BAGHDAD, Iraq – 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, although he said that arrest warrants had been issued for al-Zarqawi and several officials from Saddam Hussein (news – web sites)’s regime, including Saddam deputy Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri and the ousted leader’s half brother, Sabaawi al-Hassan.
The rumors 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.
Al-Zarqawi, the leader of Iraq’s al-Qaida affiliate, has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces, along with the kidnappings and the beheadings of several foreigners, including Americans.
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 U.S. troops in last November’s assault on the rebel stronghold of Fallujah.
The United States has offered a $25 million reward for al-Zarqawi’s capture or death — the same amount as for Osama bin Laden.
(AP)
Interesting, while one must realize that the Iraqi government may not be very adept at disinformation it IS interesting that they are not outright denying the ‘rumor’. This was first made public over a week ago by the same Kurdish radio station that announced the capture of Saddam.
So…do you announce his capture before the elections hoping that it will deflate the other terrorists or will it make him a martyr and the attacks worse?
If al-Zarqawi is truly the pivot man in the insurgency then his arrest will knock the wheels off of the rest of the groups.
Personally, while al-Zarqawi is target numero uno at this time and needs to die what is most important is the intel that can be gathered from him to take out the rest of the groups. They all talk…they always do.