A tribal chief who challenged Iraq's most feared terrorist and sent fighters to help U.S. troops battle al Qaeda in western Iraq died in a hail of bullets yesterday - the latest victim of an apparent insurgent campaign against Sunni Arabs who work with Americans.Sheik Osama al-Jadaan was ambushed in Baghdad's Mansour district, a Sunni area. Jadaan was a leader of the Karabila tribe, which has thousands of members in Anbar province, an insurgent hotbed west of Baghdad. He had announced an agreement with the U.S.-backed Iraqi government to help security forces track down al Qaeda members and foreign fighters.
In March he issued a warning to al Qaeda in Iraq's leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. "Under my leadership and that of our brothers in other tribes, we are getting close to the shelter of this terrorist," Jadaan said. "We will capture him soon."