Text size:

Closing on Iraq's most wanted

BY MOHAMAD BAZZI | MIDDLE EAST CORRESPONDENT

January 29, 2005

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq - The recent arrests of six associates of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi are yielding information that could lead to the capture of Iraq's most wanted man, according to a senior Kurdish intelligence official.

One of al-Zarqawi's top lieutenants, Abu Omar al-Kurdi, who was captured in a Jan. 15 raid in Baghdad, is cooperating with his interrogators and has provided detailed information about his boss' movements, hiding places and communication methods, the official said.

"Al-Kurdi has been surprisingly cooperative," the official said on the condition of anonymity. "He is giving real information."

Iraqi officials announced Friday in Baghdad that they arrested three leaders of al-Zarqawi's group in mid-January, but gave few details about the circumstances. Those captured were: Salah Suleiman al-Loheibi, head of the group's Baghdad operations, who met with al-Zarqawi more than 40 times over three months; Anad Mohammed Qais, a military adviser; and Ali Hamad Yassin, a senior operative.

"We are getting close to finishing off al-Zarqawi and we will get rid of him," Iraq's deputy prime minister, Barham Saleh, told reporters in Baghdad.

The Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi has claimed responsibility - or has been blamed by U.S. and Iraqi officials - for a majority of the bloodiest suicide bombings, kidnappings and beheadings of foreigners in Iraq during the past year. U.S. officials say he is masterminding a terror network in Iraq at the behest of Osama bin Laden. But al-Zarqawi has tended to operate independently through his Tawhid wa Jihad ("Monotheism and Holy War") group and other militant networks.

In July, U.S. officials raised the reward for information leading to his arrest or killing to $25 million - equal to the bounty on bin Laden's head.

The Kurdish official said the arrests announced Friday preceded the capture of al-Kurdi. "They got al-Kurdi based on information from lower-ranking operatives," the official said. "The hope is that al-Kurdi could lead to al-Zarqawi."

Iraqi officials described al-Kurdi as "the most lethal" of al-Zarqawi's lieutenants, blamed by officials for organizing 32 car bombings, including the August 2003 bombing of United Nations headquarters in Baghdad. The intelligence official said al-Kurdi is an ethnic Kurd who joined al-Zarqawi through the Kurdish-dominated militant group Ansar al-Islam.

Around the time of al-Kurdi's arrest, U.S. and Iraqi forces also captured a propaganda chief and a weapons supplier for al-Zarqawi's group in Mosul, where Islamic militants have been especially active for more than a year.

The official noted that, after al-Kurdi's capture, al-Zarqawi likely changed his movements and communication procedures. "He is most likely moving around alone, and frequently changing his appearance and papers," the official said.

The Bush administration has consistently labeled al-Zarqawi as the main force behind the Iraqi insurgency. To some Iraqis, the U.S. focus on al-Zarqawi is part of a political strategy to portray the insurgency as driven by Islamic militants and foreigners.

Al-Zarqawi's group repeated its threat Friday to kill anyone who takes part in Sunday elections. It said on an Islamist Web site that Iraqis would be targeted by snipers, mortar fire or bombs if they approach polling stations, which it called "the centers of atheism and vice."