The militant group al-Qaeda in Iraq has announced that it has murdered Egypt's top envoy in Iraq according to a statement placed on a Web site often used by Islamic militants. The site also featured a video of the envoy, Ihab al-Sherif, identifying himself. The video does not show al-Sherif's murder, however.
The authenticity of the posting on the Website and of the death of Mr. al-Sherif has not been confirmed.
A posting on the Website said, 'We announce in the al-Qaeda in Iraq that the verdict of God against the ambassador of the infidels, the ambassador of Egypt, has been carried out. Thank God.'
Al-Qaeda in Iraq has been responsible for the beheading of many hostages since the American invasion of Iraq. The group is led by Jordanian terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. On Wednesday, the group indicated they had sentenced al-Sherif to death.
The message on the Website was very critical of the Egyptian government which the author called anti-Islamic. 'The Egyptian regime is one of the first to launch war on Islam and Muslims, since several decades.' The statement pointed out Egypt's crackdown on Islamic militants on its own soil and its agreement to train Iraqi security forces.
'Our sheik Abu Musab al-Zarqawi ... is determined to stand up to traitors and crusaders and all those who stand with them, and we vow to all the dictatorial nations that Iraq is not safe for infidels because God has empowered the mujahedeen,' it said.
Al-Zarqawi is the most wanted terrorist in Iraq according to American forces. The Egyptian government had no immediate comment on the apparent death of its envoy.
