Al-Qaeda in Iraq: Test nukes on US bases*

Terror group leader al-Masri calls in audio message for explosives
experts, nuclear scientists to ‘join holy war against West’; adds: Field
of jihad can satisfy your scientific ambitions, and large American bases
in Iraq are good places to test your unconventional weapons

Associated Press
Published: 09.28.06, 19:28

In a new audio message Thursday, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq called
for explosives experts and nuclear scientists to join his group's holy
war against the West. He also said that more than 4,000 foreign
insurgent fighters have been killed in Iraq since the US-led invasion in
2003.

That comment was believed to be the first major statement from
insurgents in Iraq about their losses.

Holy War

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"The blood has been spilled in Iraq of more than 4,000 foreigners who
came to fight," said the man, who identified himself as Abu Hamza
al-Muhajir — also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri — the leader of al-Qaeda
in Iraq. The voice could not be independently identified.

The Arabic word he used indicated he was speaking about foreigners who
joined the insurgency in Iraq, not coalition troops.

The speaker said "the field of jihad" could provide scientists with an
avenue for experimentation.

"The field of jihad (holy war) can satisfy your scientific ambitions,
and the large American bases (in Iraq) are good places to test your
unconventional weapons, whether biological or dirty, as they call them,"
he said.

'Enable us to capture some Western dogs'

In the recording, al-Masri also urged Muslims to make Ramadan a "month
of holy war" and called for insurgents in Iraq to kidnap Westerners.
Sunni Arabs began observing Ramadan in Iraq on Saturday, while Shiites
were to begin Monday.

Al-Masri called on insurgents in Iraq to capture Westerners so they
could be traded for the imprisoned Egyptian sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, who
was convicted in 1995 of conspiring to blow up New York City landmarks.

"I appeal to every holy warrior in the land of Iraq to exert all efforts
in this holy month so that God may enable us to capture some of the
Western dogs to swap them with our sheik and get him out of his dark
prison," the voice on the tape said.

Al-Masri, a Sunni Muslim, has been relatively silent since taking over
control of al-Qaeda in Iraq earlier this year — a sharp contrast with
al-Zarqawi, who frequently issued audiotapes and even a videotape that
showed his face a few weeks before his death.

Al-Masri is believed to have succeeded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who died in
a US air strike north of Baghdad in June, as the head of al-Qaedain Iraq.