Iraqi army catch al-Zarqawi cameraman

The Iraqi army has captured the personal cameraman for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the late leader of the al-Qaida in Iraq group, it was reported today.

Defence ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari told al-Iraqiyah television that Khalid al-Hayani was captured by Iraqi troops in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad.

Al-Qaida in Iraq is the country’s most feared insurgent group.

He declined to say when al-Hayani was captured to avoid disrupting future operations against terrorists.

He would only add that videotapes and documents were found in al-Hayani’s possession.

The Jordanian-born Al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a US airstrike in Diyala on June 7, had appeared in several videos posted on militant internet sites.

One clip often played on regional television had shown him clad in black and firing a heavy machine gun. An earlier one purported to show the terror mastermind with his face covered, speaking to the camera before he slit the throat of a Western hostage.