Al-Qaeda leader nabbed in Talafar

Talafar-Qaeda NINEWA / IraqiNews.com: Police forces on Monday arrested an al-Qaeda leader during a security raid in Talafar, a police source said. “A police force arrested an al-Qaeda leader during a security operation it waged inside Talafar,” the source told IraqiNews.com, noting that he is one of Talafar’s residents. The source gave no further details. Talafar is located 60 km west of Mosul. Mosul, the capital city of Ninewa, lies 405 km north of Baghdad. The original city of Mosul stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient biblical city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial areas on both banks, with five bridges linking the two sides. Despite having an amount of Kurdish population, it does not form part of the area controlled by the Kurdistan Regional Government Kurdistan RegionG). There are different communities in Mosul like Christians, Shiites and Kurds along with a Sunni majority. The fabric Muslin, long manufactured here, is named for this city. Another historically important product of the area is Mosul marble. The city is also a historic center for the Nestorian Christianity of the Assyrians, containing the tombs of several Old Testament prophets such as Jonah, Yunus in Arabic, and Nahum. SH (S)/SR 1