The other day it was reported that the Iraqis had captured the head of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri. I didn’t have time to blog it at the time and, to be honest, I wasn’t convinced that they had the guy.

Well, my skepticism was warranted (via the BBC): Iraq al-Qaeda chief not captured

The United States military in Iraq says a man detained in the northern city of Mosul is not in fact the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

An earlier statement from the Iraqi defence ministry said that al-Masri had been captured.