Top Sunni Insurgent Chief Arrested in Iraq
By VOA News
23 April 2009
Iraq's army says it has captured a top Sunni insurgent leader, the same day major suicide bombings claimed at least 50 lives.
A military spokesman said Thursday Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, said to lead the al-Qaida-linked Islamic State of Iraq, was arrested in Baghdad.
Statements attributed to al-Baghdadi portray him as a fiercely anti-American insurgent leader.
But a U.S. military commander, General Kevin Bergner, said he is a fictional character. Bergner and others said in 2007 al-Baghdadi was created by Egyptian-born insurgent Abu Ayyub al-Masri to put an Iraqi face on the otherwise foreign leadership of al-Qaida in Iraq.
In addition, Iraqi authorities in the past have announced the arrest or killing of major insurgent leaders, to only later say the reports were false.
More violence troubles Baghdad, Baquba
The reported arrest came as Iraq suffered another day of violence, with police saying two suicide bomb blasts have killed more than 50 people.
In Baghdad, police say at least 28 people were killed Thursday in a blast that targeted a security patrol near Baghdad's Tahariyat Square. Officials say the police were distributing aid to displaced families when the bomber blew himself up. Security officials and children are reported among the dead. At least 52 others are reported wounded.
Shortly after that blast, police near Baquba, in troubled Diyala province, reported that another suicide bomber killed at least 25 people. Police said some of the victims are thought to be Iranian religious pilgrims.
After months of declining violence, suicide bombers have struck repeatedly in the past several weeks. The upsurge coincides with a planned drawdown of U.S. troops from Iraq, and preparations for national elections later this year.
On Wednesday, Iraqi police said a suicide bomber killed at least five people in a Sunni mosque north of the Iraqi capital.
Also Wednesday, the U.S. military said an American soldier was killed while on patrol in eastern Baghdad.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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