Abu Hamza al-Muhajir (the immigrant), the purported successor of al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is in an Egyptian prison and not Iraq, a lawyer claimed on Thursday. According to Al-Masri al-Yawm newspaper, lawyer Mamduh Ismail conveyed he had met al-Muhajir, also known as Sharif Hazaa, or Abu Ayub al-Masri, in Cairo's Tura prison, where he has been held for the past seven years.
"Sharif Hazaa is in Tura prison, and I met him two days ago while I was visiting some of my clients," Ismail told the newspaper.
The US army media centre in Iraq said in respone: "We cannot comment on the news that... al-Masri is in an Egyptian prison and not in Iraq, we have to clarify that from the Egyptian government."
It should be mentioned that a claim posted on an Islamist website last month said that Abu Hamza al-Muhajir personally killed two U.S. soldiers who were captured in Iraq on June 16, 2006. Their bodies were later found mutilated and booby-trapped in Yusufiya, Iraq on June 19, 2006.
© 2006 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
