U.S. military says arrest of al-Qaida in Iraq No. 2 came in June

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Sep 6, 2006 | by Qais Al-Bashir Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The U.S. military said Wednesday the arrest of al-Qaida in Iraq's second in command took place in June and was the most significant blow to the terror network since the death of al- Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell said the arrest of Hamed Jumaa Farid al-Saeedi, also known as Abu Humam or Abu Rana, was captured on June 19 -- not a few days ago as the Iraqi government had initially announced.

Iraq's national security adviser, Mouwafak al-Rubaie, announced al-Saeedi's arrest on Sunday, saying it had occurred a few days earlier. But Caldwell said that it was only the permission to announce the arrest that had been given a few days earlier.

Caldwell called the arrest the most significant since al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. airstrike on June 7.

He added that the man who masterminded the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra reported directly to al-Saeedi. That attack, 60 miles north of Baghdad, inflamed tensions between Shiite and Sunni Muslims and triggered reprisal attacks for months that have killed hundreds of Iraqis.

Also on Wednesday, two bombs exploded in northern Baghdad within minutes of each other, killing at least nine people and wounding 39 others, police said.

The blasts -- from a parked car bomb and a roadside bomb -- had targeted a passing Iraqi army patrol at a busy intersection during the morning rush hour as people headed to work, police 1st Lt. Mohammed Khayun said.

The car bomb was parked in front of a tire repair shop, witness Abdel-Majeed Salah, told AP Television News. He said a minibus with passengers on board was behind the parked car when it detonated, and all on board were killed.

Two of the dead and eight of the wounded were Iraqi soldiers, police said.

In northeastern Baghdad, gunmen opened fire on a procession of pilgrims heading to the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, killing one person and wounding two, police 1st Lt. Ali Abbas said.

Tens of thousands of people are expected in Karbala, 50 miles south of the capital, on Saturday to observe Shaaban, a religious celebration. Many of the pilgrims travel to the city on foot.

Mortar attacks in residential areas in Diyala province, north of Baghdad, killed three people: a 2-year-old child in the Khan Bani Saad area and two people in Muqdadiyah, 60 miles north of Baghdad, police said.

In Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, gunmen killed three construction workers waiting for a bus. An employee in the Diyala police and army coordination office was shot to death as she left her house in the city's Tahrir neighborhood. Gunmen also killed the owner of a food store in the same area, police said.

The violence came a day after Iraq's parliament resumed following its summer recess and voted to extend a state of emergency for a month. The measure, which has been in place for almost two years, covers every area except the autonomous Kurdish region in the north and grants security forces the power to impose curfews and make arrests without warrants.

The state of emergency has been renewed every month since first being authorized in November 2004, hours before U.S. and Iraqi troops launched an offensive to drive insurgents out of Fallujah, one of the main cities in the Anbar region west of Baghdad.

The violence continues unabated. In the past two weeks, hundreds of Iraqis have been killed by suicide bombings, shootings and mortar and rocket attacks.

Despite that, President Jalal Talabani expressed optimism Tuesday that fighting would stop before the end of 2007, saying Iraqi forces will be able to handle any remaining violence.

"I don't think fighting will continue until then if the steps of national reconciliation go according to plan," he said after meeting with visiting British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett. "If some groups are still fighting, our forces will be able to take care of it."

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's reconciliation plan seeks to bridge religious, ethnic and political divisions that have been tearing at Iraq with daily violence.

Asked by reporters when Britain's 7,000 soldiers might be able to leave Iraq, Talabani said by the end of 2007. "We've achieved good success in building our forces and equipping them with the necessary arms," he said.

But Beckett cautioned that Talabani was not setting a deadline for troop withdrawal. "That's the president's personal opinion," she said.

Earlier, Beckett met with Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh and stressed the importance of transferring security from the U.S.-led coalition to Iraqi forces. The handover is a key part of any eventual drawdown of international troops in the country.

British troops handed over control of southern Muthanna province in July, and another southern province, Dhi Qar, is to follow this month.

But a disagreement emerged over the handover of Iraq's armed forces command when a ceremony marking the transfer was called off at the last minute Saturday.

Although neither side would elaborate on the exact reason, the Defense Ministry said it was necessary "to complete some legal and protocol procedures that will lead to a complete understanding between the Iraqi government and the multinational troops."