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Iraq claims capture of local al-Qaeda deputy

Iraqi and coalition forces have arrested the second most senior figure in al-Qaeda in Iraq, Iraq's national security adviser announced yesterday, saying the group now suffered from a "serious leadership crisis."

Hamed Jumaa Farid al-Saeedi, known as Abu Humam or Abu Rana, was captured north of Baghdad a few days ago "along with another group of his aides and followers," Mouwaffak al-Rubaie said.

Al-Saeedi was the second most important al-Qaeda in Iraq leader after Abu Ayyub al-Masri, who took over the group after Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed by a US airstrike north of Baghdad on June 7, al-Rubaie said.

"We believe that al-Qaeda in Iraq suffers from a serious leadership crisis. Our troops have dealt fatal and painful blows to this organization," the security adviser said.

Al-Saeedi was "directly responsible" for the person who carried out the February bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra, 95km north of Baghdad, al-Rubaie added.

The bombing inflamed tensions between Shiite and Sunni Muslims and triggered reprisal attacks that have killed hundreds of Iraqis and continue to this day.

"Al-Saeedi carried out al-Qaeda'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 materialize," al-Rubaie said.

A senior coalition official said that coalition forces were involved in al-Saeedi's arrest, although the official would not characterize what role they played.

The coalition official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because official announcements were being made by Iraqi authorities, said al-Saeedi had been arrested along with three other individuals southwest of Baqubah.

Al-Saeedi "claims to be responsible for more attacks than he can remember" and has been involved in the insurgency almost from its beginning three years ago, the official said.

Al-Rubaie said al-Saeedi was arrested "along with another group of his aides and followers," and that after his arrest, he gave information that led to the capture or death of 11 other top al-Qaeda in Iraq figures and nine lower-level members.

The security adviser said those arrested included non-Iraqi Arabs, but he would not give any further information for security reasons.

He said that according to Iraqi authorities' information, al-Qaeda in Iraq was being financed from both within the country and from abroad, "but the major finance is coming from outside Iraq."

After his arrest, al-Saeedi also said al-Qaeda in Iraq was cooperating with supporters of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein "in the fields of exchanging information and logistic support," al-Rubaie said.

After al-Zarqawi was killed, authorities obtained information about al-Saeedi indicating he had been operating in Salahuddin Province, al-Rubaie said.

Al-Saeedi later moved south to northern Baghdad and had been operating outside Baqubah, the same area where al-Zarqawi was killed. He had been hiding in a residential building, al-Rubaie said.

His capture "will affect al-Qaeda in Iraq and its operations against our people, especially those aimed at inciting sectarian strife," al-Rubaie said.

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