Zarqawi fear haunts Iraqi voters

Zarqawi, the frontman of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network in Iraq, has become the public face of the insurgency against the US-led moves to bring democracy to the country.

US President George W. Bush has made fighting Zarqawi the central theme of his 'war on terror'. There is a 25 million dollar US reward on the Jordanian militant's head.

Zarqawi has used tactics in his own war against the United States that even battle-hardened coalition generals have called "horrific".

Zarqawi is accused of introducing the Islamic extremist flavour to Iraq's insurgency and of pioneering some of the most gruesome tactics like hostage beheadings and suicide bombings to the country.

Through his "al-Qaeda Group of Jihad in the Land of Two Rivers", the militant leader has brought the horror of slow, grisly, beheadings to world attention through video recordings posted on the Internet.

Among a host of outrages, the group murdered British hostage Kenneth Bigley in October and two of his US colleagues in September.

The bin Laden alliance was sealed in December. An audio message purportedly made by the mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks named Zarqawi the head of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

In recent weeks, Zarqawi has been accused of preparing or inspiring much of the intimidation of Iraqi election candidates, campaign workers and voters that has created an intense climate of fear.

His group has been numbered anywhere from 500 to 1,000 men and, while considered to be a small part of the Iraqi Sunni Muslim insurgency, his brutal tactics and access to cash, weapons and fighters have made him a force to be reckoned with.

Zarqawi supporters on Sunday released a video of the killing of an election candidate from the party of Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. The group claimed responsibility for a suicide car bombing near Allawi's headquarters.

"We have declared all-out war on this wicked course," said a purported Zarqawi message about the Iraq election released this month.

Iraqi authorities said Friday that the arrest of three Zarqawi lieutenants had led them closer to the country's most wanted man.

Authorities named one of the three as Anat Mohammed Hamat al-Kays, a 31-year-old Iraqi who served as a military adviser to the Zarqawi network and helped finance its operations in Baghdad.

The other two were Salah Salam Dubaig al-Ubaidi, also known as Abu Saif, who was believed to be Zarqawi's main commander in Baghdad, and Ali Mohamed Yassin Al-Issawi, another close aide who is also known as Abu Hassan.