BAGHDAD, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. military said on Friday the top leader of al-Qaida in Iraq network has not been detained amid reports that Iraqi security forces captured Abu Hamza al-Muhajir during an overnight raid in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
In response to an e-mailed query, the U.S. military said that "according to a senior U.S. military official, Abu Ayyub al-Masri (also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir) has not been detained."
An undated file photo released by the U.S. military of Abu Ayyub al-Masri, alias Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, in Baghdad June 15, 2006. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
Late on Thursday, Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf told the state television that al-Muhajir was arrested during a police raid in the city of Mosul, 400 km north of Baghdad.
"The man confessed that he is Abu Hamza. A ministry photo of him was compared to his facial features," Maj. General Abdul-Kareem Khalaf told local news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) on Friday.
According to VOI, the Iraqi government argued that the arrested was not al-Muhajir, though a spokesman for the Iraqi Defense Ministry, Ninewa governor and security sources confirmed the detention of the al-Qaida leader.
Ali al-Dabbagh, official spokesman for the Iraqi government, said "during a late hour on Thursday night, a person who belongs to al-Qaida network was arrested, but he was not Abu Hamza al-Muhajir."
Abu Hamza al-Muhajir was announced leader of al-Qaida in Iraq after its former chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. airstrike in 2006.
The U.S. military since then identified him as one of the prime candidates to assume direction of the Iraqi insurgency. The U.S. military had put a 5-million-U.S. dollar bounty for top Qaida leader in Iraq.
BAGHDAD, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces captured Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, head of al-Qaida in Iraq network, in northern Iraqi city Mosul, Iraqi official television reported on Thursday.
During an operation conducted by the Iraqi security forces in Mosul, 400 km north of Baghdad, the Iraqi troops captured Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the Iraqi state-run television quoted Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman as saying.Full story
CAIRO, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, has said that five years of U.S. occupation of Iraq had brought only "failure and defeat," according to a new audio tape released Thursday on a website known for militant messages.
U.S. President George W. Bush will pass on the "problem" to his successor, al-Zawahri added. Full story
