Al-Qaeda denies attacks

The USA says yesterday's massacre bore all the hallmarks of Al-Quaeda tactics. They cite the Bali bombing, where two bombs were timed to explode at a short interval, the first bomb driving panicked crowds directly into the target zone of the second bomb to ensure maximum carnage.

But the Bali bombing targetted a Western nightclub, not a Muslim religious festival. And if someone wanted to frame Al-Quaeda for this attack, wouldn't a carbon-copy tactic be the most likely scenario?

As the SMH reports, Al-Quaeda has denied the attacks:

"A letter purporting to be from Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network denied any role in Tuesday's anti-Shi'ite Muslim explosions in Iraq and blamed the attacks on the United States...

'United States troops have committed a massacre against the innocent Shi'ite people to set sectarianism ablaze among Iraq's Muslims,' the letter said.

'We, and with God as our witness, say we are innocent of this act and of anything that will drive the Shi'ites away. Our mujahideen love God and his prophet and will not do anything that will harm the Iraqi people.' "

Such a denial is not typical of Al-Quaeda.

Video footage of the carnage showed Arabs stoning US military forces when they arrived on the scene of the bombing, or cursing US helicopters in the air. Arabs on the streets of Iraq are becoming increasingly anti-American and say that, even if the CIA was not behind the bombing, the US was responsible for providing security. If indeeed it was a CIA bombing, the tactic may yet backfire.