Al Qaeda in Iraq leader reportedly arrested

[Elrathin]

This will be very good news if it is found to be true. It's still being investigated, but looks like the person they captured has admitted to it.


BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- 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.


Abu Ayyub al-Masri took over al Qaeda in Iraq after Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in 2006.


http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/base_skins/baseplate/corner_wire_BL.gif


CNN is working to confirm the information.


Defense Ministry spokesman 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.


"The commander of Ninevah military operations informed me that Iraqi troops captured Abu Hamza al-Muhajir the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/al_qaeda_in_iraq)," al-Askari told The Associated Press by telephone.


Al-Masri, an Egyptian militant, took over al Qaeda in Iraq after Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/abu_musab_al_zarqawi) was killed June 7, 2006 in a U.S. airstrike northeast of Baghdad.
The U.S. military in Baghdad said "we are currently checking with Iraqi authorities to confirm the accuracy of this information."


Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said that Mosul police "arrested one of al Qaeda's leaders at midnight and during the primary investigations he admitted that he is Abu Hamza Al-Muhajir."
News of the arrest was also reported by Iraqi state television.


The state channel, Iraqiya, said that Minister of Interior Jawad al-Bolani would reward Mosul police for the capture.


http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/05/08/iraq.almasri.ap/index.html

[micfranklin]

I think these guys (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMenB9Ywh2Q) say what we're all thinking best:

[Elrathin]

I think these guys (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMenB9Ywh2Q) say what we're all thinking best:

Great song and it is what I will be playing the day Bush leaves office :)

[micfranklin]

I'll be playing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_scP_nlAzD8) this.

[Drocket]

Isn't this like the 89th 'top leader of Al Qaeda' that's been captured in Iraq? (I think we're up over 2,000 now for "second in command.")

[jafar00]

Isn't this like the 89th 'top leader of Al Qaeda' that's been captured in Iraq? (I think we're up over 2,000 now for "second in command.")

You said it Drocket. I think the public are starting to get desensitised by now. There are just too many "top commanders", lieutenants and other major figures being captured or killed to give the impression that Bush is winning.

[thistle]

Gee 89 top Al Qaeda leaders captured or killed. Sounds like our troops are doing a fantastic job of taking them out as fast as they are being replaced. Rock on Troops.

[Drocket]

Turns out - not so much

Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the head of al Qaeda in Iraq, has not been captured, a senior U.S. military official told CNN on Friday. Iraqi authorities said Thursday that al-Masri had been captured in Mosul.

U.S. military officials were surprised about the report of Abu Ayyub al-Masri's capture -- first reported by Iraqi media and picked up by The Associated Press. And intelligence officials said they were skeptical, even though Iraqi officials said al-Masri was already in U.S. military custody.

Al-Masri ("the Egyptian"), also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, took the reins of the Iraqi al Qaeda offshoot in June 2006 after a U.S. missile strike killed his predecessor, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Since then, Iraqi officials have reported his death three times, his capture twice and a mortal wounding once.
Link (http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/05/08/iraq.alqaeda/index.html)

[thistle]

Ahhh too bad. I was so hoping that is was in fact true but no problem, 88 top Al Qaeda leaders is a pretty good record, wouldn't you say.

[Drocket]

Except as the article says, Al-Masri makes up 6 of them. Wonder how many of the rest of them turn out to have been "killed" multiple times, and still walking around just fine... (and how many of them were actually terrorists at all, rather than merely 'inconvenient' for the warlords that make up the Iraqi government...)

[jafar00]

Since then, Iraqi officials have reported his death three times, his capture twice and a mortal wounding once.

Zarqawi all over again. He had 9 lives too.

[micfranklin]

So how do we get rid of ALL the al-Qaeda leaders?

[apdst]

Isn't this like the 89th 'top leader of Al Qaeda' that's been captured in Iraq? (I think we're up over 2,000 now for "second in command.")

Because we keep bumping them off and they keep finding someone stupid enough to take the job.

So how do we get rid of ALL the al-Qaeda leaders?

Kill'em all.

[jafar00]

Because we keep bumping them off and they keep finding someone stupid enough to take the job.



Kill'em all.

Or you could find out what makes people answer the call and nip it in the bud once and for all.

[preservanation]

I thought the call was Islam itself.
Are you suggesting we nip a World Religion in the bud?
This has been going on for centuries, long before Bush or even America.
History is replete with examples of Islamic religious imperialism.

Even if it's a small % of total Muslims who want to convert the world to Islam by force, it's still a huge number.

[apdst]

Or you could find out what makes people answer the call and nip it in the bud once and for all.

They're a buncha Islamic freaks, that's what makes them answer the call. I couldn't agree more that we should nip that in the bud.

[jafar00]

I thought the call was Islam itself.
Are you suggesting we nip a World Religion in the bud?

If Al Qaeda was an Islamic movement, you may have a point there, but they are considered heretical because their actions are in total disagreement with Islamic teachings.


Even if it's a small % of total Muslims who want to convert the world to Islam by force, it's still a huge number.

Since forced conversions are forbidden that comment makes no sense. To embrace Islam, it needs to come from the heart. If you are forced to do it, you become not a Muslim, but a hypocrite.

They're a buncha Islamic freaks, that's what makes them answer the call. I couldn't agree more that we should nip that in the bud.

They are terrorists, not Islamic anything. Terrorists do what they do for a reason. Find the reason, deal with the root of the issue, and you remove their reason for being terrorists in the first place. How hard is that to understand?

[apdst]

We'll be waiting for all those Muslim genocide victims.

[PostmodernProphet]

If Al Qaeda was an Islamic movement, you may have a point there, but they are considered heretical because their actions are in total disagreement with Islamic teachings.

then why do so many claim that the war against terrorism is a war against all of Islam?

[jafar00]

then why do so many claim that the war against terrorism is a war against all of Islam?

Why not go back and review all the speeches since 9/11. One gets that impression.

[Buck Laser]

then why do so many claim that the war against terrorism is a war against all of Islam?
PMP, it could be because a great many posters here seem to openly declare that they consider all of Islam to be evil. I know apdst does. 4Reaganomics does. I'm pretty sure that Easy90 is of that opinion. That may not convince you, but a significant number of people seem to think that Muslims are the "official targets" of the so-called "war on terror."

[4Reaganomics]

Muslim extremists are the target, but muslim as a religion preaches killing infidels, we must defend ourselves against this threat

[PostmodernProphet]

Why not go back and review all the speeches since 9/11. One gets that impression.
...is "one" you?......I didn't get that impression, why did you?......

[PostmodernProphet]

PMP, it could be because a great many posters here seem to openly declare that they consider all of Islam to be evil. I know apdst does. 4Reaganomics does. I'm pretty sure that Easy90 is of that opinion. That may not convince you, but a significant number of people seem to think that Muslims are the "official targets" of the so-called "war on terror."

well unless those three are sock puppets for someone official, it is hardly logical to attribute their comments to "official targets"......instead, show me official's comments that lead you to conclude all of Islam are targets......

[Elrathin]

but muslim as a religion preaches killing infidels, we must defend ourselves against this threat

I'm sorry, but my neighbor is a Muslim and not it does NOT preach killing infidels. You are really ignorant in the Muslim religion.

Don't get me wrong I am not in agreement with it, but it does NOT preach it, you really need to learn more.