Key militant captured

last updated 8 January 2015

Baghdad

Iraqi authorities said this week they had arrested the No. 2 figure in al Qaida in Iraq. They said Hamed Jumaa Farid al-Saeedi was the man behind the February bombing of a major Shiite shrine, an event that kicked off the sectarian clash between Sunnis and Shiites. Iraqi National Security Advisor Mouwafak al-Rubaie said the arrest left the terrorist group with a “serious leadership crisis.” But U.S. analysts said al Qaida in Iraq has recovered quickly from worse setbacks, including the June killing of its founder, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. And in any case, the main threat in Iraq is the death squads roaming the capital. The mutilated and blindfolded bodies of 33 men were found scattered across Baghdad this week.