Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Media: The Associated Press
Byline: By DAVID RISING
Date: 04 October 2006
BAGHDAD, Iraq_An aide of the head of al-Qaida in Iraq was arrested last
week, and U.S. and Iraqi forces killed or captured over 600 suspected
members of the terror group in September, a U.S. military spokesman said
Wednesday.
The associate of Abu Ayyub al-Masri was captured in a series of raids
carried out Sept. 28 in Baghdad that also seized 31 other al-Qaida suspects,
Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell told reporters.
He said the associate had worked as al-Masri's driver and personal assistant
and had been involved in planning bombings in the capital.
During September, U.S. and Iraqi forces killed 110 suspected al-Qaida
members and detained another 520, Caldwell said, calling it "a significant
upturn over August." He did not say how many were captured or killed the
previous month.
Fifty of those killed and 16 of those detained were foreign fighters, he
said.
Al-Masri, believed to be Egyptian, took the leadership of al-Qaida in Iraq,
one of the country's deadliest terror groups, after the death of his
predecessor, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, in a U.S. airstrike north of Baghdad in
June.
In early September, Iraqi officials announced the arrest of Hamed Jumaa
Farid al-Saeedi, who they said was a top deputy of al-Masri.
"We're getting some key information from those individuals," Caldwell said.
On Sunday, the Iraqi government released a captured video of al-Masri,
showing him demonstrating how to build a bomb in a tanker truck. The video
was the first to show the militant leader's face, though U.S. and Iraqi
military officials have shown photos of him.
Caldwell said he hoped the release could have an "America's Most Wanted"
effect, generating call-in tips that would lead to al-Masri's capture.
He said coalition forces already conducted one raid based on a tip after the
video's release, but it turned out to be a false lead.
In the video, al-Masri, wearing a white T-shirt, is seen talking to the
camera as he moves beside boxes and coils of wire, apparently telling them
how to put together a car bomb. His hair was cut short and he wore glasses
and had a mustache but no beard. No one else appeared in the video.
If nothing else, Caldwell said, the video "demonstrates that al-Masri's
intent is to kill and injure Iraqi civilians."
Byline: By DAVID RISING
Date: 04 October 2006
BAGHDAD, Iraq_An aide of the head of al-Qaida in Iraq was arrested last
week, and U.S. and Iraqi forces killed or captured over 600 suspected
members of the terror group in September, a U.S. military spokesman said
Wednesday.
The associate of Abu Ayyub al-Masri was captured in a series of raids
carried out Sept. 28 in Baghdad that also seized 31 other al-Qaida suspects,
Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell told reporters.
He said the associate had worked as al-Masri's driver and personal assistant
and had been involved in planning bombings in the capital.
During September, U.S. and Iraqi forces killed 110 suspected al-Qaida
members and detained another 520, Caldwell said, calling it "a significant
upturn over August." He did not say how many were captured or killed the
previous month.
Fifty of those killed and 16 of those detained were foreign fighters, he
said.
Al-Masri, believed to be Egyptian, took the leadership of al-Qaida in Iraq,
one of the country's deadliest terror groups, after the death of his
predecessor, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, in a U.S. airstrike north of Baghdad in
June.
In early September, Iraqi officials announced the arrest of Hamed Jumaa
Farid al-Saeedi, who they said was a top deputy of al-Masri.
"We're getting some key information from those individuals," Caldwell said.
On Sunday, the Iraqi government released a captured video of al-Masri,
showing him demonstrating how to build a bomb in a tanker truck. The video
was the first to show the militant leader's face, though U.S. and Iraqi
military officials have shown photos of him.
Caldwell said he hoped the release could have an "America's Most Wanted"
effect, generating call-in tips that would lead to al-Masri's capture.
He said coalition forces already conducted one raid based on a tip after the
video's release, but it turned out to be a false lead.
In the video, al-Masri, wearing a white T-shirt, is seen talking to the
camera as he moves beside boxes and coils of wire, apparently telling them
how to put together a car bomb. His hair was cut short and he wore glasses
and had a mustache but no beard. No one else appeared in the video.
If nothing else, Caldwell said, the video "demonstrates that al-Masri's
intent is to kill and injure Iraqi civilians."