Al Qaeda seems to have a leadership vacuum...
Posted on 12/03/2005 1:11:23 PM PST by Cap Huff
According to various reports from credible mujahideen sources, Abu Omar Mohammed bin Abdullah al-Saif (a.k.a. Mohammed bin Abdullah bin Saif al-Jaber)--a top tier Saudi Arabian Al-Qaida commander in Chechnya and personal military advisor to Shamil Basayev--has been killed during a Russian counterterrorism operation in neighboring Dagestan.
Unable to escape after Russian soldiers backed by helicopters surrounded his temporary hideout, Abu Omar allegedly detonated an explosive device he was carrying and collapsed the building on top of himself.
Known as the "Imam of the Chechen mujahideen", Abu Omar was an original founder of the Arab-Afghan mujahideen movement in Chechnya and was named by Russian officials as a suspect in numerous Caucasus-linked terrorist attacks, including the Moscow theatre siege and the Beslan school hostage massacre.
In January 2000, he was interviewed by Babar Ahmad's Azzam Publications media outlet concerning the ongoing jihad in Chechnya:
(Excerpt) Read more at counterterror.typepad.com ...
http://www.windsofchange.net/archives/007805.php
Seems like another one went down the other day. This seems to have not gotten much attention, at least here on FR.
Al Qaeda seems to have a leadership vacuum...
Big sucking sound . . .
Been enjoying the conversation over on the Rabia thread about covert ops, etc. It would seem that this action against Saif was conducted by the Russians, but maybe with a little help from us as Dan Darling speculates:
"One thing that'll be interesting to learn is whether or not the US had anything to do with assisting the Russians in locating al-Saif, given both the precedent of our helping them to hunt down Ruslan Gelayev and al-Saif's status in al-Qaeda."
Interesting that so many AQI seem to be visiting Allah sooner than they had planned. Makes me think we have someone in one of those naughty CIA prisons and have found a way to make them talk. No word from Zarqawi since Mosul....then number # 3 is toast...and the hits just keep on comin......hhhhmmmmmm
BTTT
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