Al-Qaida in Iraq Agent Now Reported Held

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Al-Qaida in Iraq Agent Now Reported Held
Friday, February 16, 2007 8:12 AM EST
The Associated Press


BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — An Iraqi army officer said Friday that an al-Qaida in Iraq deputy has been jailed south of Baghdad, casting doubt on reports that he was killed. The leader of the terrorist organization was reportedly injured.

The Interior Ministry spokesman, Brig. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, said the deputy was killed Thursday in a clash with Iraqi forces near Balad, north of Baghdad, and that terror leader Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri, was wounded.

Khalaf declined to say how Iraqi forces knew al-Masri had been injured, and deputy Interior Minister Maj. Gen. Hussein Ali Kamal later said he could not confirm the information.

The Iraqi army officer said the al-Qaida in Iraq deputy, identified as Abu Abdullah al-Majemaai, had been detained on Feb. 9 and remained in custody in a jail near Mahmoudiya, about 20 miles south of Baghdad. The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose the information, said he could not comment on al-Masri's whereabouts.

The U.S. military said it was looking into the reports, which come as American and Iraqi forces have launched a major security crackdown against Sunni insurgents, including al-Qaida in Iraq, as well as Shiite militias.

Khalaf said the clash occurred near Balad, a major U.S. base about 50 miles north of the capital, and identified the dead aide as Abu Abdullah al-Majemaai.

Al-Masri took over the leadership of al-Qaida in Iraq after its charismatic leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was killed in a U.S. airstrike last year in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad. In October, false reports surfaced that al-Masri was killed in a raid, and the U.S. military performed DNA tests on a slain militant to see if he was the al-Qaida leader.

Al-Zarqawi was widely believed to have fomented sectarian war through his campaign of brutal suicide attacks against Shiite civilians. The first steps of the security operation display the sectarian divides complicating any plan to calm Baghdad — which is key to begin stabilizing the rest of the country.