Has Al Qaeda demoted Zarqawi?

The Times of London writes that Huthayfah Azzam, son of Abdullah Azzam, the mentor of both Osama bin Laden and Mr. Zarqawi, said Zarqawi was stripped of his political duties two weeks ago due to concerns that his actions were hurting the Iraqi insurgency's support in the Arab world.

"The Iraqi resistance high command asked al-Zarqawi to give up his political role and replaced him with an Iraqi because of several mistakes," said Mr Azzam in an interview with al-Arabiya, the Arabic news channel. "Al-Zarqawi's role has been limited to military action," he said.

The fugitive al-Qaeda leader, who has a $25 million American bounty on his head, is credited with masterminding some of the bloodiest episodes in the Iraqi war, including suicide bombings against the United Nations, Shia Muslims and US forces and the videotaped execution of Western and other hostages.

But his tactics have alienated many Iraqis, even those sympathetic to the insurgency. Mr Azzam, whose father is known as the "prince of the Mujahidin", said that he was accused of "creating an independent group" in Iraq, "making political mistakes" and hijacking the Iraqi insurgency for his own cause.

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Al Jazeera reports that, among his "political mistakes," Zarqawi appeared to have taken it upon himself to speak for the Iraqi people. Zarqawi is Jordanian, however, and thus not perceived as an appropriate spokesman for the insurgency.

"Zarqawi also took the liberty of speaking in the name of the Iraqi people and resistance, a role which belongs only to the Iraqis," Azzam said.

As a result "the resistance command inside and outside Iraq, including imams, criticised him and after long discussions demanded that he be confined to military action".

"Zarqawi pledged not to carry out any more attacks against Iraq's neighbours after having been criticised for these operations which are considered a violation of sharia [Islamic law]," Azzam said.

The Times of London reports the first hint that Zarqawi was falling out of favor came in a letter sent to him last summer by Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's second in command.

In the letter, which was intercepted by the Americans and made public, al-Zawahiri tells his young protégé that executing victims and posting the images on the internet had earned him the title "Sheikh of the Slaughterers".

"Among the things which the feelings of the Muslim populace who support you will never find acceptable are the scenes of slaughtering hostages," the letter said.

Then, in November, al-Zarqawi caused revulsion across the region when he orchestrated triple suicide bomb attacks against hotels in Amman, killing 60 people, including guests attending a Palestinian wedding. Members of his own family, including his brother and cousins, publicly disowned him along with members of influential Arab tribes.

The Associated Press reports that the backlash against the Amman bombings, which prompted even some of Zarqawi's fellow militants to call for a ban on civilian targets, was the key event leading to Zarqawi's apparent demotion.

In January, al-Zarqawi's group said in a Web statement that it had joined five other Iraqi insurgent groups to form the Mujahedeen Shura Council, or Consultative Council of Holy Warriors. Since then, al-Zarqawi's group has stopped issuing its own statements, a sharp contrast to its previous frequent postings, and al-Zarqawi has not issued a Web audiotape since January.

Instead, the Shura Council has put out daily statements listing its "operations" including bombings of U.S. Humvees and trucks, shootings of Iraqi Shiite security forces and assassinations of Sunni Arabs cooperating with the government.

AP notes, however, that the US military has called the report of Zarqawi's demotion "nothing we can verify," and that some experts say Zarqawi's role in insurgent attacks may have been exaggerated, either by his own group or by US and Iraqi officials. The insurgency is made up of several different groups, some of which "have been nearly as violent as al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida in Iraq."

AP adds that Maj. Gen. Hussein Kamal, Iraq's deputy interior minister for intelligence affairs, said officials do believe that Zarqawi's Al Qaeda in Iraq has met with other insurgent groups in order to unify their efforts. He also said it was possible that those groups may have "rearranged their ranks" and reassigned Zarqawi.

"After the losses they suffered in the west of Iraq and the popular anger against their presence, they could be trying to find an Iraqi facade," he said, noting al-Zarqawi's Jordanian nationality.

Kamal said he did not recognize the name of the supposed new political leader, Abdullah bin Rashed al-Baghdadi, and that it was probably a pseudonym.

Kamal warned, however, that even if reports of Zarqawi's demotion are true, it does not mean that violence will decrease in Iraq.

News of Zarqawi's apparent demotion comes only a week after the US military said he has changed his tactics to target Iraqi civilians and Iraqi security forces, rather than coalition forces, reports Reuters.

While monthly U.S. casualties have been falling since November, attacks on Iraqi forces are escalating as Zarqawi attempts to undermine efforts to build up the army and security forces, [Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch] said.

"The number of attacks against Iraqi security force members has increased 35 percent in the last four weeks compared to the previous six months," said Lynch.

Ha'aretz reports that Zarqawi has also been recently tied to Al Qaeda efforts to inflitrate Gaza and attack Israel. A senior member of the Israel Defense Force told Ha'aretz, "We're not talking about gut feelings: The [rockets] fired on Shlomi and before that the [rocket] fire from Aqaba that hit the airport in Eilat were carried out by organizations affiliated with Al-Qaida and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's people in Iraq. The operational direction of these organizations is clear. They will try in the future to hit more Israeli targets."

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