In a developing story, the Iraqi authorities say that leader of Iraq’s Al-Qaeda has been arrested. In a phone conversation with The Associated Press, Mohammed al-Askari, the spokesman for Iraq’s Defense Ministry said that Abu Ayyub al-Masri was arrested in the city of Mosul.
However, the information has not been one-hundred percent verified. In the meantime, it is not certain if it is really Abu Ayyub al-Masri or not. The United States military and international news outlets are working to see if the information is accurate or not.
If this is true, it would definitely hurt Al-Qaeda’s influence in Iraq. At the same time, this could put presumed GOP nominee Senator John McCain of Arizona in a better position than Democratic co-frontrunners Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and Senator Hillary Clinton of New York.
Iraq has been the main platform of John McCain’s presidency. He has said that Iraq will either make or break his presidency. It would be highly likely that McCain will benefit if the news is confirmed if it is true that Al-Masri really has been arrested by the Iraqi authorities.
In a recent CNN News/Opinion Research Corp. poll, McCain edges over Obama and Clinton in regards to Iraq. This may be the thing that could really give McCain an edge over the eventual Democratic nominee.