Terrorist Leader Captured

[FC]

Terrorist leader captured

April 6, 2006

 

 

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Army News Service, April 6, 2006) – Multi-National Force - Iraq officials announced the capture of one of Iraq’s most-wanted fugitives, as Iraqi Army battalions take over more of their own battlespace.

 

Iraqi and Coalition Forces captured Muhammed Hila Hammad Ubaydi, aka Abu Ayman, in the al Mahmudiyah neighborhood in southern Baghdad March 7. Investigators delayed notice of the capture until DNA testing confirmed Abu Ayman’s identity.

 

Coalition and Iraqi intelligence professionals mounted a major manhunt for the Iraqi terrorist leader, who was the former aide to the Chief of Staff of Intelligence during the Saddam Hussein regime. He was the leader of the Secret Islamic Army in the Northern Babil Province and is the prime suspect in the kidnapping of Italian journalist Guiliana Sgrena and for assassination attempts on Iraqi government and security forces officials.

 

Abu Ayman is also the prime suspect in the kidnapping and killing of several hostages in Iraq, and for some of the most-lethal IED attacks on Coalition and Iraqi Forces and on Iraqi citizens since the fall of the regime.

 

Iraqi and Coalition Forces consider Abu Ayman’s capture a significant event in their pursuit against terrorists and insurgents targeting innocent Iraqis and causing death and destruction throughout the country.

 

Officials believe Abu Ayman’s capture will not only disrupt attacks and save lives, but will also provide valuable information leading to the capture of other terrorists.

 

Former regime criminals like Abu Ayman are vestiges of Iraq’s oppressed past, and the new Iraqi Army is making strides toward a new identity as supporting a stable, democratic nation.

 

Battlespace transfers

 

Battlespace in Samarra and Tikrit is now under the operational control of the Iraqis for the first time since the dissolution of the old-regime’s army.

 

First Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division, took control of the Samarra and Tikrit battlespace from the U.S. Army’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division during an assumption of command ceremony at Forward Operating Base Danger April 3 in the Salah Ad Din Province.

 

Two of the Iraqi brigade’s five battalions now have their own operating areas in Tikrit and Samarra. The other three battalions are scheduled to assume areas in and around Bayji and Balad by this summer.

 

The Iraqi 1st Brigade now has the authority to delegate missions to its battalions, which before April 3, took directives from Coalition Forces.

 

“Today, the Iraqi forces are in the lead,” said Maj. Robert Bertrand, 3rd BCT Military Transition Team Leader. “They are planning the operations. They are gathering the intelligence that is driving the maneuvers. They are going out and seeking and attacking the insurgency.”

 

These forward operating bases provide secure installations from which Iraqi forces can operate. Other FOBs will be turned over to Iraqi forces later in the year.

 

CCCI convicts detainees

 

The Central Criminal Court of Iraq convicted 22 security detainees for various crimes recently, including illegal border crossing, coordinating deadly attacks and joining terrorist groups.

 

The most-severe sentencing was that of Mohammed Khalaf Shakara, who had been apprehended for planning, coordinating and conducting deadly attacks and kidnappings in Mosul and Baghdad. He had received $50,000 to $100,000 a month from kidnapping operations in Baghdad. The defendant was charged with violating Article 194 of the Iraqi Penal Code for joining armed groups.

 

He was found guilty of the charge and sentenced to death.

 

Five other defendants received life sentences, three received imprisonment and the remaining defendants received sentences of 10 year or less.

 

To date, the CCCI has held 995 trials of insurgents who were suspected of anti-Iraqi and anti-Coalition activities threatening the security of Iraq and targeting MNF-I. These proceedings have resulted in 908 individual convictions.

 

(Editor’s note: Compiled from official Defense Department and wire sources.)