The leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Ayyub Al-Masri, was arrested in the northern city of Mosul, the Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman said Thursday. Spokesman Mohammed Al-Askari said the arrest of Al-Masri, also known as Abu Hamza Al-Muhajir, was confirmed to him by the Iraqi commander of the province. There was no immediate confirmation or comment from US forces on the arrest. The US military in Baghdad said, “We are currently checking with Iraqi authorities to confirm the accuracy of this information.” Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said that Mosul police “arrested one of Al-Qaeda's leaders at midnight and during the primary investigations he admitted that he is Abu Hamza Al-Muhajir.” News of the arrest was also reported by Iraqi state television and Arab satellite TV stations. The state channel, Iraqiya, said that Minister of Interior Jawad Al-Bolani would reward Mosul police for the capture. If confirmed, the arrest would represent a major blow to Al-Qaeda in Iraq, which has been on the run for the past year following a shift in alliances by Sunni tribesmen in western Anbar province, and elsewhere, and an influx of thousands of US troops. The US military considers the organization its number one enemy in Iraq. “The commander of Ninevah military operations informed me that Iraqi troops captured Abu Hamza Al-Muhajir the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq,” Al-Askari told The Associated Press by telephone. He did not have any further details nor did he say when the Al-Qaeda leader was arrested. According to unconfirmed reports he was caught Thursday evening in the Tayran area in central Mosul, 360 km (225 miles) northwest of Baghdad. Al-Masri, an Egyptian militant, took over Al-Qaeda in Iraq after Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi was killed June 7, 2006 in a US airstrike northeast of Baghdad.
