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Al-Zarqawi: The Name Behind Iraq's Growing Terror Network

From suicide bombings to guerilla attacks and kidnappings to beheadings, the Al-Zarqawi group has been held responsible for waging a wave of terrorist attacks across Iraq. Al-Zarqawi and his associates were indicted for the August 2003 suicide bombing of the UN Headquarters which left at least 22 persons dead, and the assassination of the Shia cleric, Ayatollah al-Hakin at a shrine in Najaf, which killed over 50 Shia worshippers. The group, which fights under the banner of Tawhid and Jihad, has directed its terror strikes largely against the interim government of Iyad Allawi and the American military forces in Iraq.

In February 2003, former US Secretary of State Colin Powell categorized Al-Zarqawi and his group, at an UN Security Council meeting, as being associates of Osama Bin Laden, who had sought refuge in Iraq at the behest of Saddam Hussein. Zarqawi is believed to represent the Al Qaeda in the Holy war in Iraq, with Osama urging the Iraqis to pledge allegiance to Al-Zarqawi and to boycott the "infidel practices" of the Iraqi government. In the run up to the Iraqi elections in January 2005, the Al-Zarqawi group carried out strikes almost on a daily basis, and was seen as the biggest obstacle to progress in Iraq, with the US government saying, that it was "the most dangerous enemy in the country".

Al-Zarqawi, the man believed to be behind Al Qaeda's Holy War in Iraq, rose to prominence as an "Afghan Arab" fighting the Soviets in the 1980s. With his origins tracing back to Jordan, Al-Zarqawi spent several years in a Jordanian prison for conspiring to overthrow the monarchy and attempting to establish an Islamic Calliphate. He is said to be skilled in the use of biological and chemical weapons, and is believed to have set-up a training camp in Herat, Afghanistan, close to the Iranian border. Apart from being linked to Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda network, the German government has identified Al-Zarqawi as the operational leader of the Palestinian Sunni movement, Al-Tawhid or the 'Unity of the Faithful', a group which openly promotes and supports jihad. US officials also believe that Al-Zarqawi has established links with the Ansar Al-Islam, a group of Kurdish Islamists in northern Iraq.

Little is known about the whereabouts of Al-Zarqawi and his men, who go by the name of Jund Al-Sham. However, his network is considered to be the main source of kidnappings, assassination attempts and bomb attacks, which have occurred in Mosul, Baghdad, Falluja, Samarra and Najaf, across the country. Analysts believe that Al-Zarqawi's Sunni background and his dislike for Shia Islam have caused a division within Iraq's populace, the effects of which were evident in the elections, with the Sunni Arabs being unwilling to take part in them, heightening fears that insurgency remains a 'real' threat to a stable representative government.

Al-Zarqawi has not only been linked to Osama Bin Laden, but there are reports of his possible links to Saddam Hussein and the Murkhabarat or his Baathist loyalists. This has fueled speculation that Al-Zarqawi is a front for creating anarchy and chaos within the Iraqi state and wishes to de-stabilize the US led coalition and Iraqi government. In several respects, Al-Zarqawi's growing prominence in Iraq has led him to be presented as a rival to Osama Bin Laden's leadership. His direct involvement in the kidnappings and beheadings of several foreigners within the country has added to his notoriety.

Despite the fact that there has been no conclusive evidence linking Al-Zarqawi to Osama Bin Laden or Saddam Hussein, one thing remains certain. His fighters for the Holy War in Iraq are an extremely serious and potentially explosive threat to the future stability of the country and to peace in the region. The United States has re-affirmed the importance of Al-Zarqawi by offering a $25 million reward for information leading to his successful apprehension. In a statement issued by CIA Director, Porter Goss, Al-Zarqawi and his men represented a "?potential pool of contacts to build transnational terrorist cells, groups and networks," highlighting the possibility of future threats. Al-Zarqawi has won the support of hundreds of Iraqis, and commands the respect of a highly motivated anti-American group of local fighters, which will require to be disbanded, so as not to provide a further impetus for violence.