Leader

Top Zarqawi aide captured in Iraq's Mosul: US

Thu Jun 16,12:02 PM ET

A top aide to Al-Qaeda frontman Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been captured in Iraq's northern city of Mosul, the US military revealed.

Mohammed Khalaf Shakar, also known as Abu Talha, is "Zarqawi's most trusted operations agent in all of Iraq," a military statement said Thursday.

"This is a major defeat for the Al-Qaeda's terrorist organisation in Iraq. Zarqawi's leader in Mosul is out of business," said US Air Force Brigadier General Donald Alston.

According to the military statement, he surrendered to US and Iraqi forces on Tuesday without a fight in "a quiet neighbourhood in Mosul" after they were led to his whereabouts by "multiple intelligence sources."

"According to former Talha associates, Talha never stayed more than one night at any one residence," the statement added.

Alston, the new top military spokesman, told reporters in Baghdad: "Numerous reports indicated he wore a suicide vest 24 hours a day and stated he would never surrender. Instead Talha gave up without a fight."

Iraqi authorities said recently they had captured one of Abu Talha's most trusted aides and his financial manager, Motleq Mahmud Motleq Abdullah, also known as Abu Raed, in Mosul on May 28.

They had also announced the arrest of another Zarqawi aide in Mosul known as Mullah Mehdi.

Abu Talha is accused of masterminding some of the deadliest attacks against US and Iraqi forces in Mosul. Iraq's third-largest city, it has been a major front for the insurgency since November.

"Talha fell like so many others fall, and that is through a combination of factors that ultimately catch up to him," Alston said.

"In his case like so many others along the way, civilians helped us get closer to him."

Jordanian-born Zarqawi, who is the most-wanted man in Iraq and has a 25-million-dollar bounty on his head, is believed to have been wounded but the severity of his wounds are not known.

He confirmed in an Internet audio message posted in May that he had been "lightly" wounded but claimed he was still fighting in Iraq.

Several aides to Zarqawi have been arrested recently, according to Iraqi authorities, but his organisation is still active.

The group has claimed many of the bloodiest attacks in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein in April 2003.

The Iraqi government said in early March that 11 of Zarqawi's top aides were captured and seven killed and that Abu Talha was the most significant man in the network left standing.

In a diagram of the network released at the time Abu Talha is shown mustachioed with a full head of hair and appears to be in his 30s.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050616...E0BHNlYwN0bWE-

You have to wonder whether this is what will happen when we're closing in on UBL. Terrorist leaders talk a good game, but when the guys with the guns are outside, they piss themselves and come out with their hands up.

__________________

SloMax

It is a success, but Iraq is full of arab fundamentalists who want and will step into his place. I think it is only temporary set back for Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Shek

New York Times
June 17, 2005

U.S. And Iraqi Troops Capture A Top Militant Leader In Mosul

By Richard A. Oppel Jr.

MOSUL, Iraq, June 16 - Mohammed Sharkawa, the militant leader who leads Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's operations in northern Iraq, was seized Tuesday afternoon in a home in western Mosul after aerial reconnaissance and a tip from a local resident helped pinpoint his whereabouts, American military officials in Mosul and Baghdad said Thursday.

Mr. Sharkawa, a former Republican Guard member and onetime cigarette smuggler, commanded a force of several hundred insurgents and was directly responsible for at least 50 car bombings and 150 beheadings and assassinations in recent months, the officials said.

Cmdr. Dave Wray, a military spokesman in Baghdad, said that after leaving the Republican Guard Mr. Sharkawa became a follower of an extremist strain of Wahhabism and later joined Ansar al-Islam, a radical terror group that fought Kurdish leaders in northern Iraq.

Mr. Sharkawa returned to Mosul after Saddam Hussein granted sanctuary to Wahhabists, Commander Wray said, and later he aligned himself with Mr. Zarqawi, the most-wanted terrorist in Iraq, becoming his proxy in northern Iraq.

Mr. Sharkawa, whose alias is Abu Talha, met as often as once a month with Mr. Zarqawi south of Mosul and in western Iraq, and when he was captured was Mr. Zarqawi's most important lieutenant still operating freely in Iraq, said Col. Robert Brown, the commander of the 1st Brigade of the 25th Infantry Division in Mosul, whose troops were involved in seizing Mr. Sharkawa.

While the American military has announced the capture of several of Mr. Zarqawi's top lieutenants, Mr. Sharkawa was their most-wanted man in northern Iraq. In an interview in December, Brig. Gen. Carter F. Ham, then the commander of American forces here, said of Mr. Sharkawa, "Right now, if we could get one guy off the street in northern Iraq, he would be the guy."

Mr. Sharkawa was a leader of the Salafists, extremist Islamists who wanted a government so weak that the vacuum would allow a Taliban-style theocracy to develop, General Ham said. While Mr. Sharkawa worked for jihadist goals, he joined secular Baathists and loyalists to Mr. Hussein who were also trying to derail the political process. He operated in the background, luring jihadist suicide bombers and hiring other young men to carry out attacks, the general said.

Videos seized in raids by American troops show Mr. Sharkawa exhorting volunteer suicide bombers at safe houses to attack their targets. The bombers are shown on the tapes praying and undergoing a ritual of sorts before their missions while Mr. Sharkawa - sometimes cloaked in a black scarf and other times showing his face - lectures and encourages them. In a mugshot released by the American military, Mr. Sharkawa appears to be in his early 40's.

"He turned real bad four or five years ago," Colonel Brown said. Initially, he said, Mr. Sharkawa had differences with Mr. Zarqawi, but "they patched it up."

"He was very well liked by Zarqawi," Colonel Brown said. "Evil, but very intelligent."

Colonel Brown, whose brigade is the principal maneuver unit in Mosul, said the military began to close in on Mr. Sharkawa after the capture a few weeks ago of a terrorist - known as Mullah Mehdi and Mehdi Moussa - who ran his operations on the east side of the Tigris River in Mosul. Information turned over by Mr. Mehdi helped lead to Mr. Sharkawa, the colonel said. A Mosul resident provided information hours before the raid, by American and Iraqi troops, that helped identify Mr. Sharkawa's whereabouts, he said.

With his local support here fading, three weeks ago Mr. Sharkawa ordered a suicide car-bomb attack against members of his family who he believed had turned on him, American officials said. The attack in Mr. Sharkawa's hometown, Qabr Abed, south of Mosul, killed two of his cousins who were working for the police.

At the Pentagon, Lt. Gen. James T. Conway, said of Mr. Sharkawa: "He has said that he will not be taken alive; that he wore a vest and would detonate himself. In fact, he gave up rather peacefully when U.S. and Iraqi forces went to, actually, an associate's house, and he happened to be there with a number of others."

The impact of his capture "will be significant," General Conway added. "He has been in charge of the operation up there for a long time."

Leader

It's also full of civilians that are willing to turn them in.

The terrorists are incapable of winning a militarily significant victory. Every defeat for them is one step closer to their end.

LOKI

well, im not in the terror side nor islamic, but terrorism is relative, and sometimes some people say "they are terrorists" only for their own convenience,

when Ben Laden kill 3000 persons blowing a pair of turrets is terrorism, when the US forces kill 50000-100000 persons in the "war against terror", they are peacekeepers and heroes, remember that laden and international terrorism born from the US, Europe, USSR manipulation, but it seens that terrorist have a special preference on US -and we know why-, so for the mistakes of the past they will pay in the future -wow im talking like nostradamus -

so you have that, when you kill a Wall Street broker is a terrible murder......when you kill a poor child in Irak, is like to kill an animal, dog, cat, horse, 3-world people are the same, for the americans

for every inocent you kill, more than one terrorist born, so no problem your "militarily significant victory" will rise more and more "terrorists" ("terrorist" because both americans and Ben laden people are terrorists), until they get a nuke or biologic weapon, and you will see what is the result of your "militarily significant victory".....no problem....

troung

See thats a problem... you unwittingly hit it on the head...

People take everyone who died in the given country from every cause times it by to and give it all to us or whoever the point of the bashing is directed at.

Since you said 50k-100k, I'll use 75k. Of the 75k how many were killed by the Taliban? Of the 75k how many were killed by Iraqi terrorists? How many people were killed by local criminals? How many just died and got thrown into the total?

And more important how many were members of the Taliban or the Iraqi rebels?

The converse is every time they find a willing person to set a bomb puts them one set closer to victory... in their mind that is...

Leader

A terrorist is a person that deliberately targets civilians for the purpose of instilling fear in the population in order to archive some political goal. Therefore, terrorism is not relative.

The US does not, as a matter of policy, target civilians. Therefore, US troops are not terrorists.

We have not invaded any country named "Irak." Such a country does not exist. The US does not murder children. Murder requires intent.

That is completely untrue. We went to Iraq and paid with blood to free the Iraqi people from 25 years of murderous oppression brought on them by Saddam.

Point to a scientific study that proves that. You can't.

You don't even understand what I wrote.

You are wrong as shown above.

Is this what you’re hoping for. Only fools pray for nuclear war.

LOKI

well the 100000 number is only in irak, the "rebelds" that are fighting arent fighting by its own country????, they dont like americans, politics can say anything,politics can also say that the iraki rebels could be the true freedom fighters, they want to be free, they are fighting for the irak freedom, out euro-russian-american influence, like they say that ameriacns soldiers are heroes, freedome fighters, (all that, when the same politics were in sadam hussein side against the iranies), remember that Talibans were heores in america in the 80s!!!!, with the greate Rambo fighting with them against the "evil" soviets!!!!!!!!

but we dont know how many were killed by the US, but is very known that the great mayority are inocents (maybe 90%), to catch a terrorist in an army military war many innocents will die, irak is a hell, and everybody knows that, we see everyday (well in the last times the information is limited) house destroyed by f15-16s, M1s, US soldiers,etc.., women and child in blood, there isnt not an civil war, so at least the half (actually must be moooore) must be killed by the US forces

all armies in war are barbarian, but the americans dont want to accept that, because they dont want to see theyrself in the mirrow, coz they will see that arent very different of the sadam hussein army, they think that are angels or heroes, in the lasts times they are starting to compare with the ancient greeks or romans...........pathetic

LOKI

no im not hopping that, but america is fighting in a bad way for their............. OIL!!!!

Leader

The f*cking country is named "IRAQ"! Why should I take you seriously when you can’t even spell the countries name.

Many of them aren't.

I don't like you. Does that give me the right to drive a car bomb up to your house?

So when you said "well, im not in the terror side" You were lying. You’re a terrorist scumbag.

They are free.

No they are not. They are fighting to bring Iraq back to dictatorship and oppression.

We live in a global political system. That is not possible.

They weren't heroes in America. Stop making stuff up.

WTF are you talking about?

Just make something up. You're go at that.

"Everybody knows that" does not support your argument. So why don't you try some facts.

Really? No, I don't think so.

Shut up you pathetic terrorists supporting piece of sh*t.

Leader

You're a fool. Why don't you learn speak English and then come argue? Maybe then, you would know what I'm saying.

LOKI

calm down leader, you love your country, thats good, but one thing is to love your people and country, and other thing is to believe on politicans, take it in consideration

Leader

I don't believe what politicians tell me to believe. My beliefs are my own. You support terrorists and call...yes...heroic American troops murders and terrorists. Then you express your hope that millions of Americans will die in a nuclear attack. So yeah F*ck you.

LOKI

NOOOOOO!!!!! i dont want to see that!!! hell!!!i only said that you cant fight terrorism with military attacks, the other side will get stronger, and stronger, and stronger, so the nuke scenario become probable, only that....

anyway, to talk with a nationalist is useless.....

Leader

So we be getting what we deserve, right? So you didn't say that.

Feel free to run away. Those who support the terrorists are good at that.