Regime Change

‘MOUSSAOIU may yet eclipse the notoriety attached to the name Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the man the Times calls “the most feared commander in the Iraqi insurgency”.

Only, he may no longer be. No-one has shopped the man wanted for “murdering innocent women and children” (source: American wanted poster), and in so doing claimed the reward of up to $10,000,000 USD, it’s just that the man may have been deposed from within.

The Times hears Huthayfah Azzam, the son of Abdullah Azzam, al-Zarqawi’s “former mentor”, a man apparently known as the “prince of the Mujahidin”, say that the fearsome thug’s role has been curtailed. “The Iraqi resistance high command asked al-Zarqawi to give up his political role and replaced him with an Iraqi because of several mistakes,” says Mr Azzam. “Al-Zarqawi’s role has been limited to military action.”

It seems that insurgent Iraqis aren’t keen on any kind of foreigners on their turf, whether Jordanian al-Zarqawi, the so-called “Sheikh of the Slaughterers”, or American troops.

This is no small thing. Any news that a lunatic like al-Zarqawi has been reduced in stature is heartening. The man might not be “finished”, as Bayan Jabor, the Iraqi Interior Minister said last week, but he is on his way out.

And he’s set to leave a far smaller legacy than Moussaoui…’

Posted: 4th, April 2006 | In: Uncategorized Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink