Captured: al-Qaida militant linked to Sunnitribal leader killing

U.S. troops capture suspected al-Qaida militant linked to Sunnitribal leader killing

2007-09-16 19:46:27

BAGHDAD, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. military said on Sunday that its troops caught a suspected militant of al-Qaida in Iraq believed to be linked to the assassination of a Sunni tribal leader in Anbar province.

The suspect was captured during a raid on Saturday in an area located to the west of the town of Balad, 80 km north of Baghdad, the military said in a statement.

The statement said Fallah Khalifa Hiyas Fayyas al-Jumayli, also known as Abu Khamis, was involved in the roadside bomb that killed Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, head of the Anbar Awakening Councilon Thursday in the provincial capital of Ramadi, 110 km west of Baghdad.

Abu Risha was the founder of an alliance of Sunni clans backed by the Iraqi government and the U.S. troops to fight the al-Qaidain Iraq organization.

Intelligence reports indicate al-Jumayli was involved in a plot to kill key leaders in the tribal awakening, the statement said. He was also reportedly responsible for car bomb and suicide vest attacks in Anbar province, and was closely allied with senioral-Qaida in Iraq leaders in the region.