BAGHDAD — A leading Al Qaida operative in Iraq has been captured.
The Iraqi Interior Ministry said Abdullah Latif Al Jaburi was arrested
in a raid by U.S.-led coalition forces in Duluiya, 90 kilometers north of
Baghdad on March 4. Al Jaburi was identified as the No. 2 operative in the
Al Qaida-affiliated Islamic State in Iraq.
[On Monday, major suicide bombings resumed in Baghdad when 38 people
were killed in a blast in the center of the city, Middle East Newsline reported. On Tuesday, the U.S.
military reported the death of nine U.S. soldiers in two attacks north of
Baghdad.]
At first, the ministry thought the joint Iraqi-U.S. force captured Abu
Omar Al Baghdadi, the head of the group, officials said. In 2006, Al
Baghdadi declared an Islamic umbrella group for the establishment of a Sunni
state in Iraq.
On March 3, the Islamic State in Iraq claimed responsibility for the
killing of 18 police officers. The group said it abducted and executed the
officers to avenge the alleged rape of a Sunni woman in Baghdad.
Al Jaburi was one of 36 suspected Al Qaida insurgents captured in raids
in Iraq. Officials said several of the detainees were accused of
facilitating the entry of Al Qaida recruits from Syria to Iraq.
"Successful coalition operations continue to disrupt Al Qaida in Iraq
operations, restrict the flow of foreign fighters and reduce the terrorist
organization's manpower pool," Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a spokesman for
the U.S.-led coalition spokesman, said.
