Mysterious insurgent a sham, U.S. says

BAGHDAD -- Over the past year, Iraqis heard several audio recordings by a mysterious terrorist leader named Omar al-Baghdadi singing the praises of al-Qaida and urging his followers to attack U.S. troops.

The whole thing was a sham, the U.S. military said Wednesday. Al-Baghdadi actually was a fictional character dreamed up by al-Qaida in Iraq to bolster its local credibility because the group largely is run by non-Iraqis. The voice heard in the recordings belonged to an Iraqi actor.

The character was "a creation of al-Qaida in Iraq leadership to help put an Iraqi face on ... their efforts here," Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner said.

The revelation occurred after the capture in Mosul on July 4 of the top al-Qaida in Iraq leader, Khaled Abdul-Fattah Dawoud Mahmoud al-Mashhadani. He confessed that al-Baghdadi was a "myth" concocted by the group's Egyptian-born leader, Abu Ayyub al-Masri.

Al-Mashhadani also told interrogators that Osama bin Laden's inner circle still wields considerable influence over al-Qaida in Iraq.

Al-Qaida in Iraq created a terrorist umbrella group called the Islamic State of Iraq in 2006 and invented al-Baghdadi to lead it in an effort to "market itself" to Iraqis, Bergner said.

The invented character's last name means "of Baghdad," while the name Omar strongly suggests Sunni origin.

Seven U.S. soldiers killed in bombings

BAGHDAD -- The U.S. military announced today that four U.S. soldiers and their Iraqi interpreter were killed when a roadside bomb exploded near their patrol Wednesday in east Baghdad.

The military said another three soldiers were killed Tuesday in separate bombings in the capital. Two were killed in west Baghdad and another died in east Baghdad.

At least 12 people were killed Wednesday in a series of bombings in mostly Shiite areas of eastern Baghdad. Seven died in two back-to-back bombings near a gas station in the Amin district, police said.

Eight civilians were killed when gunmen opened fire in the city of Khalis, a Shiite enclave in a mostly Sunni area 50 miles north of Baghdad, police said.

2 U.S. soldiers charged in murder of Iraqi

BAGHDAD -- Two U.S. Army soldiers have been charged with the premeditated murder of an Iraqi, and a lieutenant colonel has been relieved of command in connection with the case, the U.S. military announced today.

Sgt. 1st Class Trey A. Corrales, of San Antonio and Spc. Christopher P. Shore of Widner, Ga., were charged with one count of murder in the death, which allegedly occurred June 23 near the northern city of Kirkuk, the military said in a statement.

The soldiers are assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, which is part of the 25th Infantry Division based in Hawaii.

Marine convicted of Iraqi's kidnapping

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- A military jury Wednesday convicted a Marine of kidnapping and conspiring to murder an Iraqi man in a bungled attempt to abduct and kill a suspected insurgent in Hamdania.

Cpl. Trent Thomas was acquitted of premeditated murder, making a false official statement, housebreaking and larceny.

Thomas, 25, was the first of seven Marines and a Navy corpsman to go to trial in the killing, which squad members tried to cover up by planting a gun near the victim after he was gunned down in a ditch.

Thomas had faced a mandatory sentence of life in prison if convicted of premeditated murder. He still could get a life sentence, but there is no minimum sentencing requirement, his lawyer Victor Kelley said. A sentencing hearing was to begin today.

Prosecutors said that during a nighttime patrol April 26, 2006, Thomas' squad hatched a plan to kidnap and kill a suspected insurgent. When they couldn't find him, they instead kidnapped a man identified as Hashim Ibrahim Awad, a retired policeman and father of 11 who lived nearby.