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An Islamist militant group calling itself the "Army of the Levant" posted a statement to a jihadist Web site on Tuesday, claiming responsibility for the March 19 suicide bombing attack in Qatar, which killed a Briton (as well as the bomber) and injured at least a dozen people. The group vowed to attack churches and "crusader" military installations in the region, and specifically threatened to attack U.S., British and Italian interests.
One of the most intriguing aspects of the statement is that the "Army of the Levant" also is a name used by a group that reportedly was established by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of al Qaeda's Iraq chapter, during his time in Afghanistan in the late 1990s. The al Qaeda Organization in the Land of the Two Rivers, which al-Zarqawi now leads, is the jihadist network's newest unit, but also its most active. Given Qatar's proximity to Iraq, it is not beyond the realm of probability that the March 19 attack in Qatar was planned by al-Zarqawi.
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