(Telegraph-UK) Oliver Poole - Tribal leaders in Husaybah, an entry point for al-Qaeda jihadists being smuggled into Iraq, are attacking followers of Abu Musab Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born terrorist. The U.S. military believes the reason is frustration at the heavy-handed approach of the foreigners, who have kidnapped and assassinated local leaders and imposed a strict Islamic code. The trigger was the assassination of a tribal sheikh from the Sulaiman tribe, ordered by Zarqawi for inviting senior U.S. marines for lunch. Following al-Qaeda's seizure of the city a number of residents fled. Arkan Salim, 56, who left with his wife and four children, said: "We thought they were patriotic. Now we discovered that they are sick and crazy."
2005-07-02 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive