributing militant Islamic messages.

The speaker introduced himself as al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian believed to be running a terrorist network that stretches from Europe to Central Asia.

Also known as Ahmed al-Khalayleh, al-Zarqawi is also thought to be a close associate of Osama bin Laden and has ties to terrorist groups ranging from Ansar al Islam in Iraq to Egyptian Islamic Jihad.

He is believed to be behind many attacks in Iraq, including at least a dozen high-profile operations.

“The CIA’s assessment is that it is probably authentic,” said an agency official.

Al-Zarqawi’s whereabouts are unknown, but the Web site on which the tape appeared had a transcript heading that said al-Zarqawi was in Iraq.

Breaking with his pattern of not claiming credit for attacks and not making taped public pronouncements, he took responsibility in the message for the attacks on the UN headquarters in Baghdad, the Jabal Lebanon Hotel in Baghdad, where a Briton was killed, and an Italian police station in Nasiriyah, among others.

The message reiterated themes from a letter US authorities released in which al-Zarqawi purportedly wrote to other al-Qaida leaders that the best way to undermine US policy in Iraq was to turn the country’s religious communities against each other. The letter was found on an al-Qaida figure captured in northern Iraq in January.