 BAGHDAD, Iraq (UPI) -- A militant Islamic Web site reported Wednesday Iraq al-Qaida leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was evacuated from Iraq after being injured. Zarqawi`s group, al-Qaida Organization in Mesopotamia, said in a statement carried on the site Zarqawi was moved secretly to a neighboring country with the help of doctors from the Arab Peninsula and the Sudan. | "Arab Peninsula", I'm guessing that would be Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, UEA and maybe Jordan. Plus, there's nothing like Sudanese medical care to bring a smile to my face. |
The group did not identify the country to which Zarqawi was evacuated but said he is in a stable condition after a bullet pierced the right side of his chest causing breathing problems.
| Sucking Chest Wound, one of the all time favorites. |
| Next to the fabled sucking head wound, of course... |
The group said in a message on the Web site Tuesday Zarqawi had been wounded. It asked for "prayers for our leader," and expressed pride at what they described as his heroic wounds. It did not say how or when the Jordanian-born Zarqawi was hurt.
Additional: An Islamic website statement claimed today that Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi, al Qaida in Iraq chief, has fled to an unidentified "neighbouring country" with two Arab doctors treating him for gunshot wounds to his lung.
Same source, more details.
There was no way to verify the authenticity of the claim. The site used to carry al Qaida postings, but has fallen out of use recently. Soon, the posting appeared on another militant site, where it quickly came under attack from other posters as untrue and unauthorised by al Qaida. The statement from somebody identified only as al-Khalidi the same name as a regular poster for the site in the past said the information was based on accounts of "brothers close to the holy warriors in Iraq and who are in contact with them." He did not elaborate.
Mideast security officials told The Associated Press in the Jordanian capital Amman they could not verify the authenticity of the posting or veracity of its contents. On Tuesday, a web statement in the name of al-Zarqawi's group, al Qaida in Iraq, said the terrorist mastermind has been wounded. But US officials cautioned they did not know if the posting was authentic, and privately said the information also may have been designed to purposefully mislead. Today's statement said al-Zarqawi "was secretly smuggled to a neighbouring country a few days ago in a complicated and organised operation." It did not identify the country. | For which said un-named country thanks them. |
It said al-Zarqawi was in "stable condition now" after he incurred a "bullet wound which penetrated his right lung."
Meanwhile it has been reported today that Iraqi security forces have killed a senior al-Zarqawi aide in northern Iraq, the government said. Sabhan Ahmad Ramadan was killed as he was manning a checkpoint in the northern province of Nineveh, a government announcement said. It added that Ramadan, also known as Agha Abu Saad, was a leading aide to Abu Talha the head of operations in Mosul for al-Zarqawi and his al Qaida in Iraq terror group. No further details on the man or how he was killed were provided.
MORE: One of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's lieutenants has claimed the al-Qaeda leader in Iraq was shot "between the shoulder and chest" in fighting over the weekend west of Ramadi. | Sounds like it clipped the top of the lung |
The claim from Abu Karar, who was identified as a lieutenant for Zarqawi in Ramadi, came after a leader of his organisation, Abu Maysarah al-Iraqi, posted notification of the terrorist's alleged injury on a website. The web posting could not be independently confirmed. However, following the web announcement, several members of Zarqawi's group, including Karar, said they had heard he had been shot.
Karar said the al-Qaeda group had been caught in an ambush by Iraqi forces and US marines. A top Zarqawi aide and several Arab fighters had also been killed, he said. Karar said Zarqawi was in a stable condition and in a safe place being treated by doctors. | Of course, they could be saying he's out of the country to try to throw off pursuit. |
Lieutenant-Colonel Steven Boylan, spokesman for the US military in Baghdad, said of the website announcement of Zarqawi's wounding, "We don't know whether it's fact or fiction. He continues to be our number one target." | The Army Of Steve has spoken! |
Samarrae, the security adviser to the Iraqi President, Jalal Talabani, also played down the report. He told Al-Jazeera television: "Three days ago, one of the most important aides to Zarqawi was arrested and maybe he gave important information about Zarqawi and his whereabouts." He added: "In all cases, there are many probabilities. Maybe he is not wounded and he posted this statement on the internet to say he is wounded and then post another statement to say that he is treated and fine and he is like superman." |
