Leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq Stresses Need For WMD Jihad

By: CBS News Investigates
Topics: Iraq

The leader of al Qaeda in Iraq stressed on the need to acquire chemical, biological and even nuclear weapons, in order to compensate for the enemies' superiority in conventional weapons. Abu Hamza al Muhajir comments came in an audio interview released on the Internet Monday.

"Muslim scientists must do their utmost in order to develop WMDs that would act as an element of deterrence in the hands of the mujahideen," al Muhajir said. "Today the mujahideen are in desperate need of chemical, biological, electronic, and even nuclear weapons, in order to preserve the gains that they've achieved, and the ones that are yet to come God willing," he added. He also emphasized the need to develop aviation and other capabilities.
Al Muhajir also told the leaders of other Sunni groups who refused to fight under the banner of the Islamic State of Iraq to turn a new leaf and join forces. He acknowledged that mistakes have been made by al Qaeda and promised to rectify them.

The Iraqi insurgent group Ansar al Islam had recently demanded from the of al Qaeda led Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) to acknowledge that the group committed mistakes and accept that other Iraqi groups would work in parallel with al Qaeda and not under its command, before a reconciliation between al Qaeda and the various groups took place.

In the audio, al Muhajir criticized Baathist militias made of Saddam's former army officers and advised them to abandon their nationalistic aspiration, and fight for a more meaningful cause, such as defending Islam against crusaders.

Al Muhajer, who also holds the title of the Islamic State of Iraq's minister of war, warned Iraqi tribes fighting against al Qaeda to reconsider their position and repent, or suffer the consequences. "Awakening councils militias are criminals. But despite that, if they return to their homes, repent to God and abandon what they have been doing, we guarantee their safety."

Answering a question about U.S. reports suggesting that al Qaeda has been pushed out of Iraq, al Muhajir said that such claims by the Americans have always had great influence on the militants' steadfastness and their willingness to fight, and pledged that neither him nor his men would ever leave Iraq until they've accomplished their mission or died in the process. "By God, if there was only one bullet left in Iraq, I would not leave until I've fired it, and blown off my suicide belt into the nearest troops gathering," al Muhajir said.

He also reaffirmed that none of the leaders of al Qaeda have ever left Iraq, not even for a few hours, which refutes recent reports about him travelling to Afghanistan to meet with al Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al Zawahiri.
Al Muhajir also commented on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the recent war on Gaza by saying tthat the attack was just a ploy to test Arab rulers' reactions to such transgression, and that once their compliance was confirmed, Israel went on to sign with Washington a security agreement that enables it to control the security of its territory even beyond its borders. He also warned that the worse is yet to come now that there is an extremely radical government in Israel.

Al Muhajir said that America was no longer capable of getting involved in another war against Muslims, and predicted that the Europeans and the Iranians would now lead the "Crusader war on Islam."