Many question ID of captured ‘head of evil’

BAGHDAD (AP) — The Iraqi government presented the first image of the purported leader of an al-Qaida front group Tuesday in a bid to prove the right suspect was in custody despite skepticism that he even exists.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called Abu Omar al-Baghdadi “the head of evil” and accused him of trying to incite a sectarian civil war and working with other insurgents who remained loyal to Saddam Hussein.

“This criminal had close relations with the former regime and maintained a sinister alliance with Saddam’s followers,” he said in a statement released by his office.

Authorities described al-Baghdadi’s capture, which was announced last week, as a major setback for Sunni insurgents trying to intensify attacks after a relative lull.

But the capture or death of other high-ranking insurgent figures in the past — including former al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in 2006 — has done little to slow the bombings.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said he could not confirm al-Baghdadi’s capture and described as “fairly accurate” a statement that every day that goes by without a confirmation increases the suspicion that it’s not him.

A prominent writer identified as Muhub Ruyat al-Rahman, whose comments are widely read on Islamic Web sites, meanwhile, signaled that insurgent groups also were not certain the man captured was al-Baghdadi.

He warned his comrades the claim could be a propaganda ploy and said even if it did prove true, the death or arrest of leaders would not stop the march of jihad, or holy war.

The identity of al-Baghdadi — shown in the photo unveiled at a news conference with a close-cropped beard and black T-shirt — has frequently been questioned.

The U.S. military has even said al-Baghdadi could be a fictitious character used to give an Iraqi face to an organization dominated by foreign al-Qaida fighters. Even if he does exist, it was unclear what his role is in the terror group — whether he really runs it or whether he’s a figurehead.