US captures Qaeda suspect in Iraqi sheikh killing
US forces in Iraq said on Sunday they have captured a suspected Al-Qaeda operative linked to the killing of Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Reesha, a key US ally in the fight against the Islamist group.
The US military named the suspect as Fallah Khalifa Hiyas Fayyas al-Jumayli and said he had been involved in a plot to kill tribal leaders in the restive western province of Anbar.
Abu Reesha, a Sunni sheikh, was killed when his convoy was hit by a car bomb on Thursday near his home in Ramadi, the provincial capital of the restive western province of Anbar.
His assassination came almost a year to the day since he launched the Anbar Awakening Conference, a coalition of 42 Sunni tribes which joined forces with US troops to fight the jihadist group.
"The captured individual ... is believed to be responsible for the death of Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Reesha," the US military said in a statement, adding he was detained in an operation on Saturday in Balad, north of Baghdad.
"Intelligence reports indicate Jumayli is involved in a plot to kill key leaders in the Anbar Awakening," it added.
"He is also reportedly responsible for car bomb and suicide vest attacks in Anbar province, and is closely allied with senior Al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders in the region."
On Friday, the Islamic State of Iraq, which is affiliated to Al-Qaeda, claimed Abu Reesha's killing and warned it would target other Sunni leaders who support US troops in Iraq.
"We announce the formation of 'special security committees' to trace and assassinate prominent (leaders) of agent tribes who tarnished the reputation of their original tribes by helping the soldiers of the cross and the Safawi government of al-Maliki," the group said in an Internet statement.
US military commander Brigadier General Joe Anderson told reporters that Abu Reesha's security had been made up entirely of Iraqi forces and that there was a police station next to his compound.
"Five hundred policemen were stationed there and responsible for the area... He also had his own private security," he said.
Asked whether the killing could have been an "inside job", Anderson said this was still being investigated.
US military spokesman Rear Admiral Mark Fox said the operation that led to the arrest of Jumayli was based "on precise information."
The military said coalition forces raided three buildings in the operation that netted Jumayli, adding that three other suspected militants were detained, without saying whether they were also involved in Abu Reesha's killing.
AFP
