BBC: (al-Qaeda) Senior militant 'killed in Iraq'

[Eugene]

Last Updated: Monday, 25 September 2006, 12:54 GMT 13:54 UK

Senior militant 'killed in Iraq'
By Jim Muir
BBC News, Baghdad

British forces have killed a senior al-Qaeda fugitive in a raid
on a house in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, security sources
say.

Officials named the dead man as Omar Farouq, a top lieutenant
of Osama Bin Laden in south-east Asia.

Farouq was captured in Indonesia in 2002 but escaped from a US
military prison in Afghanistan last year.

Security sources say he was hiding in Basra and al-Qaeda was not
known to be actively operating in the area.

-snip-

Full article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5378410.stm

[acmavm]

1. At least they're not claiming he was a No. 2

[ShortnFiery]

2. Or perhaps, another of their dozens of Senior Aides?

:puke: Damn, these #2s, senior leaders, close Aides of OBL - multiply like tribbles! :P

[yurbud]

3. Israel & Saudi agree: al Qaeda small factor in Iraq insurgency

Israeli and Saudi studies of foreign fighters show most aren't al Qaeda or pirmarily religiously motivated.

From the Boston Globe:

Other fighters, who are coming to Iraq from across the Middle East and North Africa, are older, in their late 20s or 30s, and have families, according to the two investigations. ''The vast majority of them had nothing to do with Al Qaeda before Sept. 11th and have nothing to do with Al Qaeda today," said Reuven Paz, author of the Israeli study. ''I am not sure the American public is really aware of the enormous influence of the war in Iraq, not just on Islamists but the entire Arab world."

http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/07/17/study_cites_seeds_of_terror_in_iraq/?page=1

You might recall that the Army admits that the role of Zarqawi, former head al Qaeda boogeyman in Iraq, was inflated for foreign and domestic propaganda purposes.

http://professorsmartass.blogspot.com/2006/06/3-things-about-killing-zarqawi.html

[ECH1969]

4. I remember when that terrorist idiot got on the cover of Time

http://cdn.news.aol.com/aolnews_photos/01/04/20051102080509990009

[xchrom]

5. like we haven't created hundreds of replacements?

whether or not al quaeda is a big influence in iraq -- the u.s. does al quaeda's work for them with our indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians in iraq.

we will never ''defeat'' them until we can ''defeat'' the kind of ideology that insists the u.s. boot on the neck is the equivalent of effective diplomacy.
and until we stand on the side of the poor and average citizens in the third world.

[CJCRANE]

6. "Senior militant/top lieutenant

of Osama Bin Laden in south-east Asia".

They're starting to confuse me now. Is this guy a #2 or what?

[ECH1969]

7. I am not sure if this guy was a blowhard or what

Time interviewed him a while back and he pissed me off in his interview so I am happy he got dusted.

http://cdn.news.aol.com/aolnews_photos/01/04/20051102080509990009