US forces capture alleged planner of US journalist's abduction

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

BAGHDAD (AFP) — The US military said on Sunday it has captured an Al-Qaeda militant who allegedly planned the abduction of American journalist Jill Carroll in January 2006.

Salim Abdallah Ashur al-Shujayri, also known as Abu Uthman, was captured during an operation on August 11, the military said in a statement.

Abu Uthman is reportedly the leader of Al-Qaeda in Baghdad's eastern Rusafa region.

"He is believed to be the planner behind the kidnapping of American journalist Jill Carroll," the military said, adding that Uthman at that time was working with another extremist group.

Carroll was kidnapped in Baghdad on January 7, 2006, during a freelance reporting assignment for the Christian Science Monitor.

She was released after nearly three...