by WorldTribune Staff, October 26, 2016
A cousin of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has been arrested on suspicion of collaborating with Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL).
Nizar Mahmud Abdul Ghani was arrested by Kirkuk police after participating in an ISIL attack on Kirkuk last week.
“The detainee confessed during the preliminary investigation that he is a cousin of the former President Saddam Hussein and participated in the latest attack launched by ISIL on Kirkuk,” Kirkuk Police Chief Brig. Gen. Sarhad Qadir said in a press statement on Oct. 25.
Police said they found Abdul Ghani hiding in an empty water tank.
“Abdul Ghani is a former officer in the private security service, while his brothers are working with Daesh (ISIL) southwest of Kirkuk,” Qadir said. “The security operation also resulted in the confiscation of four Kalashnikov weapons and quantities of ammunition.”
Police believe Abdul Ghani sneaked into Kirkuk, a city in the north of Iraq, along with up to 100 other jihadists for a terrorist mission. Reports said 90 people were killed in the attack, 75 of them ISIL jihadists.