Posted on 09/22/2004 3:31:37 AM PDT by Nepalis
By JAMAL HALABY, Associated Press Writer
AMMAN, Jordan - The spiritual leader of the most active insurgency group in Iraq (news - web sites), Tawhid and Jihad, has been killed in a U.S. airstrike and his Jordanian family is preparing a wake, a Jordanian newspaper and Islamic clerics said Wednesday.
Sheik Abu Anas al-Shami, 35, was killed when a missile hit the car he was traveling in on Friday in the west Baghdad suburb of Abu Ghraib, said the clerics, who have close ties to the family. They spoke on condition of anonymity.
Al-Shami was an aide to Tawhid and Jihad's leader, the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The al-Qaida-linked group is blamed for some of the biggest attacks in Iraq, such as the bombing of the U.N. headquarters last year, and the beheadings of foreign hostages. Al-Zarqawi is believed to have personally decapitated the American hostage Eugene Armstrong on Monday.
Al-Shami, a Jordanian of Palestinian extraction who was also known as Omar Yousef Jumah, was believed to be the voice on several audio tapes that Tawhid and Jihad released via the Internet. In one such tape in August, a speaker identified as al-Shami said the militants planned to kill Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, soldiers and police officers.
"We will not allow you to destroy our hopes in this blessed holy war, and we will not let you steal our bright tomorrow, which is now appearing on the horizon," the speaker said on the tape.
The an independent Jordanian newspaper Al-Ghad quoted al-Shami's family on Wednesday as confirming the death. It said the family was preparing a wake in the east Amman suburb where al-Shami lived before he went to Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion last year.
The pan-Arab satellite television Al-Jazeera reported al-Shami's death earlier in the week, quoting unidentified relatives.
I don't know what war you've been watching. The coalition just doesn't kill indiscriminately, while the terrorists do. And God bless the coalition for that!
War isn't easy, no matter how many field commanders here on FR think it is.
Indeed, devout islamic terrorists believe the koran literally. The terrorists then would have more to fear than death by a pig-tainted bullet/warhead. They would also face eternal damnation and no hope of a stable full of virgins.
won't work, we'll STILL find your sorry A**es.
I heard a Colonel from Iraq say preety much the same thing yesterday. Sounded like the intell network was falling into place finally. I do want Zahw(satan)'s body strung up for everyone to see though.
Is it too early to rejoice?
Let's dance, put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Let's dance, to the song they're playin' on the radio
Let's sway, while colour lights up your face
Let's sway, sway through the crowd to an empty space
I'm dancing, swaying and generally acting a fool right now.
Can you see me?
Intel is good. I hope it gets good enough to take out Z himself and all in his entourage.
Excellent!
I'm really amazed that Zarqawi has not been eliminated. It's one thing to hide like a mouse (a la Bin Laden or Saddam Hussein), but this evil dude has been quite active and our folks still have not yet nailed him. He's obviously good at what he does - which is to indiscriminately kill innocent people.
HOPE IT HURT.
"Mess with the Moose...Get the Horn!"
Yes, and we can also add Izzat al-Douri to the list of slick scoundrels. He may not be quite as high profile as Zarqawi, but he's been out there moving about (and possibly gravely ill) for some time. Of course, maybe that "red haired dude picked up in the hospital story" that was NOT Izzat was disinformation.
Wonderful news to read with coffee..
ping
I have a Miss Manners question. Is it appropriate to send a condolence gift to a wake? I sort of had in mind taking the remains of this militant leader, sewing him up inside a gutted pig, and dropping it on the wake via parachute. We could even video tape it and sell the DVDs on the streets of Iraq.
Now this could be a target rich opportunity!!!
In Israel they call this a "targeted killing" and we should have done this long ago, and need to do much more of it now and in the future. Quit pussyfooting around already. People are being beheaded daily.
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