Al-Qaida in Iraq names al-Zarqawi deputy

A website statement posted today and signed in the name of al-Qaida in Iraq said the militant group has appointed a deputy to take the lead until the wounded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi returns. The statement’s authenticity could not be verified.

“The leaders met after the injury of our sheikh, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi … and decided to appoint a deputy to take the lead until the return of our sheikh,” said the statement, which was posted on a militant website that two days earlier announced al-Zarqawi had been injured.