Diala police arrest bomber

DIALA / IraqiNews.com: Security authorities in Diala captured a bomber that targeted a police patrol north of the city of Baaquba earlier on Sunday, a senior security official in the province said today. “The bomber, a leading man of al-Qaeda network, was captured in a raid on Sunday in the village of al-Kawam, near al-Salam district,” Maj. General Abdelhussein al-Shimari, the Diala police chief, told IraqiNews.com news agency. “An improvised explosive device (IED) went off on Sunday near a police patrol in al-Salam, in the district of al-Khalis, (15 km) north of Baaquba, but left no casualties. The man responsible for the blast, an amir (leader) in al-Qaeda Organization of the name Sallam Shakir Abbas al-Azzawi, was captured today,” Shimari said. Earlier on Sunday (Jan. 25), Shimari told IraqiNews.com news agency that 21 persons, including seven members of al-Qaeda, were arrested in security operations conducted in different areas of Diala. Baaquba, the capital city of Diala, lies 57 km northeast of Baghdad. AmR (P) 1