General: Zarqawi 'Bloopers' Tape Found

ByABC News
May 4, 2006, 11:16 AM

May 4, 2006 — -- Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most wanted man in Iraq, doesn't exactly look like a terrorist mastermind in a new videotape released by the U.S. military today.

In blooper-type footage from a Zarqawi video released last week, the al Qaeda in Iraq leader is seen fumbling with a machine gun.

U.S. Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch said the video was found during a series of raids in April on purported terror cell safe houses southwest of Baghdad.

Lynch said Zarqawi decided not to publicize the piece, which shows him decked out in New Balance sneakers. In it, he said, Zarqawi had trouble firing his automatic weapon and needed assistance from an aide, and his associates "do things like grab the hot barrel of the machine gun and burn themselves."

In the version that appeared on the Internet last week, Zarqawi swore allegiance to Osama bin Laden and said any government formed in Iraq would be just a "stooge."

The U.S. military says 161 leaders of al Qaeda in Iraq have been killed or captured since January.

ABC News' John Berman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.