And We Were Just Getting to Know Him...

By John

Iraq's al Qaeda leader killed -TV (Reuters) --

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iraq's al Qaeda leader, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, has been killed, Al Arabiya television reported on Thursday.

It gave no further details. Masri, an Egyptian who is also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, assumed the leadership of al Qaeda in Iraq after the death of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in June.

Al Qaeda keeps setting em up, we keep knocking em down. So who's next?

**Update** Uh oh, hold fire:

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Two Arab satellite television stations reported Thursday that the new leader of al-Qaida in Iraq may have been killed by U.S. forces during a raid near Haditha, but American officials said they had no information about the reports. Maj. Gen. Hussein Kamal, deputy Interior Minister in Iraq, told Al-Arabiya TV in a phone call from Baghdad that officials were awaiting DNA tests to determine if a man killed in a recent raid was the new leader, Abu Ayyub al-Masri.

"We are not sure about al-Masri. There were other people who were killed in this U.S. military operation. We are waiting for the DNA tests to be sure of the identity," Kamal said.

**Update 2** Negative, Says CENTCOM --

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military on Thursday denied reports it had killed the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq Abu Ayyub al-Masri. "There was a raid where we thought he may have been among those killed. We are still doing DNA tests but we do not believe coalition forces have killed al-Masri," U.S. military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson told Reuters.

**Update 3** Bummer --

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi officials are performing DNA tests on a slain militant to determine if he is al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the deputy interior minister said Thursday. But the U.S. military said it was "highly unlikely" the terror chief had been killed.

We bagged al-Masri's aide last month, during a bug hunt near Haditha. With that score fresh in my mind, I was optimistic about the "Masri dead' report that came in over the Reuters wire. Next time, Gadget, next time.

October 5, 2006 12:21 AM The Long War

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://op-for.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/528

Comments

Oh, poor guy.

May he rest in pieces.

cardoso · October 5, 2006 01:00 AM

dude, the inspector gadget line had me rolling.

Sgt. Fury · October 5, 2006 01:47 AM

AQI, in my mind, is not really the main problem we face in Iraq. Granted, they're a thorn in our asses, but eliminating them would not suddenly bring peace and quiet to Iraq.

The problem, too, is that if we kill al-Masri, so what? Not to minimize his death any, but was there really a demonstrable effect from the death of al-Zarqawi? I argue no. Insurgencies and terror organizations do not rest on the shoulders of one man. Granted, killing the leader feels pretty good... and may stall operations for a short time, but in the long run they make little difference.

We'll eventually get al-Masri. And then his replacement... and his replacement ad nauseum. Therein lies the problem.

Joel · October 5, 2006 08:51 AM

True killing the head won't have any major effect at first. However, if we keep killing the heads their brain trust will be broken. It took them 27 yrs to build up enough people with the intelligence and experiance to do what they are doing now. Hopefully it won't take that long to reduce them back to a bunch of goat herders hell bent of world domination.

David · October 5, 2006 07:22 PM

David · October 5, 2006 07:26 PM

David · October 5, 2006 07:58 PM