A statement attributed to an al-Qaeda group in the Gulf justified the mutilation last week of Americans killed in the Iraqi hotbed town of Fallujah, and said Americans would suffer the same treatment in the Arabian peninsula. "The act of our brothers in Fallujah demonstrates the extent of the atrocious crimes carried out against them by the crusader soldiers," said the statement, carried by Islamist internet sites in the name of the "al-Qaeda Organisation in the Arabian Peninsula." The authenticity of the statement, which was signed by "Abdul Aziz al-Muqrin," could not be verified. "While this act is prohibited by Islam ... it is permitted when the enemy does the same against Muslims," said the statement, posted on the website.
| ... except that we haven't done such things. Period. |
"The Americans, who only know the language of force and an eye for an eye, pulled out of Somalia, defeated and degraded," the statement said. It also claimed that "American bodies, as well as those of their agents among the (Saudi) tyrants, will be trampled on and degraded in the Arabian peninsula." |