US: Al Qaeda spokesman killed, not chief
http://www.france24.com/france24Public/en/news/world/20070503-Iraq-US-Al-Qaeda-Juburi-Baghdadi.html
US: Al Qaeda spokesman killed, not chiefThursday, May 3, 2007The US military has said it in fact killed Al-Qaeda’s ‘Minister ofInformation” in Iraq and not the leader of the Al-Qaeda-led ‘Islamic Statein Iraq’, as claimed earlier by the Iraqi Interior MinistrySenior Qaeda figure killed not Iraq insurgent chief: USBy AFP
BAGHDAD, May 3, 2007 (AFP) - The US military killed a senior Al-Qaedafigure this week in Iraq but the dead man was not the group’s chief aswas claimed by Iraqi officials, spokesman Major General William Caldwellsaid on Thursday.
Caldwell told reporters that US forces killed Al-Qaeda in Iraq’s“senior information minister,” whom he identified as Muharib Abdul Latifal-Juburi, early on Tuesday just north of Baghdad.
The militant played key roles in the kidnapping and murder of US peaceactivist Tom Fox and American journalist Jill Carroll in 2006 amongother high profile actions, Caldwell said.
Previously, Iraqi officials had reported that the dead militant was AbuAyyub al-Masri, the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq.
But Caldwell said that US officials would have immediately been able toidentify Masri’s corpse, and that they were positive they had in factkilled Abdul Latif, a lesser but still senior figure.
“We killed him on a target objective at 1:42 am west of Taji on May 1,”Caldwell said. “This is the individual that has caused some confusionand was the senior Al-Qaeda person killed.”
“His was the only body we took at the site,” he added.
“DNA testing and photo identification confirmed this yesterday (Wednesday).”
Caldwell said the confusion arose when Abdul Latif’s body was releasedfor burial to a tribal member who was subsequently arrested at a policecheckpoint as he left the city with the corpse.
Afterwards, Iraq’s interior ministry announced that Masri — anEgyptian bomb-maker and the alleged head of Al-Qaeda in Iraq — had been killed.
On Thursday Iraqi officials added to the confusion by claiming that Abdul Latif was also known as “Abu Omar al-Baghdadi,” and led theso-called “Islamic State of Iraq,” an insurgent umbrella group.
The interior ministry’s operations director, Brigadier General AbdelKarim Khalaf, said Iraqis who knew Abdul Latif had confirmed that hisvoice appeared on Al-Qaeda recordings released in Baghdadi’s name.
“These are the confirmations we have so far on the identity of this manand his position within the groups of Al-Qaeda,” he added.
US spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Chris Garver said the military couldnot say if the two men were the same.
“There is no evidence to link Latifto Baghdadi,” he said.
“Could he be? Possible. Can we prove it? No.”
Al-Qaeda itself confirmed the US version of events in an Internet message.
“We announce news of the martydom of the sheikh and fighter AbuAbdullah al-Juburi,” the Islamic State in Iraq, an alliance of Sunni groupsheaded by the Iraqi branch of Al-Qaeda, said on a known jihadi website.
“Our guide Abu Omar al-Baghdadi is well,” it added.
It said the spokesman was killed along with three comrades in an“enemy” air strike after they had tried in vain for more than eight hours tocapture the men in a raid on a house.
Caldwell said the slain militant was a major figure in the movement whoafter kidnapping foreigners went to Syria between May and September2006 to help finance the organisation and recruit fighters.
Abdul Latif had been detained by US forces in 2003 before being released a year later.
The Al-Qaeda official’s death was the culmination of a three-day“Operation Rat Trap” from April 28 to 30 and resulted in the death of 15suspected insurgents and the detention of 95 others, the US military said.
Since February 14, US and Iraqi forces have been engaged in “OperationFardh al-Qanoon” (Imposing Law), under which American troop reinforcements have surged into violent districts.
Thursday’s announcement came as a key international conference on Iraqin the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh overwhelmingly adopted afive-year plan aimed at rescuing the war-ravaged country from chaos and bankruptcy.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon said that debt reduction of 30 billion dollars hadbeen pledged by countries at the conference.
In Baghdad, four Asians working for the US government — two Indians, aFilipino and a Nepalese — were killed in a rocket attack on Baghdad’sheavily fortified Green Zone, the American embassy reported on Thursday.
Five people were killed and 55 wounded in two car bombings in Kirkuk, apolice official in the northern oil city said. Twenty-eight women andchildren were among the wounded when one of the bombs exploded near a police station.
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