Zarqawi group claims attack outside US base in Iraq

DUBAI - The Al-Qaeda-linked group of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said in an Internet statement it carried out a three-car suicide bomb attack outside a US military base in Iraq Monday which wounded three American marines.
"The martyrdom-seekers (suicide bombers) of the Al-Qaeda brigades carried out three heroic operations against American bases (in Al-Qaim) causing them wounds" on a large scale, said the statement on an Islamist website.
"Your brethren in the Organisation of Al-Qaeda in the Land of Two Rivers are waging the battles of pride and victory against the Jews and Christians in Al-Qaim," it added.
The authenticity of the statement could not be verified.
A spokesman for the US marines said that the attack, in a restive area near the border with Syria, was caused by three suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices.
The US marines said three of their number were wounded in the attack outside Camp Gannon, a base in Al-Qaim, about 300 kilometres (190 miles) west of Baghdad in Al-Anbar province.
Zarqawi's group has claimed responsibility for scores of deadly attacks in Iraq. In December, Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden named the Jordanian-born Zarqawi "emir" of the terror network in Iraq.

04/11/2005 13:33 GMT