CAIRO, Egypt - The new leader of al-Qaida in Iraq vowed to defeat "crusaders and Shiites" in Iraq, and he said "holy warriors" there were stronger than ever, according to a Web statement posted Tuesday — the first from the new terrorist leader. 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 June 7 in a U.S. airstrike on a safehouse in Baqouba, north of Baghdad. "It's no secret the ferociousness of the battle that is...