http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/...s_Arrested.php
A leader of al-Qaida-linked terror group Ansar al-Sunnah arrested northeast of Baghdad
The Associated Press
Published: September 23, 2006
BAGHDAD, Iraq A leader of Ansar al-Sunnah, a group linked to al-Qaida in Iraq that responsible for kidnappings and beheadings, has been captured by Iraqi and U.S. forces, the prime minister's office said Saturday.
Muntasir Hamoud Ileiwi al-Jubouri and two of his aides were arrested in Muqdadiyah, 90 kilometers (56 miles) northeast of Baghdad late Friday, Brig. Qassim al-Mussawi, spokesman for the General Command of the Armed Forces, told The Associated Press.
He was arrested in Al-Taeyh, a village south of Muqdadiyah, al-Mussawi said. The General Command of the Armed Forces is the prime minister's military office.
The arrests were made during an hour-long operation based on intelligence information, al-Mussawi said later at a press conference. All three were apprehended without resistance.
"Terrorists have fled to nearby areas, which are deemed as safe shelters, and formed their dens after the concentrating of military operations in Baghdad," he said. "Those criminals confessed to a number of killings against innocents, moreover we obtained valuable information regarding terrorists activities in that area."
Documents and assault rifles were seized with the three men, but no details were available.
The Sunni militant group has claimed responsibility for numerous suicide attacks, the August 2004 execution of 12 Nepalese hostages and a December 2004 explosion at a U.S. military mess hall in Mosul that killed 22 people. Believed to have been an offshoot of another group, Ansar Al-Islam.
That group is made up mostly of Kurds with close links to al-Qaida. Blamed for a number of attacks, including assassination attempts against Kurdish officials.
Ansar al-Sunna is part if the Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization of insurgent groups — including al-Qaida in Iraq — that was co-founded by the late Jordanian-born terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi who was killed in a June 7 U.S. airstrike.
"Yesterday we eliminated Abu Musaab al-Zarqawi... today Muntasir al-Jubouri and tomorrow, God willing, we will annihilate all the terrorists throughout the country," al-Mussawi said.
Copyright © 2006 the International Herald Tribune All rights reserved
Linear Mode
