Zarqawi Group Says It Killed Egyptian Envoy

By JOHN F. BURNS
Published: July 7, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 7 - The insurgent group Al Qaeda in Iraq said today that it had killed the top diplomat in Egypt's embassy in Iraq, Ihab el-Sherif, five days after gunmen seized him on a Baghdad street where he had gone unguarded to buy a newspaper.

The group said in a posting on an Islamic Web site that the killing of the 51-year-old diplomat was 'the judgment of God against the ambassador of the infidels,' and described him as representing a 'tyrannical' government in Cairo that was allied with 'Jews and Christians.' An accompanying video did not show the reported killing, but featured Mr. Sherif saying his career had included a stint as Egypt's deputy ambassador in Israel before relations between Israel and Egypt were downgraded in the wake of the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation that began five years ago.

'Oh, Enemy of God, Ihab el-Sherif, this is your punishment in this life,' the Web site posting said."