World | al-Qaeda in Iraq Iraqi Army Nabs Key Militant Leader Soldiers in Mosul arrest chief of Al-Qaeda in Iraq By John Johnson Posted May 8, 2008 4:55 PM CDT Copied In this June 15 2006 file photo, a U.S. soldier at a press conference in Baghdad, Iraq stands by a photograph of Aub Ayyub al-Masri. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim, File) The Iraqi army has arrested the leader of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda in Iraq, the AP reports today. Defense officials said they took Abu Ayyub al-Masri into custody in Mosul. He has led the group—which last month called for stepped-up attacks against US forces—since 2006. Masri helped set up the first al-Qaeda cell in Baghdad after the US invasion in 2003. Read These Next Trump doesn't use pot, but he's mulling pot-friendly policy. Hegseth admires pastors with some eyebrow-raising thoughts on women. Nutritionists and regulators are rethinking orange juice. She tried to save a chimp from the 'evil clutches of PETA.' Report an error