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U.S. says terrorist in Jill Carroll kidnapping killed

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A U.S. military commander said Thursday that an al Qaeda in Iraq militant believed to be involved in last year's kidnapping of journalist Jill Carroll has been killed.

He is Muharib Abdul Latif al-Jubouri and was identified as the senior minister of information for al Qaeda in Iraq, Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said.

Caldwell said al-Jubouri was killed in a fight about four miles (six kilometers) west of the Taji air base north of Baghdad; the body initially was identified by photos, then confirmed by DNA testing on Wednesday.

Caldwell said al-Jubouri was connected with the 2006 kidnapping of Carroll, an American freelance reporter for The Christian Science Monitor held captive for nearly three months.

"Based on multiple detainee briefings we know he was responsible for the transportation and movement of Jill Carroll from her various hiding places," Caldwell said.

Al-Jubouri also was involved in the abduction of Tom Fox, one of four men from the Chicago, Illinois-based peace group Christian Peacemaker Teams, who was found fatally shot in Baghdad in March 2006, Caldwell said.

"Muharib was also the last one known to have had personal custody of Tom Fox before his death," Caldwell said.

The U.S. general said al-Jubouri was the only top-level militant whose recent death the U.S. military could confirm.

Iraqi officials reported the death of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, said to be head of the Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella organization of Sunni militant groups.

Caldwell said it is not known who al-Baghdadi is or whether he exists, and Iraqis may have mistaken al-Jubouri for al-Baghdadi.

He also said U.S. officials could not confirm reports of the death of Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq.

On Tuesday, tribal leaders in Abu Ghraib and Falluja told the Iraqi government that al-Masri was killed in fighting.

Al-Masri is the "war minister" in the Cabinet of the Islamic State of Iraq -- which has claimed responsibility for a number of insurgent actions.

Iraqi authorities also said they can't confirm al-Masri's death, reports of which were dismissed by the Islamic State of Iraq.

A statement issued by the insurgent group said al-Masri is "safe" and "still battling the enemies of God." (Watch how al Qaeda in Iraq evolved under al-Masri )

Al-Masri is an Egyptian who replaced Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as head of al Qaeda in Iraq after al-Zarqawi's death in a U.S. airstrike last June.

Other developments

Operation Rat Trap, a 72-hour push against militants between April 28 and 30, resulted in the deaths of 15 militants and the detention of 95 others, Caldwell said. In April, 87 militants were killed in U.S.-led coalition operations and 465 people detained, he said.

A rocket attack Wednesday on Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone killed four foreign contract workers for the U.S. government, the U.S. Embassy said Thursday. An embassy statement identified the contractors as a Philippine citizen, one person from Nepal and two from India.

Baghdad's Shiite enclave of Abu Dsheer was hit for a third day in a row by mortar attacks. One civilian was killed in Thursday's attack, an Interior Ministry official said.

An imam was shot and killed by gunmen near a hospital in central Baghdad, an Interior Ministry official said, citing a police report.

Gunmen killed two civilians in Qaton in northern Baquba, a Diyala province police official said.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh and Basim Mahdi contributed to this report.
This information is copied from www.cnn.com

posted by mhai @ 9:33 AM