(New York Times) American officials in Baghdad have obtained a detailed proposal they believe was written by senior al-Qaeda operative Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, believed to be operating in Iraq. The memo says extremists are failing to enlist support inside the country, and have been unable to scare the Americans into leaving. Yet mounting an attack on Iraq's Shiite majority could rescue the movement by prompting a counterattack against the Arab Sunni minority. Such a "sectarian war" will rally the Sunni Arabs to the religious extremists. The document argues that a war against the Shiites must start soon, before the Americans hand over sovereignty to the Iraqis at the end of June. In the document, the writer indicated that he had directed about 25 suicide bombings inside Iraq.
2004-02-09 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive