U.S. Says Files Seek Qaeda Aid In Iraq Conflict
Letter seized in raid on known Al Qaeda safe house in Baghdad contains detailed proposal for waging 'sectarian war' in Iraq in next few months; Americans say letter was written by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Jordanian identified by Bush administration in days before war as main link between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein's government; letter notes that extremists are failing to enlist support inside country, and have been unable to scare Americans into leaving; proposes mounting attacks on Iraq's Shiite majority with aim of prompting counter attacks against Arab Sunni minority; says such a 'sectarian war' will rally Sunni Arabs to religious extremists; says war against Shiites must start soon, before Americans hand over sovereignty to Iraqis; American officials in Baghdad say that they are confident letter is credible and that they have independently corroborated Zarqawi's authorship; document, if authentic, constitutes strongest evidence to date of contacts between extremists in Iraq and Al Qaeda; but it does not speak to debate about whether there was Qaeda presence in Iraq during Saddam Hussein era, nor is there any mention of collaboration with Hussein loyalists; photo (M)
