Middle East News

Conflicting reports about capture of al-Qaeda leader in Iraq

Mar 10, 2007, 13:35 GMT

Baghdad - Local Iraqi reports remain inconsistent regarding the capture of a terrorist reportedly identified as Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, a leader of al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq group in the Abu Ghraib area.

Qassem al-Moussawy, military spokesman for the Iraqi government, told al-Iraqiya Television Saturday that the security forces arrested 'a very important leader in al-Qaeda' but did not confirm that it was al-Baghdadi.

According to the spokesman, the authorities are aware of media reports that identify the leader as al-Baghdadi, 'but we will not disclose the name until we are done with the questioning and the investigations.'

'Media outlets should take their information from official sources in order to guarantee truthfulness,' he told the press outlet, earlier on Saturday.

According to al-Moussawy, the arrest was done swiftly 'in ten minutes' and was triggered by reliable intelligence reports.

Local media reports, including the Voices of Iraq news agency and al-Iraqiya Television, had said that security forces had arrested al-Baghdadi Friday.

The reports had said the arrest took place 20 kilometres west of Baghdad, without disclosing further details.

The Islamic State of Iraq group was established in 2006 with the aim of protecting 'the Sunni Iraqi people and defending Islam.'

The group, which follows the extremist ideology of al-Qaeda, includes a variety of insurgency groups claiming to be represented across Iraq and headed by al-Baghdadi, who calls himself 'Emir of the Believers.'

The group aims to establish a caliphate in the Sunni Arab- dominated regions of Iraq.

The Islamic State of Iraq and its allies are strongest in the Anbar and Diyala provinces.

© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur


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'Emir of the Believers.'Mar 10th, 2007 - 14:06:03

This thug is nothing other then the 'Emir of Criminals'. He and all his like must be weeded systematically from peace loving Iraq.

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BubbaMar 10th, 2007 - 14:08:01

These Islamic Morons are a waste of the worlds 'Resources''Money' and 'Effort'...they need to be all gathered up....a wall built around them and if they want to co-exist with the World..so be it..if not..then continue the Jihad Self-Inflicted Genocide and do the world a favor.

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--Mar 10th, 2007 - 14:59:19

Al Qaeda is in no way, by any stretch of imagination, represent the Muslim world. So lets get the facts right.

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Doc3318Mar 10th, 2007 - 15:44:48

The real shame about this area is that all education centers around religion and these people use their religion to justify all things.....Kinda like the christian right wants to do in America.

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--Mar 10th, 2007 - 17:25:19

The ideological religious foundation for the Qaeda is easily traced to the Wahabi sect, which is the official sect of the Saudi state. From its inception the Saudi state, with the blessing of both America and Britain, was based on an alliance between the newly born Wahabi faith with the political ambitious Saudi tribe.

Today the official Wahabi establishment denounces the Qaeda, but senior clergymen such as Abdualla Bin Jibreen who like others are on the pay roll of the Saudi government still propagate Jihadist ideas and openly incite their followers to kill “heretic” Shia. The population of Saudi Arabia has 15% Shia considered by the establishment there as second class citizens.

It seems to me that Saudi Arabia is exporting its own created problem to Iraq. The Wahabis do not constitute worldwide any percentage among the over one billion Muslims.

I have always wondered what is the American policy regarding this issue?

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benMar 10th, 2007 - 18:22:26

they did make a mistake .he is in washington DC.
goes by the alias geo w. bush

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spare us the moral equivalence.Mar 10th, 2007 - 20:09:19

'The real shame about this area is that all education centers around religion and these people use their religion to justify all things.....Kinda like the christian[sic] right wants to do in America.'

That is why you see the Christians flying aircraft full of people into buildings full of people.

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JosephMar 11th, 2007 - 07:12:43

To respond with hate and anger is to allow them the satisfaction of acknowledgment . They have to be destroyed but not by just killing them but destroying their ideology and the factories that have produced them. These are really harsh words and they conjure up difficult memories. Think though how gangrene is treated. To save the rest of the body the diseased part is cut out. We can only win if we correctly identify the problems and then without emotion solve each and everyone of them. This I'm afraid can only be ultimately achieved by war. Yeah WWIII. If you look at the landscape of conflict around the world we are already engaged in many countries around the globe. Lets redefine our traditional definition of war by not comparing it to WWI, WWII. This is the new war. A war which our enemies are fighting by incredible birthrates and the clever use of fear. Cancer multiples at incredible rates, faster then the host tissues. Draw your own conclusions.

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LavesMar 11th, 2007 - 07:28:28

Why are we protecting the Saudi's? It is true that the laws of Saudi Arabia are ridiculous if not downright insulting to non Muslims. We cannot enter Mecca why? We cannot take a bible in why? Women, American women who have married Suadi's are often enslaved and cannot leave the country. There are even documented cases which tantamount to being outright slavery these are practiced in Saudi Arabia. All these are perpetrated against non Arabs. In the psyche of Arabs they are superior to all else. In fact this is a country were the men don't really work as it is demeaning to them to work. They have been used to enslaving other countries who have provided the labor for them. This is pervasive within this culture.

US is doing all this simply for the oil which is money period.

The Arabs as an earlier eloquent commentator posted up have been financing and promoting their own worldwide agenda. With our money they have single handedly promoted their twisted version of Islam around the world through their financial gifts and funding for Islamic schools, Charities. All this to spread their influence and religion. Laughing at the Americans who are paying and protecting them. I have read the Quran it is disgusting in it's single minded hate and ambition for world domination, all through Jihad.

We are a joke.

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