Al-Zarqawi's successor vows to defeat 'crusaders and Shiites'

The new leader of al-Qaida in Iraq vowed to defeat “crusaders and Shiites” in Iraq, according to a statement posted on the web today.

The statement appeared one day after the group announced that a man identified by the nom de guerre Abu Hamza al-Muhajer would succeed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as its leader.

The Jordanian-born militant died last Wednesday in a US airstrike on a safehouse in Baqouba, north of Baghdad.

“It’s no secret the ferociousness of the battle that is going on between the soldiers of right and the soldiers of wrong – the crusaders, the rejectionists (Shiites) and apostates in Iraq,” the statement said.