al-Qaida in Iraq cries foul

AP: A statement in the name of the al-Qaida in Iraq terror group posted Saturday on the Internet accused Arab satellite network Al-Jazeera of trying to win U.S. favor by reporting false information about an attack the group had claimed responsibility for.

The statement, which could not be immediately verified, related to a Friday bombing outside a Shiite mosque in Balad Ruz, 45 miles northeast of Baghdad, that killed 12 people as worshippers left prayer services.

News reports suggested the mosque was targeted. But the group led by Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed the target was actually a nearby Iraqi National Guard convoy.

"After we posted a statement (claiming responsibility) ... we found that Al-Jazeera tried to alter the facts and attributed to us (something) we didn't say," said the statement that appeared on an Internet site used as a clearing house for extremist Islamic material.

"We didn't say in our statement that we targeted the mosque, but that we targeted the infidel guards, and we hit them directly." Link


If this statement is genuine, it is interesting in the way it conveys a sense of outrage concerning the idea that al-Zarqawi's group targeted a Shiite mosque, in this instance. The bombing in question is certainly not the first attributed to the group that appeared to do so. A quick Google search turns up many examples. So it would seem that this is more a Bizarre (in the circumstances) complaint concerning reporting accuracy and independence, rather than expressing any problem with the principle of targeting Shiite mosques.