Al-Qaida's help sought in Iraq to spark sectarian war

By: Hamoud Kufi

BAGHDAD, Iraq: US officials confirmed a report Monday in The New York Times that anti-American operatives in Iraq appealed for help from Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network to help spark a sectarian war between Shiite and Sunni in a bid to “tear the country apart”.

The alleged plan, outlined in a 17-page letter, was confiscated from an al-Qaida suspect in Iraq by US forces.

“We believe the report and document are credible. We take the report seriously,” deputy chief of operations Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt told a news conference. He said the letter would be made public later.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the letter was on a computer disk found on Hassan Ghul, a senior al-Qaida courier arrested last month by Kurdish forces as he tried to enter the country from Iran.

The Times said its reporter viewed the Arabic document and a military translation on Sunday. It said the document is the strongest evidence to date of contacts between extremists in Iraq and al-Qaida.

Kimmitt said the letter was believed written by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian who is suspected of having ties to al-Qaida.

Coalition spokesman Dan Senor said the letter talks about “a strategy of provoking violence, targeted at Shiites leaders that would result in reprisals against other ethnic groups within the country.”

The letter suggests that attacks on Shiites would prompt retaliation against Sunnis and a cycle of widening violence, the New York Times said. “It is the only way to prolong the duration of the fight between the infidels and us,” the letter says.

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