Jordanian responsible for killing and mutilating US soldiers dies in Iraq - wistv.com - Columbia, South Carolina |

Jordanian responsible for killing and mutilating US soldiers dies in Iraq

(Baghdad, Iraq-AP) July 18, 2006 - The man said to be responsible for killing and mutilating two US soldiers in Iraq last month has been killed.

Iraq's national security adviser Tuesday announced the death of Jordanian Diyar Ismail Mahmoud in a clash with Iraqi security forces. He's not commenting on the clash or the evidence that Mahmoud was involved in killing the Americans.

The Iraqi official does say Mahmoud was a top lieutenant of al-Qaida-in-Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed by a US airstrike in early June.

The mutilated bodies of privates Kristian Menchaca and Thomas Tucker were found near the checkpoint from which they were abducted during a clash with insurgents. A third American was killed in the initial ambush.

The national security adviser also says Iraqi security forces have detained the leaders of the Omar Brigade group. That's a wing of al-Qaida-in-Iraq that had claimed to have carried out many deadly attacks in Iraq.

Posted 7:52am by Bryce Mursch