A new video showing al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been aired on a Web site known for posting Islamist materials.
If the man in the video is indeed confirmed to be al-Zarqawi, it would mark the first time the most wanted terrorist in Iraq would have been seen without a mask on his face since he became the leader of the Iraqi insurgency.
The tape comes just two days after al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden released a tape in which he described the U.S. as being engaged in a 'crusader-Zionist war' against Islam.
The United States has posted a $25 million bounty for the capture or killing of al-Zarqawi. He and his followers have taken credit for numerous bombings, kidnappings and beheadings inside Iraq since the insurgency began.
In the video, Zarqawi talks about the insurgency. The first part shows the man purported to be Zarqawi wearing what appears to be an ammunition vest over a black shirt and a black head covering.
In another part of the video, he is seated on the floor with a firearm by his side and three masked people with him. He also is shown standing in an open, barren field, wielding a firearm.
Al-Zarqawi has already been sentenced to death in absentia by a Jordanian court. The native or Jordan continues to elude American and Iraqi government authorities as the insurgency in Iraq continues.
