The leader of the terrorist group that is not in Iraq,,,,,,,,,, Captured in Iraq

[Tigermike 3,055]

Suspected al Qaeda leader in Iraq arrested 08 May 2008 22:41:54 GMT

By Waleed Ibrahim

BAGHDAD, May 9 (Reuters) - Iraqi security forces have detained a man suspected of being the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq after a captured associate led them to him sleeping in a house in the northern city of Mosul, Iraqi officials said on Friday.

The U.S. military in Baghdad said it was checking the reports that Abu Ayyab al-Masri, an Egyptian also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, had been detained.

If confirmed, the arrest would be another blow for Sunni Islamist al Qaeda in Iraq, which has reeled under a wave of U.S. military operations in the past year and been forced to regroup in northern Iraq.

An Interior Ministry spokesman said an associate of Masri detained in an earlier operation took security forces late on Wednesday to where the al Qaeda leader was hiding.

After being detained, Masri confessed to being the al Qaeda in Iraq leader, he said, adding that his identity still had to be confirmed. Other Iraqi security officials said the suspect was in American custody for identification.

Al Qaeda in Iraq was headed by the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi until he was killed in a U.S. air strike in June 2006. His successor, Masri, was Zarqawi's close associate, and has a U.S. bounty of $5 million on his head.

Duraid Kashmula, the governor of Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the capital, also said the detained man had confessed to being Masri.

"When police entered the house, they found him asleep," Kashmula said, adding the suspect was alone.

"These is no doubt that the person arrested is Masri. The operation was very quick and easy. There were no clashes."

U.S. officials blame al Qaeda in Iraq for most big bombings in the country, including an attack on a revered Shi'ite shrine in Samarra in February 2006 that sparked a wave of sectarian carnage that nearly tipped Iraq into all-out civil war.

But a build-up of U.S. troops last year allowed the military to focus a series of offensives against the group. The emergence of Sunni Arab tribal security units also helped to provide intelligence on al Qaeda activities.

URBAN STRONGHOLD

The result was that al Qaeda has largely been pushed out of Baghdad and its former stronghold in the western Anbar province to areas in northern Iraq, such as Mosul.

American generals say Mosul is al Qaeda in Iraq's last remaining urban stronghold in the country.

But U.S. commanders warn that the group, while significantly weakened, can still carry out large-scale attacks.

Iraq's Interior Ministry said last May that Masri had been killed, but soon afterwards al Qaeda released an audio tape purportedly from him.

And in an hour-long audio tape issued last month also said to be from him, Masri called for renewed attacks on American troops and lashed out at U.S. President George Bush.

He urged militants from the Sunni Islamist group to "celebrate" the recent announcement that the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq had passed 4,000.

"We must celebrate this event in our special way, and make the defeated Bush join us in this celebration," he said.

He called on al Qaeda fighters to provide "a head of an American as a present to the trickster Bush" in a month-long campaign that he called the "Attack of Righteousness".

Al Qaeda in Iraq shares a name and ideology if not organisational ties with Osama bin Laden's network, which was blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

The U.S. military says al Qaeda in Iraq is largely foreign led but that its foot soldiers are mainly Iraqis. (Additional reporting by Tim Cocks in Baghdad and Inal Ersan in Dubai, writing by Dean Yates, edited by Richard Meares)

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L08189129.htm

[WinCrimson 61]

He was vacationing, okay?

One man's Baghdad is another man's Crawford.

[Tigermike 3,055]

He was vacationing, okay?

One man's Baghdad is another man's Crawford.

Or he could have been setting up the surrender celebration in the event of an Obama win.

[WinCrimson 61]

I agree. Terrorists should shutter at the thought of America actually fighting an effective war on terror.

The white towels they've been wearing on their heads for centuries will serve a new purpose on 1/20/09.

[otterinbham 0]

Sorry, boys. Not true. Here's the skinny from CNN:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/05/09/...free/index.html

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the head of al Qaeda in Iraq, has not been captured, a senior U.S. military official told CNN on Friday.

Abu Ayyub al-Masri was reportedly caught in Mosul. Intelligence officials are skeptical of the news.

Iraqi authorities said Thursday that al-Masri had been captured in Mosul.

U.S. military officials were surprised about the report of Abu Ayyub al-Masri's capture -- first reported by Iraqi media and picked up by The Associated Press. And intelligence officials said they were skeptical, even though Iraqi officials said al-Masri was already in U.S. military custody.

[AURaptor 1,126]

Sorry, boys. Not true. Here's the skinny from CNN:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/05/09/...free/index.html

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the head of al Qaeda in Iraq, has not been captured, a senior U.S. military official told CNN on Friday.

Abu Ayyub al-Masri was reportedly caught in Mosul. Intelligence officials are skeptical of the news.

Iraqi authorities said Thursday that al-Masri had been captured in Mosul.

U.S. military officials were surprised about the report of Abu Ayyub al-Masri's capture -- first reported by Iraqi media and picked up by The Associated Press. And intelligence officials said they were skeptical, even though Iraqi officials said al-Masri was already in U.S. military custody.

"These is no doubt that the person arrested is Masri. The operation was very quick and easy. There were no clashes.

Glad we have Baghdad Bob on the scene.

[Shire5k 19]

So....is he or isn't he? Captured I mean.

[autigeremt 6,717]

I agree. Terrorists should shutter at the thought of America actually fighting an effective war on terror.

The white towels they've been wearing on their heads for centuries will serve a new purpose on 1/20/09.

You are full of Obama Smoke. If you think that leaving Irag without finishing the job will "Improve" the war against Osama, then you have another thing coming. Not only that, but Obama will not allow the blood of thousands of Sunnis pour over his hands to keep promises to his liberal buddie here in America, or in Iran. Or would he????? Maybe he has been listening to the sermons and wants to turn America over to the Muslim world after all???? Hmmmmm

He would find out real quick that fighting terror and stablizing the globe is not like sitting in the church listening to Rev. Wright for 20 years.

[arnaldoabru 11]

You mean "blood" like the hundred thousand or so dead Iraqi's already?

[RunInRed 16,492]

You act surprised that our invasion of Iraq has attracted terrorist there.

[Tigermike 3,055]

You act surprised that our invasion of Iraq has attracted terrorist there.

You never tire of repeating lies do you?

[RunInRed 16,492]

You act surprised that our invasion of Iraq has attracted terrorist there.

You never tire of repeating lies do you?

And what "lie" would that be? That our presence there has attracted terrorist to Iraq? Yeah, big lie there. You are truly clueless on most issues, especially this one.

[Tigermike 3,055]

You act surprised that our invasion of Iraq has attracted terrorist there.

You never tire of repeating lies do you?

And what "lie" would that be? That our presence there has attracted terrorist to Iraq? Yeah, big lie there. You are truly clueless on most issues, especially this one.

The clueless one is the one slobbering over obama's talking points.

Were there absolutely no terrorist in Iraq before Sodom was dethroned? Did Sodom never have any contact with terrorists? AQ?

[RunInRed 16,492]

Read. Digest. Think. Then post.

My point was that our presence there has clearly attracted more terrorist so to make an initial post acting surprised that we captured a terrorist their is the equivalent of waving a banner that says "I'm clueless about geopolitics"...which is the norm for you.

[Tigermike 3,055]

Read. Digest. Think. Then post.

My point was that our presence there has clearly attracted more terrorist so to make an initial post acting surprised that we captured a terrorist their is the equivalent of waving a banner that says "I'm clueless about geopolitics"...which is the norm for you.

So if the terrorist are coming there and dieing there, that's a bad thing? But the great Obama wants to surrender in Iraq and make the terrorist walk all the way to Afghanistan, damn what a great foreign policy.

[jw 4 au 526]

You act surprised that our invasion of Iraq has attracted terrorist there.

RIR, I think it is just a difference of opinion. Some think and see things just like you, and that is perfectly fine, and I will add, may even be correct. But I for one think the terrorists were always in Iraq, they were simply not acting out missions in Iraq, rather on navel ships, foreign embassys, subway stations in Spain, buildings in America, etc. If you notice, those have pretty much stopped since the beginning of this war on terrorism, now they are pretty much all contained to Iraq and Afgahnistan. I don't want to compare it to the glass half full/empty scenario, but it's just a difference of opinion if you ask me.