Press Wire ServicesSanjaya.jpg

Baghdad, Iraq -  Sanjaya Malakar was the face of al-Qaeda in Iraq, appearing in countless videos depicting beheadings, car bombings and assassinations.  He had taunted U.S. forces in Anbar Province, Iraq for the last four years. 

On Monday, he appeared on video again, lying motionless on a stainless steel table in a makeshift mortuary inside the U.S. secured green zone in central Baghdad.   Malakar, al-Qaeda’s top commander in northwest Iraq, was killed Sunday night after U.S. troops and Iraqi forces tracked him to a safe house outside the town of Fallujah.

Malakar, a top seven finalist on the popular show American Idol, was thought to be the main al-Qaeda middleman controlling foreign money used for militants in Iraq.   Recently, he was believed to have had a rocky relationship with top al-Qaeda leaders, including Osama Bin-Laden, who felt his weekly flights to the U.S. to compete on American Idol were hurting the insurgency in Iraq.  In one of his last videos, Malakar promised to step up his attacks on Iraqi and coalition forces.

His death was applauded by U.S. commanders and Iraqi leaders as a critical victory against al-Qaeda and the insurgent movement in Iraq.  Critics of the show American Idol were also pleased with Malakar’s untimely demise and vowed to continue their boycott of the television show which appears on Fox TV Tuesday and Wednesday nights.