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May 14, 2008 1:45:34 AM CDT

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False Alarm: Al-Qaeda Boss Still Loose in Iraq  

Posted May 9, 08 11:40 AM CDT in World    Most Covered

(newser) – Iraqi officials jumped the gun yesterday when they announced the capture of the top commander of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, the US military said today. It turns out the man they captured isn’t Abu Ayyub al-Masri; he just has a similar name. The hunt for the real al-Masri, who has a $5 million bounty on his head, is still going on.

“The person who was detained has nothing to do with him,” said an Iraqi government spokesman. “He is not even a senior leader in al-Qaeda, he is just an ordinary member.”

Source Reuters

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False Alarm: Al-Qaeda Boss Still Loose in Iraq
In this June 15 2006 file photo, a U.S. soldier at a press conference in Baghdad, Iraq stands by a photograph that purports to show Abu Ayyub al-Masri who is the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq.   (AP Photo/Karim Kadim, File)
False Alarm: Al-Qaeda Boss Still Loose in Iraq
This undated file photo originally released by the U.S. Military at a press conference in Baghdad, Iraq Thursday, June 15, 2006, purports to show al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri.   (AP Photo/U.S. Military)
False Alarm: Al-Qaeda Boss Still Loose in Iraq
in this Oct. 1, 2006 file photo, National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie presents a video showing the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq Abu Ayyub al-Masri during a press conference in Baghdad.   (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)
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Iraq  • terrorism  • al-Qaeda in Iraq  • Iraq Army  • Abu Ayyub al Masri


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