[Translated from Le Figaro (Paris)]

International

Iraq

ZARQAWI ENIGMA DEEPENS
By Paul Prier (with AFP, AP, Reuters)

Le Figaro (Paris)
May 27, 2005

http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/20050527.FIG0078.html?181447

Has Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, been replaced, after having been wounded? The polemic continued yesterday. On Tuesday, an internet site frequently used by jihadists announced the wounding of the leader, but without specifying place or time. Late yesterday afternoon no reliable confirmation was available. The absence of any material proof may reinforce the thesis according to which we are witnessing a public relations operation or a hoax intended to mislead American and Iraqi forces who are on the trail of the man they hold responsible for most of the attacks in Iraq, and on whose head a $25 million bounty has been laid.

According to a senior official in the U.S. Dept. of Defense quoted by AFP, "this may be a ploy in order to make him seem a hero, a survivor, just to prove how resistant he is." The same anonymous official, though, refers to an "account by an Iraqi doctor" who is said to have "treated al-Zarqawi."

Nevertheless, the Iraqi minister of the interior produced the beginnings of a confirmation yesterday, though he remained prudent. "Five days ago we received information indicating that Zarqawi was wounded, but we don't know how serious his wounds are," said Bayan Baqer Solagh. Just before this, contradictory communiqués whose authenticity could not be verified circulated on the internet about the naming of a deputy chief to lead the Iraqi branch of Osama bin Laden's terrorist network. "The leaders met after our shiekh Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, may God heal him, was wounded, and decided to name a deputy chief until the return of our leader," said a first communiqué, signed Abu Dajjani al-Tunesi in the name of the "News Department of the al-Qaeda Organization in Mesopotomia." The person chosen, the communiqué adds, is a certain "sheikh Abu Hafs al-Qarni."

But a little later, another site contradicted this news, stating that it did not come from al-Qaeda. This text was signed Abu Maisara al-Iraqi, a name that often appears at the bottom of communiqués attributed to the group, in particular the one Tuesday that announced that Abu Musad al-Zarqawi was wounded. Again this time, "Abu Masaira" spoke in the name of the "Communications Departement of al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia." The communiqué "gives the lie to the statement that an Abu Hafs or anyone else has been named" as deputy leader of the group. The text also attempts to be reassuring. It says the group revealed the wounding of the leader on Tuesday in order to show its credibility. The communiqué implies that good news may be in the offing: "You will hear something that will make you happy, faithful brothers, and Satan's allies will hear something that will infuriate them."

On Wednesday, the Washington Post quoted the remarks attributed to one of Zarqawi's lieutenants, presented under the nom de guerre Abu Karrar, according to whom Zarqawi was wounded by bullets Saturday or Sunday in fighting near Ramadi. According to the newspaper, his lieutenants helped him choose his successor at the head of the movement in the event that he died. But as of yesterday no substantial evidence yet supported this theory.

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Translated by Mark K. Jensen
Associate Professor of French
Department of Languages and Literatures
Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, WA 98447-0003
Phone: 253-535-7219
Home page: http://www.plu.edu/~jensenmk/
E-mail: jensenmk@plu.edu