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AMZ Leaders Diminishing BAGHDAD, Iraq – Over the past several months, Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces have captured or killed more than 20 of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s trusted lieutenants and other high-ranking network members. Hundreds of other members of Zarqawi’s terror network have also been captured and killed as ISF and MNF-I forces continue to degrade his organization. Coalition forces also just missed capturing Zarqawi during a raid on Feb. 20. The raid occurred between Hit and Haditha near the Euphrates River. Zarqawi was able to escape capture as Coalition forces closed in on his vehicle. Zarqawi’s driver, Abu Usama,...

Note: The following text is a quote: Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York SECURITY COUNCIL AL-QAIDA AND TALIBAN SANCTIONS COMMITTEE ADDS NAME OF ONE INDIVIDUAL TO CONSOLIDATED LIST On 27 May 2009, the Security Council Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee approved the addition of the entry specified below to its Consolidated List of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set out in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 1822 (2008) adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations. C. Individuals associated with Al-Qaida QI.H.269.09....

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has decided not to seek the death penalty against a former Guantánamo detainee who was ordered by President Obama to face trial in a civilian court in New York. Mr. Holder communicated the decision to federal prosecutors in Manhattan on Friday, and they in turn informed the federal judge who is presiding in the case. “You are authorized and directed not to seek the death penalty against Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani,” Mr. Holder wrote to Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York. Mr. Ghailani faces federal charges of conspiring...

Germany has been threatened with attacks for its presence in Afghanistan in a video released yesterday by the US centre for surveillance of Islamist sites (SITE). In the 30 minute Video message, a man calling himself Abu Talha Al-Alamani and presumed to be a member of al Queda says the Germans are "gullible and naive" if they thought they could "escape unscathed when they are the third occupation force in Afghanistan." The man, whose face is hidden by a black turban in the video, adds: "Letting me blow myself up in the name of Allah has been my wish since...

The Iraqi government has announced that it has arrested two senior members of Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi's al-Qaeda in Iraq operating in the northern city of Mosul. The government said the two men were arrested on June 19 and were candidates to replace al-Qaeda's leader in Mosul who had been captured on June 14. They two men were identified as Salim Mohammed Ahmed, also known as Abu Nabhan, and Mohammed Thaer Ibrahim, also known as Abu Sarhan. "The two terrorists surrendered without resistance," the announcement said. It offered no other details about the arrests other than to say they were the result...

Al-Qaeda kingpin surrenders to US forces  US forces have arrested the leader of the Mosul branch of al-Qaeda in Iraq, a capture described by the spokesman for coalition forces as a major defeat for the terrorist group. Mohammed Khalaf, also known as Abu Talha, was arrested last Tuesday, said US Air Force Brigadier General Don Alston. "Talha was one of al-Zarqawi's most trusted operation agents in Iraq. This is a major defeat for al-Qaeda terrorist organisation in Iraq. Al-Zarqawi's leader in Mosul is out of business," Alston said. He added that US forces found Abu Talha in a quiet neighbourhood...

"He was known as the 'emir of Mosul,' " Lt. Gen. James T. Conway said of Mr. Shakar during a Pentagon briefing today. "He is a key lieutenant in Al Qaeda - that has been established. He has said that he will not be taken alive; that he wore a vest and would detonate himself. In fact, he gave up rather peacefully when U.S. and Iraqi forces went to, actually, an associate's house, and he happened to be there with a number of others." The general said he believed the capture could reduce the rate of insurgent attacks in Northern...

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...

Flash Headline from Bloomberg...

State Prosecutor Adnan Addoum on Thursday referred to the Military Tribunal three detainees suspected of forming an Al-Qaeda cell in Lebanon. The suspects included two Lebanese: Mohammed Sultan, also known as Abu Hamdi, and Khaled Minawi, also known as Abu Talha. The third is a Saudi national named Ihab Dafaa, also known as Abu Hareth. Addoum also referred to the Military Tribunal the minutes of their interrogation by military intelligence personnel. The initial investigation had shown that the three were planning to set up an Al-Qaeda cell for the group’s members who fled Afghanistan and other Central Asian states to...