Free Republic

The Iraq Army, in an operation guided by the U.S. military, has captured about 150 suspected Al Qaida operatives in the north. Officials said the Al Qaida operatives and loyalists of the late President Saddam Hussein were arrested in a crackdown in October around the northern city of Mosul. They said the mission, titled "Nineveh Wall" and guided by the U.S. military, was meant to disband the core Al Qaida presence in northern Iraq linked to neighboring Syria. Officials said many of the Al Qaida fugitives were in contact with financiers and handlers in Syria. They cited Mohammed Yunis Al...

A retired Kuwaiti superstar singer has recently the left the Gulf emirate for Afghanistan to join ranks with al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in fighting foreign troops there, according to a press report published Saturday. Hussein al-Ahmad, who was until recently one of the Gulf’s most famous pop stars, decided to join “his Mujahideen brothers in Afghanistan to support Islam and fight alongside his fellow Muslims in al-Qaeda”, reported Kuwaiti daily Al-Rai Saturday. Al-Ahmad has previously told Kuwait’s Al-Rai TV that the reason he decided to quit singing was “a dream” where he saw his “own journey from this world into...

WASHINGTON – The Bush administration moved Friday to freeze the finances of Muhammad Yunis al-Ahmad, who is on a list of the most-wanted supporters of insurgent groups in Iraq. The Treasury Department's action means any bank accounts or financial assets belonging to him that are found in this country will be blocked. The government also is asking the United Nation's member countries to freeze al-Ahmad's assets. It's the latest effort by the administration to try to make it harder for insurgent groups in Iraq to get financial support. The department said al-Ahmad is currently a "financial facilitator" and "operational leader"...

<p>BAGHDAD, Iraq — Senior defense officials confirmed Saturday that former Iraqi Minister of Interior Mahmud al-Ahmad (search), listed as number 29 on the coalition's "Iraqi Top 55" most-wanted list, was in the custody of coalition forces.</p> <p>Al-Ahmad was next in line to succeed Saddam Hussein (search), following deaths of the deposed leader's sons, Uday and Qusay. Officials said Al-Ahmad surrendered in Baghdad on Friday. The capture of the once-elusive henchman brought the number of network operatives now either dead or being held by the U.S. military to 37.</p>

TWO former senior Iraqi officials from the 55 "most wanted" list are in the custody of US forces operating in the country, the US military said early today. Mizban Khadr Al Hadi, a high-ranking regional Baath Party leader and a member of the ruling Revolutionary Command Council turned himself in to US troops in Baghdad, according to the Central Command. He is number 23 on the coalition's list of most wanted former Iraqi government officials. Former interior minister Mahmud Dhiyab Al-Ahmad, who is number 29 on the list, was captured at a location in Iraq that Centcom has not identified.