Thursday, August 18, 2005

Dead Al-Qaida Leader. Always good to hear.

Captain Ed gives us this spectacular news from the AP:

" Al-Qaida's leader in Saudi Arabia was killed Thursday during clashes with police in the western city of Medina, the Interior Ministry said.
Saleh Mohammed al-Aoofi was among six al-Qaida militants reported killed during police raids on numerous locations in the holy city and the capital, Riyadh, security officials told The Associated Press.
Al-Aoofi, a Saudi in his late 30s, and another militant were killed during one of seven police raids in Medina, the Interior Ministry said."


As Captain Ed points out:

" The Saudis have done a remarkable job in cleaning up al-Qaeda leadership since AQ attacked foreigners in Riyadh in May 2003. Shortly after that attack, the Saudis listed 26 known terrorist leaders wanted by their security services. With the death of Aoofi, 25 of 26 have either been captured or killed by the Saudis. They also captured 10 Islamist "militants" in Medina, and killed another in a separate raid in Riyadh. The Riyadh operation also turned up a number of weapons, bombs, and documentation."

I'm wondering, as Jeff at Protein Wisdom is, whether this news will carry the weight of a certain Crawford protest.