Al-Zarqawi stepping up terror battle

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the terrorist leader allegedly claiming responsibility for the graphic beheading of a US civilian in Iraq, is adopting an increasingly public and influential role among Islamic militants, US officials and terrorism experts say.

An Islamic web site yesterday released a video titled “Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Shown Slaughtering an American”, which chronicles the beheading of Nick Berg.