Al-Qaida in Iraq named a successor Monday to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and said he would stick to the slain leader's path - attacks on Shiites as well as on US and Iraqi forces.

The new leader, identified by the nom de guerre Abu Hamza al-Muhajer in a statement posted on the Web, appeared to be a foreign Arab, like his predecessor.

A newspaper vendor reads a copy of the Iraqi newspaper Alitijah Alakhar showing a picture of al-Qaida in Iraq terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, in central Baghdad, Iraq Monday, June 12, 2006. Front page headline in arabic reads: 'The ghost man from Afghanistan to Iraq. Does the death of al-Zarqawi put an end to the sectarian disputes, and open the doors for national reconciliation?'. [AP]

But otherwise he is an unknown. The name has not appeared in previous al-Qaida in Iraq propaganda or on US lists of terrorists with rewards on their heads, suggesting he is a lower-level figure or someone more prominent who has taken a new pseudonym.

President Bush said Monday that al-Muhajer would join the ranks of those sought by the US "I think the successor to Zarqawi is going to be on our list to bring to justice," Bush said.

The lack of detail appeared to reflect a new emphasis on secrecy by the group. U.S. forces have launched a series of raids against al-Qaida in Iraq based on intelligence found in the safehouse where al-Zarqawi was killed by an American airstrike Wednesday. The group may fear infiltration or that al-Zarqawi's public stance led to his downfall.

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