No. 2 Leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq Killed

No. 2 Leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq Killed

BAGHDAD, Oct. 15 -- The U.S. military on Wednesday announced the death of a man it described as the No. 2 leader of the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq.

The military said it killed the leader known as Abu Qaswarah on Oct. 5 during an operation in the northern city of Mosul in which four other alleged al-Qaeda in Iraq members were slain.

Abu Qaswarah, who also used the alias Abu Sara, directed the group's operations in northern Iraq, where al-Qaeda in Iraq remains entrenched and has been blamed for recent large-scale attacks, the military said.

The Moroccan native was the deputy of al-Qaeda in Iraq's leader, known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri, and he had "historic ties" to the group's founder, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in June 2006, the military said in a statement issued Wednesday afternoon. Masri is believed to be an Egyptian whose real name is Yusuf al-Dardiri.

"Abu Qaswarah is another example of how al-Qaeda in Iraq has been forced to rely on foreign terrorists to carry out their vicious attacks on the Iraqi people as well as coalition and Iraqi forces," said Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll, a U.S. military spokesman. "Terrorists who bring radical and fanatic Islam into Iraq commit murderous acts against the people of Iraq and have no place in the future of Iraq." 

Al-Qaeda in Iraq is a largely homegrown group that U.S. officials say is led by non-Iraqi Arabs. The U.S. military and the Iraqi army have in recent months cracked down on the group in Baghdad and in Diyala and Anbar provinces. As the group lost members and support from the population in former strongholds, many of its leaders moved to Mosul, an ethnically mixed city that is Iraq's third largest.

The U.S. military said soldiers searching for Abu Qaswarah were shot at when they arrived at a building in Mosul that the insurgent group used as a command center. U.S. soldiers returned fire, killing five men, including Abu Qaswarah. The military said it did not disclose his death sooner because it was awaiting confirmation of his identity.

Describing Abu Qaswarah as a "charismatic" leader who rallied al-Qaeda in Iraq's northern network following major setbacks across the country, the military said he planned attacks on U.S. and Iraqi troops in Mosul and oversaw a foiled attempt to destroy the Mosul Civic Center last month, an attack that could have killed hundreds of people during Ramadan.

The military also said Abu Qaswarah trained in Afghanistan and found ways to get foreign fighters into northern Iraq.

While violence in Iraq is at a four-year low, U.S. military officials say they remain deeply concerned about security in Mosul.

Hundreds of Christian families have fled their homes in Nineveh province, which includes Mosul, amid a wave of slayings targeting Christians in recent weeks.

Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said economic and political problems in Nineveh have worked to the advantage of insurgents. The predominantly Sunni Arab province is run by Kurds, because the Sunni Arabs boycotted the 2005 election. Many of the province's citizens are leery of the Iraqi army there, which is a largely Kurdish force. And the police forces in Mosul remain infiltrated by extremists, Odierno said.

"If the population feels they are not being supported by the provincial government and the provincial council, they may not want al-Qaeda there, but they will give them passive support," Odierno said.

Pressure on the group in Iraq has led its leaders to encourage followers to travel to Afghanistan, that country's defense minister told a news conference in Kabul Tuesday.

"The success of coalition forces in Iraq and also some other issues in some of the neighboring countries have made it possible that there is a major increase in the foreign fighters," Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak said. "They are well-trained, more sophisticated; their coordination is much better."