Posted on 04/27/2007 8:38:37 AM PDT by MikeA
WASHINGTON - An Iraqi suspected of being a senior al-Qaida commander has been captured and is now in U.S. custody at Guantanamo, the Pentagon said Friday.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the captive is Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi, adding that he was caught as he tried to return to Iraq.
“Abd al-Hadi was trying to return to his native country, Iraq, to manage al-Qaida’s affairs and possibly focus on operations outside Iraq against Western targets,” Whitman said, adding that the terror suspect also met with al-Qaida members in Iran. He said he did not know what time period al-Hadi was in Iran.
The Pentagon alleges that al-Hadi from 2002-2004 commanded al-Qaida's paramilitary operations in Afghanistan and launched attacks on U.S. forces from Pakistan. He is also accused of assassination plots against Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and United Nations officials.
Al-Hadi had been in the custody of the CIA, which handed him over to the Pentagon last week, Whitman said. Details about who captured the suspect, and how, were not revealed.
Military officials suspect al-Hadi worked with Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaida leaders in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The Pentagon said al-Hadi was born in Mosul in 1961 and was once a major in Saddam Hussein's military before moving to Afghanistan to fight against the Soviet Union.
He has been an al-Qaida member since the late 1990s, first serving as an instructor at a training camp for several years, the Pentagon added, and became a member of both al-Qaida's Shura Council, an advisory group that reported to bin Laden, and the al-Qaida Military Committee.
The Associated Press, Reuters and NBC News
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
...al-Iraqi is one of Osama bin Laden's top global deputies (challenging the notion that Iraqis have not held prominent positions in al-Qaeda), personally chosen by bin Laden to monitor al-Qaeda operations in Iraq. His duties have connected him to numerous attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan and found him shuttling information between al-Qaeda's branch in Iraq and remaining leadership in the Afghanistan/Pakistan borderland.
What is also noteworthy is al-Iraqi's background in Saddam Hussein's Army ... his knowledge of the country and contacts within Iraq certainly played a role in al-Iraqi being Osama bin Laden's personal choice to monitor al Qaeda's operations in Iraq...
The former Iraqi Major's network may now stretch into Europe, where captured al-Qaeda affiliates have admitted meeting with al-Iraqi and other top al-Qaeda leaders. According to Pakistani officials, Zeeshan Siddique, arrested for preparing terrorist attacks (suicide bombing) and membership to al-Qaeda, told his interrogators that Abdul Hadi al-Iraqi was among the remaining al-Qaeda leadership still provoking attacks with whom he had met while traveling the Afghanistan/Pakistan borderland.
I hope this guy turns out to be a perfect gold mine of information... If he does not care to co operate, he will have a real long time to think of what he would RATHER do.
The Surge is Working the Dems are Hiding.
Pray for W and Our Troops
Interesting passage. Can you tell me more about the source. I assume it’s a book. Who’s the author?
I have heard that al-Hadi has confessed that Obama is dead
How cruel of the U.S. to capture this terrorist and put him at Gitmo. This guy needs a lawyer and a trial to prove his innocence so he can be released and sent home. (Just thinking Democratic thoughts....)
Also, “I am deeply saddened, got to change my Depends, after all Cheryl Crow says I can use only one square.”
As I said on another post, I am sure the Democrats would prefer that he be brought into the United States and set free on bond while awaiting his trial where he will be defended by a court-appointed attorney at taxpayer expense, exonerated and apologized to, then given his green card and allowed to bring his family over here.
I suspect we've mined that gold prior to his capture being publicized.
That is what General Patraeus says too: “AlQuaida is the big problem in Iraq.”
Do you have any proof? Isn't he still running for president?
Yep, we’re winning.....
What a great catch. I love the way the “news” of these captures never say when. This guy has been in custody for some time such that now making it public does not matter. Thanks too for fleshing out the background on this animal, Angela....
Yes, I’m sure by the time they announced his capture his head was well fitted with women’s panties.
Link didn’t work.
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