A Web site statement posted yesterday and signed in the name of al-Qaeda in Iraq said the militant group has appointed a deputy to take the lead until Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who's purportedly been wounded, returns. But a subsequent statement by the group's spokesman denied any replacement had been named.
"The leaders met after the injury of our sheik, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi ... and decided to appoint a deputy to take the lead until the return of our sheik," said the statement, which was posted on a militant Web site that two days earlier announced al-Zarqawi had been injured.
The latest statements, the authenticity of which could not be verified, follow recent rumors and claims that al-Zarqawi has been wounded, possibly by a bullet penetrating his lung, may have been taken out of Iraq for medical care, or had possibly died.
PHOTO: AP
It identified Abu Hafs al-Gerni as "deputy of the holy warriors."
Al-Gerni's identity was not immediately clear, but the new statement said he "was known for carrying out the hardest operations, and our sheik would choose him and his group for the tough operations."
Another Web site statement signed in the name of al-Qaeda in Iraq's so-called spokesman, Abu Maysara al-Iraqi, denied the militant group had appointed a deputy to fill in for al-Zarqawi.
"We deny all that has been said about appointing the so-called Abu Hafs or anyone by any other name," said the statement, the authenticity of which could not be verified.
The latest statement again urged Muslims to pray for al-Zarqawi, saying: "We will go on in our way of jihad until victory or martyrdom and we call upon Muslims to pray for the Mujahedeen and for the safety of our sheik."
security forces.
Meanwhile, more than 1,000 US troops swept into this city on the road to Syria to root out insurgents -- including those loyal to al-Zarqawi -- after rebels damaged the hospital, knocked out the electricity and prevented police from entering.
The US troops killed at least 10 suspected militants Wednesday in Haditha, a Euphrates River city of 90,000 people -- one of whom told the Marines that insurgents had recently killed her husband.
Speaking inside her home through a military interpreter, the woman moved her finger across her throat as she begged that her name not be used, indicating she could be killed for talking to US forces. She later helped cook a breakfast of eggs and bread for the handful of Iraqi soldiers helping guard the street.
Wednesday's offensive, the second on a road to Damascus in less than a month, came as the Iraqi government demanded that Syria block insurgents from crossing the border.
The violence continued yesterday, when a car bomb exploded in Baghdad near an Iraqi police patrol, killing three policemen and two civilians and wounding 17 bystanders, officials said. Separately, gunmen fired on a group of people walking to work in Baghdad, killing four Iraqis, including a translator working for the US military, said police Lieutenant Hussam Noori.
US Marines, sailors and soldiers have encircled Haditha, 225km northwest of Baghdad in the troubled Anbar province, and set up observation and sniper positions throughout the city.
Helicopters swept down near palm tree groves to drop off Marines who blocked off one side of Haditha before dawn Wednesday, while other troops on foot and in armored vehicles established checkpoints and moved toward the city center. US warplanes circled overhead.
Marines walked down city streets in neat lines, whispering instructions to each other. Except for dogs baying in the pre-dawn darkness, the city was quiet -- until a large explosion shook the neighborhood.
Marines crouched with guns pointed, while others ran for cover, their ears still ringing from the explosion. One group ran through a front yard, rushing by a porch swing and a grove of trees. Sounds of battle and gunfire broke out around the city.
‘UNUSUAL EVENT’: The Australian defense minister said that the Chinese navy task group was entitled to be where it was, but Australia would be watching it closely The Australian and New Zealand militaries were monitoring three Chinese warships moving unusually far south along Australia’s east coast on an unknown mission, officials said yesterday. The Australian government a week ago said that the warships had traveled through Southeast Asia and the Coral Sea, and were approaching northeast Australia. Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles yesterday said that the Chinese ships — the Hengyang naval frigate, the Zunyi cruiser and the Weishanhu replenishment vessel — were “off the east coast of Australia.” Defense officials did not respond to a request for comment on a Financial Times report that the task group from
DEFENSE UPHEAVAL: Trump was also to remove the first woman to lead a military service, as well as the judge advocates general for the army, navy and air force US President Donald Trump on Friday fired the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General C.Q. Brown, and pushed out five other admirals and generals in an unprecedented shake-up of US military leadership. Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social that he would nominate former lieutenant general Dan “Razin” Caine to succeed Brown, breaking with tradition by pulling someone out of retirement for the first time to become the top military officer. The president would also replace the head of the US Navy, a position held by Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to lead a military service,
Four decades after they were forced apart, US-raised Adamary Garcia and her birth mother on Saturday fell into each other’s arms at the airport in Santiago, Chile. Without speaking, they embraced tearfully: A rare reunification for one the thousands of Chileans taken from their mothers as babies and given up for adoption abroad. “The worst is over,” Edita Bizama, 64, said as she beheld her daughter for the first time since her birth 41 years ago. Garcia had flown to Santiago with four other women born in Chile and adopted in the US. Reports have estimated there were 20,000 such cases from 1950 to
CONFIDENT ON DEAL: ‘Ukraine wants a seat at the table, but wouldn’t the people of Ukraine have a say? It’s been a long time since an election, the US president said US President Donald Trump on Tuesday criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and added that he was more confident of a deal to end the war after US-Russia talks. Trump increased pressure on Zelenskiy to hold elections and chided him for complaining about being frozen out of talks in Saudi Arabia. The US president also suggested that he could meet Russian President Vladimir Putin before the end of the month as Washington overhauls its stance toward Russia. “I’m very disappointed, I hear that they’re upset about not having a seat,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida when asked about the Ukrainian