Iraq Watch: September 3, 2006

Iraqi Forces Apprehend Insurgent Leader

Iraq's National Security Advisor Mouwafak al-Rubaie announced Sunday that Iraqi forces have captured insurgent leader Hamed Jumaa Farid al-Saeedi during a recent raid.

Al-Rubaie described the previously unknown al-Saeedi as al-Qaida in Iraq's second-in-command, behind only Abu Ayyub al-Masri (Abu Hamza al-Muhajer) who took over the reigns of the organization following the June 7 death of former guerilla leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Al-Saeedi, who is also known as Abu Humam or Abu Rana, was apprehended "a few days ago" in an Iraqi-led raid southwest of the volatile town of Baqouba.

Al-Saeedi is believed to have played a supervising role in the February 22 bombing of the revered Shiite Askariya shrine in Samarra, north of Baghdad. The mosque bombing caused a dramatic up-tick in the communal sectarian bloodletting that is currently plaguing Iraq.

The Iraqi government previously named Haitham Sabah Shaker Mohammed al-Badri as the chief perpetrator of the Askariya attack.

Al-Badri remains at large although Yousri Fakher Mohammed Ali (Abu Qudama), a purported accomplice in the bombing, was arrested in June.

On Monday the Mujahedeen Shura Council, an insurgent umbrella organization that includes al-Qaida in Iraq, acknowledged al-Saeedi's capture in a statement posted on the Internet. However, the group – purportedly led by Abdullah bin Rashid al-Baghdadi – refuted that al-Saeedi was number two in the al-Qaida in Iraq hierarchy.