Posted by BREAKING NEWS on 17/10/2004, 20:23:54 "With the advent of the month of Ramadan and the need for Muslims to unify ranks in the face of the enemy ... We announce that the Tawhid and Jihad Group, its prince and soldiers, have pledged allegiance to the sheikh of the mujahideen (holy fighters) Osama bin Laden," said the statement. It was not possible to verify the authenticity of the statement which was posted on several Web sites often used by militants. Washington says Zarqawi is al Qaeda's link to Iraq but the statement was the first by the group to announce its allegiance to bin Laden's group, which carried out the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. "Sheikh Abu Musab was in contact with the brothers in al Qaeda for eight months, exchanging points of view, then contact was interrupted only to be restored again and the brothers in al Qaeda understood Tawhid and Jihad Group's strategy in (Iraq)," said the statement, which was dated Sunday. Zarqawi, with a $25 million price on his head, is the United States' main enemy at large in Iraq and is blamed for some of the worst violence against the U.S.-backed interim Iraqi administration. His group has claimed a series of killings, hostage beheadings and suicide bombings in Iraq.
Web Site: Zarqawi Pledges Allegiance to Bin Laden
DUBAI (Reuters) - A group led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden and said it was in contact with al Qaeda over operations in Iraq, according to an Internet statement posted Sunday.
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