DUBAI, July 6: The group of Al Qaeda’s frontman in Iraq, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, threatened on Wednesday to execute the top Egyptian envoy to Iraq after posting pictures of the abducted diplomat’s IDs.

“The Islamic court of the Al Qaeda Organization in the Land of Two Rivers has decided to refer the ambassador of the state of Egypt, an ally of the Jews and the Christians, to the mujahideen so that they can execute him,” said the text.

The move, if authenticated, usually means that the group has already taken the decision to murder ambassador-designate Ihab al Sharif, 51.

The envoy was kidnapped on Saturday while walking alone on a Baghdad street, in the first abduction of a head of mission since the spate of foreign hostage-takings in Iraq.

“He was working for the Egyptian embassy in the Jewish state,” said the group, which repeatedly condemns Arab states that have made peace and established normal relations with Israel.

The group accused Egyptian authorities of arresting Islamists, brokering an alliance with the United States and ‘paving the way’ for the US-led ‘Crusader’ invasion of Iraq.—AFP