Iraqis Arrest 8, Including Terrorist Leader

WASHINGTON, Dec. 9, 2009 – A senior leader of the Promised Day Brigade terrorist group was among eight people Iraqi security forces arrested in three operations today, military officials reported.

Iraqi forces and U.S. advisors searched homes in northern Baghdad for the senior leader, a suspect in weapons distribution and funding to Promised Day Brigade groups for attacks on civilians and security forces throughout the Iraqi capital. The man is believed to have ties to Promised Day Brigade leaders operating from safe havens in Iran.

Following preliminary questioning and investigating evidence at the scene, Iraqi forces identified and arrested the senior leader without incident.

In another operation today, Iraqi forces and U.S. advisors searched two homes in a rural area southwest of Baghdad for an alleged al-Qaida in Iraq member believed to be assisting senior leaders of the terrorist network in staging vehicle-borne bomb attacks in the region.

Evidence collected at the scene led to the arrest of five suspected criminal associates of the wanted terrorist.

During a separate security operation in Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad, Iraqi forces and U.S. advisors searched a building for a suspected al-Qaida in Iraq leader. They arrested a suspected terrorist without incident after discovering incriminating evidence on the premises.

http://www.truthusa.com/IRAN.html

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/12/iraqi_troops_capture_1.php

Iraqi troops capture Mahdi Army military leader
By BILL ROGGIO
December 9, 2009 1:40 PM

SNIPPET: “The Promised Day Brigade commander, who was not identified, was “believed to be facilitating the distribution of weapons and funding to PDB [Promised Day Brigade] attack groups throughout Baghdad,” the US military said in a press release. “Attack groups then use the weapons and funding to conduct deadly acts of violence against civilians and security forces in Iraq.”

The US military said the commander “is allegedly tied to PDB [Promised Day Brigade] leaders operating from safe havens in Iran.”

The Promised Day Brigade was formed by anti-American Shia leader Muqtada al Sadr during the summer of 2008 after he announced he would disband the Mahdi Army and formed a small, secretive military arm to fight Coalition forces in June. The group has not been linked to any major attacks since its formation last summer.

The Iraqi military has stepped up operations against the Promised Day Brigade and the Mahdi Army since the beginning of November, when two members of the PDB were captured in Baghdad on Nov. 6. Starting with that capture, 18 members of the Promised Day Brigade and the Mahdi Army, including two commanders, have been arrested in Baghdad and Amarah [see list below].

The biggest catch took place on Nov. 29, when Iraqi forces captured
the leader of the Promised Day Brigade in Amarah. That same day, Iraqi officials announced they were seeking to capture a senior member of the Qods Force, the special operations branch of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

Iran has backed a host of Shia terror groups in Iraq, including the Mahdi Army and the Promised Day Brigade, the Asaib al Haq, and the Hezbollah Brigades [see LWJ report, “Iraqi forces search for Qods Force agents” and “Ramazan Corps and the ratlines into Iraq” for more details on Iran’s involvement in Iraq].

List of Promised Day Brigade and Mahdi Army operatives detained since November:”

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