Al-Arabiya puzzles over identity of Al-Zarqawi's successor in Iraq.

(From BBC Monitoring International Reports)

Dubai Al-Arabiya Television in Arabic - independent television station financed by Arab businessmen - at 1906 gmt on 2 March carries a new episode of its "Death Industry" programme, which is presented by Rima Salihah. The subject of discussion is the identity of the successor of Abu-Mus'ab al-Zarqawi in Iraq.

In opening, Salihah says: "On 7 June last year, Abu-Mus'ab al-Zarqawi was killed in a US air raid on a house in the village of Hiblib where he was hiding. Who has succeeded Al-Zarqawi at the head of Al-Qa'idah of Jihad Organization in the Land of the Two Rivers [Tanzim Qa'idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn]? Media reports have mentioned several names, such as Abu-Muhajir, Abu-Ayyub al-Masri, and Abu-Umar al-Baghdadi, and many officials and media reports make conflicting statements on these names. However, that Al-Zarqawi's death has not put an end to the death industry in Iraq."

Salihah also says that "any response to this question is likely to raise further question marks" and that "after Abu-Mus'ab al-Zarqawi was killed, an Egyptian citizen called Abu-Ayyub al-Masri or Abu-Hamzah al-Muhajir was said to have succeeded Al-Zarqawi." Either of them, she also says, "even appeared on a videotape while he was overseeing the making of explosive charges," but that "the videotape has not ended argument." However, she says "it is impossible that Al-Zarqawi's successor is not known for having worked with radical groups," adding that "in their records, the Egyptian security services have only the name of Abu-Ayyub al-Masri who is among a group of people accused of religious violence." Al-Mari, whose real name "is Sharif Muhammad Fu'ad Hazza was tried in connection with the case of those who returned from Albania in 1998," she says, adding that "he is still held in Egyptian jails." In an attempt to solve this problem, she says, "we met with the wife of Sharif Hazza, alias Abu-Ayyub al-Masri, in order to try to resolve this mystery."

Asked by Salihah on how she has reacted to media reports saying that her husband Hazza is Al-Zarqawi's successor, Hazza's wife, dressed in a black robe from top to bottom, says that "it is just a matter of resemblance between names" and wonders "how he has succeeded Al-Zarqawi, although he has been in prison for nine years now." She also says that "my husband has never been to Iraq."

Asked when she became his wife, she says "since he committed himself to religiousness."

Asked …