Report: Al-Zawquiri Killed By Blast In Mosul? [Archive]

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jochhejaam

11-20-2005, 08:55 PM

As reported on Drudge about 1 hour ago.

Breaking News: Report: al-Zarqawi may have been killed in Mosul
By JPOST.COM STAFF

The Elaph Arab media website reported on Sunday that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of the al-Qaida in Iraq terror group, may have been killed in Iraq on Sunday afternoon when eight terrorists blew themselves up in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

The unconfirmed report claimed that the explosions occurred while coalition forces surrounded the house in which al-Zarqawi was hiding. American and Iraqi forces are looking into the report.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1132475588009&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

jochhejaam

11-20-2005, 08:58 PM

US Army: Al-Zarqawi may have died

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
BAGHDAD, Iraq

US forces sealed off a house in the northern city of Mosul where eight suspected al-Qaida members died in a gunfight -some by their own hand to avoid capture. A US official said Sunday that efforts were under way to determine if terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was among the dead.

Insurgents, meanwhile, killed an American soldier and a Marine in separate attacks over the weekend, while a British soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in the south.

In Washington, a US official said the identities of the terror suspects killed was unknown. Asked if they could include al-Zarqawi, the official replied: "There are efforts under way to determine if he was killed."

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.

American soldiers maintained control of the site, imposing extraordinary security measures, a day after a fierce gunbattle that broke out when Iraqi police and U.S. soldiers surrounded a house after reports that al-Qaida in Iraq members were inside.

Three insurgents detonated explosives and killed themselves to avoid capture, Iraqi officials said. Eleven Americans were wounded, the US military said.

The US soldier killed Sunday near the capital was assigned to the Army's Task Force Baghdad and was hit by small arms fire, the military said. The Marine, assigned to Regimental Combat Team 8, 2nd Marine Division, died of wounds suffered the day before in Karmah, a village outside Fallujah to the west of the capital.

Their deaths brought to at least 2,093 the number of US service members who have died since the war began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

In Washington, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Sunday on ABC's "This Week" that commanders' assessments will determine the pace of any military drawdown. About 160,000 US troops are in Iraq as the country approaches parliamentary elections December 15.

The Pentagon has said it plans to scale back troop strength to its pre-election baseline of 138,000, depending on conditions. Rumsfeld said the US-led coalition continues to make progress in training Iraqi security forces, which he placed at 212,000.

Rumsfeld also said talk in the United States of a quick withdrawal from Iraq plays into the hands of the insurgents.

jochhejaam

11-20-2005, 09:56 PM

If it turns out he was killed what impact could it have on the terroriism?

They presently seem to be on their heels after the bombing in Jordan, having to apologize to the Jordanians after they held huge protest rallies against the al-zawquiri and al-queda.

They have failed to mobolize the masses because of the indiscriminate methods they use, killing far more of their Muslim Brothers and Sisters than the "Imperialistic" invaders they are united against.

LittleGeneral

11-20-2005, 10:01 PM

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051121/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

The White House said Sunday that it was "highly unlikely" that the terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was among the dead.

jochhejaam

11-20-2005, 10:29 PM

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051121/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

The White House said Sunday that it was "highly unlikely" that the terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was among the dead.

Is that a credible source?

exstatic

11-20-2005, 10:38 PM

Probably more so than Drudge...

1369

11-20-2005, 10:38 PM

If he dies it will leave a vacuum to be filled by some other zealot hell bent on domination. Remember, tribal lines run very deep in that part of the world, that's why Zarqawi enjoyed the protection he did.

The only way I see it (from my view up on the peanut gallery) is to emboldend the Iraqi people to police their own. That is the cornerstone to peace in Iraq, and that is the piece that the Bush admininstration underestimated on. I remember a press conference that Secretary Rumsfield held shortly held after the move to Afghanistan where he said that the US wasn't into "nation building" which I deem a critical error in judgement and policy.

Aggie Hoopsfan

11-20-2005, 11:00 PM

If it turns out he was killed what impact could it have on the terroriism?

Any time you can dilute the talent pool in the leadership of any organization, there will be a negative impact on said organization.

There's a lot of people who think the main branch of AQ will splinter the day that Osama ends up in a body bag. He's been a galvanizing and uniting force for all the Islamofascists, and there's a popular sentiment that when he goes a lot of the elements that make up that organization will go their own way (i.e., go back to their countries and fight there).

LittleGeneral

11-21-2005, 03:32 AM

Seems to be overly optimistic thinking there. Hopefully I'm wrong tho.

jochhejaam

11-21-2005, 07:36 AM

Seems to be overly optimistic thinking there. Hopefully I'm wrong tho.
Could very well be. The White House isn't going to come out with anything approaching optimism regarding his possible death. They'll err on the side of caution until they're sure one way or the other, if they get the general public's hopes up and it doesn't pan out it makes them look bad (we wouldn't want that now, would we).
I'm surprised they quantified it at all but one Military spokesman said there was about a 30% chance that he was among the dead.

It's encouraging that these "hot leads" about Zarqawi's whereabouts are coming from the Iraqi people, they're showing that their angrier and more disgusted than we are.

Whoever it was took drastic measures to make sure they weren't taken alive;

(updated this morning)
Officials Probing Whether Raid in Mosul Killed Zarqawi

Monday, November 21, 2005; A11

BAGHDAD, Nov. 20 -- An Iraqi police commander said Sunday that U.S. and Iraqi officials were certain that seven men who fought to the death in a house in northern Iraq were members of al Qaeda but were still trying to determine whether one of them was Abu Musab Zarqawi, the Jordanian insurgent leader.

Joint forces backed by U.S. military helicopters had surrounded the house after receiving a tip that led them to believe that Zarqawi might be inside, the governor of Nineveh province, Duraid Kashmoula, said Saturday.

As Iraqi soldiers and U.S. Special Forces advisers went into the building, grenades rained down from the roof, wounding 11 of them, according to a U.S. Army officer near where the raid occurred. Multiple explosions collapsed the building, and two American Special Forces troops were killed, he said.

Kashmoula said four of the fighters inside died while resisting the assault, and three others blew themselves up with explosives rather than be captured. A woman was also found inside with the words "suicide bomber" marked on her chest, officials said. Brig. Gen. Said Ahmed Jubouri, a police commander in Mosul, said the force of the suicide blasts destroyed the house.Zarqawi is the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, a group allied with the larger al Qaeda organization and that is believed responsible for many suicide attacks in Iraq.

Kashmoula said U.S. officials retrieved the remains and were investigating whether Zarqawi was among the dead.

U.S. military officials believe it is possible that Zarqawi was killed in the raid but will not know with certainty until DNA tests are run, said a U.S. military intelligence official involved in Iraqi issues.

There is a "30 percent" chance that one of the bodies is Zarqawi's, he said. But he warned: "We've had dry holes before."

Over the past month, the official said, there has been a series of raids following a surge in tips from Iraqis unhappy with Zarqawi and his operation. These tend to be traditional Iraqi leaders -- sheiks and imams -- upset with the organization, especially its recent execution of Sunni Arabs in Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar. "Their feeling is that al Qaeda in Iraq has overstepped its bounds," he said.

ElMuerto

11-21-2005, 08:11 AM

He escaped.

gtownspur

11-21-2005, 05:13 PM

^yes we should as you say "worry about bin laden". We should pullout of iraq and quit influencing the jordanians and iraqis to go against alqueda since Bin laden would worry more about us just focusing on him.:lmao

exstatic

11-21-2005, 07:59 PM

Our "friends", the Pakistanis, pretty much know where Bin Laden is. It's said that their lower to mid level officer corps know exactly where he is. It would not be politically expedient for Musharraf to kill him, though, so he goes on drawing breath after breath, all with the OK of one of our good buddies in the Middle East.

RandomGuy

11-21-2005, 09:31 PM