Bin Laden praises al-Zarqawi as ‘lion of jihad’
Terrorist leader heard but not seen in paean to slain al-Qaida in Iraq chief
BREAKING NEWS
NBC News and news services
Updated: 10 minutes ago
CAIRO, Egypt - Osama bin Laden praised slain al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as the “lion of holy war” in a new videotape posted on the Web on Friday.
The 19-minute message shows an old still photo of bin Laden in a split-screen next to images of al-Zarqawi taken from a previous video. A voice resembling bin Laden’s narrates a tribute to the Jordanian-born militant, who was killed in a June 7 airstrike northeast of Baghdad.
“Our Islamic nation was surprised to find its knight, the lion of jihad (holy war), the man of determination and will, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, killed in a shameful American raid,” bin Laden said.
Story continues below ↓ advertisement
It was the fourth message put out this year by al-Qaida leader bin Laden. All have featured his voice in audiotapes. New video images of him have not appeared since October 2004.
The video, released by al-Qaida’s as-Sahab Institute for Media Production, is entitled “Elegizing the martyr of the nation and the Emir of the martyrs, Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi (God bless his soul).”
The video did not contain any English subtitles, but an Arabic transcript of bin Laden's statement was released. The U.S. government has not yet verified if the tape is authentic.
A similar al-Zarqawi tribute was put out last week by bin Laden’s deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri.
The videos appear to be part of an attempt by al-Qaida’s central leadership to tout their connection to al-Zarqawi, who emerged as a hero among Islamic extremists with his dramatic attacks against Shiites and Westerners in Iraq.
The Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a June 7 U.S. airstrike northeast of Baghdad, swore loyalty to bin Laden but is believed to have had sometimes rocky ties with al-Qaida’s core leadership, based in the Afghan-Pakistani border region.
Bin Laden did not issue any messages — audio or video — during 2005, his longest period of silence. But his deputy al-Zawahri continually appeared in videos.
Stole the spotlight
Last week's Web message from al-Zawahri was an elaborate tribute to a militant who sometimes stole the spotlight from bin Laden and al-Zawahri, portraying himself as al-Qaida’s fighter on the hottest front of “jihad,” or holy war.
In July 2005, al-Zawahri reportedly wrote a letter to al-Zarqawi criticizing his attacks on Iraqi Shiite mosques and civilians, saying they hurt the mujahedeen’s image. The al-Qaida deputy also asked al-Zarqawi for money, according to the U.S. military, which said it intercepted the message.
Al-Zarqawi apparently brushed off the criticism as he continued to attack Shiites, a strategy intended to spark a Sunni-Shiite civil war.
Any tension between al-Zarqawi and al-Qaida’s command appeared to have faded by early 2006, because al-Zawahri has now issued three videotapes this year in which he effusively praises al-Zarqawi.
Bin Laden praises al-Zarqawi as ‘lion of jihad’
Author