Cairo – The Internet and Baghdad streets are teeming with statements about terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. One says he’s being treated outside Iraq for gunshot wounds to the lung. Another calls on Muslims to pray for him, indicating his condition may be dire.
Only one thing is sure: No statement has been confirmed.
The latest furor over al-Zarqawi began Tuesday when an Internet statement called on Muslims to pray for his life, followed by conflicting statements on his health and whereabouts.
The mystery deepened Wednesday after reports that two Arab doctors in another country were treating al-Zarqawi, chief of al-Qaeda in Iraq and wanted for some of the deadliest attacks in the country.
None of the Internet postings and rumors have been confirmed, but the amount of speculation about the Jordanian-born militant is unusual both in size and scope.
“It makes me wonder if al- Zarqawi’s injury is severe enough that they are afraid to lie about it and are instead just trying to minimize the impact,” said Washington-based counterterrorism expert Evan Kohlmann.
“In other words, they ‘steal the thunder’ from the Western media … a crude form of defusing a potential public relations disaster.”
It also could be a ploy to make al-Zarqawi more popular among Islamic zealots who follow him and his mentor, Osama bin Laden.
A return to the battlefield after being injured by U.S. forces could make al-Zarqawi look like “superman,” Gen. Wafiq al- Samari e, the Iraqi presidential adviser for security affairs, speculated on al-Jazeera TV.
The attention focused on his reputed injury indicates how crucial al-Zarqawi has become to Iraq’s insurgency. He initially was regarded as a bin Laden rival until the al-Qaeda leader anointed him his representative in Iraq last year.
Al-Zarqawi, who carries a $25 million bounty, is believed to have personally executed foreign hostages and has shown no compunction in killing Muslims who don’t adhere to his hardline interpretation of Islam.
