The U.S. military said Wednesday that its troops have arrested a senior leader of al-Qaida network in Iraq said to be a liaison member with Osama Bin Laden.
Khalid al-Mashhadani, also known as Abu Shaheed, the most senior Iraqi member of al-Qaida in Iraq, was arrested in the northern city of Mosul on July 4, Brigadier General Kevin Bergner told reporters.
The detainee thought to be near Bin Laden and was "considered a conduit between Abu Ayyub al-Masri, Bin Laden and Ayman al- Zawahiri," Bergner said.
"In fact, communication between the senior al-Qaida leadership and al-Masri frequently went through al-Mashhadani," Bergner said, adding, "There is a clear connection between al-Qaida in Iraq and al-Qaida senior leadership outside Iraq."
Bergner said that Mashhadani told his interrogators that the Iraqi leader of al-Qaida network in Iraq Abu Omer al-Baghdadi was a fictional character to cover the Egyptian top leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri.
He said that the voice of alleged al-Baghdadi, the leader of the "Islamic State of Iraq," was presented by an actor and that al- Masri was the real leader of the al-Qaida network in Iraq.
He also disclosed that according to Mashhadani, the al-Qaida leaders in Iraq surrounding al-Masri are foreigners.
Source: Xinhua
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