The al Qaeda group in Iraq on Sunday hailed the hurricane deaths in America as the "wrath of God", according to an Internet statement. "God attacked America and the prayers of the oppressed were answered," said the statement, which was posted on an Islamic Web site often used by the insurgent group fighting the US-backed Iraqi government.
The statement's authenticity could not be verified.
"The wrath of the All-powerful fell upon the nation of oppressors. Their dead are in the thousands and their losses are in the billions," said the statement from the group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who has a $25 million US bounty on this head.
"Only recently America killed and starved whoever it wanted, but today it is appealing for oil and food," it added.
The hurricane on the US Gulf coast killed hundreds but as rescue work continues the final toll could be in the thousands.
Zarqawi's group is at the forefront of a raging insurgency since the US-led war in 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein. Nearly 1,900 US soldiers have been killed since the invasion.
US President George W. Bush has vowed to keep US troops in the country as part of the US "war on terror" to prevent attacks on US soil.