Rumors: Al Qaeda in Iraq Leader Al Masri A Dead Terrorist!

Al Qaeda in Iraq Leader Al Masri May Have Joined Al Zarqawi…
In hell?

Al Masri entered Iraq in 2002, before al-Zarqawi, and may have helped establish the first al-Qaida cell in the Baghdad area- Before the US invasion of Iraq! (Guardian)

An earlier report also claimed Al Masri operating in Iraq after the fall of the Taliban. There were rumors that he was wounded back on February 15, 2007.

Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Al Masri may have joined his predecessor in hell.
Here is the latest from the AP:

Iraqi officials have received reports that the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq was killed by Sunni tribesmen, but the chief government spokesman said Tuesday the information has not been confirmed.

The statement by spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh followed a welter of reports from other Iraqi officials that Abu Ayyub al-Masri had been killed. Iraqi officials have released similar reports in the past, only to acknowledge later they were inaccurate.

U.S. officials said they could not confirm the reported death.

Al-Dabbagh told Al-Arabiya that word of al-Masri’s purported death was based on “intelligence information,” adding that “DNA tests should be done and we have to bring someone to identify the body.”

But he refused to say unequivocally whether Iraqi security forces have the body, citing security restrictions. Accounts were vague about when and where al-Masri supposedly died.


This file picture shows a grab taken from a video broadcast 01 October 2006 by the Iraqi government in Baghdad showing Al-Qaeda’s leader in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri. (Canada.com)

The Guardian added this to the rumors:

Al-Masri, an Egyptian, assumed the leadership of al-Qaida in Iraq after the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a US air strike in June 2006. The US government in 2005 set a $50,000 reward for al-Masri’s capture, later raising it to $5m.

Security experts say he became a terrorist in 1982 when he joined Ayman al-Zawahiri’s Egyptian Islamic Jihad. He probably entered Iraq in 2002, before al-Zarqawi, and may have helped establish the first al-Qaida cell in the Baghdad area.

He had manufactured explosives in Iraq, particularly car and truck bombs, helped foreign fighters move from Syria to Baghdad, and overseen al-Qaida’s activities in southern Iraq.

This is great news for the Free World and horrific news for democrats…
Not only does this show the Iraqis assisting with the security of their young democracy but it brings to the surface the fact that Al Qaeda was operating in Iraq before the US invasion!

Reuters reported that: “Both Khalaf and another Interior Ministry source said the Iraqi authorities did not have Masri’s body, but the source added that “our people had seen the body” “.

Let Freedom Ring has more.
Pajamas Media is tracking the story.
Hot Air says he was bumped off by a bridge.

Update 1: FOX News is reporting that his body was turned over to American forces who had arrived on the scene following the fighting.
Waiting on DNA!

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Jim Hoft is the founder and editor of The Gateway Pundit, one of the top conservative news outlets in America. Jim was awarded the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award in 2013 and is the proud recipient of the Breitbart Award for Excellence in Online Journalism from the Americans for Prosperity Foundation in May 2016. In 2023, The Gateway Pundit received the Most Trusted Print Media Award at the American Liberty Awards.

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Thanks for sharing!