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U.S.: Key Al Qaeda In Iraq Figure Caught

July 18, 2007 / 7:57 AM EDT / CBS/AP

The U.S. command said Wednesday the highest-ranking Iraqi in the leadership of al Qaeda in Iraq has been arrested, adding that information from him indicates the group's foreign-based leadership wields considerable influence over the Iraqi chapter.

Khaled Abdul-Fattah Dawoud Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, also known as Abu Shahid, was captured in Mosul on July 4, said Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner, a military spokesman.

"Al-Mashhadani is believed to be the most senior Iraqi in the al Qaeda in Iraq network," Bergner said. He said al-Mashhadani was a close associate of Abu Ayub al-Masri, the Egyptian-born head of al Qaeda in Iraq.

Bergner said al-Mashhadani served as an intermediary between al-Masri and Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri.

"In fact, communication between the senior al Qaeda leadership and al-Masri frequently went through al-Mashhadani," Bergner said. He added: "There is a clear connection between al Qaeda in Iraq and al Qaeda senior leadership outside Iraq."

The degree of control and supervision between bin Laden's inner circle and the Iraq branch has been the subject of debate, with some private analysts believing the foreign-based leadership plays a minor role in day to day operations.

Some have suggested that linking al Qaeda in Iraq to bin Laden is simply an attempt to justify the Iraq war as an extension of the global conflict that began with the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

But the U.S. military has insisted that there are links between the local al Qaeda group and the bin Laden clique and has released captured letters from time to time, suggesting the foreign-based leaders provide at least broad direction.

Pointing to the foreign influence in al Qaeda also undermines support for the organization among nationalistically minded Iraqis, including some in insurgent groups that have broken with al Qaeda.

Bergner said that al-Mashhadani and al-Masri "co-founded a virtual organization in cyberspace called the Islamic State of Iraq in 2006."

"The Islamic State of Iraq is the latest efforts by al Qaeda to market itself and its goal of imposing a Taliban-like state on the Iraqi people," Bergner said.

In Web postings, the Islamic State of Iraq has identified its leader as Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, with al-Masri as minister of war. There are no known photos of al-Baghdadi.

Bergner said al-Mashhadani had told interrogators that al-Baghdadi is a "fictional role" created by al-Masri and that an actor is used for audio recordings of speeches posted on the Web.

"In his words, the Islamic State of Iraq is a front organization that masks the foreign influence and leadership within al Qaeda in Iraq in an attempt to put an Iraqi face on the leadership of al Qaeda in Iraq," Bergner said.

For several months some Arabic language Web sites had identified al-Baghdadi as "Khaled al-Mashhadani" or "Abu Zayd al-Mashhadani."

Bergner said al-Mashhadani had told interrogators that al Qaeda leaders outside the country "continue to provide directions, they continue to provide a focus for operations, they continue to flow foreign fighters into Iraq."

He said al-Mashhadani was a leader of the militant Ansar al-Sunnah group before joining al Qaeda in Iraq 2½ years ago. Al-Mashhadani served as the al Qaeda media chief for Baghdad and then was appointed the media chief for the whole country.

Al Qaeda in Iraq was proclaimed in 2004 by Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who led a group called Tawhid and Jihad, responsible for the beheading of several foreign hostages, whose final moments were captured on videotapes provided to Arab television stations.

Al-Zarqawi posted Web statements declaring his allegiance to bin Laden and began using the name of al Qaeda in Iraq. Al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Diyala province in June 2006 and was replaced by al-Masri.

In other developments:

Senate Republicans mustered enough votes to scuttle a proposed U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq Wednesday, defeating legislation ordering U.S. troops home from Iraq and forcing Democrats back to the drawing board in their bid to end the war. The 52-47 vote fell short of the 60 votes needed to cut off debate under Senate rules.

Iran's foreign minister said Wednesday that his government had accepted a U.S. request for ambassador-level talks on Iraq, to be held "in the near future." Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told state television that Iran had agreed to a U.S. request for a second round of talks, to be held in Iraq at an unspecified date.

Al Qaeda will likely leverage its contacts and capabilities in Iraq to mount an attack on U.S. soil, according to a new National Intelligence Estimate on threats to the American homeland released Tuesday. The report laid out a range of dangers — from al Qaeda to Lebanese Hezbollah to non-Muslim radical groups — that pose a "persistent and evolving threat" to the country over the next three years.

Shiite legislators loyal to anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr decided to end their five-week boycott of parliament, one of their leaders said. The Shiite protest along with a separate Sunni boycott had blocked work on key benchmark legislation demanded by the U.S.

Police said nearly 30 members of a Shiite tribe were massacred overnight Tuesday in Diyala province when dozens of suspected Sunni gunmen raided their village near Muqdadiyah, about 60 miles northeast of Baghdad. The dead included four women, al-Omairi said.

A suicide driver detonated his vehicle Tuesday near an Iraqi army patrol in Zayouna, a mostly Shiite area of eastern Baghdad, killing 10 people, including six civilians, police said. Police said 11 people, including seven civilians, were wounded.

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