|
Son of Al Qaeda mentor Issam Abu Mohammed al-Maqdessi 'killed in Iraq'
THE son of Jordanian Issam Abu Mohammed al-Maqdessi, former mentor of slain Al Qaeda in Iraq head Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has been killed in clashes with U.S. forces, a family friend said tonight."We have learned that Omar and three other men were killed in clashes with American forces in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul last Saturday," June 5, the friend who asked not to be identified told AFP. "Omar, who left for Iraq several years ago to fight the Americans, was arrested there in 2006 but was released a year ago." He said Maqdessi, 27, was not a member of the group run by Jordanian-born Zarqawi, who was killed in a June 2006 U.S. air strike northeast of Baghdad. "Omar had nothing to do with Zarqawi, and did not even meet him. His father accepted condolences yesterday (Saturday) in Yajuz (in Amman's northeast) and said his son Omar was the closest to his heart." Last week, an Iraqi police source reported that four Arab nationals had been killed in clashes with U.S. and Iraqi forces in Shura village south of Mosul, after they refused to leave their house and allow troops to search it. In 1992, Zarqawi met Omar's father - real name Issam Barqawi - and later joined his Sunni militant group Jaish Mohammed, or Mohammed's Army. The pair were detained in Jordan for five years for membership of an outlawed Islamist organisation but were freed as part of a general amnesty in 1999. They later fell out over "ideological differences," however, and aides said Barqawi repeatedly denounced Zarqawi in messages posted on his website. Barqawi was arrested again in Jordan in 2005 after remarks he made to Al Jazeera television, but he was released in 2008 for "humanitarian reasons" after going on hunger strike. He has two wives and eight children. Posted by: tipper 2010-06-13 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=298805 |