Al-Zarqawi leaders in Syria linked to recent suicide bombings in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraq’s top al Qaeda terrorist, angered by a post-election lull in violence, ordered insurgents a month ago to intensify attacks and his lieutenants began plotting their mission during a secret meeting in Syria, a top U.S. military official said Wednesday.
The Syrian meeting, possibly attended by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has led to one of the bloodiest periods since the U.S.-led invasion two years ago. Nearly 500 people have been killed – including an Iraqi general mowed down in a drive-by shooting Wednesday – since the country’s new Shiite-dominated government was announced April 28.
Several Shiite and Sunni Muslim clerics were among the victims, raising fears that sectarian tensions could ignite a civil war.
The Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi and his leaders have met at least five times in foreign countries during the conflict, most recently during the past 30 days in Syria, according to the U.S. official, who briefed reporters on condition he not be named. He did not identify the other countries but said neighboring Iran, a Shiite theocracy, was not one of them.
He said the military obtained the information during questioning of insurgent prisoners, Iraqi military sources and field intelligence.
Also Wednesday, U.S. 3rd Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. William Webster said American forces will train Iraqi security personnel to better handle prisoners after reports that some local police and commandos mistreated detainees.
Also Wednesday:
“ Gunmen killed Transport Ministry driver Ali Mutib Sakr in Sadr City, a Shiite slum in eastern Baghdad, police Lt. Col. Shakir Wadi said.
“ In Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, insurgent mortar attacks killed two Iraqis and injured eight others, including seven schoolchildren, police and hospital officials said.
“ Iraqi soldiers discovered the bodies of seven men, blindfolded and shot in the head, dumped in the Sunni Triangle town of Amiriyah, 25 miles west of Baghdad, said Dr. Mohammed al-Ani at Ramadi hospital. More than 60 bodies, many with execution-style gunshot wounds to the head, have been found across Iraq in recent days.