Website claims new al-Qaida leader killed US soldiers
The new leader of al-Qaida in Iraq killed the two US soldiers abducted last week, an umbrella group for Iraqi insurgents said in a web statement posted today.
The statement said the two soldiers were “slaughtered” suggesting they had been beheaded by Abu Hamza al-Muhajer. The Arabic word used in the statement, “nahr”, is used for the slaughtering of sheep by cutting the throat and has been used in past statements to refer to beheadings.
The authenticity of the claim of responsibility could not be confirmed. It was posted on an Islamic militant web forum where insurgent groups regularly post statements.
If true, it would be the first act of violence by al-Muhajer since he was named al-Qaida in Iraq’s new leader in a June 12 web message by the group. He succeeded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a US airstrike on June 7.
Attributing the killings to al-Muhajer could be an attempt to build up the image of the new leader.
Al-Zarqawi became notorious for his group’s hostage beheadings, often shown in grisly videos posted on the web. He earned the nickname “the slaughtering sheikh” among his followers and is believed to have killed two Americans himself – Nicholas Berg in April 2004 and Eugene Armstrong in September 2004.
US Major General William Caldwell said today that the military has recovered what are believed to be are the remains of two missing soldiers but said the cause of death was “undeterminable at this point.”
An Iraqi military official said the bodies found showed signs of torture and were killed in a barbaric way.
“We give the good news … to the Islamic nation that we have carried God’s verdict by slaughtering the two captured crusaders,” said a statement in the name of the Mujahedeen Shura Council, which groups seven insurgent organisations including al Qaida in Iraq.
“With God Almighty’s blessing, Abu Hamza al-Muhajer carried out the verdict of the Islamic court for the soldiers’ killing,” the statement said.
The statement did not indicate whether any video of the killings would be released.
The Mujahedeen Shura Council claimed in a web statement issued yesterday that it kidnapped the two soldiers, but it did not offer any proof such as photos or video. It also did not specify in that message that the two were snatched by members of al Qaida in Iraq.
The US military has identified al-Muhajer as an Egyptian associate of al-Zarqawi also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri.
Kidnappings of US service members have been rare since the 2003 US-led invasion, despite the presence of about 130,000 forces.
The last US soldier to be captured was Sgt. Keith Maupin of Batavia, Ohio, who was taken on April 9, 2004 after insurgents ambushed his fuel convoy. Two months later, a tape on Al-Jazeera purported to show a captive US soldier shot, but the Army ruled it was inconclusive and remains listed as missing.
