Al-Qaida in Iraq leader reported dead

[thedrifter]

Al-Qaida in Iraq leader reported dead
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday May 1, 2007 6:54:00 EDT

BAGHDAD — Iraqi officials have received reports that the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq was killed by Sunni tribesmen, but the information has not been confirmed, the chief government spokesman said Tuesday.

The statement by spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh followed reports from other Iraqi officials that Abu Ayyub al-Masri had been killed. Iraqi officials have rushed out similar reports in the past, only to acknowledge later they were inaccurate.

U.S. officials said they could not confirm the reported death.

Al-Dabbagh told Al-Arabiya that word of al-Masri’s purported death was based on “intelligence information,” adding that “DNA tests should be done and we have to bring someone to identify the body.”

But he refused to say unequivocally whether Iraqi security forces have the body, citing security restrictions. Accounts were vague about when and where al-Masri supposedly died.

“We will make an official announcement when we confirm that this person is Abu Ayyub al-Masri. The Iraqi government will work to identify him,” he said.

U.S. spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said the U.S. command was looking into the reports.

“Obviously, I hope it’s true,” Garver said, pointing out that previous Iraqi claims had proven false. “We want to be very careful before we confirm or deny anything like that.”

Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh said al-Masri was believed to have been killed Monday in the Taji area north of Baghdad.

“Preliminary reports said he was killed yesterday in Taji area in a battle involving a couple of insurgent groups, possibly some tribal people who have problems with al-Qaida. These reports have to be confirmed.”

Tribesmen in western Anbar province have been fighting al-Qaida for weeks and claim to have killed dozens of them.

Al-Masri, an Egyptian militant also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, took over leadership of the terror network and was endorsed by Osama bin Laden after Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed last June in a U.S. airstrike in Diyala province.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Insurgents deny Al-Qaida in Iraq leader dead
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday May 1, 2007 13:20:46 EDT

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s government received reports that the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq had been killed but officials said Tuesday the information had not been confirmed, and an insurgent coalition insisted he was alive.

Similar reports in the past proved inaccurate. U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker told reporters that American authorities in Baghdad were seeking more information.

An umbrella organization of Iraqi insurgent groups denied the al-Qaida leader had been killed, saying he was alive and safe, according to an Internet statement.

“The Islamic State of Iraq reassures the Ummah [nation] that Sheik Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, God protect him, is alive and he is still fighting the enemy of God,” the umbrella group said on a Web site commonly used by insurgents.

A series of reports Tuesday said Abu Hamza al-Muhajer — whom U.S. and Iraqi forces identify by another pseudonym, Abu Ayyub al-Masri — had been killed, either by rivals in al-Qaida or Sunni tribesmen who have turned against al-Qaida.

A Pentagon spokesman, Col. Gary Keck, said he was aware of the reports from Iraq but had no confirmation.

“U.S. forces are working with Iraqi officials to determine if this is true,” he said, adding that he did not know whether U.S. forces were at the site of the alleged killing.

Chief Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh Al-Dabbagh told Al-Arabiya television that the report of al-Masri’s death was based on “intelligence information,” adding that “DNA tests should be done and we have to bring someone to identify the body.”

But he refused to say unequivocally whether Iraqi security forces had the body, citing security restrictions.

The Interior Ministry spokesman, Brig. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, told state television that authorities did not have absolute confirmation al-Masri was dead but said reports indicated he was killed by fellow al-Qaida members in an ambush at the Safi bridge north of Baghdad.

“Sources of the Interior Ministry witnessed the killing of this criminal,” Khalaf said.

Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh told The Associated Press that al-Masri was believed to have been killed Monday in the Taji area north of Baghdad.

“Preliminary reports said he was killed yesterday in Taji area in a battle involving a couple of insurgent groups, possibly some tribal people who have problems with al-Qaida. These reports have to be confirmed.”

A U.S. spokesman, Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, said the U.S. command was looking into the reports.

“Obviously I hope it’s true,” Garver said, pointing out that previous Iraqi claims had proven false. “We want to be very careful before we confirm or deny anything like that.”

Al-Masri, an Egyptian militant, took over leadership of the terror network and was endorsed by Osama bin Laden after Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed last June by a U.S. airstrike in Diyala province.

During a teleconference with reporters in Washington, the U.S. ambassador said al-Masri’s death would be a positive development but played down suggestions it would have any immediate impact on al-Qaida activity in Iraq.

“Clearly, taking a major terrorist off the battlefield is an important thing and if we can confirm it, if this did happen, without question it would be a significant and positive development,” Crocker said. “That said, I would not expect it to in any way bring to end al-Qaida’s activities in Iraq.”

Ellie