US army: Mastermind of Baghdad bombings killed

The US military said on Saturday it has killed a senior al-Qaida in Iraq leader suspected of masterminding one of the deadliest bombings in Baghdad as well as recent attacks and the 2006 videotaped execution of a kidnapped Russian official. American troops also killed the man's wife after a firefight as they tried to capture him Friday in the northern neighborhood of Azamiyah in Baghdad, the military said. Mahir Ahmad Mahmud al-Zubaydi, also known as Abu Assad or Abu Rami, allegedly directed the insurgent cell believed to be responsible for nearly simultaneous car bomb and suicide attacks Thursday, according to the statement. Iraqi police and hospital officials have said some two dozen people were killed in Thursday's attacks targeting two Shiite mosques in Baghdad.