Rumsfeld warns Iraq neighbors against medical care to Zarqawi
Iraq-USA, Military, 6/2/2005

In this respect, the American defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld threatened Iraq's neighbors against providing medical care to the leader of al-Qaida organization in Iraq, the Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

In a joint press conference with the American army chief Richard Meyers Rusmfeld stressed "The current assumption is that he's in Iraq.Ê It would certainly -- were a neighboring country to take him in and provide medical assistance or haven for him, they obviously would be associating themselves with a major linkage in the al Qaeda network, and a person who has a great deal of blood on his hands."

Meyers expected al-Zarqawi is injured. He said "I don't know that we know where he is.Ê I think the -- our assessment is that he has been wounded.Ê The severity -- I don't know that we know that, so we won't make a judgment on that. Clearly he leads one of the most dangerous factions, not only in Iraq but in the region, perhaps in the world, because he's part of the al Qaeda network now.Ê He has operated in other places before, up in the continent, certainly in Iraq before.Ê He's -- so he's not a stranger to violence.Ê And we know that he has no regard for human life at all -- fellow Muslim or whomever, man, woman and child.Ê So he's a dangerous character."

Meyers added "Having said that, if -- and another thing I would say is that we've kept the pressure on him, and we will, 24 and 7.Ê So as you know, we've wrapped up a number of his lieutenants, either captured or killed them, and lots of folks that work with and for him, into the hundreds.Ê We will continue that pressure, and we're getting better at it.Ê We're better this week than we were last week.Ê And so the pressure will mount on that organization.Ê We do not know where he is right now."

Previous Stories:
  Jaafari cling to the role of the coalition forces in Iraq   (6/1/2005)
  Iraq needs political, economic, military approach, Zoellick says   (5/26/2005)
  Washington doubts Zarqawi's being injured   (5/25/2005)

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