A top aide to al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi has been captured by the Iraqi Army. Kassim al-Ani is described as a senior al Qaeda leader and was among the most wanted in Iraq. Reuters:

Defence Ministry spokesman Kassim al-Mosawi said that Kassim al-Ani, one of the most wanted people in Iraq, was arrested on Sunday evening.

"The Iraqi army forces arrested three terrorists who belong to al Qaeda, one of them is a senior aide of Zarqawi in Baghdad," Mosawi said.

"He was one of the most wanted ones," he told Reuters, adding that Ani was suspected of being behind many attacks in the Iraqi capital....

Mosawi said the army had received intelligence information that Ani and the two other suspects were in a house in Baghdad's northern Adhamiya district, a predominantly Sunni area.

"We prepared a plan and raided the house and arrested them without resistance," he said.

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Dogs and cats, living together in Kurdistan! Iraq the Model on the news that hundreds have openly converted to Christianity:

The report quotes an interesting statement of the PM of Kurdistan Nejervan Barzani (a Muslim himslef) who commented on the news by saying "I'd rather see a Muslim become Christian than to see him become a radical MuslimÂ…"

A friend of mine who just returned from Iraq tells me he was surprised at meeting so many Christians. He's not sure to what extent they were openly Christian, but it wasn't uncommon for a local to confide that they were Christian in private.

Hat tip to Allah.

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(Beirut, Lebanon) Good news! Another member of the ousted Saddam Hussein regime is apprehended.

From DailyStar.com:

Police in Lebanon have arrested the son of Saddam Hussein's half-brother on an international arrest warrant issued by Interpol. According to sources close to the security forces, Bashar Sabawi Ibrahim al-Tikriti, identified by the international policing organization as a "dangerous wanted terrorist," was nabbed at the Malibu Bay Hotel in the Jounieh neighborhood of Maameltein.

Tikriti had been planning to board a flight from the Lebanese capital to Brazil later in the day.

Police were tipped off when members of the hotel's staff suspected that Takriti's passport had been tampered with to alter his name.

The sources added that the wanted Iraqi had originally entered Lebanon through Syria after escaping Iraq. An international warrant for Tikriti's arrest on terrorism charges, including leading a group to fight US forces in Iraq, was later discovered once authorities realized who they had in custody.

On a different note, it would be nice to know what connection Basher Sabawi Ibrahim al-Tikriti has with Brazil. Business or pleasure? Frankly, it wouldn't surprise me if there were an expatriate group of exiled Baathists in Brazil. After all, the country is comfortably socialist.

From Interested-Participant.

UPDATE: This is a follow up to our earlier report Saddam Nephew Arrested in Beirut.

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The Army of Ansar al-Sunna has taken a female Iraqi translator hostage. In an announcement released on the internet, the group claimed that it had captured Mayada Salihi, a woman working as a translator for U.S. forces.

In the statement, the group claimed that Salihi was an "apostate" and among their most wanted targets. The Islamist group also claims that they had shot and wounded Ms. Salahi last year, but that she had escaped.

The group also posted several images to confirm that Mayada Salihi had been captured. Among them are several identification badges, including one for the U.S. embassy in Iraq. Two others identify Salihi as an employee of the Iraqi Ministry of Defense.

A series of other photos appear to show a woman posing with various Iraqi and U.S. forces, but her face is is blurred. The woman does appear to be Salahi.

The Army of Ansar al-Sunna is an active terrorist organization in Iraq. The group routinely murders hostages that it deems "apostates". Under Islamic law, the maximum penalty for apostasy is death. Thus, the Islamist groups justifies its murders as the carrying out of the death penalty under the guise of Islamic law.

The statement released by the group claims that two of its members were shopping in Baghdad when they spotted Salihi. They claim that Salihi was some sort of counter-intelligence officer that was hunting them down. Salihi initially fled the two "mujahidin" when they attacked her. They later found her in her car and kidnapped her, even though some Iraqi policemen saw what was happening and tried to stop them.

The group promised to upload a video to the internet in the near future. Unfortunately, this group has distributed dozens of videos of the murder and beheading of hostages in the past.

Mayada Salihi was featured in an article by Knight-Ridder in May of 2003. The author, S. Thorne Harper, describes Mayada Salihi as an outspoken advocate of women's rights in Iraq.:

She's definitely got the attitude – passionate and outspoken. In a country steeped in patriarchy, with little history of free speech, that's never been a problem for the 31-year-old, married mother of two.

"It is difficult here for some women," said Salihi, who prefers make-up, blouses and slacks to conservative Arab fashion. "For me, it's easy. I can say whatever I want."

Salihi worked at a private school teaching English before the war until a U.S. bombe killed one of her neighbors:

Later, still seething, she approached the first U.S. soldier she saw and asked him a tough question.

"I said to him: `I need to know when you are leaving our country,' " she said, sipping on a Pepsi.

The soldier had no answer. Calming her anger, Salihi realized she had to use her English skills to work with the Americans.

She works long hours as a U.S. military translator. Her husband works as a driver and guide for journalists.

Four days ago, she discovered four unexploded U.S. cluster bombs in her front yard. She said Iraqis who believe she is working with the U.S. government to arrest members of the former regime placed them there.

"I can't even let my children outside to play anymore," she said. "My house is like a prison."

More from Salihi:

She finds a paradox in postwar Iraq. Under Saddam Hussein, she said, there was no freedom of speech but there was adequate security. Under U.S. rule, Iraqis are free to express themselves but no one feels safe.

Salihi warned that Iraqis are beginning to consider this paradox. Unless the U.S. turns things around quickly, she said they might start longing for the old ways.

"There is an old Arab saying, `If you want to know the value of something – like a leader, try the value of another one for a while," she said.

We pray that U.S. forces will swiftly find the terrorists who have captured Mayada Salihi and free her before it is too late. more...

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Bashar Sabawi al-Tikriti, the nephew of Saddam Hussein, has been arrested in Lebanon. Although Lebanese authorities have not commented on the exact nature of the charges against him, it is likely that Bashar Sabawi was arrested for helping to fund terrorism in Iraq.

In 2005 the U.S. State Department blocked the assets of Bashar Sabawi al-Tikriti and 5 other nephews of Saddam Hussein on suspicion of funding terrorism in Iraq.

Al Jazeera:

The prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, announced on Wednesday that Bashar Sabawi Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti was arrested with the assistance of Lebanese police.

However, the announcement did not say when exactly al-Tikriti was arrested or what for.

"Bashar Sabawi al-Tikriti is an important element on the most-wanted list due to his ugly crimes against the Iraqi people after the fall of the former regime," the announcement said.

Bashar Sabawi's father, Sabaawi Ibrahim al-Hussein, was arrested last year on similar charges and testified in Saddam Hussein's trial earlier this week. Bashar's brother Ayman was arrested one year ago during an operation in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit.

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(Baghdad) After three years of turmoil following the ouster of Saddam Hussein, a new Iraqi government has been sworn in before a special session of parliament.

From MyWay.com:

The session began more than two hours late because of last-minute haggling, finally opening with readings from the Quran.

The 37-member Cabinet is made up of members from all of Iraq's religious, sectarian and ethnic groups. It took months of negotiations to form after the Dec. 15 elections and is Iraq's first constitutional government since the U.S. invasion toppled Saddam.

"This is a historic day for Iraq and all its people," deputy parliament speaker Khalid al-Attiyah said in a nationally televised news conference before the session. "This government represents all Iraqis."

Maybe it's just my ignorance, but it seems that the formation of a new government in Iraq is a milestone event worth trumpeting. Text books tell us that the colonies took considerably longer than three years to cast off the shackles of tyranny and establish the United States so, not only is the creation of a constitutional democracy in Iraq a major event in world history, it was accomplished in record time when compared to America. However, despite my beliefs, a search through the mainstream media reveals the story getting ho-hum mention and usually it's sandwiched between graphically reported segments showing violence in the streets.

Nonetheless, I congratulate the citizens of the nation of Iraq.

From Interested-Participant.

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The report accuses Iran of supplying shoulder fired missiles specifically to al-Qaeda. However Abu Musab al-Zaqawi’s recent video demonstrated primitive rockets. However there are guided shoulder fire missiles in use by the insurgency there. What groups exactly are using them is hard to tell. I’m a bit gun shy of these claims lately. These missiles could come from any of a number of nations in the region. Given that Iran has in interest chaos in Iraq. We are already in a “cold war” type situation with Iran. Just who they supplied them to and where they went from there is open for debate. However the fact remains that since these devices have been in use in Iraq the danger to US choppers have increased considerably.

Iran Focus :London, May 13 – Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) had provided the insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq heavy weapons including anti-aircraft missiles, it emerged on Friday.

The Iraqi daily az-Zaman which is published in London and Baghdad quoted credible Iraqi sources as revealing that the IRGC had given al-Qaeda in Iraq, Strela-type SAM-7 surface-to-air missiles, modern explosives, and a large number of personnel arms including Kalashnikovs and BKC machineguns.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq is believed to be led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who is on the United StatesÂ’ wanted list.

The report said that representatives of al-ZarqawiÂ’s group met in Beirut with members of the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah and through them established channels with Tehran.

Three close aides to al-Zarqawi travelled to Iran via a security checkpoint in the Iraqi border province of al-Amara from where they met with Iranian officials, the report added.

The United States and Iraqi officials have accused IranÂ’s radical Islamic government of sending agents and arms into Iraq to assist the insurgency.

CHRON : The U.S. command also said American soldiers and helicopters conducted four raids over the weekend in the Triangle of Death, killing 16 suspected al-Qaida insurgents, including one militant who allegedly had led the April 1 attack, during which two U.S. soldiers were killed when their AH-64 Apache helicopter was shot down in the Youssifiyah area.

After that attack, a new al-Qaida group claimed responsibility and posted a gruesome video on the Web showing men dragging the burning body of what appeared to be an American soldier across a field as they shouted "Allahu akbar!" or "God is great!"

al-Qaeda Video claim showing our beloved pilots body being abused. (Personal note why this man's name was read on the New Hour on PBS it touched me as I had reported on his death and abuse)

Also See Iraq the Model.

Wikipedia entry on Strela missiles which are the Russian equivalent of the American Stinger.

al-Qeada claims shootdown of civilian chopper.

Why did Zarqawi chose to show the less technical Palestinian junk in this video?

The safest is that Iran and other nations have supplied some numbers of these missiles and each “insurgent group” through horse trading have acquired them in limited numbers. Iran is the primary suspect and it’s safe to assume that al-Qaeda has a few or releases shoot down incidents done by other groups and takes credit to create the perception they are more powerful than they are. I suspect Shia militia and Sunni groups also have these and also have an interest in being sure that al-Qaeda gets all the credit/blame. You can however be absolutely sure these things are deadly dangerous to our men and women in Iraq.

Note:The recent shoot down of a British Chopper took place in Basra, a Shia controlled area. more...

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(Baghdad) Witnesses saw two Iraqi journalists, Laith al-Dulaimi and Muazaz Ahmed Barood, abducted on Sunday southeast of Baghdad. Their bodies were found on Monday.

From CPJ.org:

Al-Dulaimi, a reporter for the privately owned TV station Al-Nahrain, and Muazaz Ahmed Barood, a telephone operator for the station, were kidnapped by men disguised as police officers at Diyala Bridge while driving home to Mada'in, a town 12 miles (19 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, Abdulkarim al-Mehdawi, the station's general manager told CPJ.

Their bodies were discovered at al-Wihda district, 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Baghdad. Both men, in their late 20s, were shot in the chest, al-Mehdawi told CPJ.

Al-Dulaimi became a reporter for Al-Nahrain four months ago. Barood worked at the station since it was established just over a year and a half ago. The motive behind the murders is unclear. Al-Mehdawi told CPJ that neither the station nor the journalists had ever received threats.

From Interested-Participant.

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At the same time, the Americans and the Government were able to absorb our painful blows, sustain them, compensate their losses with new replacements, and follow strategic plans which allowed them in the past few years to take control of Baghdad as well as other areas one after the other. That is why every year is worse than the previous year as far as the MujahidinÂ’s control and influence over Baghdad.

5. The role that the Islamic party and the Islamic Scholars Committee play in numbing the Sunni people through the media is a dangerous role. It has been proven from the course of the events that the American investment in the Party and the Committee were not in vain. In spite of the gravity of the events, they were able to calm down the Sunni people, justify the enemy deeds, and give the enemy the opportunity to do more work without any recourse and supervision.

Read the whole damn thing.

Quote above is taken from the link titled "full translation, read more."

CP @ VAM, MVWRC, and TDPB

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Sickening

Via The London Times Online :

Update: See Rusty here who says, "Ah young Paducan learn to trust your feelings". (Note extended entry was posted yesterday.)

Nobody but her killers knew just how much she had suffered until a film showing her death on February 22 at the hands of two musclebound men in military uniforms emerged last week. Her familyÂ’s worst fears of what might have happened have been far exceeded by the realityÂ….

...We now know that it was not that swift for Bahjat. First she was stripped to the waist, a humiliation for any woman but particularly so for a pious Muslim who concealed her hair, arms and legs from men other than her father and brother.

Then her arms were bound behind her back. A golden locket in the shape of Iraq that became her glittering trademark in front of the television cameras must have been removed at some point — it is nowhere to be seen in the grainy film, which was made by someone who pointed a mobile phone at her as she lay on a patch of earth in mortal terror.

By the time filming begins, the condemned woman has been blindfolded with a white bandage.

It is stained with blood that trickles from a wound on the left side of her head. She is moaning, although whether from the pain of what has already been done to her or from the fear of what is about to be inflicted is unclear...

...A large man dressed in military fatigues, boots and cap approaches from behind and covers her mouth with his left hand. In his right hand, he clutches a large knife with a black handle and an 8in blade. He proceeds to cut her throat from the middle, slicing from side to side.

Her cries — “Ah, ah, ah” — can be heard above the “Allahu akbar” (God is greatest) intoned by the holder of the mobile phone.

Even then, there is no quick release for Bahjat. Her executioner suddenly stands up, his job only half done. A second man in a dark T-shirt and camouflage trousers places his right khaki boot on her abdomen and pushes down hard eight times, forcing a rush of blood from her wounds as she moves her head from right to left.

Only now does the executioner return to finish the task. He hacks off her head and drops it to the ground, then picks it up again and perches it on her bare chest so that it faces the film-maker in a grotesque parody of one of her pieces to camera.

The voice of one of the Arab worldÂ’s most highly regarded and outspoken journalists has been silenced. She was 30....

...I found it hard enough to bear the news of her murder. When I saw it replayed, it was as if part of me had died with her. How much more gruelling it must have been for a close family friend who watched the film this weekend and cried when he heard her voice.

The friend, who cannot be identified, knew nothing of her beheading but had been guarding other horrifying details of BahjatÂ’s ordeal. She had nine drill holes in her right arm and 10 in her left, he said. The drill had also been applied to her legs, her navel and her right eye. One can only hope that these mutilations were made after her death.

Also see the Mudville Gazette who adds:

Regardless of which side in the conflict killed her (and I have my own thoughts on that - in the eyes of her killers her greatest crime was most likely being a woman outside of a kitchen) the London Times reporter can't resist a mild apology for their act:

Just as Bahjat bore witness to countless atrocities that she covered for her television station, Al-Arabiya, during IraqÂ’s descent into sectarian conflict, so the recording of her execution embodies the depths of the countryÂ’s depravity after three years of war.

In truth, it represents a depth of depravity achieved over centuries. From the description, her killers hadn't just conceived or improvised their method execution on the spot - they seem to have been well practiced. But such is the nature of the enemy in this war, and perhaps this is their most sacred and well honed knowledge: if a brutality can be inflicted that exceeds all human ability to comprehend, the humans will find a way to deny it

This is the face of evil itself. That the monsters choose to hide behind masks shows how deeply depraved and cowardly they really are. We must remember we are at war. Or that face will show itself again and again.

Anyone who thinks that God's greatness is established by such acts of barbaric cruelty must be resisted at all costs.

Others : Malkin and Captains Quarters.

See our beheading archive; Warning Graphic Images. more...

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A British military helicopter crashed in the predominately Shia city of Basra today. Reports from the crash indicate Iraqi cheered the helicopter crash and threw stones at British troops who arrived at the scene.

Image: AP. Video of the aftermath here.

The Iraqis involved were followers of Muqtada al-Sadr. It boggles the mind that al-Sadr and his militias weren't wiped out long ago. In recent weeks, members of al-Sadr's Mehdi Army have begun to mimick the tactics of other insurgent groups and have begun posting propaganda films on the internet. Up to this point, the Mehdi Army has simply claimed to be a militia fighting to protect Shia from Sunni abuses. Recently, a group claiming to be the Mehdi Army posted video of an attack against a Coalition tank. This is not a good sign.

All four of the British troops are reported dead. Tragic.

So much for the alleged success of the British whose 'hands off' occupation policy is so often seen as succesful in 'winning the hearts and minds' of the Iraqi people. Is it better to be feared or loved? Feared.

In related news, a U.S. CH-47 Chinook helicopter has been downed in Afghanistan. Ten U.S. soldiers were killed. (hat tip: Traderrob). A bad day for our brave soldiers.

Fox:

A British military helicopter crashed in Basra on Saturday, and Iraqis hurled stones at British troops and set fire to at least one armored vehicle that rushed to the scene. Clashes broke out between British troops and Shiite militias, police and witnesses said....

British forces backed by armored vehicles rushed to the area but were met by a hail of stones from the crowd of at least 250 people, who jumped for joy and raised their fists as a plume of thick smoke rose into the air from the crash site.

The crowd also set at least one British armored vehicle on fire, apparently with a rocket-propelled grenade, but the British soldiers inside escaped unhurt, witnesses said. British fired weapons into the air in an effort to disperse the crowd.

Shooting broke out between the British and armed militiamen, and at least two people, including a child, were killed, Khazim said.

Crowds chanted "we are all soldiers of al-Sayed," a reference to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, an ardent foe of the presence of foreign troops in Iraq.

This guy says: IÂ’d like to think that the people who are throwing rocks at the burning wreckage of the helicopter are terrorists. I'd suggest watching the video.

Clarity and Resolve call it: Mogadishu, Somalia Redux

Robert Spencer: Tiny Minority of Extremists and They'll Welcome Us As Liberators Updates

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