Me#1You#10
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Joined: 06 May 2004
Posts: 6503
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 Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 9:10 pm Post subject: "Qaeda Leader May Have Been Killed, Official Says" |
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From somewhere deep in the heart of the NY Times, potentially more good news from Iraq...
| Quote: | Qaeda Leader May Have Been Killed, Official Says
By KIRK SEMPLE
New York Times
May 1, 2007
BAGHDAD, May 1 — The Iraqi government said today that it was investigating reports from “reliable sources” that the leader of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the radical Islamist insurgent group, had been killed in an ambush by a rival insurgent faction.
Iraqi officials, desperate to show gains against a relentless insurgency, have in the past trumpeted the killing or capture of major insurgent leaders — including the chief of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, who is known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri — only to retract the claims later when the suspects or dead bodies turned out to be someone else.
American military commanders said today that they could not confirm the reports of Mr. Masri’s death.
“Because of misreporting about the fate of senior leaders in the past,” the American military is “going to be doubly sure before we attempt to confirm or deny anything,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, an American military spokesman in Baghdad. “We seem to capture or kill Al-Masri every month.”
Perhaps mindful of their poor track record, Iraqi government officials sounded more circumspect than usual today in discussing the claims.
“Reliable sources from the Interior Ministry witnessed the killing,” Abdul Kareem Khalaf, the ministry’s spokesman, told the state-run Iraqiya television network. “But the Interior Ministry does not have the body yet, because there are no ministry forces in that area.” He said government forces were trying to retrieve the body and confirm its identity.
NY Times
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10 months in charge and al-Masri may be pushing up daises.
Hopefully the trend towards shorter terms of office continues... |
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