Iraq says it captures man who oversaw UN bombing

[StarfarerBill]

Source: Associated Press

BAGHDAD – Iraqi authorities have captured a senior leader of a militant group linked to al-Qaida in Iraq who oversaw the 2003 bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad and other attacks, the military said Saturday.

The truck bomb that tore through the U.N. offices on Aug. 19, 2003, killed 22 people, including mission chief Sergio Vieira de Mello. The blast and a subsequent attack days later prompted the global body to temporarily pull out of Iraq.

Baghdad's top military spokesman announced the capture of Ali Hussein Alwan Hamid al-Azzawi in a televised news conference that included videotaped statements by a man who identified himself as the insurgent leader as well as lower-level accomplices.

The spokesman, Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, said al-Azzawi was apprehended June 26 in his house in eastern Baghdad. Authorities kept the arrest quiet for more than half a year to ensure the capture of other suspects believed to be linked to him, al-Moussawi told The Associated Press later.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100116/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq;_ylt=AuMBcIfCDXas72CCjogG4thvaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTI4dWVsNnZrBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwMTE2L21sX2lyYXEEY3BvcwMzBHBvcwM5BHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcnkEc2xrA2lyYXFzYXlzaXRjYQ--