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Iraq Qaeda posts new video of slain Egypt envoy

Posted on: Sunday, 24 July 2005, 01:11 CDT

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iraq's al Qaeda wing posted on Saturday a new Internet video of an Egyptian envoy to Iraq it claimed to have killed earlier this month after several reports emerged he may still be alive.

The brief footage showed Ihab el-Sherif describing a peace deal between Egypt and Israel, but as in a previous video posted by the group earlier this month, it did not show his actual killing. Sherif's body has not been found.

After al Qaeda announced it had killed him, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry confirmed the news and ministry sources said it had established his death through multiple sources.

But Wednesday, Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit said in published remarks there was a slim chance Sherif was not dead.

"The peace deal between Egypt and Israel divides Sinai into four parts ... In one part Israelis and foreign nationals residing in Israel can enter there without any visa," a calm looking Sherif said. He was not wearing a blindfold as he had in the previous video.

No militants could be seen in the footage which was posted on a Web site used by Iraqi insurgent groups.

Al Qaeda Organization for Holy War in Iraq had posted on the same Web site earlier this month a video showing Sherif speaking but not his actual killing.

Naguib Sawiris, chairman of Orascom Telecom, which owns a mobile phone network in Iraq, also said in published remarks on Wednesday he had information Sherif was still alive.

In its earlier statement, the group, led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, said it killed Sherif because "he gave information that showed the infidelity of his regime and allegiance to the Jews and Christians."

Egypt, a key U.S. ally, was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel.

The group claimed Saturday to have kidnapped the chief of the Algerian mission in Baghdad.

Gunmen have recently targeted diplomats in what seems as an attempt to deny the U.S.-backed Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad the legitimacy it craves through improved ties.

Source: REUTERS

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