The insurgent group that commands Al Qaeda in Iraq named a new leader to replace their top militant, who was killed in a joint US-Iraqi raid in April near Saddam Hussein’s hometown Tikrit.
The Islamic state of Iraq said on Sunday it has chosen Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi al-Husseini al-Qurashi as emir, or leader, according to an announcement posted on a militant website.
The group said al-Qurashi replaces Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, who was killed in an air and ground assault by a team of US and Iraqi forces on April 18 along with Al Qaeda in Iraq’s last leader, Egyptian Abu Ayyub al-Masri.
The group also named Abu Abdullah al-Hassani al-Qurashi as deputy to the emir and prime minister.
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200,000 bronze keys for tallest Argentina statue
Buenos Aires : Argentinean artists are collecting over 200,000 bronze keys to cast the tallest statue in the country in honour of indigenous people. Bronze items including over 200,000 keys are being collected to construct the tallest monument in Argentina, which will stand 10-metres-high and will pay tribute to the “native woman”, historian Osvaldo Bayer and sculptor Andres Zerneri have said. The proposed monument would replace a statue of former President Julio Argentino Roca, who led a military campaign against ethnic Indians. —IANS/EFE