US troops kill al-Qaida leader
US troops killed an al-Qaida leader behind the bombing of twin minarets at Iraq's prized Golden Dome shrine in Samarra, the military said today.
Haitham Sabah Shaker Mohammed al-Badri was killed in a US operation on Thursday east of Samarra, the US military said.
The military said al-Badri was the al-Qaida in Iraq emir of Salahuddin province, and the mastermind responsible for the bombing of the Askariya mosque's minarets on June 13.
"Al-Badri was positively identified by close associates and family members," the statement said.
The Shiite shrine's minarets were brought down by suspected al=Qaida militants in June. An earlier bombing, in February 2006, destroyed the same mosque's golden dome and set in motion a cycle of retaliatory sectarian bloodletting.
