Iraq closer to al-Qaeda chief

2006-10-01 13:16

Baghdad - Iraqi security forces are getting closer to al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri and will get him soon, national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie said on Sunday.

"I tell the Iraqi people that we will get you Abu Ayyub al-Masri either as a corpse or tied up to face justice soon," he told reporters.

"We are very close. I tell him: "your days are numbered."

Masri, an Egyptian who is also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, assumed the leadership of al-Qaeda in Iraq after the death of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in June.

- Reuters