Report: Zarqawi Captured

James Joyner · Thursday, July 29, 2004 · 6 Comments

Jeff Quinton passes on a Russian report that Iraq’s head terrorist has been captured:

Sofia Morning News – Al-Zarqawi Captured – Report

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, head of the group suspected of beheading two Bulgarian hostages, has reportedly been arrested in Western Iraq. Al-Zarqawi has been arrested by Iraqi police and US military close to the border with Syria, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported, citing information posted on the Internet.

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A group linked to Zarqawi is suspected of carrying out a wave of attacks in late June that killed more than 100 people and injured hundreds more in attacks in five Iraqi cities.

I agree with Jeff that the report is sketchy enough that we might ought hold off on our celebrations and that, “If it turns out to be true – bank on the timing being questioned by Democrats.”

Update (1305): The same site is now issuing denials. It’s apparently getting heavy traffic; neither link is loading at present.

FILED UNDER: Iraq Conflict, Terrorism

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About James Joyner
James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. Follow James on Twitter.

Comments

BigFire says:

Thursday, July 29, 2004 at 11:56

schetchy doesn’t began to describes it. Den Beste Rule applies for now.

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Backcountry Conservative says:

Thursday, July 29, 2004 at 12:00

Report: Zarqawi Captured
This one still appears to be a bit iffy. I’m sure there will be reports from other sources confirming or debunking it later today. Sofia News Agency/Novinite.com: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, head of the group suspected of beheading two Bulgarian hostages,…

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mypetjawa v. 2.0 (beta) says:

Thursday, July 29, 2004 at 12:00

Zarqawi Arrested
Since the source for the info is an internet posting, I’m not holding my breath on this one. Fingers crossed, expectations low.

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Nathan Hamm says:

Thursday, July 29, 2004 at 12:21

I managed to dig up the RIA Novosti report mentioned by Novinvite. Unfortunately, my newspaper Russian sucks. Maybe someone else can make better sense of it.

What I did see that jumped out was the mention of an Iraqi website called Ã¢Â€ÂœOur Iraq,Ã¢Â€Â where it sounds like they got the information from (again, my Russian ainÃ¢Â€Â™t great and I donÃ¢Â€Â™t quite recall what сообщил means).

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Jim Henley says:

Thursday, July 29, 2004 at 12:48

Do you think Fafnir and Giblets tracked him down during the two weeks they were “on the road?”

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Bithead says:

Thursday, July 29, 2004 at 16:13

The report may be in error, but clearly the rumor mill is going crazy because SOMEONE got caught. CNN is up with a report that is so similar as to make one wonder if the first source didn’t simply screw it up… says CNN:

“DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (Reuters) – Pakistan has arrested a senior al Qaeda figure with a bounty of up to $25 million on his head, Interior Minister Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat told CNN television Thursday. He said the suspect had been captured during a raid in central Pakistan a few days ago. He did not identify the captive but said he was “a person who is most wanted internationally.” …”The Pakistani president said the arrested person is Tanzanian who is married to an Uzbek woman, and who is wanted by the United States,” the station said. Al Arabiya said the suspect may be Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani. Ghailani is the only Tanzanian on the FBI’s most wanted “terrorists” list, for his alleged role in the 1998 bombings by al Qaeda of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

similarity of situaton, caused someone at the Rusian outlet to pop a cork.

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