Bungle over Al-Qaida death

herald sun
It appears there was only one senior al-Qaida leader killed this week by US forces, however, Iraqi forces twice intercepted the corpse.

According to the US military, Muharib Abdul-Latif al-Jubouri was shot dead by US forces on Tuesday just west of Taiji.

He was the Minister of Information under the overall head of al-Qaida-affiliated groups in Iraq, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi.

Al-Jubouri was suspected of a role in the kidnapping of journalist Jill Carroll and the murder of US hostage Tom Fox last year.

His body was brought to Baghdad for DNA testing, then released for burial. But as the relative drove through Baghdad with the body, he was stopped by Iraqi police, who took the body and handed it over to US forces, who released it again.

An alert local tipped off Iraqi security forces that the body of a senior al-Qaida leader, believed to be al-Baghdadi, was in a mosque, and Iraqi security forces seized it and announced they had killed al-Baghdadi.

The US has no reason to think al-Baghdadi and al-Jubouri are the same man -- but they aren't certain who al-Baghdadi is.