CAIRO, April 26 Kyodo An individu...

CAIRO, April 26 Kyodo

An individual claiming to be Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a man closely associated with the al-Qaida international terrorist network, upon Monday sent a statement to an Arabic website, claiming responsibility for a suicide attack not upon the southern Iraqi city of Basra last weekend.

The statement, whose authenticity has even now to be confirmed, was sent to the Islamic website, al-Ansar.

Three U soldiers were killed after three suicide boats hit sum of two units oil export terminals off Basra last Saturday evening.

The statement said the attack was carried without by the ''lions'' of al-Qaida as a successive operation to the individual that blew up a U destroyer against the Yemeni port of Aden in 2000

The statement said the attack was intended to deal a blossom to the backbone of the economies of the countries inhabited from nonbelievers and polytheists.

The statement said the attack was targeted at oil tankers guarded through Australian troops at two sea ports and left a ''vicious Australian prime minister'' in disarray, in an apparent relation to Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

''We will continue our operations upon land, sea and air until we will eliminate you,'' the statement said.

The statement was signed not on with Zarqawi's name, with his title as the commander of pure monotheist fighters.

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