Saturday, March 10, 2007
Abu Omar al-Baghdadi not captured
Security, Insurgency
(AP) Iraqi officials said Saturday they had arrested a top al-Qaida official, but that he was not the terror mastermind Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, as they had identified him a day earlier. "After preliminary investigations, it was proven that the arrested al-Qaida person is not Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, but, in fact, another important al-Qaida official," said Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Mousawi, an Iraqi military spokesman. "Interrogations and investigations are still under way to get more information."
Al-Mousawi declined to give the suspect's name on Saturday. It was al-Mousawi who announced late Friday that al-Baghdadi had been captured. A senior adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki also had told The Associated Press that al-Baghdadi had been taken into custody. The adviser spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information. The reported arrest followed rumors this week that al-Baghdadi's brother had been arrested in a raid near Tikrit.
Almost nothing is known of al-Baghdadi, including his real name and what he looks like; his capture would be difficult for officials to verify. The man captured Friday was found along with several other insurgents in a raid on the western outskirts of Baghdad, officials said. Al-Mousawi said the suspect at first identified himself as al-Baghdadi, and that his identity was corroborated by another man captured with him.
U.S. officials in Baghdad said they were looking into the arrest but could not confirm the suspect's identity. In Washington, Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said Pentagon officials had received no official confirmation that al-Baghdadi was captured.
U.S. and Iraqi forces have increasingly focused on al-Baghdadi's group in their fight against Sunni insurgents, especially the hardcore religious extremists who have shown no interest in negotiating an end to their struggle. But some analysts have pointed out that the al-Qaida-linked extremists rebounded following the death last June of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the charismatic al-Qaida in Iraq leader who died in a U.S. airstrike in Diyala province.
Al-Mousawi declined to give the suspect's name on Saturday. It was al-Mousawi who announced late Friday that al-Baghdadi had been captured. A senior adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki also had told The Associated Press that al-Baghdadi had been taken into custody. The adviser spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information. The reported arrest followed rumors this week that al-Baghdadi's brother had been arrested in a raid near Tikrit.
Almost nothing is known of al-Baghdadi, including his real name and what he looks like; his capture would be difficult for officials to verify. The man captured Friday was found along with several other insurgents in a raid on the western outskirts of Baghdad, officials said. Al-Mousawi said the suspect at first identified himself as al-Baghdadi, and that his identity was corroborated by another man captured with him.
U.S. officials in Baghdad said they were looking into the arrest but could not confirm the suspect's identity. In Washington, Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said Pentagon officials had received no official confirmation that al-Baghdadi was captured.
U.S. and Iraqi forces have increasingly focused on al-Baghdadi's group in their fight against Sunni insurgents, especially the hardcore religious extremists who have shown no interest in negotiating an end to their struggle. But some analysts have pointed out that the al-Qaida-linked extremists rebounded following the death last June of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the charismatic al-Qaida in Iraq leader who died in a U.S. airstrike in Diyala province.
Labels: Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, Al Qaeda in Iraq, Brigadier Qasim Al Mussawi
