Group threatens al-Zaraqawi

[KingPK 0]

BAGHDAD, Iraq - An armed vigilante group threatened on Tuesday to kill Abu Musab al-Zarqawi for insurgency attacks that have killed Iraqis, making the first internal threat against the Jordanian militant.

 

The emergence of the vigilante group potentially brings a new element into the Iraqi insurgency, highlighting internal opposition to al-Zarqawi, who is believed to have links to al-Qaida.

 

In a videotape sent to Al-Arabiya television, the previously unknown group, which called itself the "Salvation Movement," ordered al-Zarqawi to leave the country and questioned how he could justify the killing of civilians and his threats to assassinate Allawi.

 

The video was in the style of those put out by anti-U.S. insurgents: a group of gunmen, faces hidden behind scarves, toting automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenade launchers in front of an Iraqi flag.

 

But the five gunmen in Tuesday's footage turned their threats against al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian Islamic radical accused in numerous attacks.

 

One gunman, seated behind a table reading a statement, questioned how al-Zarqawi could use Islam to justify assassinations, kidnappings and the killings of innocents.

 

"He must leave Iraq immediately, he and his followers and everyone who gives shelter to him and his criminal actions," he said, speaking in an Iraqi accent.

 

"We swear to Allah that we have started preparing ... to capture him and his allies or kill them and present them as gift to our people," he said. "This is the last warning. If you don't stop, we will do to you what the coalition forces have failed to do."

 

It was not known if the group was made up of anti-U.S. Iraqi insurgents, gunmen close to the new government or security forces, or a wholly new faction.

 

Some guerrillas who have been waging a campaign against U.S. forces and their Iraqi allies have said previously they reject al-Zarqawi, insisting they are a homegrown insurgency unconnected to the foreign fighters thought to be surrounding the Jordanian. But there have also been recent signs of Iraqi insurgents and al-Zarqawi working together.

 

On Monday, U.S.-led coalition forces launched an airstrike on a suspected al-Zarqawi safe house in the militant stronghold of Fallujah. The attack killed 15 people, witnesses said.

 

Al-Zarqawi is believed to be behind a series of coordinated attacks on police and security forces that killed 100 people only days before U.S. forces handed over power to an Iraqi interim government. His followers have also claimed responsibility for the beheading of American Nicholas Berg and South Korean Kim Sun-il.

 

This brings up an interesting dilemma for the new Iraqi government: should they allow groups like this target the insurgents and do the dirty work for them a bit, or will this create more trouble than it's worth?

 

Me, I'm not sure. I mean, it's great that some people are on our side (relatively) when it comes to people like al-Zaraqawi, but I really don't know if "vigilante justice" is what the Iraqi government needs right now as they try to build legitimacy with the people.

[Guest MikeSC]

This group likely hates the gov't as much as Zarqawi. I wouldn't trust them.

-=Mike

[teke184 0]

I think that Jean-Paul Aristide's recent abdication in Haiti is an example of WHY a state should not sponsor vigilante militias to root out their enemies...

 

For those who don't know, the militias got sick of Aristide and turned on him, eventually forcing him to abdicate on Feb. 29, although he claims that US soldiers "forced" him to board a plane to Africa.

[Styles 0]

I don't know....the enemy of my enemy is my friend. If these guys think they can take him out, I say let them go for it. If they become an issue on their own afterwards, we can deal with them at that point. All I know is the idea of IRAQIS going after Al Queda themselves, thereby taking the load of our troops is the right idea...

[Skywarp! 0]

I don't know....the enemy of my enemy is my friend. If these guys think they can take him out, I say let them go for it. If they become an issue on their own afterwards, we can deal with them at that point. All I know is the idea of IRAQIS going after Al Queda themselves, thereby taking the load of our troops is the right idea...

Careful, this is the logic that led us to fund groups that would later be our enemies.

[Prime Time Andrew Doyle 0]

I think this may be good that they have come out and said what they did, because it lets Al-Qeada know that they are not wlecome in there, and it may get rid of the terrorists excuse that they are doing it for the Iraqi people and their "brothers" in Abu Girab (sp?)

[Hogan Made Wrestling 0]

This group likely hates the gov't as much as Zarqawi. I wouldn't trust them.

-=Mike

I wouldn't trust them either, but I'd probably turn a blind eye to their activities so long as those activities consist of killing Al-Queda militants.

[Guest Cerebus]

Hopefully we've learned our lessons from the Mujahadeen.

 

Don't trust these fuckers any further than a normal person could throw Mikey Moore.