VP Biden poised to address killing of top 2 al-Qaida figures in Iraq

Biden to address killing of 2 al-Qaida figures

WASHINGTON — An administration official says Vice President Joe Biden plans to address the killings of the top two al-Qaida figures in Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced the deaths of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri at a news conference in Baghdad and showed reporters photographs of their bloody corpses. The deaths were later confirmed by U.S. military officials.

Biden plans to address the topic in the White House briefing room. The White House announced his planned appearance without saying what it was about. An administration official did so on condition of anonymity because Biden had not yet spoken.

U.S. and Iraqi forces killed the two al-Qaida figures in a nighttime rocket attack on a safe house near Tikrit.