Al-Zarqawi 'world's most influential terrorist'

Iraq’s insurgency leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, now rivals Osama bin Laden as the world’s most influential terrorist, it has been claimed.

AL-Zarqawi has been overseeing preparations by highly trained operatives for a “large scale” terrorist attack in Euroe, according to intelligence reports reviewed by Time magazine.

The al Qaida militant was rumoured to be seriously injured or dead just a few months ago but has since reportedly expanded his power to have almost unrivalled influence amongst Middle Eastern and European jihadists.

Reports suggest he has spoken of sleeper cells in Turkey and Iran which may be in contact with European jihadist groups that previously had no links to the terror organisation.

“The fear is we’ll see those disparate, relatively inexperienced groups around Europe hook up with Afghan-trained terror cells, all under the influence of Zarqawi,” independent French terror expert Roland Jacquard told the magazine.

“That could reverse the atomisation of cells and networks that occurred after the invasion of Afghanistan.”

The intelligence is based in part on US interrogation of suspected al Qaida deputy Abu Faraj al-Libbi, captured last May in Pakistan.

Al-Zarqawi is believed to have written to al-Libbi about setting up camps in Jordan, Turkey, Syria or Lebanon and hoped the camps would provide instruction in European languages to aid attacks in Iraq and Europe.