PoliBlog: A Rough Draft of my Thoughts » Al-Qaeda in Iraq Leader Killed?

Via the BBC: Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader ‘killed’

The interior ministry in Iraq says it has received intelligence that the head of al-Qaeda in Iraq has been killed.

Abu Ayyub al-Masri, believed to be an Egyptian, has led the group since June 2006 when Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a US air strike.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq is blamed for or has claimed some of the bloodiest insurgent attacks in Iraq since 2003.

According to Iraqi officials, al-Masri was killed in an “internal battle” between militants.

Interesting.

And, I would have to agree:

The BBC’s defence correspondent Rob Watson says if the reports are confirmed, this would be a highly significant development in terms of the manner of al-Masri’s death.

US officials have long talked of friction between al-Qaeda and other Sunni insurgent groups. The reported killing would suggest there are real tensions for US and Iraqi officials to exploit, our correspondent says.

In terms of the certainty of the news:

However he said that the authorities do not actually have al-Masri’s corpse in their possession.

The US military says it has been unable to verify the claim.

Updated: Reuters reports U.S. says can’t confirm al Qaeda in Iraq chief dead:

The leader of al Qaeda in
Iraq was killed on Tuesday in a fight between insurgents north of Baghdad, the Interior Ministry spokesman said, but U.S. military officials appeared to cast doubt on the report.

Also, Abu Aardvark expresses the proper amount of skepticism: Abu Aardvark: Masri dead again?.

Technorati Tags: Abu Ayyub al-Masrial qaeda in irag, Abu al-Kareem Khalaf, al-Qa’ida in Iraq,

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The views expressed in the comments are the sole responsibility of the person leaving those comments. They do not reflect the opinion of the author of PoliBlog, nor have they been vetted by the author.

2 Responses to “Al-Qaeda in Iraq Leader Killed?”

The Heretik : Number One with a Bullet Says:
May 1st, 2007 at 8:58 am
[...] The great or not so great news? The insurgents grow more factionalized and now kill each other with the regularity they used to kill non insurgents. The more factions there are, the more number ones there will be, the better to announce progress is being made. At some point there will be an infinite number of number ones so progress will remain forever possible, always written in red, hard to read against a crimson background. [...]
Outside The Beltway | OTB Says:
May 1st, 2007 at 10:30 am
Iraq Claims Al Qaeda in Iraq Leader al-Masri Dead

The Iraqi government claims al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri title=”Iraq probes reports of al-Masri’s death - Yahoo! News”>has been killed.
Iraqi officials have received reports that the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq was kill…

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