Okay, I'm not going to be totally ecstatic until the U.S. command confirms this but so far it looks pretty legit. Iraqi forces have captured Abdul- Khaliq al-Sabawi who is said to be the chief commander of al Qaeda in Iraq in the area of Mosul. Here's part of the report here at Breitbart:
The report goes on to say that al-Sabawi is one of quite a few al Qaeda commanders that fled Mosul ahead of the U.S. and Iraqi operation to clean up Mosul. Here's what it says about how they nabbed this clown:
Once again, we see the benefits of capturing any al Qaeda - they sing like songbirds and they gave this guy up in a heartbeat. And the even better news is that if this indeed is the kingpin of Mosul, the intel we get out of this asshat will lead to more and more mid to upper level commanders. Let's hope this guy is who they say he is.
A man suspected of being al-Qaida in Iraq's chief leader in Mosul, the terror network's most prominent urban stronghold, was arrested Monday more than a week after he fled a security crackdown in the northern city, Iraqi officials said.
The U.S. military said it was looking into the report. Reports of high-level al-Qaida in Iraq arrests in the past have sometimes proven inaccurate.
Maj. Gen. Ahmed Taha, of the Iraqi Interior Ministry, identified the detainee as the terror group's "wali"—or "governor"—in Mosul, a title which would make him its top figure in the city and the Ninevah province where it is located.
A security official involved in the detention said the suspect, Abdul- Khaliq al-Sabawi, admitted in questioning to being the Mosul wali.
The report goes on to say that al-Sabawi is one of quite a few al Qaeda commanders that fled Mosul ahead of the U.S. and Iraqi operation to clean up Mosul. Here's what it says about how they nabbed this clown:
Al-Sabawi, a former brigadier in Saddam Hussein's military, fled Mosul before the crackdown was launched more than a week ago and took refuge in the Sunni Arab city of Tikrit in Salahuddin province, 120 miles to the south, the official said.
Confessions by other militants captured in Mosul during the sweep led security forces to his hiding place, and he was brought back to Mosul for interrogation, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the arrest.
Once again, we see the benefits of capturing any al Qaeda - they sing like songbirds and they gave this guy up in a heartbeat. And the even better news is that if this indeed is the kingpin of Mosul, the intel we get out of this asshat will lead to more and more mid to upper level commanders. Let's hope this guy is who they say he is.
Iraq reports arrest of al-Qaida figure in Mosul
BAGHDAD (AP) - A man suspected of being al-Qaida in Iraq's chief leader in Mosul, the terror network's most prominent urban stronghold, was arrested Monday more than a week after he fled a security crackdown in the northern city, Iraqi officials said.
The U.S. military said it was looking into the report. Reports of high-level al-Qaida in Iraq arrests in the past have sometimes proven inaccurate.
Maj. Gen. Ahmed Taha, of the Iraqi Interior Ministry, identified the detainee as the terror group's "wali"—or "governor"—in Mosul, a title which would make him its top figure in the city and the Ninevah province where it is located.
A security official involved in the detention said the suspect, Abdul- Khaliq al-Sabawi, admitted in questioning to being the Mosul wali.
Al-Sabawi, a former brigadier in Saddam Hussein's military, fled Mosul before the crackdown was launched more than a week ago and took refuge in the Sunni Arab city of Tikrit in Salahuddin province, 120 miles to the south, the official said.
Confessions by other militants captured in Mosul during the sweep led security forces to his hiding place, and he was brought back to Mosul for interrogation, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the arrest.
Taha said only that al-Sabawi was arrested in Salahuddin province, without specifying where.
Some of Mosul's al-Qaida figures, particularly its top leaders, are believed to have fled or stayed out of the city before the well- publicized sweep—the latest in a series of high-profile operations launched by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki over the past two months to break the hold of armed groups around the country.
More than 1,300 people have been arrested in and around Mosul during the current operation, though 240 were cleared of suspicion and released, said Maj. Gen. Hussein Ali Kamal, the deputy interior minister for intelligence and security affairs.
The U.S. military has described Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, as al-Qaida in Iraq's last urban stronghold after the group lost control of cities in the western province of Anbar over the past year. Al-Qaida militants and other Sunni Arab insurgents have used Mosul, a key transport hub with highways to Baghdad and Syria, for suicide bombings and other attacks in northern and central Iraq in recent months.
U.S.-backed Iraqi forces have been carrying out targeted raids on suspected militants in the city. But the sweep has seen almost no clashes, a sign insurgents are seeking to lay low or escape. The Defense Ministry reported the first death in the crackdown, saying raids Monday left one militant dead, along with 78 people arrested. The ministry statement gave no details on how the death occurred.
Al-Maliki ordered the Mosul sweep after similar crackdowns against Shiite militiamen in the southern city of Basra and Baghdad's Shiite stronghold of Sadr City. The Basra crackdown, which began in late March, sparked a wave of violence by Shiite militias across the south.
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