The leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq purportedly criticized the country's largest Sunni political party on Saturday for participating in the political process and branded its leader, Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, a "criminal."
In comments posted on an internet site, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, sharply rebuked the Iraqi Islamic Party for what he said was its alliance with U.S.-led forces in the country but said he was not calling for attacks against the group.
The statement came four days after Iraqi officials claimed that al-Masri had been shot dead by rivals north of Baghdad but the body had not been recovered. The U.S. military later said it could not confirm the report.
The Web site said the comments posted Saturday were a transcript of an audio message purportedly recorded by the al Qaeda leader.
In his statement Saturday, al-Masri sharply criticized al-Hashimi for taking part in politics, thereby giving legitimacy to the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. "This criminal relentlessly calls for the occupier to remain," he said, referring to al-Hashemi.
However, he said he was not calling for attacks against the Islamic Party, which, he explained. "The leaders of the Islamic Party are renegades but we make it clear that we don't want to fight them and be drawn into secondary battles that only serve the occupier and its Shiite associates," he said in the statement.
The voice also denied the reported internal clashes in which Abu Ayyub al-Masri was said to have died. "What you hear in the news on satellite channels about fighting between us and Jihadist groups, or with our blessed (Sunni Arab) tribes is just lies and fabrication," the voice said.
"It is a desperate attempt to divide the Jihadist ranks," it added.
