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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
WOLF BLITZER: And we want to check out what's going
on in Baghdad right now. A report that the top al
Qaeda leader in Iraq has been wounded.
Michael Ware is our correspondent on the scene.
We take it there's a statement from a spokesman for
the Interior Ministry, Michael, saying that Abu Ayyub
al-Masri has been wounded.
What do we know about this story?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, it's 20
minutes past 1 in the morning, and the details of
this claim from the Ministry of Interior are sketchy,
to say the best.
However, as it stands, we have an official Ministry
of Interior spokesman saying on the record that in a
firefight just -- almost two hours ago, shortly
before midnight local time, as Iraqi police in a city
just north of the capital, Baghdad, engaged a group
of al Qaeda fighters, it is claimed that they killed
an aide to the leader of Al Qaeda In Iraq and wounded
Abu Hamza, as al Qaeda calls him, or Abu Ayyub, as
the Americans call him, the leader of Al Qaeda in
Iraq, in this firefight.
So the Ministry of Interior is saying they killed the
aide and they have his body and they are firmly of
the belief that they have wounded the leader of Al
Qaeda in Iraq.
The U.S. military so far has absolutely nothing to
say on the matter. And we must caution that this
terrorist leader, the leader of al Qaeda, has already
been reported dead once in the past, in October of
last year, a claim by the U.S. military that they
soon had to retract.
But for now, the Ministry of Interior here in Iraq is
claiming that it has wounded the leader of Al Qaeda
In Iraq.
BLITZER: And they're not commenting, though, on the
whereabouts of Abu Ayyub al-Masri. They simply say
they've wounded him, but they're not saying if they
have him under their custody.
WARE: That's correct, Wolf.
They are confirming that they have the body of his
aide, but they are not commenting in any way as to
whether they have al-Masri in custody or if he is
still at large. All they are saying is that he has
been wounded in a firefight north of the capital,
Baghdad.
BLITZER: All right, we'll watch this story with you
and update our viewers as we get more information.
Michael, thanks very much.
Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the al Qaeda leader, supposedly
wounded. That according to the Iraqi Interior
Ministry. He was the successor to Abu Musab
al-Zarqawi, the al Qaeda leader who was killed, as
many of you remember, last year.
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WOLF BLITZER: Meanwhile, weeks after Iraq's once
iron-fisted dictator is dead, who is pulling the
strings in Iraq right now? And joining us now in
Baghdad, our correspondent Michael Ware.
Lots of focus on Iran right now. Some analysts here
in Washington, Michael, believe Iran -- over these
past four years since the overthrow of Saddam
Hussein's regime in Iraq, Iran has emerged as a big
strategic winner in the region. What's the
perspective from where you are?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, that's correct,
without a shadow of a doubt, Wolf. I mean, we've been
saying this for years now, that among the big winners
of the American invasion of Iraq and the overthrow of
Saddam is not just al Qaeda, which is stronger,
bolder and much more gnarly than it was before the
invasion, but Tehran is a massive winner.
Where once its influence stopped at Saddam's border,
now they own not only most of southern Iraq and much
of central Iraq, but they've also got enormous
influence in the central government. Indeed, one
could argue easily that they have far more sway here
in Baghdad than does the American government.
So, yes, it's true to say Iran is a huge victor of
the invasion of Iraq.
BLITZER: It sort of reinforces the notion of the law
of unintended consequences. Because when the U.S.
overthrew Saddam, the hope was that democracy would
emerge and that Iran would get the message, the
people there would rise up against their own regime,
and the spillover from Iraq would prove to be
beneficial for the U.S. throughout the region. Hasn't
exactly happened that way.
WARE: No, not at all. And in fact, I think it's
entrenched the power of the regime in Tehran.
Arguably, they've never been safer than they are
right now in terms of American activity. I mean, the
U.S. military is so strained right now, in terms of
both men and machine that it's simply too much of an
ask to be considering any kind of strategic strike
against Iran.
And indeed, Wolf, should America be readying to go to
war against Iran or launch any major offensive,
you'll know it because they'll have to introduce a
draft.
BLITZER: This notion of an accidental war emerging
between the U.S. and Iran, is that a realistic
scenario?
WARE: Well, we're certainly not seeing that right now
here on the ground. Tensions are acute. But we're not
at sort of guns drawn. I mean, remember, this is,
from the Iranian point of view, still a proxy war,
much like the CIA fought against the Soviets in
Afghanistan in the 1980s.
Iran, like the CIA then, is using middlemen. It's not
getting its hands dirty. I mean, it still maintains,
as an American intelligence analyst put it, plausible
deniability. Indeed, said this analyst, they invented
it.
BLITZER: Michael Ware reporting for us from Baghdad.
Michael, thanks.
WARE: Thanks, Wolf.