'Zarqawi video a sign Al-Qaeda's losing'

The White House said that the Al-Qaeda leader's broadcast was a sign that the radical Islamic group is failing in its efforts.

The video of Al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi broadcast this week is a sign that the radical Islamic group is failing in its efforts to stoke Iraq's insurgency, the White House has said.

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"I think that the latest video and statements from Zarqawi is another indication that the terrorists are losing," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters at a news briefing on Wednesday.

"The formation of a unity government is a real blow to their ambitions to foment sectarian strife or civil war," McClellan said.

"We are on the path to victory," the spokesman said.

Zarqawi -- Iraq's most wanted man with a 25-million-dollar US bounty on his head -- expressed new defiance toward Washington and Iraq's new leaders in his first reported video message, posted late Tuesday on the Internet.

McClellan said that while "violence is not going to stop overnight" in Iraq, "the formation of the new government was a significant step forward on the political process, and putting in place a government that represents all Iraqis really helps to lay the foundation for further political progress.