Insurgents’ Video Boasts of Infiltrating Base for Attack

The Iraqi militant group Ansar al Sunna Army issued a videotape Sunday apparently showing the bombing of a U.S. army camp in northern Iraq that killed 22 people and named the suicide attacker as Abu Omar Mosuli.

The video posted on the group’s website showed what appeared to be the explosion at the dining hall of Forward Operating Base Marez near Mosul. A later shot, apparently taken from a car driving along the base’s perimeter, showed the ripped tent that housed the facility.

A masked gunman was shown embracing other group members before leaving on his mission as a voice-over urged God to accept the bomber as an Islamic martyr. Although U.S. and Iraqi officials have blamed foreign fighters for some attacks, the bomber’s name, probably a nom de guerre, suggests he was from Mosul.

The video showed the planning of Tuesday’s attack, including a map of the base with the dining hall clearly marked. A militant pointed to various areas with an army knife.

A statement read on the video by a masked fighter asserted that the blast, which killed 18 Americans and four others in the deadliest attack on a U.S. base in Iraq, was aimed at “striking fear in the hearts of the crusaders and their apostate lackeys.”

In an indication that the group had been closely monitoring the base long before the attack, the insurgent said the bomber would infiltrate through a gap in the camp’s fences when defenses were weakest and wait for lunchtime to strike to maximize the casualties.

“One of the lions of the martyrdom brothers will infiltrate the fortifications and defenses of the enemy in the camp in Mosul,” he read from a piece of paper. “He will take advantage of lunchtime, when the restaurant is crowded with crusaders and their apostate lackeys.”

The speaker added: “Let Bush, Blair and Allawi know that we are coming and that we will chase them all away, God willing” -- referring to President Bush and Prime Ministers Tony Blair of Britain and Iyad Allawi of Iraq.

The U.S. military has appointed Army Brig. Gen. Richard Formica, who previously investigated U.S. detention practices in Iraq, to study the incident, in which a man apparently dressed in an Iraqi military uniform blew himself up in the packed mess tent.

The Ansar al Sunna Army, which claimed responsibility for the attack hours after it occurred, has played a prominent role in the insurgency, killing hostages, sometimes by beheading, and claiming credit for attacks on U.S.-led forces.

The group, which is believed to have ties to Al Qaeda, has distributed leaflets in Mosul vowing further attacks.

The Iraqi military chief of staff, Gen. Babaker B. Shawkat Zebari, told Associated Press that the bomber was not a member of Iraq’s security forces.