Abu Al-Masri Reported Dead

(Baghdad) Unconfirmed breaking news! The leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, is dead.

From an Interior Ministry spokesman:

"We received intelligence reports of al-Masri getting killed in clashes between al-Qaeda in Iraq and other militant groups, at dawn today, in al-Niba'ie in Taji, north of Baghdad," Brig. Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf said.

According to Khalaf, the reports are based on "very strong intelligence," but he added al-Masri's body has not been seen and stressed that the reported battle was an internal fight between rival militant groups -- no Iraqi troops were involved.

The Egyptian who is also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, assumed the leadership of al Qaeda in Iraq after Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in June. Al-Masri has a $5 million bounty on his head.

Unfortunately, bogus reports regularly surface regarding the demise of al-Qaeda leaders so, keep your fingers crossed. Al-Masri is among that evil group of murdering thugs who should be awarded 72 virgins as quickly as possible.

More later ...

UPDATE by Rusty: Pajamas Media has a good roundup of right-of-center blog reaction.

Time to break out the cowbell?

Whenever we get reports of al Qaeda in Iraq leadership being killed--which is quite often--I always turn to Bill Roggio for reaction. Here's what he says:

Initial reports indicated fighting "between insurgents" resulted in al-Masri's death, however this has since changed to "local tribes." The tribe is being reported to hail from Fallujah. If this is accurate, the death of Abu Ayyub al-Masri would have come at the hands of none other than Sheikh Abdul Sattar al-Risha's Anbar Salvation Council. As we've noted in the past, the 1920s Revolution Brigades and other Sunni insurgent groups have signed on with the Anbar Salvation Council to fight al Qaeda and secure Anbar province.

If true, this would mean See-Dubs headline of "Red on Red" is dead on accurate. Red truly describes the 1920s Revolution Brigade, since, in addition to fighting al Qaeda, they also blow up American soldiers on propaganda videos--or did. So, don't think of them as "friends". They are, in fact, Baathist thugs who don't mind it when al Qaeda kills Americans but aren't really all that fond of al Qaeda blowing up crowded markets.

Anyway, the main thing is that al Masri is dead. Knock. On. Wood. My mouse, like a ouija board, seems to be moving by itself towards the more cowbell pic I stole from Ace.....

Posted by: Mike Pechar at 04:55 AM | Comments (20) | Add Comment
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