Qaeda says it killed key US ally in Iraq

DUBAI - The Iraq branch of Al-Qaeda said in an Internet statement on Friday that it killed Abdul Sattar Abu Reesha, a key US ally who was murdered in a bomb attack in Al-Anbar province on Thursday.
"Your brothers in the security ministry of the Islamic State in Iraq have assassinated the imam of the infidels and of apostasy, Abdul Sattar Abu Reesha," the statement said.
It called Abu Reesha "one of the dogs and standard bearers of the crusade of (US President George W.) Bush."
The operation had been planned a month ago, but the details could not be released for security reasons, the group said, according to a transcript provided by the US-based SITE monitoring service.
"We announce the formation of 'special security committees' to trace and assassinate prominent (leaders) of agent tribes who tarnished the reputation of their original tribes by helping the soldiers of the cross and the Safawi government of al-Maliki," the group adds.
It warned it would release a list of names of those people it was targeting in order to shame them.
"Let those who are left of the apostate and agent heads who are involved in the American project know that the swords of the Mujahideen are after them," it said, according to SITE.
ht-jkb/ch

09/14/2007 21:02 GMT