BAGHDAD — The British Army has killed a leading Al Qaida
operative in a raid by 250 soldiers in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. The
aide was identified as Omar Farouk, an associate of Bin Laden's deputy Ayman Zawahiri who previously served as a liasion to Al
Qaida cells in Asia.
Officials said Farouk, a 35-year-old Kuwaiti born of Iraqi parents, escaped from a U.S. prison in Afghanistan in 2005, Middle East Newsline reported. They said
that neither the British Army nor the rest of the U.S.-led coalition had
been aware of Farouk's presence in Iraq.
The sources said Farouk, who in October 2005 discussed his prison escape in
a video broadcast on Arab satellite television, went under the alias Mahmoud
Ahmed.
Later, Iraqi security sources said Farouk, who reportedly plotted
attacks against U.S. embassies in Southeast Asia, entered Iraq in June 2006.
At the same time, the Iraq Army captured two Al Qaida operatives in the
Anbar province. The U.S.-led military coalition said the operatives were
arrested by an Iraqi unit in Samara on Sept. 22.
The military said an Iraq Army unit, backed by U.S. officers, raided a
building that hosted weekly religious meetings for Al Qaida. One of the
operatives had been deemed a fugitive by the Iraqi Interior Ministry.
"Iraqi army forces quickly cordoned off the area and entered the
structure looking for several individuals connected to Al Qaida in Iraq,"
the statement said on Monday. "These individuals are believed responsible
for improvised explosive device, sniper and other
attacks against Iraqi police, Iraqi army and coalition forces."
The U.S. military said 13 other people were detained and a large cache
of mortar ammunition and weapons was found in a nearby building. U.S.
officers were said to have remained outside the building.
"While the building was not a mosque, Iraqi forces took all precautions
normally used for entry into mosques or other religious sites, and they
respect the sanctity of all holy sites," the statement said. "Iraqi forces
only enter mosques or other religious sites when they are being used for
illegal activities, to detain terrorists or seize material that can be used
to harm Iraqi citizens, Iraqi forces and coalition forces."
The operations were conducted as Iraqi and U.S. forces braced for an Al
Qaida offensive during the Islamic fast month of Ramadan. The U.S. military
has requested up to 5,000 additional Iraq Army troops to bolster security in
Baghdad, hardest hit by the sectarian violence in the country.
Officials said much of the fire against U.S. forces stemmed from
Baghdad's Sadr City. Sadr City, which contains about two million people,
most of them Shi'ites, was said to be controlled by the Iranian-backed Mahdi
Army.
On Tuesday, Iraqi insurgents were reported to have fired mortars and
rammed a car bomb into a police station in Jorf Al Sakhr, about 60
kilometers south of Baghdad. At least three people were killed, the office
of Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki said.
Baghdad has already envisioned a long-term U.S. military presence in
Iraq. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said his country would require two
permanent U.S. air bases and 10,000 American troops in the autonomous
northern region of Kurdistan to deter what he termed "foreign interference."
"I think we will be in need of American forces for a long time — even
two military bases to prevent foreign interference," Talabani told the
Washington Post. "I don't ask to have 100,000 American soldiers — 10,000
soldiers and two air bases would be enough."
