Tuesday, Oct 19, 2004
Merger sets stage for major clash in Iraq
By Atul Aneja
MANAMA, OCT. 18. A key Islamist militant group accused of operating from Fallujah has announced its merger with the Al-Qaeda, setting the stage for a major confrontation with American occupation forces in the embattled Iraqi city.
The Tawhid Wal Jihad group, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, announced its allegiance to the Al-Qaeda on Sunday, on a web site used by several Islamist groups.
'Viewpoints exchanged'
The declaration began with a Koranic verse encouraging Islamic unity and said Mr. Al-Zarqawi saw the Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden as "the best leader for Islam's armies against all infidels and apostates." The statement added that the two were in touch eight months back , and "viewpoints were exchanged" before the dialogue was interrupted. "God soon blessed us with a resumption in communication, and the dignified brothers in Al-Qaeda understood the strategy of Tawhid Wal Jihad," the statement said. Al-Jazeera television quoted a specialist in monitoring Islamist web sites as saying that the statement appeared authentic.
Another Al-Qaeda hub?
Analysts say the merger shows that the U.S. invasion has resulted in Iraq, which had no previous history of religious extremism, becoming another Al-Qaeda hub. Juan Cole, a West Asia specialist at the University of Michigan, says the profile of the Tawhid Wal Jihad in Iraq has grown in recent months, with many local Sunni fighters now seen wearing the group's distinctive orange and black insignia.
"These have been sighted among Iraqi crowds on Haifa Street in Baghdad and in Samarra. So now (after the merger) there are hundreds of Al-Qaeda members in Iraq where there had been none before."
An Iraqi negotiator announced this morning that talks to defuse the crisis in Fallujah had broken down. Khalid Hamud Al-Jumaili, who was involved in the talks with the Iraqi interim Government, but had been unexpectedly taken into U.S. custody three days ago, said after his release today that dialogue had been `suspended.'
Blast in Baghdad
In related developments, Iraqi guerrillas have attacked a Baghdad café, popular with the Iraqi police, killing seven persons and injuring more than 20. The late night explosion happened near the Australian embassy. Another bomb went off in the same area later, killing one person and injuring two. The Iraqi resistance has frequently targeted the police, accusing it of collaborating with the U.S. occupation.
Copyright © 2004, The Hindu.