BAGHDAD – The U.S. military says it has killed a senior Al Qaeda in Iraq leader suspected of masterminding deadly bombings in Baghdad.
The military says U.S. troops acting in self-defense also killed his wife in Friday's firefight.
Saturday's statement identifies the man killed as Mahir Ahmad Mahmud Judu' al-Zubaydi, also known as Abu Assad or Abu Rami.
It says he directed the insurgent cell that was believed to be responsible for nearly simultaneous car bomb and suicide attacks that killed at least eight people on Thursday.
The military says he was suspected in several other attacks against Iraqis and U.S. forces in past years. It also says he is seen in the videotaped execution of one of four Russian diplomats in June 2006.
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