scoone
02-09-2004, 04:38 PM
Mon February 9, 2004 02:29 PM ET
By Joe Logan
BAGHDAD (*******) - A militant Islamist who the United States has described as an associate of Osama bin Laden has plotted a series of attacks in Iraq aimed at provoking a civil war, the U.S.-led occupation authority said Monday.
Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said U.S. forces had seized a computer disc that contained a letter outlining the plan written by Abu Musab Zarqawi, who Washington suspects of links to Ansar al-Islam -- a Muslim militant group operating in Iraq.
"There is clearly a plan on the part of outsiders to come into this country and spark civil war, breed sectarian violence and try to expose fissures in the society," Kimmitt, the top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, told a news conference.
"We are persuaded that Zarqawi was the author of the letter ... We believe the document is credible and we take the threat seriously," he added.
In October, Washington offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Zarqawi, who featured prominently in a presentation of U.S. intelligence by Secretary of State Colin Powell before the war in Iraq.
"Iraq today harbors a deadly terrorist network headed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, an associate and collaborator of Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda lieutenants," Powell said at the time.
He said Zarqawi oversaw a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan that specialized in poisons. He is also suspected of orchestrating the murder of U.S. diplomat Laurence Foley in the Jordanian capital in 2002.
Zarqawi was sentenced to death in absentia by a Jordanian court last year for plotting attacks against U.S. and Israeli targets.
PROVOKING VIOLENCE
In Washington Monday, Powell said the letter added credence to his presentation to the United Nations last year.
"With respect to the letter itself, it's very revealing. They describe the weaknesses they have in their efforts to undercut the coalition's effort.
"But at the same time, it shows they haven't given up. They're trying to get more terrorists into Iraq...But they will not succeed," Powell added.
Iraq's U.S. occupiers have long said they suspect al Qaeda has played a role in the insurgency against U.S. troops and particularly in attacks on civilian targets in Iraq.
U.S. officials say last month's arrest by U.S. troops in Iraq of Hassan Ghul, who they say reported to the operative responsible for the September 11 attacks -- Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, shows al Qaeda is trying to get a foothold in Iraq.
Dan Senor, chief spokesman for Iraq's U.S. governor Paul Bremer, said the 17-page letter proposed attacks on the shrines and leadership of Iraq's Shi'ite Muslim majority, whom Arab Sunnis and Kurds fear could dominate a future government.
"The document ... talks about a strategy of provoking violence targeted at the Shia, the Shia leaders in the hope that it would provoke reprisals against other ethnic groups in the country," he said.
The document's author alludes to having conducted some 25 attacks in Iraq, Kimmitt said.
Senior U.S. officials in Baghdad said the letter was contained on a CD obtained in Ghul's capture, which also led to the identification of Zarqawi as its author.
Another official said the letter spoke of the possibility of kidnapping U.S. soldiers and expressed frustration at the participation of Sunnis in Iraqi security forces.
"Before, we had a strong suspicion that al Qaeda was trying to operate in the country, kill coalition soldiers and create sectarian violence," that official said. "This confirms it."
Asked how questions about the document's authenticity might be addressed, one senior U.S. official said: "We couldn't make this up if we tried."
http://www.*******.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=03CPT1115XIYYCRBAEKSFFA?type=topNews&storyID=4317813
By Joe Logan
BAGHDAD (*******) - A militant Islamist who the United States has described as an associate of Osama bin Laden has plotted a series of attacks in Iraq aimed at provoking a civil war, the U.S.-led occupation authority said Monday.
Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said U.S. forces had seized a computer disc that contained a letter outlining the plan written by Abu Musab Zarqawi, who Washington suspects of links to Ansar al-Islam -- a Muslim militant group operating in Iraq.
"There is clearly a plan on the part of outsiders to come into this country and spark civil war, breed sectarian violence and try to expose fissures in the society," Kimmitt, the top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, told a news conference.
"We are persuaded that Zarqawi was the author of the letter ... We believe the document is credible and we take the threat seriously," he added.
In October, Washington offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Zarqawi, who featured prominently in a presentation of U.S. intelligence by Secretary of State Colin Powell before the war in Iraq.
"Iraq today harbors a deadly terrorist network headed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, an associate and collaborator of Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda lieutenants," Powell said at the time.
He said Zarqawi oversaw a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan that specialized in poisons. He is also suspected of orchestrating the murder of U.S. diplomat Laurence Foley in the Jordanian capital in 2002.
Zarqawi was sentenced to death in absentia by a Jordanian court last year for plotting attacks against U.S. and Israeli targets.
PROVOKING VIOLENCE
In Washington Monday, Powell said the letter added credence to his presentation to the United Nations last year.
"With respect to the letter itself, it's very revealing. They describe the weaknesses they have in their efforts to undercut the coalition's effort.
"But at the same time, it shows they haven't given up. They're trying to get more terrorists into Iraq...But they will not succeed," Powell added.
Iraq's U.S. occupiers have long said they suspect al Qaeda has played a role in the insurgency against U.S. troops and particularly in attacks on civilian targets in Iraq.
U.S. officials say last month's arrest by U.S. troops in Iraq of Hassan Ghul, who they say reported to the operative responsible for the September 11 attacks -- Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, shows al Qaeda is trying to get a foothold in Iraq.
Dan Senor, chief spokesman for Iraq's U.S. governor Paul Bremer, said the 17-page letter proposed attacks on the shrines and leadership of Iraq's Shi'ite Muslim majority, whom Arab Sunnis and Kurds fear could dominate a future government.
"The document ... talks about a strategy of provoking violence targeted at the Shia, the Shia leaders in the hope that it would provoke reprisals against other ethnic groups in the country," he said.
The document's author alludes to having conducted some 25 attacks in Iraq, Kimmitt said.
Senior U.S. officials in Baghdad said the letter was contained on a CD obtained in Ghul's capture, which also led to the identification of Zarqawi as its author.
Another official said the letter spoke of the possibility of kidnapping U.S. soldiers and expressed frustration at the participation of Sunnis in Iraqi security forces.
"Before, we had a strong suspicion that al Qaeda was trying to operate in the country, kill coalition soldiers and create sectarian violence," that official said. "This confirms it."
Asked how questions about the document's authenticity might be addressed, one senior U.S. official said: "We couldn't make this up if we tried."
http://www.*******.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=03CPT1115XIYYCRBAEKSFFA?type=topNews&storyID=4317813