http://slatest.slate.com/id/2251327/?wpisrc=newsletter
Top Al-Qaida Leaders Killed in Iraq An assault by Iraqi and American forces killed the top two leaders of al-Qaida in Iraq Sunday. The bodies of Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi were found in a hole in the ground after coalition forces lit up the house where they had been hiding. Americans gave Iraqi troops credit for the operation but said "U.S. forces also participated" in the operation, which led to the deaths of two other al-Qaida affiliates and the arrest of 16 men. The U.S. military said the strike could be a "potentially devastating blow" to al-Qaida in Iraq, and Reuters said the deaths of Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi "could be a major set-back to the stubborn insurgency." But even as the security situation in Iraq appears to be improving, the political situation isn't exactly stabilizing. An Iraqi judicial panel announced Monday that ballots cast in Baghdad in last month's inconclusive election would be recounted by hand, throwing the election "wide open" and guaranteeing days, if not weeks, of further uncertainty about who will lead the country. Read original story in Reuters | Monday, April 19, 2010 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
