Iraq prime minister says Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the Abe Vigoda of al-Qaida, is REALLY dead this time

[Amerigo Vespucci]

BAGHDAD Iraq's prime minister says two of the most wanted al-Qaida in Iraq figures have been killed in a joint operation with the U.S.

Nouri al-Maliki said Monday that Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri were killed in over the weekend when a joint operation of U.S. and Iraqi forces rocketed a home where they were hiding.

He showed reporters at a news conference pictures of two dead bodies he identified as al-Baghdadi and al-Masri. But his claims could not immediately be verified.

The Iraqi government has claimed multiple times over that it had either captured or killed al-Baghdadi, most recently a year ago.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/19/two-top-al-qaeda-figures-_n_542653.html

[Richardo]

1. "...the Abe Vigoda of Al-Qaida"

Got me on that one. :rofl:

[Botany]

2. Was he the # 2 man?

Just asking. BTW what did Saddam Hussein do to al Qaeda people in areas of Iraq that he controlled?
Answer: He shot them.

[sabra]

3. don't forget, in 2007 the US said he never even existed...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/18/world/africa/18iht-iraq.4.6718200.html

Leader of Al Qaeda group in Iraq was fictional, U.S. military says

BAGHDAD — For more than a year, the leader of one the most notorious insurgent groups in Iraq was said to be a mysterious Iraqi named Abdullah Rashid al-Baghdadi.

As the titular head of the Islamic State in Iraq, an organization publicly backed by Al Qaeda, Baghdadi issued a steady stream of incendiary pronouncements. Despite claims by Iraqi officials that he had been killed in May, Baghdadi appeared to have persevered unscathed.

On Wednesday, a senior American military spokesman provided a new explanation for Baghdadi's ability to escape attack: He never existed.

Brigadier General Kevin Bergner, the chief American military spokesman, said the elusive Baghdadi was actually a fictional character whose audio-taped declarations were provided by an elderly actor named Abu Adullah al-Naima.

[ShortnFiery]

4. But Oh Damn, The Munchkin Coroner from "The Wizard of Oz" just passed away.

How can this be verified now? BUMMER man! :smoke:



http://www.seattlepi.com/tvguide/418256_tvgif10.html

"As Coroner I must aver, I thoroughly examined her, and she's not only merely dead, she's really most sincerely dead."