Al-Qeada Death Confirmed
AFP ^ | August 15, 2005 | Maxim Kniazkov
A TOP aide to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, head of the al-Qaeda operation in Iraq and accused of masterminding high-profile suicide bombings in the country, has been killed by Iraqi security forces, defence officials have confirmed.
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Abu Zubair, also known as Mohammed Salah Sultan, was shot dead in the northern city of Mosul on Friday, when he was caught in an ambush set up by Iraqi security forces, the officials said, confirming a report by Mosul police.
No other details of the operation were provided. But officials said Abu Zubair was wearing a suicide belt filled with metal pellets when he was killed.
It was not immediately clear whether the suspect intended to become a suicide bomber himself, or whether the belt was to be used by somebody else.
Abu Zubair was wanted for his alleged role in, among other things, organising a bombing attack on an Iraqi police station in Mosul last month, in which five policemen were killed, the defence officials said.
They noted that Abu Zubair's death followed the capture of three bomb makers and six foreign fighters by US and Iraqi security forces last week.
"Abu Zubair's death, as well as recent captures of terrorists in northern Iraq, is making a difference in coalition and Iraqi security forces efforts to disrupt terrorists operating in this part of the country," Colonel Bill Buckner, a spokesman for the multinational force, said.
He expressed confidence that bombings and other insurgent attacks "will not prevent Iraqi democracy".
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