Minister: Al-Zarqawi Fled Baghdad Recently

[cal04]

The leader of Iraq's most feared terror group fled Baghdad about two weeks ago because a U.S.-Iraqi military operation in the capital was threatening his al-Qaida movement, Iraq's interior minister said in a television interview aired Friday.
Bayan Jabr told the U.S.-owned Al Hurra television that the Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and many of his al-Qaida in Iraq followers fled Baghdad because of the success of Operation Lightning, launched May 28.

Despite claims that the operation was successful, at least 30 people were killed in a wave of car-bombings and roadside explosions in the capital Friday. Jabr said "the terrorists" often have more weapons than the police. He nonetheless claimed many al-Qaida members had left the capital "because they have lost the battle." Al-Zarqawi fled Baghdad 12 days ago after several car-rigging factories were discovered in a security operation, he said. "Al-Zarqawi is in his last months," Jabr added.

In the past, Iraqi officials have variously placed al-Zarqawi in the Fallujah area west of Baghdad and in eastern Iraq. Some accounts claimed he had even been wounded and had fled to Iran, a charge the Iranians deny. Jabr also confirmed that several detainees had suffocated in a police vehicle last weekend because it was new and officers did not know how to use the air conditioner.

Major Sunni Arab groups expressed outrage over the deaths of about 10 Sunnis who were detained after a gunfight and suffocated after being locked in a van without air conditioning for hours in 115-degree heat. The minister said three officers had been arrested in the case and that there were also allegations of torture.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050715/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_security

[Barrett808]

1. Wonder if he left on a scooter, like Mullah Omar n/t

[Newsjock]

2. And he's no doubt been spotted in ...

( ) Iran
( ) Syria
( ) North Korea
( ) Joe Wilson's bed

[Straight Shooter]

3. The Centipede has escaped from Baghdad? eom

[lwin]

4. On one leg or two?

Did he leave behind a laptop with pictures this time? :rofl:

[VegasWolf]

5. Yea right! Iraqui-US forces scared him. He's hiding a 1/2 block outside

the Green Zone.

[daleo]

6. Zarquawi escaped, so the mission was a success for the U.S./Iraqis

Such is the logic of upside down Bush world.

[despairing optimist]

7. He may have gotten away by magic carpet

[leesa]

8. Maybe he's visiting Santa Claus at the North Pole.

[anotherdrew]

9. Al-Zarqawi "the ghost devil of the sands" he's here, there and everywhere

Are they trying to turn this guy into some kind of Jihadi super-villan? Then after he's nicely built up... he does something really really awful and gets 'caught in the act' who knows if he really even exists, the insurgents could just talk about him all the time to confuse western "intelligence". I bet at any given moment they have 5 Al-Zarqawi's moving around. Probably not even 1 real.

[countmyvote4real]

10. He left 2 weeks ago and at least 30 people died today.

Is that supposed to be a reassurance that ONLY 30 people died today? I think not. In truth, I have my own reservations about the existence of the one-leg mastermind that seems to vanish into thin air after each atrocity brings him that much closer to capture.

Mr. Z is the Santa Claus of the Iraqi insurgency. (Insert metaphor into blender…)

[cliss]

11. An equally likely story:

Little Red Riding Hood is sure she saw the wolf today. He was hiding behind a tree trunk.

She's sure he's going to appear any time soon, to cause her trouble.

This shit is bedtime stories, designed for individuals with an IQ of 4 points above plant life.

[saigon68]

16. designed for individuals with an IQ of 4 points above plant life

The Sheep in amerika

[AlCzervik]

12. hmmm, he must have hopped away-----again.

[pinniped]

13. None of this can be confirmed.

How is this Jabr dude in the know?

[dooner]

14. Haven't "we" captured or killed this guy a million times already?? n/t

[Roy]

15. This is dumb.....

Why chase him out of the country???

Why not just kill him again.. like they did all the other times!
:rofl: :rofl:

[Roland99]

17. But he left behind a #2, four #3s and a few aides-in-waiting.

[Disturbed]

18. I hope he disappears forever because..

his damn name is hard to spell.