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.

It was not possible to verify the authenticity of the statement, which follows recent rumours and claims that al-Zarqawi was wounded, possibly by a bullet penetrating his lung, and that he may have been taken out of Iraq for medical care.

None of those internet postings and rumours have been confirmed, but the amount of speculation about the Jordanian-born militant is unusual both in size and scope.

It identified Abu Hafs al-Kurani as “deputy of the holy warriors”.

The new statement said that al-Kurani “was known for carrying out the hardest operations, and our sheikh would choose him and his group for the tough operations”.

The statement again urged Muslims to pray for al-Zarqawi, saying: “We will go on in our way of Jihad until victory or martyrdom and we call upon Muslims to pray for the Mujahedeen and for the safety of our sheikh.”

It was signed in the name of Abu Doujanah al-Tunisi of the media committee of al-Qaida in the Land of the Two Rivers. Al-Tunisi was not a familiar name signing off such statements.