Urgent/Iraqi army nabs Kuwaiti suspect in Mosul

NINEWA / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi army forces on Tuesday arrested a Kuwaiti suspect in Ninewa, a security spokesman said. “A force from Iraqi army 2nd division stationed in Mosul captured a Kuwaiti suspect in al-Shuhada district, east Mosul,” Brig. Khalid Abdelsattar, spokesman for Ninewa Operations Command, told IraqiNews.com. The spokesman pointed out the suspect was arrested without identification cards or a passport, but he “admitted he is Kuwaiti during interrogations.” Mosul, the provincial capital of Ninewa, 400 km north of Baghdad, is viewed by U.S. and Iraqi authorities as one of the last remaining al-Qaida strongholds in Iraq. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered a two-phase military crackdown in the northern city in May. Ninewa officials said the gains from these operations, however, have disintegrated as militant groups re-entered the city there due to an insufficient number of Iraqi troops to maintain security following operations in May. AM (S)/SR 1