AQI leader for southern Baghdad area arrested

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The leader of the Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) for areas in southern Baghdad, Mozahem Mohammed Horan, was arrested on Saturday, according to the sem-official al-Iraqiya TV. “Horan, who was the AQI operative in charge of al-Latifiya area, was captured by soldiers from the Iraqi army’s 17th Division,” said the channel. On Friday, the AQI had said that it has named a new “war minister” for their self-styled Islamic State of Iraq in succession of Abu Ayoub al-Masri who was killed along with the State leader Abu Omar al-Baghdadi on March 19. A web posting said that the AQI named al-Nasser Ledin-Illah Abu Soliman, threatening Shiite Muslims and pledging to show them “bloody days ahead”. The AQI did not claim responsibility for operations in several areas in Baghdad as well as attacks in Wassit, al-Anbar, Mosul, Basra and Babel, which all left nearly 600 Iraqis killed or wounded. AmR (P) 1