tpeters12

U.S. Captures al-Qaeda Leader In Iraq

Tuesday, October 14, 2003

WASHINGTON*—*U.S. forces in Iraq have captured a man officials
describe as the "number 3" leader of Ansar al-Islam, an extremist group
suspected of having ties to Usama bin Laden's*Al*Qaeda*network,
Fox News confirmed Tuesday.

Aso Hawleri was captured late last week in Mosul "without significant
resistance," senior Defense officials told Fox News. The Associated
Press, which first reported the capture, said Hawleri was taken into
custody by soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division.
Most of Ansar al-Islam's leaders were believed to have fled their
stronghold in northern Iraq before U.S. forces invaded in March. U.S.
and Kurdish forces destroyed the group's main base in the early weeks of
the war.

Ansar had taken control of a slice of the Kurdish-controlled area near
the Iranian border, enforcing a version of Islam only slightly less
stringent than the Taliban in Afghanistan. Their mountain strongholds
were in an area not controlled by Iraqi government forces.

The Kurdish-Arab extremist group carried out suicide bombings, car
bombs, assassinations and raids on militiamen and politicians of the
secular Kurdish government, killing scores of people over the last two
years.
U.S. officials say Ansar sent about a dozen people through Al
Qaeda*camps in 1999 and 2000 and experimented with biotoxin ricin in
2002.

In late August, Gen. John Abizaid, commander of all forces in Iraq, told
reporters that elements of Ansar al-Islam had migrated south into the
Baghdad area, presenting an increased terrorist threat.

It remains unclear whether Ansar has played a role in any of the recent
terror-style bombings in Iraq, including the Aug. 19 bombing of the U.N.
headquarters in Baghdad that killed 22 people.
Ansar's top leader, Mullah Krekar, was taken into custody in the
Netherlands in September 2002 and later deported to Norway. He was
released from a Norwegian jail last April after a court found
insufficient grounds to hold him on terrorism charges. Police dropped
the charges in July, but are investigating him for allegedly financing
terrorist activities.

© Associated Press. All rights reserved.

donnie

It is really amazing they know this is the number 3 guy but they don't know
where the number one guy is at,,,,,HHHMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmm


U.S. Captures al-Qaeda Leader In Iraq

Tuesday, October 14, 2003

WASHINGTON - U.S. forces in Iraq have captured a man officials
describe as the "number 3" leader of Ansar al-Islam, an extremist group
suspected of having ties to Usama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network,
Fox News confirmed Tuesday.

Aso Hawleri was captured late last week in Mosul "without significant
resistance," senior Defense officials told Fox News. The Associated
Press, which first reported the capture, said Hawleri was taken into
custody by soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division.
Most of Ansar al-Islam's leaders were believed to have fled their
stronghold in northern Iraq before U.S. forces invaded in March. U.S.
and Kurdish forces destroyed the group's main base in the early weeks of
the war.

Ansar had taken control of a slice of the Kurdish-controlled area near
the Iranian border, enforcing a version of Islam only slightly less
stringent than the Taliban in Afghanistan. Their mountain strongholds
were in an area not controlled by Iraqi government forces.

The Kurdish-Arab extremist group carried out suicide bombings, car
bombs, assassinations and raids on militiamen and politicians of the
secular Kurdish government, killing scores of people over the last two
years.
U.S. officials say Ansar sent about a dozen people through Al
Qaeda camps in 1999 and 2000 and experimented with biotoxin ricin in
2002.

In late August, Gen. John Abizaid, commander of all forces in Iraq, told
reporters that elements of Ansar al-Islam had migrated south into the
Baghdad area, presenting an increased terrorist threat.

It remains unclear whether Ansar has played a role in any of the recent
terror-style bombings in Iraq, including the Aug. 19 bombing of the U.N.
headquarters in Baghdad that killed 22 people.
Ansar's top leader, Mullah Krekar, was taken into custody in the
Netherlands in September 2002 and later deported to Norway. He was
released from a Norwegian jail last April after a court found
insufficient grounds to hold him on terrorism charges. Police dropped
the charges in July, but are investigating him for allegedly financing
terrorist activities.

© Associated Press. All rights reserved.