3 AQI leaders nabbed in Diala

DIALA / IraqiNews.com: Three al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders on Saturday were arrested during a security operation near Baaquba city, according to a local police chief. “Today, police forces conducted a security operation that targeted strongholds of the so-called ‘Islamic State of Iraq’ in al-Azeem area (15 km north of Baaquba),” Staff Maj. Gen. Abdelhussein al-Shamri told IraqiNews.com news agency. Eleven persons were arrested during the raid, including three key figures in the organization who have been involved in many crimes, Shamri explained. The self-styled Islamic State of Iraq is an armed organization that was set up in October 2006. Most prominent of its groups is al-Qaeda in Iraq, led by a man called Abu Omar al-Boghdadi. Baaquba, the capital city of Diala, lies 57 km northeast of Baghdad. SS (P) 1