BAGHDAD, 26 February 2005 — The Iraqi government yesterday claimed to have captured aides to Jordanian-born terrorist Abu Mussab Al-Zarqawi. North of Baghdad, a bomb blast killed three US soldiers and wounded nine others. The US command said another soldier was killed in action west of the capital a day earlier, and a fifth soldier died in Baghdad in a non-hostile incident.
The government said in a statement that Talib Mikhlif Arsan Walman Al-Dulaymi, also known as Abu Qutaybah, was captured during a Feb. 20 raid in Anah, about 260 km northwest of the capital.
“Abu Qutaybah was responsible for determining who, when and how terrorist network leaders would meet with Zarqawi,” the government said.
He “filled the role of key lieutenant for the Zarqawi network, arranging safe houses and transportation as well as passing packages and funds to Zarqawi,” the government said. “His extensive contacts and operational ability throughout western Iraq made him a critical figure in the Zarqawi network.”
During the same raid, Iraqi forces also captured another Zarqawi aide who “occasionally acted as his driver,” the government said. The man was identified as Ahmad Khalid Marad Ismail Al-Rawi, who also helped arrange meetings for Zarqawi.
Both names are Iraqi and belong to well-known Sunni tribes in and around the town of Ramadi, a hotbed of the insurgency in Anbar province west of Baghdad.
A US general whose division is to take responsibility for security in Baghdad from other American forces said yesterday there was still no timeline for US troops to hand authority to their Iraqi counterparts. Transferring control to Iraqi security forces would be “event-driven,” said Maj. Gen. William Webster.
But Webster and Maj. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, head of Task Force Baghdad and commander of the 1st Cavalry Division, insisted there was great progress in the readiness of the Iraqi Army.
— Additional input from agencies
