Reports continue to indicate a massive effort is underway to capture puportedly injured Iraq Al Qaeda chief Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi — and a Muslim website now suggests he has fled Iraq.
Once again, in analyzying these news reports the questions arise as to the authenticity of the claims and the possible political motives behind them. Just because someone posts an explanation on a website doesn’t mean that the info posted is confirmed (Newsweek recently had a crash course in the importance of solid confirmation).
But here are the latest details, via The Scotsman:
An Islamic website statement claimed today that Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi, al Qaida in Iraq chief, has fled to an unidentified “neighbouring country� with two Arab doctors treating him for gunshot wounds to his lung.
There was no way to verify the authenticity of the claim. The site used to carry al Qaida postings, but has fallen out of use recently. Soon, the posting appeared on another militant site, where it quickly came under attack from other posters as untrue and unauthorised by al Qaida.
So this must be taken as a factoid and possibility but is NOT CONFIRMED INFORMATION at this point. More:
The statement from somebody identified only as al-Khalidi – the same name as a regular poster for the site in the past – said the information was based on accounts of “brothers close to the holy warriors in Iraq and who are in contact with them.� He did not elaborate.
Mideast security officials told The Associated Press in the Jordanian capital Amman they could not verify the authenticity of the posting or veracity of its contents.
On Tuesday, a web statement in the name of al-Zarqawi’s group, al Qaida in Iraq, said the terrorist mastermind has been wounded. But US officials cautioned they did not know if the posting was authentic, and privately said the information also may have been designed to purposefully mislead.
The first report about the terror chief being injured was a bit puzzling. But if you add this one to it — that he has therefore left Iraq — you could make the case that this is an effort to misdirect the security forces looking for him so they either look in another direction of start to pull back from a trail that may be too close for comfort. More:
Today’s statement said al-Zarqawi “was secretly smuggled to a neighbouring country a few days ago in a complicated and organised operation.� It did not identify the country.
It said al-Zarqawi was in “stable condition now� after he incurred a “bullet wound which penetrated his right lung.�
Al-Zarqawi has claimed responsibility for attacks on Iraqi civilians and security forces and kidnappings and beheadings of foreigners, and has a £13.7 million bounty on his head.
Indeed, Zarqawi is believed to have personally sliced off the heads of those bound, screaming, and terrified hostages whose horrible deaths were used as Islamic extremist snuff films last year.
Why is it possible – if not likely — that some of the information being put out may be designed to misdirect security forces away from their highly sought after prize? A few things:
—Chian News Agency now reports that two of his top aides have been arrested:
A US army announcement confirmed that Mullah Kamel al-Assawadi, who is described as “one of the most wanted people in northern Iraq”, was captured while trying to bribe his way past an Iraqi checkpoint in Balad town 70 km outside of Bagdat (Baghdad).
Described as one of Zarqawi’s top lieutenants, Assawadi was carrying various identity papers as well as an amount of money. No information has yet been released about when he was detained.
–According to the Voice of America, U.S. forces have launched a major effort to weed out militants:
Hundreds of U.S. troops are reported to have advanced into the western Iraqi town of Haditha – the second such operation in the region this month.
News reports quote residents as saying troops began their operation before dawn Wednesday, searching homes and detaining suspects.
Earlier this month, U.S. Marines carried out another major operation, targeting militant hideouts near the Syrian border.
If you look at all this together there is a good motive for disinformation. But that also can’t be confirmed at this time. The bottom line: the terrorist chief’s world is getting smaller each day.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.