Al-Qaeda Leader Al-Baghdadi Captured in Iraq …Update: Untrue

UPDATE: Put away the waterboards– The Iraqi government wrongly confirmed the arrest of Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Al-Baghdadi on Thursday, the third time in just a year.
Good call, John.

UPDATE 2: So who’s the dude in the picture?

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Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the purported leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, an al-Qaeda-linked group, has been captured.

Al-Bawaba news released this photo with their report on the capture.

The Al-Qaeda leader in Iraq was captured on Thursday by Iraqi forces according to security officials.
FOX News reported:

The suspected leader of an Al Qaeda-linked militant network was captured Thursday by Iraqi military forces, security officials said, in what could mark a significant blow against Sunni insurgents as they step up attacks. Two separate homicide bombings, meanwhile, killed at least 42 people.

Abu Omar al-Baghdadi has been a key target for U.S. and Iraqi forces for years as the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella group of Sunni militant factions that is believed dominated by Al Qaeda in Iraq.

But little is known about his origins or real influence over insurgent groups, which have staged a series of high-profile attacks in recent weeks, including, apparently, the two homicide blasts Thursday in Baghdad and north of the capital in Diyala province.

The U.S. military has even said al-Baghdadi could be a fictitious character used to give an Iraqi face to an organization dominated by foreign Al Qaeda fighters.

But Iraqi security forces said he was in custody.

The US has so far not been able to confirm the capture.

A Dubai-based channel reported this on al-Baghdadi back in may 2008:

The Dubai-based network, citing an Iraqi police official, said the real name of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, who allegedly heads the Islamic State of Iraq, is Hamid Dawoud al-Zawi.

Originally from Haditha, al-Baghdadi served in the Iraqi army under Saddam Hussein, then joined Al Qaeda in 2003, the police official told Al-Arabiya.

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Jim Hoft is the founder and editor of The Gateway Pundit, one of the top conservative news outlets in America. Jim was awarded the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award in 2013 and is the proud recipient of the Breitbart Award for Excellence in Online Journalism from the Americans for Prosperity Foundation in May 2016. In 2023, The Gateway Pundit received the Most Trusted Print Media Award at the American Liberty Awards.

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Thanks for sharing!