Leader of so-called “Paradise Birds” group arrested in Kirkuk

KIRKUK / IraqiNews.com: The Assistant Chairman of the so-called Tiyour al-Janna (Paradise Birds) underground armed group has been detained in northern Iraq ’s oil-rich city of Kirkuk on Sunday night, according to Police Director, Sarhad Qader on Monday.   “A force from our Police Directorate has managed to detain one of the persons, demanded according to the Law’s Para-4 – Terrorism –, holding a leading post in the so-called Tiyour al-Janna (Paradise Birds) in the underground “Islamic State of Iraq and the Commander of its al-Riyadh township’s branch in its Charpirda village,” Lt-Brigadier Qader told IraqiNews.com news agency.   Qader said the “detainee is called Taleb Jassim Mohammed, wanted by the U.S. forces and the Iraqi security bodies since 2003, for carrying out several terrorist acts, including killings, abductions and the blasting out of the house of al-Riyadh Police Director, along with killing al-Sahwa (Awakening) elements, using guns fixed with silencer guns.”   “The said detainee had joined Tiyour al-Janna group recently and had been holding the position of its Assistant Military Chairman in southwest Kirkuk ,” Qader stressed, adding that the city’s security forces have managed to arrest 18 of the group’s elements in Kirkuk .   The oil-rich city of Kirkuk is 280 km to the northeast of Baghdad .   SKH (IT)   827