WAR: Rumors of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Capture - US Denies; Lookalike Captured

Rumors curculated this morning that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, believed to be the mastermind behind the spate of violence and kidnappings in Iraq, was captured near the town of Hilla.
AlBawaba news source is reporting the capture, while US news sources are still calling the reports "conflicting."
Reuters is quoting Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt has saying "It's not true, the reports are not true. We've heard the reports about it, but they are not true."
What actually seems to have happened is that an al Zarqawi lookalike was captured by Iraqi police in Hila.

Sky.com

An operation is underway in the Hilla area, which is guarded by Polish forces. A Polish spokesman added: "I cannot confirm that information... When the operation is ongoing at the moment I cannot make any comment."

Related News Stories:
Reuters
Wired.com
Kuna.net.kw


[edit on 28-6-2004 by Banshee]

He was killed in bombings, alive, dead, now captured??

Ill believe it when I see it

I wonder how his bionic leg is doing.

-Nick

I think their phrase of choice was "close to possibily." Which means, no.

I couldn't help bring that up, I thought it was a funny choice of words they used for the latest strikes in Fallujah.

U.S. Military Denies Reports of Zarqawi Capture

Kuwaiti News Agency:

www.kuna.net.kw...

With the hand-over taking place, the U.S. military may not be the ones to announce this - out of deference to the Iraqi govt! " The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) neither confirmed nor ‏
‏denied the report.‏ ‏ A scheduled news conference by Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi to announce."‏

Well, if it is true, I hope they make a videotape of him getting his testicles sawed off, then him devoured alive by rats.

This is odd, though, the US denying his capture, when the Arab media is claiming they have him. hmmmmmmmm............

You know, old gimpy gets around better than the marines combined...i mean isn't it AMAZING everywhere mr. zarqawi manages to show up! its like the worse health they are in, the more trouble we have catching up to them...osama is dragging his dialysis machine behind him, zarqawi is running on crutches making stupendous leaps into cars, out of caves, over small buildings...i wonder is he is wearing a big Z on the front of his shirt...(and i wonder if you believe these stories if you would be willing to buy the brooklyn bridge from me) yet our highly trained military and entire war machine lets these two run wild. Next thing you know they will be blaming Zarqawi for world hunger.

Let's have him eaten alive by rats? Thats brilliant.

How about we hide him somewhere very quietly, get extensive information from him by whatever means are known to work, and once we've got what we need to know, get back to handling him in a civilized manner while he awaits trial.

Here's some food for thought: immediately after the British defeated the Nepalese Gurkha, an arrangement was made for Gurkha to join the British military. This happened because both sides fought like gentlemen and had a disciplined, professional attitude towards dealing with prisoners- they earned eachothers respect. This doesn't always happen of course, but it can definately work in your favor if you go to the trouble of being professional.

Sure would be embarrassing to have some catch him alive. We've been getting way to much mileage out of his name. Be sure - if he ever shows up he will be way too dead to talk.