The Iraqi News Agency reported last week that the military captured a high-ranking member of the al-Qaeda network in Karbala. The description given of this former Saddam Hussein army commander sounds familiar:

High-ranking leader of terrorist organization Al Qaeda was detained today in Iraqi province of Karbala during military operation, Iraqi news agency INA reports.

Abdel Fatih Isa, a.k.a. Abu Aisha, was arrested in a private home where he had been hiding for a long time. The arrest was made after a few houses in the town had been searched through.

The terrorist is among the chief organizers of terrorist acts in capital Baghdad. According to military sources Abu Aisha was an officer from the Iraqi army during Saddam Hussein’s rule, the agency notes.

I thought that the description of an AQ commander spending most of his time hiding sounded familiar. In the captured AQ document that Centcom released this week, a description of the Northern al-Karkh commander matches up quite well with the analysis provided in the AQ memo:

The current commander of Northern al-Karkh (Abu-Huda) is very concerned because of his deteriorating security situation caused by being pursued by the Americans, since they have his picture and voice print. Therefore, his movement is very restricted and he is unable to do anything here. We should remove him from Baghdad to a location where he can work easier; otherwise he is closer to become totally ineffective. I know nothing about his past military experience or organizational skills.

I don't know if "Abu-Huda" was meant as a name or a designation, but it sounds very similar. If it isn't the same person, then it means that more than one AQ commander has to keep his head below the surface these days, unable to do anything to further their lunatic cause. Either way, it shows that the US and the Coalition have the Zarqawi network just about destroyed. (via the Weekly Standard blog)

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry is