IRAQ - June 12 - Al-Qaeda Site Names Zarqawi's Successor".

A website used by Iraq's al-Qaeda claims the group had appointed Abu Hamza al-Muhajer as successor to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the terrorist leader killed last week in a US strike. Security experts were trying to determine the background of the militant apparently chosen - Abu Hamza al-Muhajer - an unkown insurgent whose name had not been considered by US officials as the main candidate. Some Iraqi officials, however, suggested al-Muhajer - whose name means "the immigrant", may be another pseudonym for Abu al-Masri, an Egyptian who, according to US military officials, had been designated by Zarqawi as his successor. The announcement came as Pres Bush began two days of talks on Iraq with his national security team. The killing of Zarqawi gave a rare boost to an embattled US administration and to the new Iraqi government of PM Nuri al-Maliki. But American and Iraqi officials have warned that the successful military operation would not end the insurgency, and may, in the short term, provoke an even deadlier campaign by extremists determined to prove they can survive Zarqawi. Top US officials were expected to hold a videoconference with Iraqi leaders to encourage them to capitalise on the momentum created by Zarqawi's elimination. The administration needs to achieve more substantial progress in defeating the insurgency before it can justify returning some of the more than 130,000 US troops home. Pres Bush has so far resisted calls for a timetable for withdrawal but the new government will be working with US officials on a credible schedule for the transfer of Iraqi provinces to local troops, which would facilitate the removal of some American forces. Security experts say the killing of Zarqawi, who sparked the sectarian strife now wracking Iraq, has dealt a strong blow to al-Qaeda, the group that attracted many of the foreign fighters to the country. But the organisation is only a small part of an amorphous network of Islamist and nationalist insurgents, some of whom may benefit from the removal of a non-Iraqi leader.