BAGHDAD, Iraq - Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Al-Qaida in Iraq purportedly posted a video on a Web site Thursday showing the huge explosion that rocked a central Baghdad hotel frequented by foreign security contractors in a blast that killed four and wounded 40 others, including 30 American contractors.
Zarqawi's group had claimed responsibility for the Wednesday attack in a statement posted on another militant Web site, describing the Sadeer hotel, which has been frequently targeted, as the "hotel of the Jew." The video was posted on both sites.
The video posted Thursday is shot from a car near the scene. A man in the vehicle chanted "Allah Akbar" or "God is Great" in the background as the video camera zoomed in on the hotel just seconds before the massive bombed exploded.
Heavy gunfire can be heard in the minute-long clip as Iraqi guards try to fight off the terrorists. A large white truck, which may have been the garbage truck used in the bombing, is parked in front of the hotel.
From inside a walled compound next to the hotel, two men appear, crouch in the street and open fire. They duck back behind the wall and one of them quickly reappears, waving his left arm as if motioning someone forward. Seconds later, the huge explosion shakes the camera, sending a fireball and a thick column of smoke and debris skyward. A man in the car from where the video was shot screams "Allah Akbar," "Allah Akbar" as the car speeds away.
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