US catches top Zarqawi aide in Iraq

US military catches top Zarqawi aide in Iraq   by J

BAGHDAD: The US military announced on Thursday it had captured a top Al-Qaeda linked operative who was the key suspect in the kidnapping of Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena last year.   

Separately, the Iraqi authorities also announced arrests of three other "terrorists", two of whom were caught disguised as women.   

The US military said a massive manhunt by Iraqi and US forces led to the arrest last month of Mohammed Hilal Hammad Ubaydi, also known as Abu Ayman, a former aide to the intelligence chief under Saddam Hussein. It said he had "strong ties" to Al-Qaeda's Iraq frontman, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and was the leader of the Secret Islamic Army, a militant outfit operating in the Babel province south of Baghdad.   

He was caught on March 7 in Al-Mahmudiyah, south of Baghdad, but his arrest was not immediately announced pending a DNA test, which "confirmed this is Abu Ayman," the military said.   

The military said he was the prime suspect in the kidnapping of Sgrena and was also behind a series of assassination attempts on Iraqi government and security officials.   

The Sgrena kidnapping last year drew worldwide attention when US soldiers shot dead an Italian agent shepherding her to safety after she was freed. Insurgents seized Sgrena from outside a Baghdad mosque on February 4, 2005 and numerous uncorroborated claims emerged for her kidnapping.   

But later in a video, on which "Mujahedeen Without Borders" was digitally stamped, she was seen pleading with Italy to end the US-led occupation of Iraq. After a month in captivity Sgrena was released amid allegations that Italy had paid a hefty ransom to secure her freedom.   

However, while on her way to the Baghdad airport she and the Italian agents escorting her came under fire from US soldiers at a checkpoint. One agent was killed and two others wounded.

On Thursday the US military also charged that Ayman has killed a number of other hostages in Iraq and set off some of the deadliest roadside bombs against US-led and Iraqi forces since the fall of Saddam in April 2003.   

"Ayman's capture will not only disrupt some of these attacks, but he will also provide valuable information leading to the capture of other terrorists he has worked with in the past," the military said. It said information on Ayman was provided by his aide Abu Qatada, a Syrian national, who was arrested in December in Baghdad. The military did not provide any other details on Qatada.   

Ayman is one of the top aides of Zarqawi arrested by US forces in recent times. In March the military had arrested 61 rebels linked to Zarqawi terror network near the former rebel bastion town of Fallujah, in western Iraq. Jordanian-born Zarqawi is Iraq's most-wanted man with a 25-million dollar US bounty on his head. The feared Islamist militant is accused of masterminding a large part of the Iraqi insurgency including some of its most gruesome attacks and hostage beheadings.