Biden praises Iraq for showing improved security by killing 2 Al Qaeda figures

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Iraq’s role in the killing of two top Al Qaeda operatives shows that the government has improved security and makes it more likely that the United States will be able to end its combat mission there by this summer as planned, Vice President Joe Biden said Monday.

Biden called the deaths of the two men “potentially devastating blows’ against Al Qaeda in Iraq. Earlier, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki announced the deaths of Abu Omar Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub Masri at a news conference in Baghdad.

In confirming the deaths, Biden described the men as two of the most senior leaders of Al Qaeda in Iraq. They had “plotted and planned terrorist attacks against Iraqis in the recent past as well as against Americans,” he said in televised remarks from the White House briefing room.

“Their deaths are potentially devastating blows to Al Qaeda in Iraq, but equally important in my view is that this action demonstrates the improved security strength and capacity of Iraqi security forces,” the vice president said, adding that Iraqi officials had led the operation, which was based on intelligence Iraqis had gathered.
“In short, the Iraqis have taken the lead in securing Iraq and its citizens by taking out both of these individuals,” Biden said.

Biden said the action was an important milestone in the Iraq war, but he cautioned that there were still difficult days ahead. He called on Iraqi factions to form an “inclusive and representative government that meets the needs and aspiration of the Iraqi people.”

Biden praised the American trooper who was killed in the action, but did not name him pending notification of his family.

“We remain committed to end our combat mission in Iraq this summer, by the end of August 2010,” Biden said, and “to remove all U.S. forces by the end of 2011” as previously negotiated.

-- Michael Muskal
Twitter.com/LATimesmuskal