Free Republic

Baghdadi was listed among about 30 family members and friends of Rezko who reportedly put up cash or offered properties as surety to secure Rezko's $8.5 million bail. Baghdadi offered the court a two-story retail property in Chicago. Baghdadi also appeared at the Chicago federal court on April 18 to state he would be willing to post his home as collateral toward Rezko's bond. Baghdadi was quoted telling the court he had known Rezko for 20 years through their work with Arab charities.

This Trinity United Church of Christ newsletter ... from last June seems to be making the rounds in Jewish circles... Jeremiah Wright prints an “Open Letter to Oprah from Ali Baghdadi on her visit to Palestine.” Baghdadi is described as an “Arab-American activist, writer, columnist,” and the letter, among other things, accuses Israel of once working with South Africa “on an ethnic bomb that kills Blacks and Arabs.” “what the Zionist Jews did to the Palestinians is worse than what the Nazis did to the Jews,” ...

BAGHDAD (AP) -- An Iraqi military spokesman says the leader of the al-Qaida-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, has been captured in a raid west of Baghdad. U.S. officials had no confirmation

On Saturday, Abu Omar al Baghdadi, Emir of the Islamic state of Iraq, released a 23 minute audio statement yesterday announcing his plan to counter the US troop surge. He claimed North Korea owes a debt to the Iraqi jihadists because without them they could not have conducted their nuclear test. He also claims that he expects the US to attack the Iranian nuclear facilities. A complete translation follow: All praise is due to Allah. We praise him, we beg for His help, and ask for His forgiveness. We ask for the protection of Allah against the evil and we...

CAIRO, Egypt - A key insurgency leader in Iraq said the U.S. killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was a "great loss," but one that will strengthen the militants' determination, according to an audio tape broadcast Friday. The Al-Jazeera network said the voice on the tape was that of Abu Abdullah Rashid al-Baghdadi, the head of the Mujahedeen Shura Council, which groups five Iraqi insurgent organizations including al-Qaida in Iraq. But the authenticity of the tape couldn't immediately be verified. "This is a message to the enemies of God, the crusaders, the rejectionists and the renegades," the voice says, referring respectively...

'The Lion' Makes a Difference in Iraq Marine Corps News | Brian J. Holloran | June 14, 2006 http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,101120,00.html Al Asad, Iraq - The two parties stare at each other from across a table that is filled with bottled water, sports drinks and soda cans. One side filled with local Iraqis from the neighboring area dressed in jeans, T-shirts and baseball hats. The other side is wearing the digital camouflaged uniforms with the eagle, globe and anchor embroidered on the chest over their hearts. Brief remarks from both sides are translated for the other to understand, turning the entire room...

DEBKAfile discloses: Zarqawi’s death leaves Wariya Arbili as the most senior al Qaeda player in Iraq. He is chief of al Qaeda’s second largest affiliate in Iraq, Ansar al-Sunna, an organization which controls large tracts of the country - especially in parts of Kurdistan - with a foothold in Kirkuk and Mosul as well as Tal Afar to the north and sections of the Sunni triangle. Earlier, DEBKAfile disclosed: Zarqawi’s death leaves Wariya Arbili as the most senior al Qaeda player in Iraq. He is chief of al Qaeda’s second largest affiliate in Iraq, Ansar al-Sunna, an organization which controls...

BAGHDADI, Iraq (April 12, 2006) -- As a 24-vehicle convoy rolls down the streets, a voice of a Baghdadi police officer can be heard over the intercom saying in Arabic, "It's a gift from God. The Marines are here to help us." The "gift from God" was the engineers of Marine Wing Support Squadron 274. They came to provide force protection to the Baghdadi police by setting up concrete barriers around their station. MWSS-274 functions under the umbrella of Marine Wing Support Group 37 (Reinforced), 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. "The reason for the barriers was to provide protection and diversion,"...

AL ASAD, Iraq (Apr. 10, 2006) -- PHOTO ESSAY: In the early hours April 3, Marines and sailors with the Incident Response Platoon prepared for an operation that would take them outside the wire and into the local town of Baghdadi, Iraq. The IRP is attached to Marine Wing Support Squadron 274, Marine Wing Support Group 37 (Reinforced), 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, and is responsible for providing security in support of response and pre-planned missions throughout the Al Anbar Province. Their scheduled task was to escort members of a Civil Affairs Group and Police Transition Team to a housing complex...