Al-Qaida No. 2 praises Al-Zarqawi, calls on Muslims to support Iraqi insurgents in videotape
Al-Qaida's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri praised insurgents in Iraq particularly Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and called on all Muslims to support them in a video posted Thursday on the Internet.
In the footage, al-Zawahri appears sitting, wearing a white turban and a grey robe with a microphone pinned to it. An automatic weapon is leaning against a brown backdrop behind him.
He called on Muslims to support his ''beloved brother'' Al-Zarqawi, who heads al-Qaida in Iraq. ''I have lived with him up close, and have seen nothing but good from him,'' al-Zawahri said.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1614152/posts
Mumps sweeping through U.S. Midwest
ATLANTA, April 13 (UPI) -- A mysterious outbreak of mumps in nine Midwestern U.S. states has local, state and federal health officials struggling to contain it.
Iowa leads the outbreak, with 515 cases reported, compared with its annual average of five cases, The Washington Post reported Thursday. At least 100 cases have been reported in Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri and Illinois.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta has sent investigators to help control and investigate the outbreak.
http://upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060413-110524-2080r
OPINION: Boosting the jihadi's sagging spirits with jihad propaganda. Losers.