Iraq Government: Masri has been Captured (UPDATED)

by: Brandon Friedman

Thu May 08, 2008 at 23:30:56 PM EDT


From the Times of London:

Iraqi forces claimed tonight to have arrested the head of Al-Qaeda in Iraq during an operation in the northern city of Mosul, one of the terrorist organisation's last major hold-outs in the country.

Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the nom de guerre of Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, was captured in a joint US-Iraqi operation, according to Iraqi military sources quoted by the Arabic news channel al-Arabiya. The US military said it could not confirm the information.

Al-Masri's death was reported by the Iraqi military last year and later proved to be wrong.

While this in itself won't change much in terms of the situation on the ground, it's certainly a positive development.  As Cernig at Newshoggers notes:

If it is true, I've two predictions - that the pro-occupation crowd will hail it as yet another last corner, and that it won't really make any difference to events in Iraq. The Sunni and Shiite faction-fights are now entirely independent of Al Qaeda's influence while AQI's activities in Mosul and beyond, based upon a cell system, will hardly be slowed by the loss of their leader.

Either way, this is good news.

UPDATE: Scratch everything.  Turns out the story is bullshit:

A man seized by Iraqi forces is not the head of al Qaeda in Iraq, a senior U.S. military official said on Friday, following an announcement by several Iraqi officials that Abu Ayyub al-Masri had been captured.
Brandon Friedman :: Iraq Government: Masri has been Captured (UPDATED)
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Read your London Times link, but (0.00 / 0)
wanted to add this as it has more 'profile'. Seems that alMasri has a 'voice' that is heard in Iraq. "last hour long address"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/mid...
[thx, Chris]

While I was at L.T., I went surfing to timesonline and found this, their  No. 1  story of interest. Brit Embassy in Baghdad+KBR+Sexual Harassment Charges. KBR of course has immunity.

http://timesonline.co.uk/tol/n...


According to Reuters (0.00 / 0)
Al Qeada in Iraq leader not captured: U.S. military

a senior U.S. military official said on Friday.

"He has not been detained," the official told Reuters

It's only a bleep report, nothing much in info.

'Hearts and Minds, "The ultimate victory will depend on the hearts and minds of the people who actually live there." -- President Lyndon Johnson


Thanks, Jim. (0.00 / 0)
I've updated.

[ Parent ]
Then again (0.00 / 0)
Did anyone actually know who this guy really was in the first place? I am going to have to follow this one and watch it develop.  

About this "turning the corner" crap... (0.00 / 0)
I'm not sure there's any corner to turn. The violence in Iraq is like a balloon. You squeeze it on one end and it just expands at the other end. As long as we occupy that country, somebody is going to be fighting. We'll never do better for these people than they are willing to do for themselves. Iraq might have been a steaming hell hole prior to our invasion, but it was one that was pretty easily contained -- the Gulf War. We should have left it that way and gotten on with our business in Afghanistan. Of course, that's not what's happened and we have to deal with what we have now. But as long as we have an administration (and a public) not willing to face the reality that Iraq is not going to be the shining example of democracy in the Middle East unless they win it for themselves, we are going to be talking about "turning corners" from here to eternity.  

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