Posted on 05/08/2008 2:33:29 PM PDT by Tut
BAGHDAD The leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, was arrested in the northern city of Mosul, the Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman said Thursday.
Mohammed al-Askari said the arrest of al-Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, was confirmed to him by the Iraqi commander of the province. There was no immediate confirmation or comment from U.S. forces.
News of the arrest was also reported by Iraqi state television.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Al-Qaeda Iraq leader 'arrested'
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interior ministry spokesman Maj-Gen Abdul-Karim Khalaf told al-Iraqiya TV that security forces had "arrested one of al-Qaeda's leaders at midnight and during the primary investigations he admitted that he was Abu Hamza al-Muhajir".
Gen Khalaf said a source close the al-Qaeda leader had informed police that he would be at a house in Mosul's Wadi Hajjar district at midnight on Wednesday.
Members of al-Qaeda are believed to have regrouped in the northern city since the beginning of the US troops "surge" last year.
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A US military spokesman in Baghdad said he could not confirm that Masri had been arrested, but did not believe the reports to be true.
Obama, Murtha, Kennedy and Pelosi are deeply depressed over this.
Really danged bad news for the socialist dimocrat party and all liberals in the world who demand and want the total defeat of America.
Arrested? What, are the clintons directing the fighting now? Killed should be the descriptive word here.
Baghdad, Iraq (AHN) - The Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari claims al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri has been apprehended near Mosul.
According to al Jazeera, al-Masri was detained in a joint Iraqi-U.S. operation. He was caught in the Tayran area in central Mosul, 360km northwest of Baghdad, reportedly after police received a tip off of his location.
While Iraqi officials have confirmed the arrest to media outlets, the United States Defense Department remains silent on this issue for now. The news also ran on al-Arabiya TV and Iraqi state-run media.
BAGHDAD (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.
Rev. Wright,
Does that mean more chickens?... are gwine be comin’ home?... to roast?... I mean roost?
But I thought Al Qeuda has nothing to do with Iraq.
I think this is, like, the fourth time the Iraqis have reported catching the guy. They always let us be the fall guys when we report it’s not true. I wonder, given the difference in Sabbath days, whether they have such a thing as ‘slow news Thursdays’ over there.
Well, well. I wonder who is next to get that coveted spot. Things can’t be going to well for Al Qaeda though if they were able to bring this guy back alive.
The best news of the day is that Pelosi is having problems withsthe blue dog Democrats over the Iraq funding bill.
Go blue dogs.
(Reuters) [snip] 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.”
You wouldnt want to start things off with a prunning lopper??
arrested is much better. Not a martyr and alive to get everything we can out of him
It's hard to interrogate a corpse. The Kurds can have him when he's sucked dry.
bkmark
Give me *5* minutes, with a dental probe.... >B-)
At least the third..Iraqis have reported him as being killed, twice before, at different times, and in different cities.
Well, looks we’re three for three. This wasn’t him, either.
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