Posted on 06/10/2006 8:51:28 AM PDT by Libloather
Insurgent groups mourn al-Zarqawi's death
By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 30 minutes ago
A woman grieves for her brother who was killed by a roadside bomb targeting a police patrol in an outdoor market, killing four people and wounding 27, in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, June 10, 2006. The explosion at the al-Sadriya market missed the police patrol, killing and wounding civilians in this Shiite-Sunni Arab neighborhood in central Baghdad. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Sunni insurgents posted their condolences over Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's death on Web sites Saturday and warned Sunnis not to cooperate with the Iraqi government, apparently trying to maintain solidarity in their ranks after the terrorist leader was killed by a U.S. airstrike.
One insurgent group, Ansar al-Sunna, posted a gruesome video showing militants interrogating and then beheading three Iraqis said to be members of a Shiite "death squad" that killed Sunnis. It did not say when the killings occurred, but the release of the video appeared timed as a warning that al-Zarqawi's death would not stop the insurgency or his brutal tactics.
Iraqi and U.S. leaders have acknowledged that Wednesday's killing of the al-Qaida in Iraq leader was not likely to stop the bloodshed that has ransacked the country.
Shiite lawmaker Bahaa al-Din al-Araji said the government expected an increase in terror attacks during the next 10 days "as a reprisal for the extermination of the evil 'emir.'"
"But at the same time his death has led the government to more information about tens of terrorists," he said. "God willing, this is the beginning of their end and security will be returned to the Iraqi streets."
The U.S. military has moved quickly to take advantage of the power vacuum left by al-Zarqawi's death, carrying out at least 56 raids since the airstrike. Al-Zarqawi died shortly after the U.S. military obliterated his hideout northwest of Baghdad with two 500-pound bombs. The bombs tore a huge crater in the date palm forest where the house was nestled outside the town of Baqouba.
A search of the destroyed safehouse yielded documents and electronic storage devices that are being assessed for potential use against his followers, a military officer said Friday.
An M-16 rifle, grenades and AK-47 rifles also were found, according to the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because results from the search have not been announced publicly. The U.S.-made M-16 was fitted with special optics.
They also found documents and unspecified "media," which the officer indicated normally means information storage devices such as computer hard drives and digital cameras.
New AP Television News footage showed a pillow with a floral pattern, sandals and a bag scattered among the debris of concrete blocks and twisted steel.
A foam mattress also had its covering torn off, and a piece of a gold curtain with brown trim, a red blanket and other pieces of cloth were caught on the blocks. A swamp cooler and part of a washing machine also could be seen in the area. Green pomegranates hung from a tree left standing nearby.
Pieces of women's clothing also were found in the rubble.
Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, had said four people, including a woman and a child, were killed with al-Zarqawi and the terrorist's spiritual consultant, but the U.S. military revised the makeup of those slain Friday, saying it was three woman and three men.
U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell also said 39 raids were conducted across Iraq late Thursday and early Friday, including some directly related to the information they obtained from the strike against al-Zarqawi. Those were in addition to 17 raids carried out immediately after al-Zarqawi was killed.
The U.S. military in Baghdad declined to say whether more raids occurred Saturday, saying it would not release information concerning ongoing operations.
"However, coalition forces will continue to assess and exploit information, and we will continue to take necessary actions to degrade terrorist operations in Iraq," it said in a statement.
The military also revealed that al-Zarqawi was alive after his hideout was bombed, though he could barely speak.
"He mumbled something, but it was indistinguishable and it was very short," Caldwell said, adding that al-Zarqawi tried to get away after being placed on a stretcher by Iraqi police.
Caldwell said it was possible that al-Zarqawi was not inside the safehouse when it was attacked, a scenario which might explain why he was the only one among the six people killed who initially survived the bombing.
Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani, a Shiite named to his key security post Thursday, said al-Zarqawi's death came after a painstaking effort to collect accurate data and investigate every clue.
"The killing of al-Zarqawi didn't occur by chance," al-Bolani told al-Arabiya TV on Friday. "His killing will raise the morale of the people as well the morale of the security services."
The incessant violence did not let up, as a roadside bomb targeting a police patrol exploded in an outdoor market in Baghdad, killing four people and wounding 27, police said. Gunmen also killed at least 13 people in sporadic violence nationwide.
The explosion at the al-Sadriya market missed the police patrol, and those who were killed and wounded were civilians, police Lt. Ali Mitaab and Lt. Thaer Mahmoud said. The market is in a mixed Shiite-Sunni Arab neighborhood in central Baghdad.
The attack came after Iraqi authorities imposed a four-hour driving ban Friday in Baghdad to prevent reprisal attacks after al-Zarqawi's killing. A similar ban remains in effect in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad, where he was killed.
But violence also persisted there Saturday.
Gunmen on foot shot to death a carpenter and a grocer as they worked in the center of the Diyala provincial capital of Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad.
Three Iraqi soldiers also were killed late Friday when their patrol clashed with gunmen in the Baladroz district, 20 miles northeast of Baqouba, according to the Diyala joint cooperation center.
The three-day driving ban, which began Friday evening, is in effect from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
In other violence, a gunfight broke out between Iraqi soldiers and gunmen in the northern city of Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, leaving two people dead, including a Syrian truck driver caught in the crossfire.
Also in Mosul, gunmen in two cars killed three Shiite butchers near a central bus station in Mosul.
Gunmen stopped a minibus on the highway from Baghdad to Abu Ghraib, ordered the five passengers off and opened fire on them, killing four and wounding another.
___
Associated Press writers Kim Gamel, Patrick Quinn and Qais al-Bashir in Baghdad and Robert Burns in Washington contributed to this report.
Would it be possible to find all the people crying now and just detain them...like forever?
A lot of American lefties are mourning as well.
Nice that they've added a picture that has nothing to do with the story!
It took me a second to realize that wasn't a picture of Nancy Pelosi.
What if they held a funeral -- and we blew them all up?
Why is the religion of death mourning. I thought this is what they all "live" for.
Heck, as a show of respect we should even arrange a flyover by some F-16s.
Simply stunning how utterly loathsome our Junk Media is. Once again Asso Propaganda puts a picture with a story that it has nothing to do with. I seriously doubt this woman, who's brother just got murdered by terrorists, is ever going to grieve for the Z-scum getting capped.
Silly me--I thought this would be a story about MoveOn and the DNC.
I wonder how many Democrats will attend Zarqawi's funeral? :-)
You picked up on that too? From the headline and then the picture - I assumed the wailing one was grieving zarqawi. Then I read the story. It must suck to be SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press Writer
Good question. Does the family get to claim the body or does it go to Madame Tussaudi's in England ?
Did Katie the Perky wear black again?
A J-school graduate made a mistake. Horrors.
I am astonished when they get a few facts straight.
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