IRAQ: A statement posted on the Internet in the name of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network has admitted responsibility for the attack on the UN headquarters in Baghdad last week which killed 23 people, including the head of mission.
It was posted in Arabic late on Sunday on the discussion website, www.myislah.org, and dated August 19th, the day of the attack on the UN headquarters.
The statement's authenticity could not be verified. On Thursday, an Arabic television channel reported a previously unknown Iraqi group had admitted responsibility for the attack.
Written in heavily symbolic and oblique language, the latest statement was signed by Brigades of Abu Hafs al-Masri, followed by the words, al-Qaeda, in parentheses.
It referred to a previous warning issued on August 15th in which it said it would "exhaust and confuse" America and its "henchmen".
"So why the United Nations? Number one, the United Nations is against Islam, it is a branch of the American State Department and it wears the robes of an international organisation.
"The double standard policies of the United Nations are against Arabs and Muslims. This issue does not need to be proved." - (Reuters)