Daglig Jihad: Irak: Lederen af al-Qaida i Irak måske dræbt

Dagen igennem har der været forlydender om, at Abu Ayyub al-Masri, lederen af al-Qaida i Irak skulle være blevet dræbt. Hvem der mere nøjagtigt skulle have taget hans liv er der usikkerhed om - alt afhængigt af hvilken kilde der taler har det enten været "irakiske oprørere" eller lokale stammer.

På The Fourth Rail har Bill Roggio en teori, der rummer begge muligheder, og giver ansvaret for al-Masris død til lokale allierede af USA og den irakiske regering:

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.

The tribe in question would very likely be the Albu Issa, which are prominent in Fallujah and regions to the east. An internal schism exists within the tribe, with the urbanized Albu Issas siding with the Anbar Salvation Council and Iraqi government, and the rural branches in towns such as Amiriya supporting al Qaeda in Iraq.

Al Qaeda has waged a deadly and brutal campaign against the Albu Issa. The pro-government Albu Issa have been hit with multiple chlorine gas attacks, and has fought two large scale battles against al Qaeda in Amiriya.

The Anbar Salvation Council has recently asked for permission from the government "to pursue militants across provincial lines," according to IraqSlogger. "Recent reports suggest that such clearance may have been granted." If the reports of al-Masri's death is true, the Albu Issa would have been operating about 10 miles into Salahadin province. This likely would not have occurred without local support. Look for signs of the hand of the yet-to-be-named Salahadin Salvation Front to have played a role in al-Masri's demise.

Siden har al-Qaeda i Irak afvist, at al-Masri skulle være død, men det samme var tilfældet da Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Masris forgænger, blev dræbt i et amerikansk luftangreb.

OPDATERET:

FoxNews har oplysninger, der bekræfter at det skal have været Anbars Frelser-Råd, der har dræbt al-Masri:

Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, head of the regional anti-Al Qaeda group Anbar Salvation Council, claims fighters loyal to his group engaged in a two-hour battle with Al Qaeda members and that al-Masri was among them.

Risha said that seven terrorists, including al-Masri and three other foreigners, were killed in the battle that took place between Tarmiyah and Samarra north of Baghdad. He said al-Masri's body was turned over to American forces who had arrived on the scene following the fighting.

Det er dog stadig et spørgsmål om at få identificeret liget - tidligere meldinger om at al-Masri skulle have været blevet dræbt har vist sig at dreje sig om andre terrorister.

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