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Al-Qaeda in Iraq threatens attacks

Al-Qaeda in Iraq vowed yesterday to carry out large-scale attacks that would "shake the enemy" after the killing of its leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, but did not name a successor.

The group, in an Internet statement, said its leading body held a meeting after Zarqawi's death on Wednesday to discuss strategy and renew a pledge to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

"We plan large-scaled operations that will shake the enemy and rob them of sleep, in coordination with the other factions of the Mujahideen Council," said the statement posted on a Web site often used by Islamist militants.

"We renew allegiance to the leader of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, may God protect him, and he will be pleased with the actions of his soldiers in Iraq, God willing," said the statement, whose authenticity could not be verified.

Bin Laden had made Zarqawi his deputy in Iraq.

Zarqawi was killed after US warplanes struck his hideout in a village north of Baghdad.

Two UK newspapers claimed yesterday that Zarqawi may have been beaten to death by US forces following the air strike.

The Observer and the Sunday Times both carried reports on events leading up to his death, citing apparent eyewitnesses to the immediate aftermath of the attack.

The Observer said that although there was no corroboration of the claims that the badly injured Zarqawi was beaten to death, revelations of revenge killings by US troops "means it cannot be discounted."

It quoted one man as saying US soldiers pulled a man resembling Zarqawi from an ambulance where locals had placed him, wrapped his traditional Arab robe, the dishdasha, around his head and "battered him severely till he died."

The Sunday Times went into more detail, citing 25-year-old laborer Ali Abbas as saying: "They [the US soldiers] were shouting and screaming and in a very tense and agitated mood."

He added: "The Americans tore his dishdasha and they kept on asking him through an interpreter, `What is your name, what is your name?'"

US General George Casey dismissed the claim that soldiers may have beaten Zarqawi.

"That's baloney," Casey said. "He died while American soldiers were attempting to save his life. So the idea that there were people beating him is ludicrous."

Meanwhile, insurgents in Iraq signaled that the fight was still on after Zarqawi's death, posting an Internet video on Saturday showing the beheading of three alleged Shiite death squad members.

And in related news, the Iraqi parliament postponed its session yesterday to allow the main political blocs more time to agree on the exact powers of the Sunni Arab parliament speaker. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki met party representatives on Saturday, but failed to break the deadlock.

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