The US military said on Wednesday that a foreign insurgent killed in the main northern Iraqi city of Mosul this month has been identified as Abu Qaswarah, al Qaeda's number two in Iraq. "Abu Qaswarah, also known as Abu Sara, was the al Qaeda in Iraq senior leader of northern Iraq," a military statement said.
It said that Abu Qaswarah, a native of Morocco who was killed in a raid in Mosul on October 5, had ties to al Qaeda in Iraq's founder Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a US air strike in Iraq in June 2006. "He was responsible for organising and leading al Qaeda in Iraq efforts in northern Iraq, including operations against Iraqi and coalition targets in Mosul."
The US military also described Abu Qaswarah as having trained with al Qaeda in Afghanistan and been in contact with insurgent leaders in Pakistan. He directed the movement of foreign terrorists into northern Iraq, a position which he took up in 2007, it said.