Leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq arrested

[gregjefferies09]

FOXNews.com - Leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq Arrested in Mosul - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News

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.

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. There was no immediate confirmation or comment from U.S. forces on the arrest.

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 and Arab satellite TV stations.

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

Interior Ministry spokesman Khalaf told the station by phone that a source close to the al-Qaida leader informed Mosul police that al-Masri would be at a house in the city's Wadi Hajar area at midnight Wednesday.

"The police raided this house and arrested him. During the primary investigation, he confessed that he is Abu Hamza Al-Muhajir, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq. Now a broader investigation of him is being conducted," he said to Iraqiya.

If confirmed, the arrest would represent a major blow to Al Qaeda in Iraq, which has been on the run for the past year following a shift in alliances by Sunni tribesmen in western Anbar province, and elsewhere, and an influx of thousands of U.S. troops.

The U.S. military considers the organization its number one enemy in Iraq.

"The commander of Ninevah military operations informed me that Iraqi troops captured Abu Hamza al-Muhajir the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq," al-Askari told The Associated Press by telephone.

He did not have any further details nor did he say when the Al Qaeda leader was arrested. According to unconfirmed reports he was caught Thursday evening in the Tayran area in central Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad.

Mosul is currently a major battleground for U.S. forces and Al Qaeda.

Al-Masri, an Egyptian militant, took over al-Qaida in Iraq after Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed June 7, 2006 in a U.S. airstrike northeast of Baghdad.

The Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella organization that includes Al Qaeda in Iraq, last year announced an "Islamic Cabinet" for Iraq and named al-Masri as "minister of war."

U.S. officials said al-Masri joined an extremist group led by al-Qaida's No.2 official in 1982. He joined Al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan in 1999 and trained as a car bombing expert before traveling to Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

According to associates in Afghanistan, al-Masri has been involved in Islamic extremist movements since 1982, when he joined Islamic Jihad, a terror group led by Ayman al-Zawahri, who became bin Laden's chief deputy.

Al-Masri fought with Muslim rebels against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s and later ran Al Qaeda training camps there.

[metman]

Great news

[Phenom]

Originally Posted by metman

Great news

Somewhere in our nation, there are disappointed lefties...

[Busyman]

Put him in a cell with the crazy guy who always rapes his cellmate. And leave him in that cell for the rest of the scums life.

[metman]

Yeah, crickets from the libs as usual. you never hear a lib say "YES!" to this type of news. "support our troops" my ass.

And don't call him scum!

[kingdiggler]

But but but we aren't making any progress in Iraq whaaa whaaa

[Mule]

Waterboard. Rinse. Repeat.

When the last useful bit of information is out, take him for the long walk behind the shed and put a .45 round behind his ear, and move on to the next one.

[Jersey Shore]

or, on the other hand.......Keystone Cops strike again......FOX news, fair, balanced and wrong.

[Busyman]

Damn, too good to be true....

[metman]

Ok, now the libs CAN laugh. This is pathetic

[swataz]

So what is the true story? I see conflicting reports all over the Web...

[Ajax]

Originally Posted by Busyman

Put him in a cell with the crazy guy who always rapes his cellmate. And leave him in that cell for the rest of the scums life.

Put him in a cell with Al Sharpton and Dick Cheney.

[Medfordian Slip]

But....but..... Al Queda has nothing to do with Iraq.

[metman]

Stop. I supported the invasion but the arguement is about how before 9/11 Iraq and Al Queda were not a major issue. And they weren't. That's why it was never really brought up. Now, yes, because we are sitting ducks. But please, no more of this "Iraq had to be invaded BECAUSE of Al Queda". I've been asking for Bin Laden to be killed and focused on since 98, and never did I see a major threat/presence from them IN Iraq until we invaded

No, invade it because of your belief of wmd or to remove Saddam. Even *I* cannot stomach that anymore and I supported the damn invasion as much as anybody. The last thing this nation needs is to teach people that Iraq was a hot bed for Al Queda pre 9/11. Saddam would not want anything but an iron grip for his own needs. He might have had meetings ,but the real base/source of Al Queda is Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia and most of the top 50 had no ties to Iraq at all. Most of the hijackers are Saudi. It's a disgrace to even link the 2 when talking about 9/11. We never really went FULL out on the taliban/al queda in the appropriate countries for many reasons. Let's be real, here.

Those people died like ****ing pigs and the last thing we thought of that day was Iraq.

It's important to not lose sight of that.

[Shastada]

Originally Posted by metman

Those people died like ****ing pigs and the last thing we thought of that day was Iraq.

Actually the first thing I thought of that day was that we were going to invade Iraq. I said so standing there watching with my co-workers on tv as the towers fell. They asked of course... you think Iraq did this? I'm like... No, but they're ****ed anyway. That was the first thing that came to my mind. I'm sure I wasn't alone.