Posted on 06/15/2006 6:51:02 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S. military said Thursday the man claiming to be the new al-Qaida in Iraq leader is Abu Ayyub al-Masri, an Egyptian with ties to Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri.
Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, said al-Masri apparently is the same person that al-Qaida in Iraq identified in a Web posting last week as its new leader — Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, a nom de guerre. Al-Muhajer claimed to have succeeded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a June 7 U.S. airstrike, and vowed to avenge him in threatening Web statements in recent days.
The military showed a picture of al-Masri wearing a traditional white Arab headdress at a Baghdad news conference.
The Afghanistan-trained explosives expert is a key figure in the al-Qaida in Iraq network with responsibility for facilitating the movement of foreign fighters from Syria into Baghdad, Caldwell said.
He has been a terrorist since 1982, "beginning with his involvement in the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which was led by al-Zawahri," Caldwell said.
The spokesman added that raids in April and May in southern Baghdad recovered material confirming his high-level involvement in the facilitation of foreign fighters.
"Al-Masri's intimate knowledge of al-Qaida in Iraq and his close relationship with (al-Zarqawi's) operations will undoubtedly help facilitate and enable them to regain some momentum if, in fact, he is the one that assumes the leadership role," Caldwell said.
He said, however, that al-Masri's ability to exert leadership over al-Qaida cells remained unclear and there were other "al-Qaida senior leadership members and Sunni terrorists" who might try to take over the operations.
Caldwell singled out Abu Abdul-Rahman al-Iraqi, who in the past had been identified as al-Qaida in Iraq's deputy leader in statements by the group, and Abdullah bin Rashid al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Mujahedeen Shura Council — five allied groups in the Sunni Arab-dominated insurgency.
Yeah, Abu Dog.
A corpse by any other name is just as dead, and this on soon will be (dead that is).
---Abu Ayyub al-Masri, NOT Abu Hamza al-Muhajir---
Heh, I'm glad they cleared that up. I was losing sleep. :^o
"I have GOT to improve my typing speed."
I only got you by 33 seconds.
Obviously, you have seen Aladdin. My youngest, now 14, watched it about 500 times when he was a toddler. I think I was subjected to about 200 of those viewings. (It's actually very good).
Boy, Fox made this hard to get to!
My youngest was 6 when Aladdin came out. You might have us both beat for number of viewings (maybe) but we have seen it on the big screen and she got to meet "Aladdin" and "Jasmine" at the mall.
GPS coordinates please....
Al Qaeda is running very scared right now.
I thought they were going to do the 'Dread Pirate Roberts' thing-- when one guy dies, the next guy takes his name, and the myth lives on...
What difference does it make? If they were both sufficiently bad that we thought either of them could be the boss of al-qaeda in Iraq, they both need to go.
Well, he could be, after all, they're enough European muzzies floating around (i.e. Albania and converts), but it sure wouldn't help him fit in.
On a side note, a Belgian convert blew herself up near Baghdad, and three German women were arrested for wanting to do the same recently. However, I don't know if they were of Turkish or other muzzie descent.
Yes.. it's the literal translation for "Bulls-eye".
Thanks!
If you'd like to go for the Bonus prize, find one of al-Mujaher, the bridesmaid again ,, lol.
If he owes you money, I strongly suggest urging him to pay you back NOW.
as in:
Abu A-Beeetch?
To any of these dead-enders, I see a JDAM in your future...maybe a Hellfire missile, but you WILL say, "Just DAMn" when that muther hits.
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