![]() [Ali al-Saadi/AFP/Getty Images] Gen. Qassim Atta showed pictures of the arrested suspects at a news conference on Monday |
The Iraqi government announced Monday (May 17th) the arrest of two Arab nationals described as two of the most dangerous leaders of the al-Qaeda organization in Iraq.
Baghdad Operations Command spokesperson Gen. Qassim Atta said that the two suspects, a Saudi and an Algerian, were arrested based on Iraqi intelligence information in two separate operations in Baghdad.
"A force of the Iraqi Army's 6th Division, 54th Brigade, managed to arrest the security official of al-Qaeda in Baghdad, alias Sinan al-Saudi," Atta said at a news conference held in the capital. "He is a Saudi national born in 1979 and he graduated from al-Fahd Security College in 2004. He is an officer, a lieutenant, in the Saudi Army."
Atta said that al-Saudi entered Iraq in 2004 through the al-Qaim area and Husaybah in Anbar province, after which he became the security official of al-Qaeda in Anbar and Salahaddin provinces. Al-Saudi also used the alias Mohammed Hamdan Fazie al-Shemmari.
Media reports identified al-Saudi as Abdullah Azam Saleh al-Qahtani.
Atta accused the Saudi detainee of taking part in criminal operations, including robbing jewelry stores in Baghdad and killing the shop owners, participating in bombings that targeted a number of hotels, and bombing the forensic evidence building in Baghdad. In addition, al-Saudi is suspected of planning to target religious shrines in Najaf and Karbala.
"Al-Saudi was also planning in coordination with "Wali of Baghdad" Manaf al-Rawi, who is currently being detained, to carry out a number of operations," Atta added. "These operations include robbing the Islamic Economic Bank in Baghdad and planning the bombing of a number of Baghdad areas with the aim of inciting sectarian strife."
Atta also accused the Saudi detainee of plotting with al-Qaeda's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, to "carry out a number of attacks during the World Cup in South Africa".
In an interview with AP on Tuesday, al-Qahtani said he was working on a proposal to Zawahiri to attack Danish and Dutch teams or their fans in South Africa with car bombs. It is not clear whether al-Qahtani had the capability to carry out such attacks.
Iraqi security officials said the second suspect, Algerian Tarek Hassan Abdul Kadir, alias Abu Yasin al-Jazaeri, was the military leader of al-Karkh in Baghdad. He is an Algerian national born in 1976 and was a resident of Algiers.
Atta said Iraqi forces withheld the announcement of al-Jazaeri's arrest until Monday to ensure that investigations with him were conducted in secrecy.
According to Atta, al-Jazaeri entered Iraq through Syria in 2005 and joined a training camp of the so-called Arab fighters in al-Karabilah area in Anbar province.
"Al-Jazaeri was tasked with a reconnaissance mission before the execution of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs attacks on Blood Wednesday several months ago," Atta said. "He also took part in robbing al-Nebal Money Exchange Company in Baghdad last year, where he killed a number of employees and stole large amounts of money. This is in addition to his participation in robbing a jewelry store on Palestine Street and killing the owner."
"Al-Qaeda is now suffering a major financial crisis after losing many of their financing sources," Atta said. "They are currently dependent upon stealing and armed robbery against banks to finance their operations."
Atta added that security forces obtained important information on al-Qaeda through investigations with the two detainees.
"The arrest of the two leaders sent a clear signal to all Arab fighters in Iraq that their life in Iraq has become very short," said Gen. Mohammed al-Askari, spokesperson for the Iraqi Ministry of Defense. "It also gave a signal to those who desire to enter the country that they will be going to prison and not into the fields of destruction that they want to cause in our beloved country."
We must take revenge on those serial-killers, to set an example of them to the others. They must realize that the Iraqi forces will track down such criminals. Accept greetings and appreciation from an Egyptian citizen to Sayyid Qasim and his honorable colleagues.
The recent arrests of many of Al-Qaeda leaders in Iraq says that the Iraqi police forces have succeeded in infiltrating this despicable organization, thanks to the efforts of the forces in the area of intelligence. This led to identifying those decayed heads among the Al-Qaeda leaders and their arrest, which in return destabilized Al-Qaeda and dismantled its components, and put it on the verge of collapse for certain. Those terrorists are no longer spared from justice, whatever their rank might be, whether Emirs or Ministers in the so-called Islamic State which they claimed to establish in Iraq. As for the remaining members, a lot of them will give up this organization and opt either to leave Iraq and go back to their caves, or surrender to the Iraqi authorities as they are tracked down and suffer from great pressure. Certainly, those frequent strikes by the Iraqi forces against Al-Qaeda will be the beginning of the end for this organization in Iraq. Iraq will be pioneering in anti-terrorism among the other countries, although it was subject to fierce terrorist attacks which aimed to destroy the Iraqi people, Iraq, divide it into small countries and sow civil war among its people. The remaining countries will take a lesson from the patience and the endurance of the Iraqis. In fact, Iraqis have stood against terrorism, fought it and eradicated it. Other countries will follow the example of Iraq and the Iraqis to eradicate terrorism in their countries.
Terrorists have carried out their terrorist activities with all their efforts. Terrorism has started developing its methods, especially after traditional tactics had failed and become known to security authorities. Also, Iraqis are more careful now of the danger of terrorism, and they have subsequently fought against it by all means and succeeded in reducing its threat in the country, to the extent that the number of those who fall victims of terrorist networks is being reduced enough to not go in the favor of terrorists.
They don’t deserve life; they deserve rather to have their heads cut off, to set an example to others. Treating them with such tolerance makes them continue their crimes. The extremist ideology is the ideology of explosions. The “Takfiri” ideology is based upon ignorance and lack of education. No wonder that some forbidden acts may be legitimized …As the basis is weak: like the extremist decayed ideology which stands against the conservative orientations aiming to preserve religious customs. This decayed ideology is similar to the rigid ideology, given that neither of them has anything to do with religion. If those “sheikhs” turned to the media to reveal the truth of the criminality of Al-Qaeda, no one would support them financially; and thus, God willing; they would be eradicated once for all.
The terrorists have tried to play the card of sectarian violence more than once, and they were the cause behind the current tension in Iraq, because they carried out many activities with the objective of creating sectarian strife and igniting a civil war among the sects in Iraq. However, this has not happened, because of the enlightened minds that were present. But this has had a huge psychological impact on everybody, because of the damages inflicted on them for no reason. This is where the government’s role comes in, in terms of reducing the tension and the sectarian strife, and not aggravating it. The government should prove to Iraq that it is the people’s government, and that it is a government consisting of all the factions of the Iraqi people, and that it does not practice ethnic or sectarian discrimination. This is what the government should do. It should also try to eliminate any sign of party politics or sectarianism, by providing jobs for everybody without discrimination between the applicants, for example, and the security forces should be made up of all the Iraqi people from everywhere. This should be so in order for citizens to feel that there is no discrimination, and that the situation is different from what it was like during the time of the tyrant Saddam. Before, employment was granted on the basis of the person’s family name and origin, and other similar nonsensical things that the previous regime did. But now, citizens want to see that the situation has changed in a concrete manner. This is the duty of the government, in order to alleviate pressures on citizens and not intensify them. People in government should set aside the personal differences among themselves for the sake of Iraq, and for the sake of the citizens’ well-being, which comes first, above everything else. Because the Iraqi citizens have suffered much, and they deserve to enjoy a normal life, far away from problems, killing, prison, terrorism and so on, and it is their right to enjoy a pleasant and comfortable life, and to be provided with the services that they were deprived of for many long years, taking into account that all the countries provide these services to their citizens, because this is part of the government’s responsibilities. When will the government turn its attention to the ordinary Iraqi citizens in a real way regarding all these issues?
His arrest comforted the victims’ families as it was a strike to Al-Qaeda, which was headed by this criminal in Baghdad. Al-Qaeda must appoint his successor in Baghdad, if they can, of course. This is impossible in the presence of the police forces and intelligence services which proves that Al-Qaeda no longer has a place in Iraq and has been exposed. Indeed, the arrest of the “Wali of Baghdad,” his entourage and collaborators toppled the “best organization” that works well in the terrorist organization as Baghdad had witnessed many infiltrations and continuous explosions. It is true that recently, peace reigned over Baghdad, but the terrorists deliberately provoked the Iraqi streets and media; they rest for a period of time, and then Baghdad wakes up to a bloody morning, where four or five explosions target State Departments or Ministries and other establishments.
Actually, what the heroic security forces are currently doing is definitive proof of the power of the Iraqi government; and the Iraqi judiciary system which is trying and sentencing them through Iraqi courts is also evidence of the independence of the judiciary, and the freedom it possesses which is necessary by law to act in all cases.
The arrest of such a terrorist will necessarily lead to paralyzing and destabilizing this organization, albeit temporarily. Obtaining his confessions will enable the Security Services to find out the latest plans and tactics employed by the members of this criminal organization for the implementation of their shameful and heinous operations against Iraq’s sons. They would also find out their ways of getting money, their sources and the names of their leaders who work in secret. Such large operations carried out by the police and the army will contribute to increasing the citizens’ confidence in the capacities of their Security Services, knowing that the latter have the ability to strike these criminals and murderers, who are targeting this country and its sons, to destroy their hideouts, and to arrest and eradicate them for good.
Arresting such a criminal terrorist will shake the foundations of the organization and make the majority of its leaders and members flee .The fact that the security forces succeeded in arresting him means that the rest will face the same fate. In other words, they will face either death or arrest at the hands of the Iraqi security forces who show no mercy to those who shed the blood of Iraqis whose only guilt is being Iraqi.
Al-Qaeda's regular sources of funding seem to be disappearing after the death of Osama bin Laden an...
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