BAGHDAD, 25 November 2004 — An audiotape purportedly made by Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi lashed out yesterday at Muslim scholars for not speaking out against US actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying they have “let us down in the darkest circumstances.”
Meanwhile, the US military said five more bodies were found yesterday in northern Mosul, bringing the total to 20 bodies found in the past week. American troops found the five male bodies in the western part of the city, said Lt. Col. Paul Hastings, with Task Force Olympia. Hastings said there is no confirmation whether they were part of Iraqi security forces.
Before the latest grisly discovery, US troops had found 10 bodies of soldiers — nine of those shot execution-style — who belonged to the Iraqi regular army, based at the Al-Kisik military base about 31 miles west of Mosul, near Tal Afar, he said. Five other bodies, including four decapitated ones, have still not been identified, he said.
It was unclear whether the tape posted on the Internet yesterday was intended as a direct threat against Iraq’s Sunni religious establishment, who have come under attack recently with the slaying this week of two Sunni clerics by gunmen.
“You have let us down in the darkest circumstances and handed us over to the enemy...You have quit supporting the mujahedeen,” Zarqawi purportedly said on the tape. “Hundreds of thousands of the nation’s sons are being slaughtered at the hands of the infidels because of your silence.”
On the tape, whose authenticity could not be confirmed, Zarqawi addressed his comments to the “ulama” — senior Muslim religious clerics. The tape was not posted by Zarqawi’s designated media coordinator, Abu Maysara Al-Iraqi. It was unclear whether the material on the tape was new.
Al-Zarqawi, who leads the terror group known as Al-Qaeda in Iraq, is believed to have escaped from his headquarters in the insurgent-held stronghold of Fallujah during the massive US-led assault earlier this month.
“You made peace with the tyranny and handed over the countries and the people to the Jews and Crusaders. ...when you resort to silence on their crimes, when you refused to hold the banners of Jihad and Tawhid, and when you prevented youth from heading to the battlefields in order to defend the religion,” he said.
“Instead of implementing God’s orders, you chose your safety and preferred your money and sons. You left the mujahadeen facing the strongest power in the world,” he said. “Are not your hearts shaken by the scenes of your brothers being surrounded and hurt by your enemy?”
This week, two Sunni clerics who were part of an influential Sunni group that openly called for a boycott of Jan. 30 national elections because of the US offensive against Fallujah were assassinated by gunmen.
On Tuesday, Sheik Ghalib Ali Al-Zuhairi, was killed as he left a mosque after dawn prayers in the town of Muqdadiyah, 100 kilometers north of Baghdad, police said.
His assassination occurred a day after another prominent Sunni cleric was killed in the northern city of Mosul — Sheikh Faidh Mohamed Amin Al-Faidhi, who was the brother of the association’s spokesman. It was unclear whether those two attacks were related.
The audio message appeared as US and Iraqi security forces continued their search for Zarqawi after reports that he was in the region north of Baghdad. The US has placed a $25 million bounty on his head.
His group, formerly named Tawhid and Jihad, is believed responsible for dozens of deadly bombings and gruesome beheadings of foreign hostages.
