BAGHDAD, May 9, 2008
U.S.: Iraq's Al Qaeda Boss Still On Loose
Military Denies Claims By Iraqi Officials That Abu Ayyub al-Masri Captured In Mosul
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Abu Ayyub al-Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir (Dept. of Defense)
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U.S. military spokeswoman Maj. Peggy Kageleiry said "neither coalition forces nor Iraqi security forces detained or killed Abu Ayyub al-Masri. This guy had a similar name."
She said that no additional details were being provided.
On Thursday night, Iraqi army and police officials said al-Masri had been captured in the northern city of Mosul.
Military spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said the arrest of al-Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, was confirmed to him by the Iraqi commander of the province. U.S. forces did not initially comment on the reported arrest.
The U.S. military in Baghdad said Thursday it is aware of the reported arrest, but had no "operational reports" and was looking into it, reported CBS News correspondent Cami McCormick.
Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said that Mosul police "arrested one of al Qaeda's leaders at midnight and during the primary investigations he admitted that he is Abu Hamza Al-Muhajir."
News of the alleged arrest was also reported by Iraqi state television and Arab satellite TV stations.
The state channel, Iraqiya, said that Minister of Interior Jawad al-Bolani would reward Mosul police for the capture.
The arrest would have represent a major blow to al Qaeda in Iraq, which has been on the run for the past year following a shift in alliances by Sunni tribesmen in western Anbar province, and elsewhere, and an influx of thousands of U.S. troops.
The U.S. military considers the organization its number one enemy in Iraq.
Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, is currently a major battleground for U.S. forces and al Qaeda.
Al-Masri, an Egyptian militant, took over al Qaeda in Iraq after Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed June 7, 2006 in a U.S. airstrike northeast of Baghdad.
The Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella organization that includes al Qaeda in Iraq, last year announced an "Islamic Cabinet" for Iraq and named al-Masri as "minister of war."
U.S. officials said al-Masri joined an extremist group led by al Qaeda's No.2 official in 1982. He joined al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan in 1999 and trained as a car bombing expert before traveling to Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
According to associates in Afghanistan, al-Masri has been involved in Islamic extremist movements since 1982, when he joined Islamic Jihad, a terror group led by Ayman al-Zawahri, who became bin Laden's chief deputy.
Al-Masri fought with Muslim rebels against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s and later ran al Qaeda training camps there.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The secrets of tennis legend 
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See all 213 CommentsSomeone once said ''when you catch one cockroach, 10 come out from hiding''
So, the 10 cockroashes that came out must go back in into hiding because the king Cockroach is alive to Lead.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/136084
[Posted by mcdazz at 04:34 AM : May 10, 2008]
they do not know of what they do ... they will neither realize nor admit ... they see it all as ''good'' and ''right'' and Absolute ... god has spoken to their authoritarian leader ... and it''s there duty to follow. they see their cause as just ... will defend there actions w/ only that which justifies ... discounting or ignoring any and all that doesn''t.
Oh, that''s right,....I forgot,.....when shown time and time again that their heroes are nothing but Lying Scumbags, they run and dive under the nearest rock, not to be heard from until the next story of Fake Bushco Successes is written.
It must be difficult spending your life as a Neocon Nazi Troll.........
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Posted by excoachken at 07:04 AM : May 10, 2008
+ report abuse
LOL,....Alfred E. Newman is highly insulted to be referenced in such a way...
"My money''''s still on what 99.9999999999999999% of the world believes, that it was pi$$ed off Muslims."
Indeed it was a few pi$$ed off Muslims - and yet, people still want to blame all Muslims for the actions of a few.
Strangely, ******** Cheney for the longest time still blamed Iraq for 9/11 - despite the evidence indicating otherwise.
And likewise, Republicanazis still believe the ******** Cheney and Bush Admin lies.
Last week we were being told that Iran was providing weapons to Iraqi insurgents - this week, they are strangely silent on their claims and have acknowledged that mistakes were made in their accusations.
The one truth is that you cannot trust the Bush admin.
I can''t wait until you Republicanazis realize this.
Not that you will ever admit it.
CBS: Didn''t you know that Jenna Bush is having her wedding this weekend? Why is your ENTIRE news team not down at "the ranch in Craaaawf''rd" to cover the nuptuals?
Well, you''ve lost your money. Quite a few countries knew that the perps were CIA trained mercenaries, this belief is common among the citizen class of many countries and the various journalism media in these countries are now daring to voice this belief, so unless you consider yourself to be the entire world, your percentage is extremely off mark.
If they were not Iranian, as I suspected, then where were they from?
I have my suspicions about that also.
I posted a while back that I was skeptical when they first announced that they had captured the "Al Qaeda in Iraq" leader, I suggested in that topic, that since the last excuse for occupying the country was now in custody, that it is now time to bring the soldiers home.
I had a feeling that another excuse to continue the occupation would be found, bit I didn''t think that the US would be so blatantly and transparently unwilling to stop the criminal occupation, that they would resort to the "Elvis lives" tactic.
Unless the "Al Qaeda in Iraq" is actually an agent of the CIA (a suspicion of mine for a long time), how would the US know to deny the Iraqi claims?
Remember all the hubbub (in other words BIG NEWS STORY) about Iranian weapons coming into Iraq and how the US military was going to present the evidence of Iranian evildoing to journalists?
Well, the LA Times writes:
....A plan to show some alleged Iranian-supplied explosives to journalists last week in Karbala and then destroy them was canceled after the United States realized none of them was from Iran. A U.S. military spokesman attributed the confusion to a misunderstanding that emerged after an Iraqi Army general in Karbala erroneously reported the items were of Iranian origin.
When U.S. explosives experts went to investigate, they discovered they were not Iranian after all.
They nabbed similarly named Abu Ayyub al-Masra, who was the local ice cream peddler. At least that area of Iraq is now free from the annoying bells of an ice cream truck.
Who are they going to catch next? Osimi bin Laden?
Posted by Prinzowhales
*sigh* I''ll file that one, along with the moon landing being fake, aliens crashing at Roswell and FDR knowing about Pearl Harbor beforehand, into the "crazy" barrel.
By the way, I thought you all believed that Bush was responsible for 9-11? Now, it''s the Israelis? Which is it? My money''s still on what 99.9999999999999999% of the world believes, that it was pi$$ed off Muslims.
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