NationStates Jolt Archive

Reuters
By Mussab Al-Khairalla


http://eur.news1.yimg.com/eur.yimg.com/xp/rtrs/20070501/08/2546704446-abu-ayyub-al-masri.jpg?x=285&y=308&sig=NGcgxWbnu24s87ci3JwH3Q--
The leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, was killed on Tuesday in an internal fight between insurgents, the Interior Ministry spokesman said, but the U.S. military said it could not confirm the report.

Spokesman Brigadier-General Abdul Kareem Khalaf told Reuters: "We have definite intelligence reports that al Masri was killed today". He said the battle happened near a bridge in the small town of al-Nibayi, north of Baghdad.

Another source in the ministry said Masri had been killed in what he described as "probably score-settling within al Qaeda itself".

Both Khalaf and the ministry source said the authorities did not have Masri's body, but the source added "our people had seen the body".

In February, Interior Ministry sources said Masri had been wounded in a gunbattle north of Baghdad, but those reports turned out not to be true.

Ali al-Dabbagh, spokesman for Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government, said the government was conducting further checks.

"Primary information indicates he was killed, but when you have such a senior figure like Masri you have to do further checks, including a DNA test," Dabbagh told Dubai-based al-Arabiya satellite channel in a telephone interview.

U.S. Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Garver, a spokesman for the U.S. military in Iraq, said the military was also checking the reports.

"I hope that it is true, but we want to be very careful to make sure," Garver said.

TENSIONS AMONG INSURGENTS

There has been increasing friction between Sunni Islamist al Qaeda and other Sunni Arab insurgent groups, particularly over al Qaeda's indiscriminate killing of civilians in Iraq.

If the reports prove to be true, Masri's death would signal a widening split among insurgents.

Masri, who is also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, assumed the leadership of al Qaeda in Iraq after Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. air strike in June 2006.

U.S. and Iraqi officials accuse al Qaeda of trying to tip Iraq into full-scale civil war between Iraq's majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs with a campaign of spectacular car bombs attacks that have killed thousands.

Iraqi officials also blame al Qaeda for destroying a holy Shi'ite shrine in Samarra a year ago, an act that unleashed a surge in sectarian bloodletting.

The U.S. military commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, said last week that al Qaeda was now "probably public enemy number one" in Iraq. The United States has a $5 million (2.5 million pound) bounty on Masri's head.

Masri, an Egyptian, has been described by the U.S. military as a former close Zarqawi associate who trained in Afghanistan and formed al Qaeda's first cell in Baghdad.

Al Qaeda and local Sunni Arab tribes are engaged in a bitter power struggle in the western province of Anbar, an insurgent stronghold.



This came in just about an hour ago. So NSG? Any thoughts? I'm thinking there will be much jubilation from the White House in another Al-Zarqawi esque proclaimation that this is another victory for the US in Iraq.

I do find it interesting about the Sunni insurgent split.

I'm thinking there will be much jubilation from the White House in another Al-Zarqawi esque proclaimation that this is another victory for the US in Iraq.

You'd think they'd first need to have a victory to have another one, but their logic has been very sketchy indeed.

This came in just about an hour ago. So NSG? Any thoughts? I'm thinking there will be much jubilation from the White House in another Al-Zarqawi esque proclaimation that this is another victory for the US in Iraq.

I do find it interesting about the Sunni insurgent split.

It's still unconfirmed. Nothing short of DNA seems to be conclusive anymore, there being so many lookalikes and false reports, bombs that take out so many underlings that it takes days to find out if anyone significant was present, etc.

Either way, I doubt there will be jubilation.. it's a good thing, but at this point it's about getting the Iraqi National Guard ready to deal with militias, more than dealing with al-Qaeda, according to most news I've seen.

Eh, just another thing they'll celebrate with. Until the next bombing masterminded by yet another Wal Mart fresh Evil Mastermind™ comes along.

Then they'll throw some chaff like "We have a new strategy" and hope the people ignore it.

Breaking news just in: Leading Al Qaeda in Iraq may be a dangerous occupation! :rolleyes:

All this means is that the next guy will take over. Neither the idea nor the organisation are going to be hurt one bit if anyone dies. More like the opposite.

You'd think they'd first need to have a victory to have another one, but their logic has been very sketchy indeed.
Like that time Bush landed on an Aircraft Carrier and said that war which name seems to have eluded me was over.
Yeah they were good times, good times...

I do find it interesting about the Sunni insurgent split.

Its been tense since the beginning. "Peoples Front of Judea" etc.

Hmmm. No triumphalists have wandered into the thread yet. How curious.

Hmmm. No triumphalists have wandered into the thread yet. How curious.they (neocons & all) are starting to figure the insurgents are not going to surrender.
they can now see the writing on the wall.

Another martyr for the cause, woo :rolleyes:

You realize, this is about the third "commander of al qaeda in Iraq" we've killed. I've also noticed that we've killed about a dozen al-qaeda "second in commands". Because of the nature of al-qaeda, this could be the guy who serves the tea at the meetings. I think the Pentagon just releases these little blurbs whenever things don't go there way.

Not a tear shed.

This came in just about an hour ago. So NSG? Any thoughts? I'm thinking there will be much jubilation from the White House in another Al-Zarqawi esque proclaimation that this is another victory for the US in Iraq.

I do find it interesting about the Sunni insurgent split.

Another one killed? Must be tuesday...

And the Sunni insurgent split is nothing new. It's just a failure on the side of the article not to identify the differences between the insurgents and the terrorists. Many of the insurgents don't like the terrorists because they kill indiscriminately, while the insurgents generally do more targeted killings.

What a wonderful gift for Dear Leader on the anniversary of his immortal "Mission Accomplished" speech! :rolleyes:

The news isn't that the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq may be dead. The real news is that Sunni tribes and clans have united in parts of Al Anbar to kill Al Qaeda terrorists. It seems they've finally figured out that such allies are not going to help them get ahead. They don't want a radical islamist government, they want a share of power and wealth in Iraq. A holy war and a movement based on Taliban-like leadership won't help them get that.

.. Sunni tribes and clans have united in parts of Al Anbar to kill Al Qaeda terrorists. It seems they've finally figured out that such allies are not going to help them get ahead. They don't want a radical islamist government...Sweet dreams are made of ^ this ^ ;)
.

now... lets see the BBC had to say:
"There were clashes within the groups of al-Qaeda. He was liquidated by them. Our forces had nothing to do with it," said interior ministry spokesman Brig Gen Abdel Karim Khalaf.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6610873.stm

Like Doritos, Crunch all you want, they'll make more. :(

Like Doritos, Crunch all you want, they'll make more. :(

Yes, they will. But it's got to be funny when they nominate the next guy, and deep down inside, he really might not want the honor.

We need to get the Green Beret involved to train locals how to fight thier own guerilla/insurgent war and use propaganda to try and split the Shiite and Sunni extremists down the center. These extremists hate each other almost as much as they do us. If we can hold out and harbor those frustrations they will end up doing most of the owrk for us.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2067962,00.html

It would seem that it's possible the US and Iran are talking to each other.

And we still see subversives saying that there is no link between Iraq and Al Quaeda!!!!

The news isn't that the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq may be dead. The real news is that Sunni tribes and clans have united in parts of Al Anbar to kill Al Qaeda terrorists. It seems they've finally figured out that such allies are not going to help them get ahead. They don't want a radical islamist government, they want a share of power and wealth in Iraq. A holy war and a movement based on Taliban-like leadership won't help them get that.

yeah! its a good sign. iraq isnt afghanistan; its not going to let alqaeda walk in and take over. and they cant be pleased with al qaeda tactics in iraq. internal terrorism is their way of trying to end up in control of the country, its not in the local sunni's best interest to let them keep that crap up.

and it helps to dispel the administration's current reason for keeping us in iraq forever--that without us, al qaeda will take over and set up a theocracy.

And we still see subversives saying that there is no link between Iraq and Al Quaeda!!!!

People say that there was no cooperation between Saddam and Al Qaeda. Which is correct. Al Qaeda didn't get to Iraq until after we eliminated Saddam's secular government. We gave Al Qaeda a foothold in Iraq. Yay us!

People say that there was no cooperation between Saddam and Al Qaeda. Which is correct. Al Qaeda didn't get to Iraq until after we eliminated Saddam's secular government. We gave Al Qaeda a foothold in Iraq. Yay us!

They came to Iraq to fight us. So now we should stay put and fight them forever so that future generations of Americans can know the pleasure of killing crazy arabs. Yeehahhhh!