Special Report: Al-Qaida's chief Zarqawi killed    

This hand-out picture from the US department of defence shows the face of slain insurgent leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi on June 7 after a raid on a safe house in Baquba, northeast of Baghdad. The al-Qaida terror group in Iraq vowed to carry out large-scale attacks after the killing of its leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, said an Internet statement on Sunday. (Xinhua Photo/AFP)

    BAGHDAD, June 11 (Xinhua) -- The al-Qaida terror group in Iraq vowed to carry out large-scale attacks after the killing of its leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, said an Internet statement on Sunday.

    The statement purportedly from al-Qaida in Iraq said that the top leaders of the Mujahideen Council, an umbrella body which includes six terror organizations, had held a meeting to discuss new strategies after Zarqawi's death.

    "The leaders agreed unanimously to continue the Jihad (Holy War) and plan large-scale operations that will shake the enemy in coordination with the other factions of the Mujahideen Council," said the statement posted on an Islamic Web site.

    It also said that the leaders of the Council's factions agreed to renew allegiance to al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden "who will be pleased by his soldiers in Iraq."

    The authenticity of the statement cannot be verified.

    Zarqawi, the most wanted man in Iraq, was killed in a U.S. air raid on a farmhouse near Baquba, about 65 km northeast of Baghdad, on Wednesday evening.

    His death is widely seen as a major blow to al-Qaida in Iraq but not an end to violence in the war-torn country.

    The al-Qaida group in Iraq has claimed many of the bloodiest attacks in Iraq. Enditem