BAGHDAD — The U.S. military has captured another leading Al Qaida
operative.
A U.S. military statement said a top Al Qaida figure was arrested during
a raid in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. On Sept. 24, a military statement
said the Al Qaida operative was captured on Sept. 12 as he went to meet
other insurgency leaders in Mosul.
The statement said the Al Qaida figure was involved in bombings against
Iraqi forces. The military did not identify the captured Al Qaida leader or
report his nationality but said he was a personal aide to Al Qaida network
chief Abu
Hamza Al Muhajir.
"The associate is the leader of assassination, kidnapping and Improvised
Explosive Device cells in Baghdad," the statement said. "He participated in
numerous terrorists acts, including kidnappings and executions, which
contributed to sectarian violence throughout the city."
This was the second leading Al Qaida operative said to have been
captured in Iraq over the last week. The U.S. announcement of the first
arrest did not contain details.
The military said the detained aide of Al Muhajir was an expert in
weapons and improvised explosive devices. The statement said the associate,
who personally detonated IEDs, played a
"key operational role in terrorist activities" prior to and during the U.S.
battle for Faluja in November 2004.
The arrest of the Al Qaida operative came as a wave of explosions struck
the northern city of Kirkuk, which contains the second largest oil reserves
in Iraq. Officials said at least 30 people were killed in a series of
suicide vehicle bombings in the Sunni-Kurdish city.
Also on Sunday, the Iraqi Interior Ministry announced the capture of a
Sunni cleric north of Baghdad said to have been linked to the killing of
more than 1,000 people. The ministry statement said the detainee was a
spiritual guide to an unidentified insurgency group in Iraq who issued a
ruling that justified the killing of more than 1,000 people in the Taji
area.
