Iraqi security forces have arrested a senior militant leader with links to the al-Qaeda-inspired Islamic State of Iraq network in the southeastern Wasit province, police say, PressTV reported.
The self-styled leader of the militant group, identified as Arif Naji Zugheir al-Ujeily, was caught on Tuesday in Wasit province, 180 kilometers (112 miles) southeast of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, after police received a tip-off on his location, an Iraqi police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency on condition of anonymity.
The local leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq was wanted for his role in a series of deadly terror attacks in Wasit and other Iraqi provinces.
Al-Qaeda in Iraq is affiliated to the international al-Qaeda organization. It was founded in 2003 and first led by the Jordanian militant, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in June 2006.
Ayyub al-Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, helped Abu Musab al-Zarqawi form the first al-Qaeda cell in Baghdad and later led the radical group.
Al-Masri lost his life along with Abu Omar al-Baghdadi - another leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq - in a joint Iraqi-US operation in Salahuddin province in April 2010.
Al-Qaeda in Iraq has been blamed for some of the bloodiest terrorist attacks in the war-torn country since the 2003 US-led invasion.
In the Iraqi city of Karbala, security forces have detained 11 terrorists who were planning attacks on pilgrims traveling to the holy city to observe the Shia religious day of Ashura.
Ashura, the tenth day of the month of Muharram on Islam's lunar calendar, marks the martyrdom of Prophet Muhammad's grandson and the third Shia Imam, Hussein ibn Ali, in the year 680 CE (61 AH.)
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