"O nation of Islam ... Pray for the healing of our Sheikh Abu Musab al-Zarqawi from an injury he suffered in the path of God," a statement from the al-Qaida-linked Organisation for Holy War in Iraq said on Tuesday. Its authenticity could not be verified, however.
"You are the beloved of the mujahidin (holy fighters), and may God heal you and make you steadfast ...," said the statement posted by a user on an Islamist site which often publicises the group's activities.
"Our sheikh has taught us that nothing is worthy compared to... Islam," it added.
Al Jazeera
Quem é Al Zarqawi? Antigos colegas de prisão descrevem-no
"Abu Musab cried constantly. He was very emotional, almost like a child,"
His intense loyalty, his former cellmates say, went hand in hand with a fanatical adherence to his religion. He dreamed of an Islamic utopia where people would relive the puritanical lifestyle of the faith's early founders.
"Abu Musab would be as preoccupied with writing letter after letter to his old mother as spending long hours reciting the Koran," said Rababaa.
It was piety of an extreme nature that molded Zarqawi's militancy, according to Islamists and experts who follow many of the young adherents of the Salafi brand of Islamist jihadis....
Another cellmate, Khaled Abu Doma, 36, recalled the young Zarqawi's long days spent kneeling with another inmate on a mat in the prison courtyard as he patiently helped him memorize verse after verse from the Koran....
A manipulação, a aura de encanto aliadas à falta de moral e de ética (Zarqawi é directamente responsável por centenas de mortes)...
De uma forma simples, este psicopata encontrou no Islão uma maneira eficaz de alcançar o poder e de cometer crimes impunemente.