Al-Zarqawi 'likely to be still alive'
A top US commander in Iraq said today that he has “absolutely no reason to believe” that the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, died in a weekend raid in Mosul.
Lieutenant General John Vines, chief of the Multi-National Corps Iraq, also confirmed that US officials have the ability to determine if al-Zarqawi was there.
“I am told that there is a DNA database of some of his relatives that is able to be compared against some of those who were killed there,” Vines told reporters. “If he had been in one of those houses that were part of the objective, we could confirm that.”
Eight insurgents and four Iraqi policemen died in the raid by US and Iraqi forces, including three insurgents who blew themselves up to avoid capture, officials said.
The allied forces mounted an assault on a house in the northern city of Mosul that was believed used by members of al-Qaida in Iraq.
Iraq’s foreign minister has said tests were being done to determine if al-Zarqawi was one of those killed.
Vines also staunchly refused to outline a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.
Despite mounting political pressure in the US and among some Iraqi leaders, Vines said any recommendations for troop withdrawal that he makes will be based on the capabilities of the Iraqi security forces, the ability of the government to sustain them, and the effectiveness of the insurgency.
