thedrifter
11-21-08, 07:09 AM
Iraqi who planned attack on Marines killed
By Ryan Lucas - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Nov 20, 2008 12:16:08 EST
BAGHDAD — An al-Qaida in Iraq leader who was the mastermind behind a June attack which killed three Marines, including a lieutenant colonel, was killed in an American raid in Baghdad, the U.S. military said Thursday.
U.S. forces acting on a tip carried out the raid Nov. 11 in Baghdad’s Mansour neighborhood, killing Hajji Hammadi and another armed insurgent, the military statement.
Hammadi was the mastermind of a June 26 suicide bombing against a meeting of pro-government Sunni sheiks in Karmah, west of Baghdad, the military said. The attacker was dressed as an Iraqi policeman and killed three Marines, two interpreters, the local mayor and a host of tribal leaders.
Killed in the attack were Lt. Col. Max A. Galeai, 42, of Pago Pago, American Samoa; Capt. Phil Dykeman, 38, of Brockport, N.Y.; and Cpl. Marcus W. Preudhomme, 23, of North Miami Beach, Fla. All were members of the Hawaii-based 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, where Galeai served as battalion commander.
“Hammadi escorted the suicide bomber to the location and videotaped the attack,” the military said.
The Iraqi was also accused in the abduction and killing of Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin, a 20-year-old private first class who was seized when his fuel convoy was attacked by insurgents in Iraq on April 19, 2004, as the insurgency was gaining strength. Al-Jazeera aired a videotape later that month showing the Batavia, Ohio, native wearing camouflage and a floppy desert hat, sitting on a floor surrounded by five masked men holding automatic rifles.
Maupin’s remains were found in March on the outskirts of Baghdad, about 12 miles from where the convoy was ambushed.
His father, Keith Maupin, said he got a call from the Pentagon on Wednesday telling him that Hammadi had been killed.
“They told me they killed him on Veterans Day,” Maupin said. “Ain’t that appropriate.”
He said the Army knew that Hammadi was in the videotape.
“They told me he was the tall guy standing behind Matt,” Maupin said. “He was the only tall guy there.”
The military statement said Hammadi, also known as Hammadi Awdah Abd Farhan and Abd-al-Salam Ahmad Abdallah al-Janabi, led a group of fighters against U.S. forces in the second battle of Fallujah in the fall of 2004.
Five other suspected insurgents were detained in the raid that killed Hammadi, it added. The military said it was announcing the death after Hammadi was positively identified.
It was the latest in a series of high-profile killings as the U.S. military targets the al-Qaida in Iraq leadership to shore up recent security gains.
It said the insurgent leader became al-Qaida’s emir in a volatile area west of Baghdad in 2004 and had links to slain al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his successor Abu Ayyub al-Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir.
He also was linked to the assassinations of many U.S.-allied Sunni leaders who turned against al-Qaida in Iraq, one of the key factors in a sharp drop in violence over the past year.
“The removal of Hajji Hammadi from the AQI (al-Qaida in Iraq) network is yet another significant blow to the terrorist organization,” Brig. Gen. David Perkins said.
Ellie
By Ryan Lucas - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Nov 20, 2008 12:16:08 EST
BAGHDAD — An al-Qaida in Iraq leader who was the mastermind behind a June attack which killed three Marines, including a lieutenant colonel, was killed in an American raid in Baghdad, the U.S. military said Thursday.
U.S. forces acting on a tip carried out the raid Nov. 11 in Baghdad’s Mansour neighborhood, killing Hajji Hammadi and another armed insurgent, the military statement.
Hammadi was the mastermind of a June 26 suicide bombing against a meeting of pro-government Sunni sheiks in Karmah, west of Baghdad, the military said. The attacker was dressed as an Iraqi policeman and killed three Marines, two interpreters, the local mayor and a host of tribal leaders.
Killed in the attack were Lt. Col. Max A. Galeai, 42, of Pago Pago, American Samoa; Capt. Phil Dykeman, 38, of Brockport, N.Y.; and Cpl. Marcus W. Preudhomme, 23, of North Miami Beach, Fla. All were members of the Hawaii-based 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, where Galeai served as battalion commander.
“Hammadi escorted the suicide bomber to the location and videotaped the attack,” the military said.
The Iraqi was also accused in the abduction and killing of Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin, a 20-year-old private first class who was seized when his fuel convoy was attacked by insurgents in Iraq on April 19, 2004, as the insurgency was gaining strength. Al-Jazeera aired a videotape later that month showing the Batavia, Ohio, native wearing camouflage and a floppy desert hat, sitting on a floor surrounded by five masked men holding automatic rifles.
Maupin’s remains were found in March on the outskirts of Baghdad, about 12 miles from where the convoy was ambushed.
His father, Keith Maupin, said he got a call from the Pentagon on Wednesday telling him that Hammadi had been killed.
“They told me they killed him on Veterans Day,” Maupin said. “Ain’t that appropriate.”
He said the Army knew that Hammadi was in the videotape.
“They told me he was the tall guy standing behind Matt,” Maupin said. “He was the only tall guy there.”
The military statement said Hammadi, also known as Hammadi Awdah Abd Farhan and Abd-al-Salam Ahmad Abdallah al-Janabi, led a group of fighters against U.S. forces in the second battle of Fallujah in the fall of 2004.
Five other suspected insurgents were detained in the raid that killed Hammadi, it added. The military said it was announcing the death after Hammadi was positively identified.
It was the latest in a series of high-profile killings as the U.S. military targets the al-Qaida in Iraq leadership to shore up recent security gains.
It said the insurgent leader became al-Qaida’s emir in a volatile area west of Baghdad in 2004 and had links to slain al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his successor Abu Ayyub al-Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir.
He also was linked to the assassinations of many U.S.-allied Sunni leaders who turned against al-Qaida in Iraq, one of the key factors in a sharp drop in violence over the past year.
“The removal of Hajji Hammadi from the AQI (al-Qaida in Iraq) network is yet another significant blow to the terrorist organization,” Brig. Gen. David Perkins said.
Ellie