Confirmed: Leader of Islamic State in Iraq Killed

Via paktribune.com (Pakistan) -

DUBAI: An al Qaeda-linked group in Iraq has confirmed the death of Abu Maysara, a top operative who the U.S. military said was killed in a clash last month, according to a recording posted on the Web.

Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State in Iraq, hailed Maysara as "a martyr who was a scholar and a mujahid (holy war fighter)", on the audio tape posted on Islamist Websites.

The U.S. military said earlier in December that Maysara, a Syrian, was among nine senior al Qaeda members killed in November.

It described him as an adviser to Baghdadi, also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri, and his slain predecessor Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.