Zarqawi labels Arab League US agents

DUBAI - The leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, denounced Arab countries working for political reconciliation in Iraq as United States agents, according to an audio tape posted on the internet.

"The countries that met in Cairo ... were involved in destroying Iraq and co-operated with America by opening their land, air space and waters, and offering intelligence to it," said the speaker on the tape, believed to be Zarqawi.

He was referring to an Arab League conference in November that tried to reconcile Iraqi political factions.

The tape, posted on an Islamist website often used by insurgent groups in Iraq, could not be authenticated.

The speaker denounced the Iraqi Islamic Party, viewed as the largest Sunni Arab party, for endorsing a new constitution, a move which boosted the Shiite- and Kurdish-led Government.

- REUTERS