Omar al-Baghdadi, leader of the group the Islamic State of Iraq, has described Iraq as "the university of terrorism." According to al-Baghdadi, his al-Qaeda-associated group has used the war in Iraq as a training ground for jihadists, commenting that the "largest batch of soldiers for jihad in the path of God in the history of Iraq are graduating, and they have the highest level of competence in the world." He also expressed confidence in the future success of the insurgency. The statement was released as an audio clip on the Internet on Tuesday to mark the fourth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq. [AlJazeera, April 17]

From Madrid11.net Security Briefs, April 17

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