You know the saying, fool me once, shame on you.<\/p>\n
Fool me twice, shame on me<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n U.S. says Iraqi militant nonexistent<\/a><\/span> July 19, 2007<\/p>\n BAGHDAD \u2014 In March, he was declared captured. In May, he was declared killed, and his purported corpse was displayed on state-run TV. But on Wednesday, Abu Omar Baghdadi, the supposed leader of an Al Qaeda-affiliated group in Iraq, was declared nonexistent by U.S. military officials, who said he was a fictional character created to give an Iraqi face to a foreign-run terrorist organization.<\/p>\n An Iraqi actor has been used to read statements attributed to Baghdadi, who since October has been identified as the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq group, said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner.<\/p>\n Bergner said the new information came from a man captured July 4, described as the highest-ranking Iraqi within the Islamic State of Iraq.
The man known as Abu Omar Baghdadi is an actor and the group a front for Al Qaeda in Iraq, the military says.
By Tina Susman
Times Staff Writer<\/p>\n
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