Iraqi police arrest suspected leader of insurgent group

Iraqi police today said they had arrested the suspected local leader of an insurgent group in the northern city of Mosul.

Authorities identified the suspect as Abdul Rahman Ali Abdul Rahman, also known as Abu Hajir, believed to be the local leader of the Mujahedeen Army.

Abdul Rahman, from Tal Afar north-west of Baghdad, was arrested in a police ambush in central Mosul, 225 miles north-west of Baghdad, said police Brigadier Saaid al-Jubouri.

The Mujahedeen Army has claimed responsibility for scores of attacks, including the April 2005 downing of a helicopter carrying 11 civilians, including six Americans.

It was among 11 Sunni insurgent groups that offered in June to halt all attacks if the United States agreed to withdraw foreign forces from Iraq in two years.