Security Forces Capture Suspected Al-Qaida Leader in Western Iraq
RAMADI (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi security forces captured a suspected senior al-Qaida leader in Iraq's Anbar province, a police source told Xinhua on Monday.
"We have captured Abdul-Qader Attia al-Fahdawi, one of the leaders of al-Qaida terrorist group in Iraq, and believed to be the minister of electricity for the self-styled Islamic State of Iraq (ISI)," a source from the provincial operations command said on condition of anonymity.
The arrest occurred on Sunday in Sufiyah area just south of Anbar's capital city of Ramadi, some 110 km west of Baghdad, when a police force spotted a suspect in his 30s disguised as an old man and captured him for interrogation, the source said.
The police identified the captured suspect as Fahdawi who was wanted for involvement in a number of armed attacks against the Iraqi security forces and other crimes in the province, the source added.
The once volatile Sunni Arab province of Anbar, has been relatively calm for about four years after Sunni tribes and anti-U. S. insurgent groups turned to cooperate with the U.S. troops and the Iraqi security forces against al-Qaida network in Iraq, for which the province was one the main strongholds in the country after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
Iraq frequently announced its troops killed or captured al- Qaida leaders and their militants across the country. Such announcements are seen as victories for the country's security forces.