Posted on 06/16/2005 9:46:55 AM PDT by GPBurdell
Top Zarqawi aide captured in Iraq's Mosul: US
43 minutes ago
A top aide to Al-Qaeda frontman Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been captured in Iraq's northern city of Mosul, the US military revealed.
Mohammed Khalaf Shakar, also known as Abu Talha, is "Zarqawi's most trusted operations agent in all of Iraq," a military statement said Thursday.
"This is a major defeat for the Al-Qaeda's terrorist organisation in Iraq. Zarqawi's leader in Mosul is out of business," said US Air Force Brigadier General Donald Alston.
According to the military statement, he surrendered to US and Iraqi forces on Tuesday without a fight in "a quiet neighbourhood in Mosul" after they were led to his whereabouts by "multiple intelligence sources."
"According to former Talha associates, Talha never stayed more than one night at any one residence," the statement added.
Alston, the new top military spokesman, told reporters in Baghdad: "Numerous reports indicated he wore a suicide vest 24 hours a day and stated he would never surrender. Instead Talha gave up without a fight."
Iraqi authorities said recently they had captured one of Abu Talha's most trusted aides and his financial manager, Motleq Mahmud Motleq Abdullah, also known as Abu Raed, in Mosul on May 28.
They had also announced the arrest of another Zarqawi aide in Mosul known as Mullah Mehdi.
Abu Talha is accused of masterminding some of the deadliest attacks against US and Iraqi forces in Mosul. Iraq's third-largest city, it has been a major front for the insurgency since November.
"Talha fell like so many others fall, and that is through a combination of factors that ultimately catch up to him," Alston said.
"In his case like so many others along the way, civilians helped us get closer to him."
Jordanian-born Zarqawi, who is the most-wanted man in Iraq and has a 25-million-dollar bounty on his head, is believed to have been wounded but the severity of his wounds are not known.
He confirmed in an Internet audio message posted in May that he had been "lightly" wounded but claimed he was still fighting in Iraq.
Several aides to Zarqawi have been arrested recently, according to Iraqi authorities, but his organisation is still active.
The group has claimed many of the bloodiest attacks in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein in April 2003.
The Iraqi government said in early March that 11 of Zarqawi's top aides were captured and seven killed and that Abu Talha was the most significant man in the network left standing.
In a diagram of the network released at the time Abu Talha is shown mustachioed with a full head of hair and appears to be in his 30s.
Buzz
Buzz Blog
How many "Top Zarqawi aides" are there?
Sorry. Searched but obviously not deep enough.
His staff was referred to as Motleq Crew.
"You see, most blokes will be playing at 10. You’re on 10, all the way up, all the way up...Where can you go from there? Nowhere. What we do, is if we need that extra push over the cliff...Eleven. One louder."
Still, the story was worth repeating.
Chalk another one up for the good guys. Bravo!
Thanks for posting.
Maybe the headline should read "Top REMAINING Zarqawi Aide Captured." Each time you kill or capture a top aide, after all, you create another remaining top aide. It's automatic promotion for someone.
After all, someone has to carry out the garbage.
Oh my, my, my....I'm hugging myself.
Oh my, my, my....I'm hugging myself.
From what I'm seeing, this guy really was a "big fish" -- the head of terrorist activities in Mosul.
"Top aide" is the media buzzword for when they don't know, and only really have a name. More info might come out if they try to research it.
Reading the story, sounds like his 'top aide' status refers to him being the (ex)current 'general' of Mosul for AQ.
The reference to 'the most deadliest bombs' may indicate that part of the intel the have (part of the stuff they used to find him) knowledge that the 'Mosul terrorists' were among the most extreme of the enemy forces. Maybe they are sections that are really inhibiting even the elements within themselves that want to join the Iraqi Gov't.
A lot. That organization was decentralized and franchised. I think old Zarq had quite a span of control, in Iraq anyway.
Now, off in the safe zones are the people handing out the money (as this whole thing runs on piles of money, most of the gangs are plain mercenaries), and I wish we knew who they were.
They moved into Mosul last October/November and upset that apple-cart.
Gosh, I hope he's not abused in Gitmo...
He'll spill his guts in a hurry!
You're right...a lot of times we don't know what we have when we get some of these guys. And I'm sure the designations (second in command, general, top aide, grand exalted poobah) change frequently.
Still...I rejoice every time one more thug is kept off the streets. These operations are a good thing.
Turban Durbin must be deeply saddened....
Will we need permission from the Democrat "wailing wenches" to question this sonuvabitch, or shall we simply shoot his sorry ass.
Semper Fi
Will we need permission from the Democrat "wailing wenches" to question this sonuvabitch, or shall we simply shoot his sorry ass.
****
First, extract whatever information you can, then...uh...shoot him while he's trying to escape...yeah, that's it. :)
"
Reading the story, sounds like his 'top aide' status refers to him being the (ex)current 'general' of Mosul for AQ. "
Yes.
The AQ organization has a number of "Emirs" top guys in a particular region... like a corporation with regional heads.
This guy sounds like the Mosul Emir.
If this is the case, then he is in the top ten in importance in AQ, since Mosul is one of the key cities for AQ, along with Baghdad, Al-Anbar province and the north-of-Baghdad region.
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