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A
senior aide to Iraq's most wanted man Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
was recently captured in a raid in Baghdad, the
interim government said on Thursday, one day after
announcing a similar arrest in Mosul.
Fadil Hussein Ahmed al-Kurdi, a 26-year-old Kurd,
and two other suspects were caught in a raid by
US-led forces, said the government in a statement,
without specifying when the arrest occurred.
It said Kurdi was also known as Abu Ubaida al-Kurdi
or simply Ridha.
Communications with al-Qaeda
"Ridha was responsible for facilitating
communications between al-Qaeda and the Zarqawi
terror networks as well as coordinating the movement
of terrorists in and out of Iraq," said the
statement.
Ridha is the brother of Omar Baziyani, also a
suspected Zarqawi partisan who was captured in May
by US-led forces, it added.
The government announced on Wednesday the capture of
Abu Marwan, a "key leader" of the Zarqawi network in
the northern city of Mosul on December 23.
Deadly attack on US forces
The arrest occurred the day after a suicide bomber
penetrated a US military base in Mosul and killed 22
people, 18 of them Americans, in the deadliest
single attack on US forces in Iraq.
A purported audio message broadcast Monday on Arab
television from al-Qaeda terror chief Osama bin
Laden named Zarqawi his "emir" in Iraq.
Jordanian-born Zarqawi has a $25-million price on
his head and is blamed for some of the most gruesome
car bombing and executions.
AFP
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