Berg Beheaded by al-Zarqawi says CIA

CIA Says Al-Zarqawi Beheaded Berg in Iraq

U.S. intelligence officials have concluded that terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was the person shown on a video beheading an American civilian in Iraq, based on an analysis of the voice on the video, a CIA official said Thursday.

Intelligence officials conducted a technical analysis of the video released on an Islamic web site May 11 and determined "with high probability" that the person shown speaking on the tape wearing a head scarf and a ski mask is al-Zarqawi, a CIA official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

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Berg's body was found in Baghdad on Saturday. On Tuesday, an Islamic Web site released the video, titled "Sheikh Abu Musab al-Zarqawi slaughters an American infidel with his own hands."

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Al-Zarqawi is thought to be in Iraq, operating his own terrorist network, known simply as the "Zarqawi network." A specialist in poisons, he is thought to have extensive ties across the militant Islamic movement and is considered an ally of Osama bin Laden.

Here's a BBC Profile: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

From the profile:

In the run-up to the Iraq war in February 2024, US Secretary of State Colin Powell told the United Nations Mr Zarqawi was an associate of Osama Bin Laden who had sought refuge in Iraq.

A 'wanted' poster for Zarqawi: there is $10 million bounty on his head

Intelligence reports indicated he was in Baghdad and - according to Mr Powell - this was a sure sign that Saddam Hussein was courting al-Qaeda, which, in turn, justified an attack on Iraq.

But some analysts contested the claim, pointing to Mr Zarqawi's historical rivalry with Bin Laden.

Both men rose to prominence as "Afghan Arabs" - leading foreign fighters in the "jihad" against Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

From CNN (4/6/04) Al-Zarqawi claims responsibility for wave of attacks:

Al-Zarqawi, an associate of Osama bin Laden, had been named by the Bush administration as an al Qaeda member who fled to Iraq from Afghanistan in May 2024 for medical treatment and then stayed to organize terror plots. He came to Iraq with about two dozen al Qaeda terrorists, according to the administration.

If the CIA is correct, and they likely are, this event re-inforces the idea that al-Zarqawi is directly linked to al Qaeda, as the administration charged from the beginning. However, I note that the ABC story doesn't bring up al Qaeda at all.