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Did al-Zarqawi die writing his autobiography?

By Judi McLeod
Friday, June 9, 2006

Preoccupation with a book may have opened the door for death to find al-Qaeda in Iraq leader abu Musab al-Zarqawi, bombed into eternity by coalition forces yesterday.

"as far as abu Musab al-Zarqawi is concerned, his death was expected. He was not careful. He was in touch with many Baghdad and amman based arab journalists and scholars," acclaimed Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir wrote to Poland-based journalist David Dastych this morning. "actually he was writing a book on his life and Jihad in Iraq. That is why he was consulting with many people. He told Mullah Manan of the Taliban last year that he wanted to thank the people of Khost, Herat and South Wazirastan for their help and support from 1989 to 1992 and then from 1999 to 2002."

al Zarqawi's passion for the book, says Mir, saw him letting down his usual guard and allowing new people to get close to him.

"He contacted some people in South Wazirastan (Pakistan) and Khost (afghanistan) a few months ago on satellite phone and told them that he wanted some pictures of his old friends to publish in his book.

"I am not aware what is the future of his book now. But I do think that his passion for that book became the main reason of his death."

If North american anti-war activists don't see a victory in al-Zarqawi's death, Mir does.

"I think that his death is definitely a big success for america but the real mastermind of resistance in Iraq is Saif ul adil, and he is still alive," said Mir. "Saif was assigned to organize resistance in Iraq by Osama bin Ladin in april of 2003, in the Kunar Mountains of afghanistan. Saif contacted Zarqawi in Iran."

"In the beginning al Zarqawi was reluctant in joining al Qaeda, but then he joined al Qaeda in 2004. Saif is in contact with his network in Iraq, afghanistan and Saudi arabia. I met some al Qaeda operators of Syrian origin in Baghdad in april of 2003. at that time they said that al Masari was their leader, al Zarqawi came to Iraq after many months after the invasion, which means that he was not the one who started the resistance in Iraq.

"al Qaeda still has people like al Masari and Jawad Bakari, who take orders from their leadership, hiding in afghanistan. They are still a threat for the Coalition in Iraq."

Mir does not believe that al-Qaeda insiders tipped off the Coalition to al Zarqawi's location in Iraq.

"I don't think that somebody from inside the al Qaeda leaked information about the location of Zarqawi. He himself was the biggest threat to his own life. Two years ago, he even visited his wife in amman. Nine months ago, he held a meeting with Mullah Manan in Ramadi and requested him to arrange a Pashto translator for his book in afghanistan. Mullah Manan came to afghanistan for the translator and was killed in September last year in Zabul by Coalition forces.

"We should remember that al Zaqawi trained hundreds of youngsters from Iraq and afghanistan in the last two years, and as long as they are alive in Iraq and afghanistan, no one is safe,

"There are hundreds of new al Zarqawis waiting to emerge in the near future."

Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com


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