The U.S. military said Thursday it killed a mid-ranking member of al-Qaida in Iraq and his driver in an air strike in Ramadi. In a brief statement, the military said Rafa al-Ithawi, also known as Abu Taha, was killed in the city 115 kilometres west of Baghdad on Wednesday by precision laser guided weapons that destroyed his vehicle. It said al-Ithawi had been named an emir under the group, giving him the rank of local level commander in Anbar province, the heart of the Sunni insurgency that has stubbornly battled on against U.S. troops and their Iraqi allies. Full Story