al-Qaida in Iraq Role in Bombing Denied

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4013432.html

al-Qaida in Iraq Role in Bombing Denied

CAIRO, Egypt — A Web statement in the name of Iraqi insurgents on Thursday denied government allegations that al-Qaida in Iraq was was responsible for the February bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra, an event that brought the country to the brink of civil war.

Iraq's National Security adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie said Wednesday that the government had detained a Tunisian linked to al-Qaida in Iraq who took part in the bombing of the 1,200-year-old shrine that destroyed its famous golden dome. He also said the Iraqi ringleader of the group behind the bombing was still at large.

On Thursday, the Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization for Iraqi insurgents that includes al-Qaida in Iraq, said al-Rubaie "lied in claiming that those arrested belonged to the al-Qaida in Iraq organization."

"We call on our Muslim brothers not to be deceived by these exposed lies," the Shura Council said in a statement posted on an Islamic Web site that is known for carrying militant messages. It was not possible to verify the authenticity of the statement.