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Military says top al-Qaeda in Iraq figure captured...
US: Top al-Qaida in Iraq Figure Captured
The U.S. command said Wednesday the highest-ranking Iraqi in the leadership of al-Qaida 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-Qaida in Iraq network," Bergner said. He said al-Mashhadani was a close associate of Abu Ayub al-Masri, the Egyptian-born head of al-Qaida in Iraq.
Bergner said al-Mashhadani served as an intermediary between al-Masri and Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri.
"In fact, communication between the senior al-Qaida leadership and al-Masri frequently went through al-Mashhadani," Bergner said.
"Along with al-Masri, al-Mashhadani co-founded a virtual organization in cyberspace called the Islamic State of Iraq in 2006," Bergner said. "The Islamic State of Iraq is the latest efforts by al-Qaida to market itself and its goal of imposing a Taliban-like state on the Iraqi people."
Yahoo Asia News ~ Associated Press ** US: Top al-Qaida in Iraq Figure Captured
Related:
• This Blog *** Commander says Iraq surge operations have 'significant' impact
In other developments throughout Iraq:
• Marines from Company I, Battalion Landing Team 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, discovered 500, one hundred-pound bags of ammonium nitrate July 11.
Also: (.PDF File) • 50,000 Pounds of Ammonium Nitrate!, Confiscated in Iraq
U.S. Marines Ambush Insurgents In Ramadi, (...or how to wake-up Terrorist Tenants)
• Herald News Daily ~ AP - Charles J. Hanley ** Air Force quietly building Iraq presence
• London Free Press ** 200 explosive belts seized at Syria-Iraq border
