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Iraq-Jordan
Update: Iraq refuses to say if Zarqawi detained
2005-01-22
JPost - Reg Req'd EFL - News
Iraq's interior minister on Saturday refused to comment on rumors that the top terror leader in the country had been taken into custody. "I wouldn't like to comment for the time being," Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib said when asked about rumors that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had been arrested. "Let's see. Maybe in the next few days we will make a comment about it." Pressing him, a reporter asked, "Does that mean he is in custody?" "No comment," the minister repeated.
I Can Say No More™
He's teasing us. Could it be they only have part of him in custody? Enquiring minds want to know. The Fat Lady is lubricating her lovely throat with gin, just on the off chance a performance is called for...
The rumors about al-Zarqawi followed an interview aired on an Arab television station earlier this month in which a Saudi man arrested for a deadly truck bombing claimed that he heard from other insurgents that al-Zarqawi had been arrested by Iraqi police in Fallujah but released because authorities didn't recognize him. Rumors spread that Iraqi authorities had al-Zarqawi in custody but were waiting to announce it just before the Jan. 30 elections. In an audiotape posted Thursday on the Web, a speaker who identified himself as al-Zarqawi called on his followers to prepare for a long struggle against the Americans and denounced Iraqi Shiites for fighting alongside US troops in last November's assault on the rebel stronghold of Fallujah.
hmmmmmm - I'm starting to get my hopes up
Posted by:Frank G

#13  Roger Simon says AP has picked this up.
Posted by: anonymous2u   2005-01-22 11:59:49 PM  

#12  Lex and CA are right I think, but Iraqi politicos also have a tendency to occasionally say something thats more or less spun from whole cloth, I think. The Interior Minister could just be playing too cute for his own good, as Mrs D implies.

Id hold to the 48 hour rule on this, and no Im not sure when to clock that from.
Posted by: liberalhawk   2005-01-22 11:30:42 PM  

#11  It is common for Iraqi politicos to show a little leg before the main dish.

Have the fat lady down another case of brewsky, gobble down another Turkey leg, while there is still time.

Suggest the "Dance of Seven Veils" more appropriate at this juncture.
Posted by: Captain America   2005-01-22 10:16:56 PM  

#10  Seems standard operating procedure when any hot terror operative is nabbed to delay announcing it so as to continue to gather info on his cohorts' activities. I recall someone in the intel agencies saying something like a 6-week window between apprehension and announcement as standard. Perhaps Old Spook can enlighten us.
Posted by: lex   2005-01-22 10:13:07 PM  

#9  Question: Did John F'ng Kerry take his three Purple Hearts with him to Iraq?
Posted by: Captain America   2005-01-22 10:13:02 PM  

#8  The second tip-off was at the end it said "I'm John Kerry, and I approve of this message."
Posted by: JackAssFestival   2005-01-22 10:07:59 PM  

#7  The voice tape broadcasted by Al-Jazeera TV claimed to be for Abo-Mosab Al-Zarkawi is actually fabricated.

Yeah, the tipoff was when the voice on the tape said: "This is Al-Zarkawi, not some random Saudi Jihadist pretending to be Al-Zarkawi".
Posted by: AJackson   2005-01-22 6:42:52 PM  

#6  Please oh please let this be true.

I'd tell him Saddam snitched on him and then put him in Saddam's cell with a dull butterknife.

Most likely the first rumor is true - the one where he was not recognized and then released.
Posted by: JP   2005-01-22 6:33:42 PM  

#5  The Minister may have learned from the Americans that some times it pays to put something out just to see who starts buzzing. Doesn't need to be true, just titilating. Didn't we learn that from the Brits?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis   2005-01-22 5:10:02 PM  

#4  "I wouldn’t like to comment for the time being," Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib said when asked about rumors that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had been arrested. "Let’s see. Maybe in the next few days we will make a comment about it."

The Minister wouldn't make remarks like these unless he actually believed the Z-man was in captivity. My hopes are up!

Wonder how they're going to ice the ugly f***er.
Posted by: Bulldog   2005-01-22 5:05:56 PM  

#3  Most interesting, considering the Thursday broadcast is possibly a fraud.

Hammoribi:

The voice tape broadcasted by Al-Jazeera TV claimed to be for Abo-Mosab Al-Zarbawi is actually fabricated.

It is not done by Al-Zarqawi but by one among his followers in Syria or in Jordan. It may have been done inside the studios of Al-Jazeera TV.

More terrorist attacks with at least 5 bobby-trapped cars in Baghdad killed more than 30 Iraqis and wounded others.

Insar Al-Sunnah beheaded Swedish and Belgium citizens in Iraq.

Ten days to go for election!
Posted by: Captain America   2005-01-22 3:55:54 PM  

#2  Hmmmm. When was the 48 hour rule invoked?
Posted by: .com   2005-01-22 3:54:04 PM  

#1  Let's send Barbara Boxer over to question him! Though she wouldn't be as nasty with HIM as she was with Condi, just the sight and sound of that moron should scare the information out of him!

In fact she should stay in the came cell with him...you know, to, uh, ensure we don't mistreat him and all.
Posted by: Justrand   2005-01-22 2:24:41 PM  

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