WP: Letter Gives Glimpse of Al-Qaeda's Leadership

[maddezmom]

By Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 2, 2006; Page A01

Six months before the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in June, a senior al-Qaeda figure warned him in a letter that he risked removal as al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq if he continued to alienate Sunni tribal and religious leaders and rival insurgent groups.

The author of the Dec. 11 letter, who said he was writing from al-Qaeda headquarters in the Waziristan region of Pakistan, was a member of Osama bin Laden's high command who signed himself "Atiyah." The military's Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, which last week released a 15-page English translation of the Arabic document made public in Iraq, said his real identity was "unknown."

~snip~

Atiyah's name does not appear on any published U.S. government list of known or suspected terrorists. But his biography, as described by counterterrorism officials who agreed to discuss him on the condition that they not be named, offers a rare glimpse into the cadre of loyal senior aides who escaped with bin Laden into the mountainous Afghan-Pakistani border region in the fall of 2001.


~snip~

Atiyah is no longer in Waziristan, according to U.S. officials who declined to speculate on his current whereabouts. But they said he was not in U.S. custody and expressed certainty that he is still alive. Asked what priority they attach to his capture, one official said: "He is an important figure. . . . The world would be a much safer place with him off the streets."

more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/01/AR2006100101083_2.html?nav=rss_world

[enigma000]

1. Might explain why al-Zarqawi is no longer alive

And why Sunni tribes in Anbar have turned against al-Qaeda.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2532553