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"Islamic State of Iraq" names new "war minister"
[Al Arabiya Latest] A new "war minister" has been named for the al-Qaeda front organization in Iraq following the deaths last month of two top leaders, an Internet monitoring group reported on Friday.The US-based SITE Intelligence Group service said that the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), the branch of al-Qaeda in the country, named him in a statement posted on jihadist Internet forums. "The new War Minister is identified as al-Nasser Lideen Illah Abu Suleiman, 'The Supporter for the Faith of Allah, Abu Suleiman'," it reported. What's the over/under on his capture or death? On April 18, two top al-Qaeda commanders, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayub al-Masri, were killed in a shootout when a joint Iraqi-US force raided their safehouse north of Baghdad. Baghdadi was the political leader of the group in Iraq while Masri, an Egyptian militant, was its self-styled "minister of war." "The ISI had not previously announced replacements for these top officials," SITE said on Friday. Posted by: Fred 2010-05-15 |
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