Al-Qaida in Iraq leader captured, Iraqi officials say

BAGHDAD – Iraqi police commandos captured the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq in a raid in the northern city of Mosul, Iraqi officials said Thursday, in what could mark a significant blow to the Sunni insurgency in its last urban stronghold.

However, the U.S. military said today there were “no operational reports” to confirm the capture of the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq as stated by Iraqi officials, adding the capture of another insurgent might have caused confusion.

Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said the arrest of Abu Ayyub al-Masri – also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir – was reported by the Iraqi commander in Mosul, where insurgents have sought to establish a foothold after being widely uprooted from Baghdad and surrounding areas last year.

Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said the arrest occurred “at midnight and during the primary investigations he admitted that he is Abu Hamza Al-Muhajir.”

But the U.S. military said today in response to an e-mailed query that “we are looking into reports that another terrorist may have been captured.” The military did not share further details on the other reported capture but said that might have caused confusion.

There have been false alarms in the past about al-Masri. At least twice – in 2006 and May 2007 – reports circulated that al-Masri was dead, but they were later proved wrong.

Khalaf told the Iraqi state television that al-Masri was arrested during a police raid in Mosul, but gave no other details.

Mosul was considered the last important urban staging ground for al-Qaida in Iraqi and allied groups after losing strongholds in Baghdad and other areas during the U.S. troop “surge” last year.

In January, Iraq’s prime minister Nouri al-Maliki promised his military were preparing for a “decisive” showdown with insurgents in Mosul, about 225 miles northwest of Baghdad. But no major offensives have been mounted even as al-Qaida in Iraq tried to exert its influence in Iraq’s third-largest city through attacks and intimidation.

Al-Masri is a prized target for Iraqi commanders, who have led operations in the Mosul area and have sought to counter worries that Iraqi forces lack the training and discipline to wage a head-on fight against insurgents.

However, al-Qaida in Iraq has maintained its long-term ability to wage suicide attacks and other strikes even after the capture and deaths of its leaders. Al-Masri took over al-Qaida in Iraq after its leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was killed June 7, 2006, in a U.S. airstrike, northeast of Baghdad.

But the pace of insurgent attacks remained strong as al-Masri took charge.

Any direct links between al-Masri’s insurgents and the terror network of Osama bin Laden are murky. But al-Masri has followed a path that brought him in contact with some of bin Laden’s top lieutenants.

U.S. officials said al-Masri – whose name means “The Egyptian” in Arabic – joined al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan in the late 1990s and trained as a car bombing expert before traveling to Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

The U.S. military also described al-Masri as a previous member of the extremist Islamic Jihad in Egypt and a protege of Ayman al-Zawahri, who became bin Laden’s No. 2 after the group joined with al-Qaida in 1998.

The Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella organization that includes al-Qaida in Iraq, last year announced an “Islamic Cabinet” for Iraq and named al-Masri as “minister of war.”