Al-Zarqawi ally held in Mosul as toxin manuals found

A LIEUTENANT of Iraq's most feared militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was captured a few days ago in Mosul.

Also Iraqi troops searching suspected rebel hideouts in Fallujah discovered a laboratory with manuals on manufacturing explosives and toxins - including anthrax, Iraq's national security adviser said yesterday.

Also, the US military said it discovered the largest weapons cache to date in the city of Fallujah. The weapons - including anti- tank mines and a mobile bomb-making lab - were found inside a mosque used by an insurgent leader.

Troops also found documents detailing hostage interrogations, the military said. Five Arab foreign fighters who escaped from Fallujah were arrested near southern Basra, where they were planning to attack coalition bases and police stations, authorities said.

National security adviser Qassem Dawoud identified al-Zarqawi's alleged lieutenant as Abu Saeed, but he gave no further details.

Insurgents rose up this month in Mosul in support of rebels in Fallujah, who were routed by US and Iraqi forces in an offensive that began on November 8.

US and Iraqi authorities managed to regain control of Mosul after the entire 5,000-member police force disintegrated. Al-Zarqawi, whose al-Qaida-linked group has been responsible for numerous car bombings and beheadings of foreign hostages, including three Americans and a Briton, was believed to be headquartered in Fallujah. But the Jordanian-born extremist managed to escape the siege.

The US has offered a $25 million (€19m) reward for al-Zarqawi's capture - the same amount offered for Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri.

In Fallujah, Iraqi forces uncovered a lab in the south-western district of the city, where pockets of insurgents are still holding out following the assault.

"We also found in the laboratory manuals and instructions spelling out procedures for making explosives," Dawoud said. "They also spoke about making anthrax."

Dawoud showed pictures of a shelf containing what he said were various chemicals. Earlier, the US military said it had uncovered the largest arms cache yet, inside the mosque of an insurgent leader in Fallujah.

US marines say that they so far have found enough weapons in Fallujah to refuel a nationwide rebellion.

Elsewhere in the mosque compound, troops also found what may be a mobile bomb-making factory housed in a truck, as well as mortar systems, rocket-propelled grenades, launchers, recoilless rifles and parts of surface-to-air weapons systems, the statement said.

Five Arab foreign fighters who escaped from Fallujah were arrested near southern Basra, where they were planning to attack coalition bases and police stations, authorities said.

Defence Minister Hazem Shaalan said earlier this week that about 60 Arab fighters have been arrested during the Fallujah assault. The US and Iraqi leadership have repeatedly maintained foreign fighters from neighbouring Arabic countries have joined the insurgency.

In Baghdad, the US Embassy said that a US civilian, James Mollen, working with the embassy was killed during an attack outside the Green Zone.