AL QAEDA BIG IN CUSTODY?

By Michelle Malkin

Allah's been tracking the news. Catch up on all the latest.

Ragnar and Rusty have more.

Andrew Cochran approaches the news with caution: "I suggest waiting until U.S. forces in Iraq confirm this new report before breaking out the champagne."

Bill Roggio:

Iraqi and Coalition forces may have gotten a lucky break in the hunt for the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq. CNN is reporting, based on a source in the Iraqi Interior Ministry, that Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the successor to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has been wounded in a firefight on a road somewhere between Fallujah and Samarra. Al-Masri and his security detail are said to have been entering the city of Balad. Al-Masri's aide is identified as Abu Abdullah al-Majamiai. A military intelligence source has informed us al-Majamiai may be the head of al-Masri's security detail, but this has not been confirmed.

Just last week, Task Force 145 captured a senior aide to al-Masri in Mahmoudiya. The aide said he met with al-Masri within 24 hours of his capture. As we noted at the time, the capture was a good indicator on the success for the hunt for al-Masri, and Task Force 145, the hunt-killer team of special operators, may be hot on his trail...

...If al-Masri is captured, this will yield a treasure trove of intelligence on al-Qaeda's Iraq operations, as well as its interface to global al-Qaeda.