Leader of Qaeda-linked group captured in Huwaiyja

January 26, 2009 - 03:52:12

KIRKUK / Aswat al-Iraq: Joint forces on Monday arrested a leader from the Qaeda-linked Islamic State in Iraq armed group in Huwaiyja district, the chief of the local police said.

“Iraqi forces, backed by U.S. personnel, waged a crackdown operation in Tal al-Zaban village in south of Huwaiyja district, where they arrested Mohamed Ali, a leader of the Islamic State in Iraq,” Brig Sarhad Qader told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

The self-styled Islamic State in Iraq is an armed organization that was set up in October 2006. Most prominent of its groups is al-Qaeda in Iraq, led by a man called Abu Omar al-Boghdadi.

Huwaiyja is 70 km southwest of Kirkuk, which lies 250 km northeast of Baghdad.

SH (P)/SR

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