Senior al-Qaida figure held in Iraq

Iraq’s national security adviser today announced the arrest of the second most senior figure in al Qaida in Iraq.

Hamed Jumaa Farid al-Saeedi, known as Abu Humam or Abu Rana, was arrested a few days ago, said Mouwaffak al-Rubaie.

“We announce today the arrest of the most important al Qaida leader after the criminal Abu Ayoub al-Masri. He’s the second man in the organisation,” he said.

Al-Saeedi was “directly responsible for the criminal Haitham al-Badri, the mastermind and the bomber of the Samarra shrine,” al-Rubaie added.

The bombing of the Shiite shrine in February inflamed tensions between Shiite and Sunni Muslims and triggered reprisal attacks that continue to this day.

He said authorities had obtained information about al-Saeedi after al Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed on June 7 in a US airstrike north of Baghdad. The information indicated he had moved to northern Baghdad and had been operating outside Baqouba, the same area where Zarqawi was killed.

“Al-Saeedi carried out al Qaida’s policies in Iraq and the orders of the slain al-Zarqawi to incite sectarian violence in the country, through attempting to start a civil war between Shiites and Sunnis – but their wishes did not materialise,” al-Rubaie added.

He said al-Saeedi also gave up information that led to the arrest or killing of 11 top al Qaida in Iraq figures, and nine lower-level members.