Webloggin » Al-Qaeda Leader In Iraq Reportedly Killed In Clash

CNN is reporting that Abu Ayyub al-Masri has been killed during a fight with a rival militant group. Al-Masri was the bomb making successor to al-Zarqawi. The U.S. has no word on the validity of the report.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Unconfirmed reports Tuesday indicated that Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri had died in fighting between rival militant groups north of the Iraqi capital, according to an Interior Ministry spokesman.

“We received intelligence reports of al-Masri getting killed in clashes between al-Qaeda in Iraq and other militant groups, at dawn today, in al-Niba’ie in Taji, north of Baghdad,” Brig. Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf said.

According to Khalaf, the reports are based on “very strong intelligence,” but he added al-Masri’s body has not been seen and stressed that the reported battle was an internal fight between rival militant groups — no Iraqi troops were involved.

The U.S. military and the U.S. Embassy had no information on the reports.

“I have no confirmation of what is being reported in the Iraqi media,” said military spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver.

In February, Iraq’s Interior Ministry claimed Iraqi security forces wounded al-Masri in another clash north of Baghdad, but the U.S. military cast doubt on that report. The ministry never backed away from its claim.

Al-Masri succeeded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq after the latter was killed in a U.S. airstrike in June.

Al-Masri was touted as a formidable successor to al-Zarqawi and his death couldn’t come at a better time. President Bush is set to veto the Democrat’s Iraq Surrender bill amidst the background of more news that the surge may be having more success. Buried deep within the al-Masri report is the following small blurb:

In a steep decline from the previous month, 1,501 Iraqi civilians lost their lives in sectarian and insurgent violence in Iraq during April, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said Tuesday. That compares to casualty figures that saw 1,872 civilians killed in March and 1,646 in February. There were 2,334 Iraqi civilians wounded during April, compared to 2,708 the month before, the ministry said.

What will the Democrats in Congress do if the full surge shows even better results? My bet is that they will go and fight U.S. soldiers themselves; it’s the next best thing to surrender.

Question for the Dems, how come so many AQ are getting killed in Iraq if there is no connection between Iraq and the War on Terror?

Others: Hot Air, Captain’s Quarters