Zarqawi said to be injured in the lung
Iraq, Politics, 5/27/2005

The Iraqi minister of the interior Bayan Soulanj said on Thursday that the government has authentic information on that the leader of al-Qaida organization in Mesopotamia, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is injured.

The Iraqi minister said "we do not know the depth of the injury, or whether Zarqawi died or not, but he is injured."

Earlier the organization announced that Zarqawi is injured in his lung during one of the confrontations with the American forces in Iraq, but denied on Thursday news by another Islamic website on the organization's appointment of who is called Abu Hafs al-Qarni as a deputy for Zarqawi.

Another Islamic website said that Zarqawi was taken to a country neighboring Iraq at the supervision of two Arab doctors after he was injured in his lung. Yesterday, the US Army Brigadier General Carter Hamm says the U.S. military has no independent corroboration that the Jordanian terrorist in Iraq linked to al-Qaida, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has been wounded or spirited out of the country.

The deputy director for regional operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said efforts are under way to determine the veracity of reports on the Internet and elsewhere about ZarqawiÕs condition and whereabouts.

Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said it is difficult to determine what is accurate in the reports coming out of the Middle East.Ê The principal deputy assistant secretary of defense noted that al-Qaida and its affiliates have used reports about its operatives in the past for purposes of misinformation and disinformation.

Even though Di Rita described Zarqawi as an important and wanted figure in the War on Terrorism, Hamm pointed out that he is only one individual in a very large organization.Ê He described ZarqawiÕs operation as a network of cells spread throughout Iraq.Ê Although ZarqawiÕs cells are located regionally, the general said, they are reliant, to a degree, on centralized funding.Ê Efforts to disrupt that financing are under way.

Even if Zarqawi is removed from the power structure, Hamm said his network of followers will remain lethal.Ê His organization is resilient and ÒwonÕt crumble or cease to existÓ without him, the military official said.

Previous Stories:
  Iraq needs political, economic, military approach, Zoellick says   (5/26/2005)
  The Guardian: achieving peace in Iraq could take at least five years   (5/26/2005)
  Al-Qaida confirms Zarqawi is injured, American forces besiege Haditha   (5/26/2005)
  Iraqi government for extending foreign forces presence in Iraq   (5/25/2005)
  Washington doubts Zarqawi's being injured   (5/25/2005)
  Seven American soldiers killed in Iraq   (5/25/2005)
  Number of foreign fighters among gunmen in Iraq increases   (3/29/2005)
  Al-Zarqawi group assassinates the second American hostage   (9/22/2004)

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