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| Iraq |
| Gitmo Gets a New Guest |
| 2007-04-27 |
| The Pentagon said Friday it has custody of one of al-Qaida's most senior and most experienced operatives, an Iraqi who was attempting to return to his native country when he was captured. Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, said the captive is Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi. He was received by the Pentagon from the CIA, Whitman said, but the spokesman would not say where or when al-Iraqi was captured or by whom. The Pentagon took custody of him at Guantanamo Bay this week, Whitman said. Whitman said the terror suspect was believed responsible for plotting cross-border attacks from Pakistan on U.S. forces in Afghanistan, and that he led an effort to assassinate Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf. "Abd al-Hadi (al-Iraqi) was trying to return to his native country, Iraq, to manage al-Qaida's affairs and possibly focus on operations outside Iraq against Western targets," Whitman said, adding that the terror suspect met with al-Qaida members in Iran. He said he did not know what time period al-Iraqi was in Iran. The Pentagon said al-Iraqi was born in Mosul, a city in northern Iraq, in 1961. Whitman said he was a key al-Qaida paramilitary leader in Afghanistan in the late 1990s and during 2002-04 led efforts to attack U.S. forces in Afghanistan with terrorist forces based in Pakistan. |
| Posted by:Glenmore |
| #4 He musta' been caught coming back to Iraq from some mission in Turkey - maybe one that involved a high-ranking Iranian general! Yeah, that's the ticket... (spread the rumors, boys) |
| Posted by: FOTSGreg 2007-04-27 23:45 |
| #3 |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-04-27 13:58 |
| #2 If he was born in Mosul in 1961, it seems likely he's a Kurd... I wonder if he joined Al Qaeda independently, or if he was a gift to them from Saddam Hussein. No doubt the CIA knows, by now. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-04-27 12:19 |
| #1 Hmm..He'd been to Iran (sometime) and was captured trying to return (from somewhere). |
| Posted by: Bobby 2007-04-27 11:19 |