Leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq arrested

From Wikinews, the free news source you can write!

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Iraq

Other stories from Iraq

• 9 February 2010: 'Criminal in uniform': Senior London policeman jailed for attempting to frame Iraqi
• 5 February 2010: Double bombing in Pakistani city leaves at least 22 dead
• 3 February 2010: Ex-minister says UK Cabinet was "misled" about legality of Iraq war
• 2 February 2010: Woman blows herself up in Iraq; over 140 casualties
• 29 January 2010: Tony Blair tells Iraq Inquiry he would invade again

...More articles here

Location of Iraq

To write, edit, start or view other articles on Iraq, see the Iraq Portal

An Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman said that the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, was arrested Thursday. Al-Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, was reportedly arrested in the northern city of Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad.

U.S. State Department file photo of Al-Masri.

There has been no official confirmation or comment from United States forces yet, but news of the arrest was reported on Iraq state television.

The Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman, Mohammed al-Askari, told the Associated Press via telephone that, "The commander of Ninevah military operations informed me that Iraqi troops captured Abu Hamza al-Muhajir the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq."

Al-Masri, an Egyptian-born militant, took control of Al Qaeda operations in Iraq after former leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed on June 7, 2006 in an airstrike northeast of Baghdad.

Major Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said that police in Mosul "arrested one of al Qaeda's leaders at midnight and during the primary investigations he admitted that he is Abu Hamza Al-Muhajir. Now a broader investigation of him is being conducted."

Related news

• "Abu Musab al-Zarqawi killed in airstrike". Wikinews, June 8, 2006

Sources

• The Associated Press "Al Qaeda in Iraq leader reportedly arrested" – CNN Online, May 8, 2008
• "Al-Qaeda Iraq leader 'arrested'" – BBC News Online, May 8, 2008
  

Share this:

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable. Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators. Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections. Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.