Operation Phantom Fury--Day 221 - Now Operations River Blitz; Matador--Day 116

Eddie Salazar and his mother Sheila, search for their sailor, U.S. Navy Interior Communications Electrician 2nd Class Julio Salazar during the deployment homecoming of the USNS Mercy, June 8, 2005. USNS Mercy rapidly deployed 11 days after the Dec. 26 tsunami for five months from the Naval Station San Diego, Calif, to help provide disaster relief to Southeast Asia. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Scott Taylor

Hurt soldier sues over Stryker seat-belt design

By MIKE BARBER SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

A former Fort Lewis soldier is suing the makers of the Army's new Stryker fighting vehicle, saying that an unsafe seat-belt design resulted in his permanent disability and discharge from the military.

The complaint against General Motors and General Dynamics was filed yesterday by Spc. Genaro Jesus Diaz's lawyers in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

The complaint seeks unspecified damages because of career-ending injuries that Diaz, then 22, is alleged to have received July 27, 2002, while test-driving the new vehicle for the two corporations in field conditions at the Army's Yakima Training Center.

At the time, GM and General Dynamics retained title and ownership of the vehicle they were developing for the Army but needed soldiers to put it through its paces.

"We think this is a predelivery testing malfunction while using our soldiers as -- guinea pigs is too strong, but test mannequin is too light -- but that's what it is," Seattle lawyer D. Michael Tomkins said yesterday.

Diaz, an infantryman who had planned a career as a soldier, had his sights set on becoming an Army Ranger. Now home in Texas, Diaz also is denied a fall-back dream of becoming a Texas Ranger.

Diaz suffered herniated vertebrae in his back and neck damage and remains in pain, Tomkins said. A guy who once could run 10 miles, Diaz now only walks, Tomkins said.

Neither Diaz nor officials with GM and General Dynamics could be reached for comment. Nor could spokesmen at Fort Lewis.

In 2002, when the Stryker vehicles were being developed, "the Army never took possession of the vehicles, and the corporations had their own technicians on the site throughout the testing phase. They specifically told the Army not to touch any problem, to let our GM people fix it," Tomkins said when asked why the Army wasn't a defendant.

Since the seat-belt accident, the $4 million Stryker vehicles have encountered other problems with armor and a mobile gun system that have drawn Congress' attention.

Overall, however, most soldiers defend the infantry carriers as lifesavers, especially from car bombs rigged with Iraqi artillery shells.

Tomkins said that Diaz's is one of the first cases of its kind but that other soldiers and lawyers around the country are interested.

Diaz's claim alleges he was greeted with deaf ears when he tried to report that the seat belts failed to lock.

"Spc. Diaz was nonetheless ordered to drive the Stryker up a steep incline with the hatch closed. The Stryker crested the incline and fell over a 10- to 12-foot cliff nose first, striking the ground with great force. The seat belt failed to restrain Spc. Diaz, and he fell forward, striking his chest and head," the lawsuit says.

The Stryker is non-padded and steel-encased, Tomkins said.

"When you come out of your seat because of a faulty seat belt, you are thrown into a major danger zone. Everybody inside got pretty beat up, and Mr. Diaz got beat up the most," Tomkins said.

DoD Identifies Army Casualties No. 606-05 IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 15, 2005

The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died on June 13 in Ramadi, Iraq, where their military vehicle came under a grenade attack while conducting combat operations. Both soldiers were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 17th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.

The soldiers are:

Sgt. Larry R. Kuhns Jr., 24, of Austintown, Ohio.

Spc. Anthony D. Kinslow, 21, of Westerville, Ohio.

DoD Identifies Marine Casualty No. 607-05 IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 15, 2005

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Pfc. Joshua P. Klinger, 21, from Easton, Pa., died June 14 as a result of an explosion from an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations against enemy forces near Fallujah, Iraq. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

US soldiers secure the scene of a burning US military vehicle following a road side bomb in southeast Baghdad. No injuries were reported from the attack(AFP)

5 Marines, 8 Iraqi Officers Die in Attacks

By FRANK GRIFFITHS, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A roadside bomb attack killed five U.S. Marines, and gunfire killed an American sailor in a western Iraqi town, the U.S. military said Thursday.

Also Thursday, a suicide car bomber slammed into a truck that was carrying policemen along the main road connecting Baghdad with its airport, killing at least eight officers and injuring at least 25, police and hospital officials said.

The suicide bomber plowed his black sedan at high speed into a truck carrying police officers from checkpoint to checkpoint along the road about 4 p.m. (8 a.m. EDT).

The attacks came amid an upsurge in violence appeared to be aimed at derailing stepped-up efforts by Shiite politicians to bring the disaffected Sunni Arab minority into the political process.

The Marines died Wednesday after their vehicle was attacked near Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, the military said. Officials in Ramadi had reported a roadside bomb blast in the pre-dawn hours.

A sailor attached to the Marines' unit, the 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, was also killed Wednesday in Ramadi by gunfire, the military said.

The six U.S. deaths raised Wednesday's toll from insurgent attacks to 58 killed, making it the deadliest day of violence in more than a month.

At least 1,714 U.S. military members have died since the war began in 2003, according to an AP count.

Meanwhile, a judge and his bodyguard were killed Thursday morning in an eastern Mosul neighborhood where many residents support the now-banned Baath Party of toppled President Saddam Hussein, officials said.

An Iraqi boy looks at the debris of a car bomb in the Sulaikh district of northern Baghdad where one soldier was killed and five others injured, according to military sources. An Iraqi judge and a former regime member were assassinated, as 13 people were wounded in car bombs in the oil city of Kirkuk and in Baghdad, security sources said.(AFP/Ahmad Al-Rubaye)

Six masked gunmen in two cars blocked the road and sprayed the judge's car with machine-gun fire, said Mosul court Judge Abdul al-Hassaniani and Dr. Bahaa al-Din al-Bakri of the city's hospital. The officials identified the dead judge as Salim Mahmoud al-Haj Ali. Mosul is 225 miles northwest of Baghdad.

Police found the bodies of 11 people in two towns in the so-called Triangle of Death on Thursday, an official said. The corpses of five family members were discovered at a farm in Musayyib, about 40 miles south of Baghdad, said Capt. Muthana Khalid, a police spokesman.

A group of armed men wearing police uniforms broke into the family's house Wednesday and pretended to arrest them and later killed them, Khalid said. There were signs of torture on the bodies, he said.

The remains of six other people were found in Latifiyah, about 20 miles south of Baghdad, Khalid said. Gunmen used the bodies as a trap to ambush arriving officers and engaged police in a fire fight, he said. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Iraqi legislators, meanwhile, seemed close to agreement on a demand by Sunni Arabs for more participation in the effort to draft a constitution.

A Shiite-dominated parliamentary committee drafting Iraq's new constitution offered a compromise to the country's Sunni Arab minority in an effort to break a deadlock over demands they have a bigger say in drawing up the charter.

The offer suggested that 13 additional Sunni Arabs join the committee in a parallel body. The head of a major Sunni religious organization and a spokesman for the community's largest political party rejected committee chairman Hummam Hammoudi's offer.

The Sunni Arab community has said it wants 25 more people to join their two legislators already on the committee. Representatives from the 55-member committee and the Sunni Arab community were scheduled to meet Thursday to discuss the proposal.

An agreement on the constitution would help defuse growing sectarian tension between the majority Shiites, who control the government, and the Sunnis. The minority is thought to make up the core of an insurgency that has killed at least 1,080 people since Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari's government was announced April 28.

The surge in attacks appeared aimed at derailing efforts by Shiite and Kurdish politicians to bring the disaffected Sunni Arab minority into the political process, particularly the drafting of the new constitution. The new charter must be approved by parliament by mid-August and put to a nationwide vote two months later. If passed, it will be the basis for a new election in December.

A car bomb exploded early Thursday in northern Baghdad, injuring five Iraqi soldiers, police Capt. Ahmed al-Nedawi said. The car was parked on a street and detonated by remote control, he said.

Iraqi National Guards survey the remnants of a car bomb which killed one and injured five people in Baghdad June 16, 2005. The bomb targeted a National Guard patrol. REUTERS/Mohammed Ameen

___

Associated Press writers Sinbad Ahmed in Mosul; Haider Fathi in Iskandariyah and Sameer N. Yacoub and Sinan Salaheddin in Baghdad contributed to this report.

A British patrol boat speeds through Basra's port in southern Iraq June 16, 2005. Armed pirates raided a supertanker anchored close to Iraq's Basra oil export terminal in the early hours of Wednesday, in the latest serious security breach at the facility, local ship agents said. The raid comes only two weeks after pirates attacked the crew of a supertanker waiting to load crude oil at the terminal. REUTERS/Atef Hassan

An Iraqi police boat patrols Basra's port, in southern Iraq, June 16, 2005. Armed pirates raided a supertanker anchored close to Iraq's Basra oil export terminal in the early hours of Wednesday, in the latest serious security breach at the facility, local ship agents said. The raid comes only two weeks after pirates attacked the crew of a supertanker waiting to load crude oil at the terminal. REUTERS/Atef Hassan

An Iraqi policeman aims his rifle as his boat patrols Basra's port in southern Iraq June 16, 2005. Patrols have been stepped up after armed pirates attacked a super tanker docked at Basra's offshore oil terminals today in the third such incident in the last 2 weeks. REUTERS/Atef Hassan

British soliders are seen on patrol in the southern city of Basra, 500 kms from Baghdad. More than 40 people were killed in an upsurge of rebel attacks, including 23 at an Iraqi army canteen, as an Australian hostage walked free after 47 days in captivity.(AFP/Essam al-Sudani)

British soliders patrol the southern Iraqi city of Basra. Two suicide bombings killed a total of 31 people in Iraq, as an Australian hostage was freed after being held for almost six weeks.(AFP/Essam Al-Sudani)

British soldiers patrol the southern Iraqi city of Basra. Several British soldiers were wounded when a roadside bomb went off in Baghdad.(AFP/File/Essam Al-Sudani)

Masked gunmen, calling themselves the al-Haq Army, surround the main mosque in Ramadi, Iraq, to block entrance Thursday June 16, 2005. The armed men blocked the entrance to the mosque to stop officias and tribal elders who planned a conference to select representatives to meet with coalition forces. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A masked gunmen, right, from a group calling themselves the al-Haq Army, helps to surround the main mosque in Ramadi, Iraq as an Iraqi policeman walks by Thursday June 16, 2005. The armed men blocked the entrance to the mosque after city officials and tribal elders planned a conference to select representatives to meet with coalition forces. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Masked gunmen, calling themselves the al-Haq Army, surround the main mosque in Ramadi, Iraq, to block entrance Thursday June 16, 2005. The armed men blocked the entrance to the mosque to stop city officials and tribal elders who planned a conference to select representatives to meet with coalition forces. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Iraqi insurgents take up positions at a crossroads in the Iraqi town of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, June 16, 2005. Five U.S. marines were killed in Ramadi yesterday when their vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device. REUTERS/Ali Mashhadani

An Iraqi insurgent crouches with a weapon at a crossroads in the Iraqi town of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, June 16, 2005. Five U.S. marines were killed in Ramadi yesterday when their vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device. REUTERS/Ali Mashhadani

Iraqi Shiites, Sunnis Reach Compromise

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Senior members of a Shiite-dominated committee drafting Iraq's new constitution reached a compromise Thursday with Sunni Arab groups on the number of representatives the minority will have on the body drafting the charter.

The agreement broke weeks of deadlock between the 55-member committee and Sunni Arabs over the size of their representation.

The stalemate had threatened to derail Iraq's political process as it was about to enter its final stretch, with two key nationwide votes later this year — a constitutional referendum and a general election.

Under the deal, 15 Sunni Arabs would join two members of the minority already on the committee. Another 10 Sunni Arabs would join, but only in an advisory capacity.

News of the deal was announced by two lawmakers who sit on the committee — Shiite Bahaa al-Aaraji and Sunni Arab Adnan al-Janabi. Both have led contacts with the Sunni Arab community over the size of their participation in the constitutional process.

They also attended a meeting Thursday with 70 representatives of the Sunni community over the issue.

The United States and the European Union have called for the inclusion of the Sunni Arabs in the drafting of the constitution to ensure the credibility and success of the process.

Al-Aaraji and al-Janabi said Sunni Arabs would submit a list of their candidates next week, and that parliament would subsequently issue a statement welcoming the expansion of the constitutional committee.

"It was a cordial meeting," al-Aaraji said. "They will set up a five-member committee to draw up a list of 15 candidates which they will submit to us in three days."

Because the 15 Sunni Arabs to be added are not elected members of parliament, they would join the committee's 55 legislators in a parallel body. That 70-member body would make decisions by consensus and pass them back to the 55 lawmakers for ratification.

The 15 new members are two more than what the chairman of the constitutional committee, Shiite cleric Hummam Hammoudi, had proposed Wednesday.

Leaders of the Sunni Arab community had wanted 25 people to join the two legislators already on the committee, but Shiite and Kurdish lawmakers balked at the demand. They argued that such a large number could be taken as a tacit acknowledgment that the minority was larger than estimated.

Sunni Arabs, like the Kurds, make up between 15 percent and 20 percent of Iraq's estimated 26 million people. The Shiites are believed to be about 60 percent. The Kurds are represented on the committee by 15 members.

The compromise would give them two seats less than the Sunni Arabs, whose share of the population is equal to theirs.

Iraq's 275-seat parliament, elected in historic January elections that were boycotted by most Sunni Arabs, has until Aug. 15 to prepare a new constitution that will be put to a nationwide referendum two months later. If approved, it will serve as the basis for a new general election to be held in December.

A Sunni Arab boycott allowed the Shiites and Kurds to win the majority of seats in parliament. There are only 17 Sunni Arabs on the body.

The deadlock over Sunni Arab participation in the constitutional process has stoked sectarian tensions in Iraq and coincided with a marked escalation in the two-year, Sunni-dominated insurgency.

Saudi Arabia Exempt From Nuke Inspections

By GEORGE JAHN, Associated Press Writer

VIENNA, Austria - Board members of the U.N. atomic watchdog agency approved a deal Thursday that exempts Saudi Arabia from nuclear inspections, despite serious misgivings about the arrangement in an era of heightened proliferation fears.

Although the Saudis resisted Western pressure to compromise and allow some form of monitoring, the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency had no choice but to allow it to sign on to the agreement.

Called the small quantities protocol, the deal allows countries whose nuclear equipment or activities are thought to be below a minimum threshold to submit a declaration instead of undergoing inspection.

There is little concern the Saudis are trying to make nuclear arms, but diplomats accredited to the meeting said Riyadh's resistance to inspections — and any new deals limiting the IAEA's powers to investigate — were disconcerting at a time of increased fears countries or terrorists might be interested in acquiring such weapons.

With the deal approved, delegates focused on a report on Iran, to be presented later Thursday to the closed board meeting and given ahead of delivery to The Associated Press.

It says Iran has acknowledged working with small amounts of plutonium, a possible nuclear arms component, for years longer than it had originally admitted and receiving sensitive technology that can be used as part of a weapons program earlier than it initially said it did.

The agency has no authority in North Korea, the other main proliferation concern since being kicked out in December 2002. Senior U.S. delegation member Cristopher Ford warned Pyongyang that unless it abandoned "its pursuit of nuclear weapons ... we will have to consult with our allies and partners on other options" — diplomatic jargon for referral to the U.N. Security Council.

The Saudis insist they have no plans to develop nuclear arms — and no facilities or nuclear stocks that warrant inspection.

As such, they qualify for the protocol, which has been implemented by 75 nations, most of them small and in politically stable parts of the world and which puts the onus on the nations to truthfully report that they have nothing to inspect.

But the timing of the deal for the Saudis comes amid persistent tensions in the Middle East and concern about Iran's nuclear ambitions. It also coincides with an agency push to tighten or rescind the protocol, as suggested in a confidential IAEA document prepared for the board and also made available to AP on Tuesday.

While the Saudi government insists it has no interest in nuclear arms, in the past two decades it has been linked to prewar Iraq's nuclear program and to the Pakistani nuclear black marketeer A.Q. Khan. It also has expressed interest in Pakistani missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, and Saudi officials reportedly discussed pursuing the nuclear option as a deterrent in the volatile Middle East.

The Saudis have resisted pressure from the United States, the European Union and Australia to either back away from the small quantities protocol or agree to inspections, as reflected by a confidential EU briefing memo given to the AP earlier this week by a diplomat accredited to the agency who insisted on anonymity because he was not authorized to release it.

It quoted the Saudi deputy foreign minister, Prince Turki bin Mohammed bin Saud al-Kabira, as telling EU officials in Riyadh that his country would be "willing to provide additional information" to the IAEA "only if all other parties" to the protocol did the same.

Diplomats inside Thursday's closed meeting said the Saudis repeated those conditions as part of debate over their deal.

The report on Iran does not prove or disprove that Tehran had weapons ambitions. But its details are significant as the agency tries to piece together the puzzle of nearly 18 years of a clandestine nuclear program first revealed in February 2002.

The IAEA first said that Iran produced small amounts of plutonium as part of covert nuclear activities in November 2003.

The agency has not linked the laboratory-scale experiments to weapons, nor has it done so for other parts of the program — including ambitious efforts to be able to enrich uranium. But it criticized Tehran for not voluntarily revealing its plutonium work and other activities that could be linked to interest in making nuclear arms.

Plutonium can be used in nuclear weapons but it also has uses in peaceful programs to generate power — which is what Iran says is the sole purpose of its nuclear activities.

The document says that while Iran had said its plutonium experiments were conducted in 1993 "and that no plutonium had been separated since then," Iranian officials revealed two months ago that there had been linked experiments in 1995 and 1998.

Focusing on shipments of equipment for uranium enrichment, the report said Tehran earlier this year provided documents showing that in at least two instances some components arrived in 1994 and 1995.

Those dates "deviate from information provided earlier by Iran," said the report, saying one particular delivery had earlier been said to have reached the country in 1997.

Such discrepancies are important as the agency tries to establish how long Iran has been trying to assemble a program for enrichment, which can generate both fuel for power and weapons grade uranium.

The report also outlined discrepancies about when Iranian officials said the first meetings with nuclear black marketeers were.

___

On the Net:

www.iaea.org

A suspect waits to be questioned following his arrest Thursday, June 16, 2005, in Siem Reap, Cambodia, following a hostage incident at the Siem Reap International School that left at least one child dead. (AP Photo/David Longstreath)

One Child Dead, Others Rescued in Cambodia

By DANIEL LOVERING, Associated Press Writer

SIEM REAP, Cambodia - Masked gunmen seized dozens of children at an international school Thursday in northwestern Cambodia, killing a 3-year-old Canadian boy and vowing to shoot the others one by one before police rescued the hostages, authorities said.

The attackers stormed Siem Reap International School, grabbed students from several countries, and demanded money, weapons and a vehicle before police ended the six-hour standoff and took four young gunmen into custody.

The attackers shot the boy when authorities refused to meet all of their demands, then "threatened to kill the other children one by one," said Information Minister Khieu Kanharith.

Authorities said they managed to talk the attackers out of the building after giving them a minivan and $30,000 in cash. When the men got into the vehicle with four children, security forces closed the gate to the school compound and launched an assault, yanking the men from the van.

A suspect in the taking of hostages at an international school in Siem Reap, Cambodia, is questioned by police after being arrested Thursday. (AP/David Longstreath)

Nearly 40 children, some as young as 2, rushed past the school gate and into the arms of their panic-stricken parents.

"I'm very relieved," said Tan Seok Ho of Singapore, who rushed to the school when she heard about the crisis from a friend. Her youngest child Levon was among those taken and released unharmed. "I'm happy to have him back in my arms again."

Some parents, meanwhile, grabbed three of the hostage-takers from police and began beating and kicking them, said Prak Chanthoeun, the military commander. "We could barely control the angry crowd," he said.

A Cambodian official rescues a child out of Siem Reap International School where gunmen held a teacher and pupils hostage in Siem Reap, northwestern Cambodia, June 16, 2005. A Canadian child and two gunmen were killed on Thursday as Cambodian troops and police stormed a school in the tourist town of Siem Reap to end a six-hour hostage drama near the Angkor Wat temples, police said. REUTERS/John McDermott

The crisis unfolded at Cambodia's tourism hub of Siem Reap, near its historic Angkor temples — one of the world's most famous archaeological sites. The town is home to many expatriates, and the school killing quickly drew concern from governments around the region. Children from at least 15 nations — including the United States — attend the school.

Hundreds of people gathered outside the yellow schoolhouse during the tense standoff, and three armored personnel carriers were parked on the road.

The identity of the attackers was unclear, even after the standoff ended. Prime Minister Hun Sen said they appeared to be security guards at the school, but police later said teachers did not recognize them.

The men originally took about 70 people but later released 30 of them, Khieu Kanharith said.

They "were armed with shotguns" and demanded money, six AK-47 assault rifles, six shotguns, grenade launchers, hand grenades and a car, said Deputy Military Police Commander Prak Chanthoeum, who said three teachers were among those seized.

Denis Richer, a Frenchman who teaches at another school in Siem Reap, said he tried to comfort the father of the young boy who died. "He was completely lost. He asked me to look for his wife, which I did. I found an ambulance to bring the couple to the clinic."

Police initially said there were six attackers, but later put the number at four. They said the hostage takers were 22 to 25 years old, and were from the southeastern province of Kandal. Witnesses said one of the attackers lay wounded on the ground after the siege had ended.

The children, most of them aged 2 to 6, come from a variety of countries, including the United States, Italy, Japan, Britain and Australia.

Khieu Kanharith described the boy who was shot as a 3-year-old Canadian. Embassy officials could not immediately confirm that, but a witness who knew the child also identified him as Canadian.

A suspect lies on the ground outside Siem Reap International School where gunmen held a teacher and pupils hostage in Siem Reap, northwestern Cambodia, June 16, 2005. A Canadian child and two gunmen were killed on Thursday as Cambodian troops and police stormed a school in the tourist town of Siem Reap to end a six-hour hostage drama near the Angkor Wat temples, police said. REUTERS/John McDermott

Cambodian soldiers sit on top of an armoured vehicle in front of Siem Reap International school. A two-year-old Canadian boy was shot dead during a siege at the school where four men took around 30 people hostage, police said.(AFP/Pornchai Kittiwongsakul)

Parents wait with a Cambodian official (2nd L) outside Siem Reap International School where gunmen held a teacher and pupils hostage in Siem Reap, northwestern Cambodia, June 16, 2005. A Canadian child and two gunmen were killed on Thursday as Cambodian troops and police stormed a school in the tourist town of Siem Reap to end a six-hour hostage drama near the Angkor Wat temples, police said. REUTERS/John McDermott

Cambodians are seen in front of the Siem Reap International School where gunmen took a teacher and pupils hostage in Siem Reap, Cambodia, June 16, 2005. A Canadian child and two gunmen were killed on Thursday as Cambodian troops and police stormed a school in the resort town of Siem Reap to end a six-hour siege near the Angkor Wat temples, police said. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom

Cambodian authorities inspect the Siem Reap International School after gunmen took a teacher and pupils hostages in Siem Reap, Cambodia, June 16, 2005. A Canadian child and two gunmen were killed on Thursday as Cambodian troops and police stormed a school in the resort town of Siem Reap to end a six-hour siege near the Angkor Wat temples, police said. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom

U.S. forces say senior Zarqawi associate captured

16 Jun 2005 13:32:11 GMT

Source: Reuters

BAGHDAD, June 16 (Reuters) - U.S. forces have detained a senior associate of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a U.S. general in Iraq said on Thursday, calling the arrest a major blow to the insurgency in the northern city of Mosul.

Mohammed Khalif Shaiker, also known as Abu Talha or the emir of Mosul, was captured on Tuesday in a quiet neighbourhood of Iraq's third largest city, the U.S. military spokesman said. He said Shaiker had put up little resistance, but gave few other details about the circumstances of his arrest.

"This is a major defeat for the al Qaeda organisation in Iraq," Brigadier General Donald Alston told a news conference on Thursday, referring to the group led by Zarqawi and allied to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.

"He gave up without a fight despite having been quoted as saying he would never surrender."

Alston said tips from local people and months of constant pressure had lead to Shaiker's capture.

U.S. and Iraqi security forces have announced the arrest of several senior associates of Zarqawi in recent weeks.

Zarqawi's group is one of the most feared militant organisations in the country, claiming responsibility for several of the deadliest bombings over the past 18 months.

In December last year, U.S. forces in Mosul announced the capture of one of Shaiker's deputies, Abdul Aziz Sa'dun Ahmed Hamduni, also known as Abu Ahmed, and the next day seized another deputy, tightening the net on Shaiker.

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