Iraqi army says Iraqi al-Qaida leader arrested


BAGHDAD - The leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, was arrested in the northern city of Mosul, the Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman said Thursday. 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.


News of the arrest was also reported by Iraqi state television.

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

He did not have any further details nor did he say when the al-Qaida leader was arrested. According to unconfirmed reports, however, 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-Qaida.

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

U.S. officials said al-Masri joined an extremist group led by al-Qaida's No.2 official. He later joined al-Qaida 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.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080508/...nfluyKvpWs0NUE

Well, for reasons I won't get into here, I do not trust any of the intel the United States publishes concerning this group or the members in it. They should just consider themselves very lucky that it was the Iraqis (not the Americans) who captured Abu Hamza al Muhajir. If the report is true, having and holding are not quite the same thing ~ and I seriously doubt the ISI would allow this to go unpunished.

The Ninth Scribe

Cant think of a reason why they would pull a "Al Sharaf" and tell lies about capturing someone.
Excellent news Yay!!!!! for the Iraqi's!

This must be the 100th time good ol' Hamza got captured.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/mid...st/7391423.stm

Bah, I stand corrected. The Iraqi's cant even identify their number one enemy!

Shhesh!
Well the ones I worked with were not so numpty.

lol yes he will be captured again, lol it is funny as to how many times he has been captured already.

I don't find the news amusing. I remember the last time I shot my mouth off about how the U.S. kept catching and killing everyone but Abu Musab al Zarqawi. I should not have taunted them ~ obviously Allah was not pleased with my arrogance. I won't make that mistake again!

The Ninth Scribe

dont beat yourself up abut it matey. ZaK was killed because Allah willed it, and he perhaps chose the Americans as his tool.

Well, far be it for me to question Allah's judgement, but it still doesn't please me.

The Ninth Scribe

Allah cares not what pleases you.

Makes you wonder though. If Allah wasnt wanting him alive, its possible that he was in some way not doing Allahs work. Allah could have cosen the Iraqi Army as the method of his death or just killed him on the spot himself. Perhaps using the Americans was a message of some sort?

With religion any outcome can be explained to justify your point of view. Here's some examples:

AMZ was killed by the Americans as his punishment for not obey Allah's Laws

AMZ was a great leader and Allah allowed the Americans to rid them of one of the only men able to destroy the occupation as a punishment to the Iraqis

AMZ was killed by the Americans as proof that he was not a true soldier of Allah and that Americans are truly a tool of Allah to rid them of Saddam

Personally my favorite: Allah was tired of AMZ and his men raping and killing people that refused to join him and took him out post haste.

why not?

Erm...she never said He did....


Well, all I know is that God/Allah is just and in the end everyone gets their dues (whether that be in this life or the hereafter). So that's enough for me .

True. There is divine judgment in all these matters and it stands whether we comprehend it or not.