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| Iraq |
| Al-Qaeda emir killed in Samarra |
| 2006-06-06 |
| U.S. forces killed an alleged al-Qaida terrorist, Hasayn Ali Muzabir, during a raid June 2 near Balad, Iraq, U.S. Central Command announced Monday. Hasayn Ali Muzabir was a former Iraqi Intelligence officer under the Saddam Hussein regime, but more recently operated as a so-called al-Qaida military emir in the vicinity of Samarra, according to CENTCOM. Muzabir facilitated Iraqi and foreign terrorists, and managed and provided funds for kidnapping, assassinations and bombings against Iraqi citizens and Iraqi and coalition forces. During a June 2 attempt to apprehend him he was killed and another was detained. A third man, unrelated to the terrorists, was injured during the detention and medically evacuated, CENTCOM said. U.S. and Iraqi forces have killed or captured several men believed to be associated with al-Qaida in Iraq in the area of Samarra, the city where the Golden Mosque was bombed in February, which set off a spate of ethnic violence. Among them was Hamadi Tahki, the so-called Emir of Samarra, who was killed April 28. Muzabir may have replaced Tahki, CENTCOM speculated. A military official in Samarra told UPI Saturday security has improved in the city in the last month with the latest captures and kills of suspected al Qaida leaders. No U.S. soldiers assigned to the brigade in that area were killed in action in May, the official said. Whether that translates to a real improvement is difficult to discern, he said. "It's tough to gauge what's actually going on in these towns though, Samarra in particular. Is the violence due to tribal infighting, is one tribe giving us information to use against another in order to gain a local advantage, is it about getting on our good side to get lucrative contracts, or are they sincerely fed up with the (anti-Iraqi forces) killing their people and preventing progress? It's difficult to discern. Suffice to say that when working with any of the Iraqis we always suspect there's some angle that we don't understand right away," the official said. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 rank of emir is a quick rank to reach. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2006-06-06 15:43 |