from Mutter's:
Re: Zarquari Wounded
Zarqawi wounded in Iraq - Web
Tue May 24, 2005 06:53 PM ET
By Luke Baker
BAGHDAD (Reuters)
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq and one of Washington's most wanted men, has been wounded, a web posting said on Tuesday in an announcement that could mark a breakthrough against the two-year insurgency.
The statement, which U.S. officials said could be a ruse, was posted on an Islamist site that often publicises Zarqawi's group. It was released on another day of violence in Iraq, with three U.S. soldiers and two Iraqis killed in car bombings.
"O nation of Islam... Pray for the healing of our Sheikh Abu Musab al-Zarqawi from an injury he suffered in the path of God," said the posting by al Qaeda Organisation for Holy War in Iraq.
"You are the beloved of the mujahideen, and may God heal you and make you steadfast," the statement said.
The announcement follows unconfirmed reports this month that Zarqawi, a Jordanian for whom the Americans have offered a $25 million (13.68 million pound) bounty, was wounded in fighting in western Iraq and had sought treatment at a hospital in Ramadi, west of Baghdad.
Those reports followed the capture of one of Zarqawi's drivers, an aide and his laptop computer during raids in western Iraq, when the U.S. military said it almost also caught Zarqawi.
Zarqawi and Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda's overall leader, are Washington's two most-wanted man.
Tuesday's web posting did not say how or where Zarqawi was wounded, but urged his followers to pray for his recovery. The language used indicated his injuries could be severe.
"The injury of our leader is an honour and an incentive to tighten the noose on the enemies of God and a reason to step up our attacks on them," the statement said, citing Koranic verses that referred to the Prophet Mohammad being wounded in battle.
If Zarqawi were captured or killed it would mark a significant breakthrough for U.S. and Iraqi forces, although analysts also warn it would not put an end to the insurgency.
"I think it's pretty credible....I wouldn't be surprised if within a couple of days he ends up being dead and they end up proclaiming his martyrdom," David Claridge of Janusian Security Risk Management in London said of the web posting.
"It will have an impact, but for that group only. I think the insurgency itself will carry on probably much as it is."
NO CONFIRMATION
The U.S. military in Iraq and the Pentagon in Washington said they had no new intelligence on Zarqawi's status.
"He's still our number one target to be captured or killed and until that happens the hunt is still on," said Lieutenant Colonel Steve Boylan, a U.S. military spokesman.
He said similar reports had been heard in the past and were almost impossible to verify. "This could be another one of their ploys, you never know," he said.
A State Department official reiterated that view. "As with any of these kind of stories we have no idea whether this has any basis in fact or not," the official said.
Magnus Ranstorp, an analyst at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, questioned the logic of revealing his injury.
"Why would they want to reveal any type of weakness? It also may be some type of deception, in preparing some other big strike, to lull the coalition forces into a false sense of security," he said.
"A crippled Zarqawi certainly would be a blow to the qualitative al Qaeda forces...He's only one part of (the Iraq insurgency) but he's a significant part of it."
Zarqawi's group has claimed responsibility for many of the deadliest attacks in Iraq over the past two years, including the kidnapping and beheading of several foreign hostages.
[more]
www.reuters.co.uk/newsArt...uk/topNews
Needless provocation?
Taiwan threatens to board Chinese surveillance ship in island's waters
TAIPEI (AFP) May 24, 2005
Taiwan has threatened to board a Chinese surveillance ship which it says has ignored repeated demands to leave the island's waters, officials said Tuesday.
"We will forcefully board 'Fendou No. 4' if our warning continues to be ignored," an official with Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration told AFP following a two-day standoff between a fleet of coast guard frigates and the Chinese ship.
The vessel, affiliated with China's Ministry of Land and Natural Resources, was first spotted Sunday when it was sailing some 95 nautical mileskilometers) southwest of the island's southern city Kaohsiung, the coast guard said.
The Chinese ship has since refused to leave the waters, prompting Taiwan's coast guard to send four frigates to watch over the intruder.
"We tried to approach the ship and force it to leave the area, but the warning was apparently overlooked," the coast guard official said.
This marks the second time in less than a month a Chinese surveillance ship was found illegally entering Taiwan's 200-mile economic zone.
Though they are governed separately, China considers Taiwan part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.
Relations between the two have remained tense since Taiwan's independence-leaning President Chen Shui-bian was first elected in 2000. He won re-election in 2004.
www.sinodaily.com/2005/05...r870z.html
(courtesy of Mutters)