Qaeda-led group "executes" five Iraqi officers
Pastor Dale Morgan
Qaeda-led group "executes" five Iraqi officers*
22 Sep 2007 08:36:46 GMT
Source: Reuters
DUBAI, Sept 22 (Reuters) - An Iraqi al Qaeda-led group, the Islamic
State in Iraq, has shot dead five abducted Iraqi army officers and
posted a video of the execution-style killings on the Internet on Saturday.
The footage, posted on a Web site used by insurgents in Iraq, showed a
masked gunman shooting the blindfolded officers in the head with a
pistol at what seemed to be a secluded area.
The officers said they were captured by the "fighters" of the Islamic
State in Iraq in the town of Baquba, capital of Diyala province, where
U.S. forces had recently carried out an operation against al-Qaeda and
other Sunni militants.
"I advise the police and army to quit this job," one of the officers
said while seated in front of a camera.
The group said the execution showed that the U.S. government and Iraqi
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki were losing the battle in Iraq.
"The al-Maliki government thought its army could achieve what was not
achieved by the strongest army in the world," the group, which is
believed to be a front for the main al Qaeda network in Iraq, said in an
on-screen statement.
"This is a message to (U.S. President George W.) Bush to wake up from
his dreams."