Above: Believed to be Abdul Latif al-Jubouri, from one of dozens of propaganda films produced by the al Qaeda umbrella group, The Islamic State of Iraq.

The man who was responsible for the Kidnapping of Jill Carrol and a leader of the Islamic State of Iraq is no more.

Via Reuters Via WAPO: BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Thursday it had killed a senior al Qaeda official in Iraq who it accused of involvement in the kidnapping of Americans Jill Carroll and Tom Fox and other foreigners.

But the military said it had no information to support claims by Iraq's Interior Ministry that Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, another senior al Qaeda figure in Iraq, had been killed.

Chief military spokesman Major-General William Caldwell identified Muharib Abdul Latif al-Jubouri, the "senior minister of information" for al Qaeda in Iraq, as a key figure in the separate abductions of Carroll and Fox.

The US military said that it has no proof that Omar al-Baghdadi is really the leader of ISI. Possibly, but obviously al-Baghdadi is a fake name--something common for jihadis to do, kind of like a "gang" name. Tribal leaders and other insurgent groups have complained about being asked to pledge allegance to a "phantom".

However on some forums I have seen jihad supporters claim that Abdul Latif al-Jubouri is the former head of the Islamic Army in Iraq. Which would make sense, because it was right here at The Jawa Report that it was first revealed that the "unkown" kidnappers of Jill Carroll, "The Revenge Brigade", were really a front for the IAI.

And since al-Jubouri is now confirmed dead, I think its pretty safe to reveal that at least one hostage taken by the Islamic Army in Iraq has told us that they were fairly certain that someone who came to visit them while in confinement also appeared on an al Qaeda in Iraq propaganda video.

The IAI is responsible for the reprehensible Juba The Bahgdad Sniper series of videos and the murder of literally dozens of hostages. Its also interesting to note that since the formation of the Islamic State of Iraq umbrella group, that the number of videos coming from the IAI has dropped sharply.

Of course al-Qaeda will claim that Baghdadi was not killed. Which is hard to prove. Since no one knows who Baghdadi is, he can be anyone on any day.

Regardless, this is a stunning victory will go a long way toward breaking the will of the enemy in Iraq. I think it's safe to break out the cowbell that Rusty stole from Ace.

Dan Riehl, More here at Captain's Quarters and Strata-Sphere. And PJM is doing update after update.

Update: The ISI has confirmed the death of it's information minister and, as predicted, denied that al-Baghdadi was killed.

Update II Image of al-Jubouri's corpse below the fold al-Jubouri is listed as The Islamic State of Iraq's Information Minister and is the second high ranking member on the list to die in less than a week.

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