Iraq's al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi denounced the new Iraqi government, saying it was set up to help Washington find a way out of its predicament in Iraq, according to a rare Internet video posted today.
"America has realised today that its tanks, armies and Shi'ite agents will not be able to end the battle with the mujahideen.
"So it devised a plan to ... resort to its agents among those so-called Sunnis who will tighten the noose around the necks of Sunnis and save the Americans," Zarqawi said on the video dated April 21st.
Iraq's newly-appointed Prime Minister Jawad al-Maliki, from the majority Shi'ite community, has four weeks to form a government of national unity including minority Kurds and Sunnis - widely seen as the only way to halt sectarian violence.
A statement from the al-Qaeda affiliated Mujahideen Council, accompanying the tape said it was the first "video of the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq".
"Your mujahideen sons were able to confront the most ferocious of crusader campaigns on a Muslim state. They have stood in the face of this onslaught for three years.
"When the crusader enemy entered Iraq, he intended to control the Islamic nation and supported the Zionist state," said Zarqawi, who was clad in a black with a green military-style vest and an assault rifle by his side.
Zarqawi, who has earlier issued his messages via audio recordings, was also shown training with a group of masked men outdoors.