Iraqi security forces and U.S. troops captured a top Al Qaeda in Iraq leader who helped carry out the bombing of one of Shiite Islam’s holiest shrines in February, a top Iraqi security official said Wednesday.
Yousri Fakher Mohammed Ali, a Tunisian also known as Abu Qudama al-Tunesi, was arrested several days ago after he and 15 other foreign fighters stormed an Iraqi checkpoint 25 miles north of Baghdad, said Iraqi National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie. Iraqi commandos and troops killed the other militants and seriously wounded Abu Qudama.
Abu Qudama confessed to taking part in the attack on al-Askari mosque in Samarra on Feb. 22 and gave a detailed account of how the attack took place, al-Rubaie said. The bomb blast destroyed the ornate, gilded dome of the mosque, igniting a deadly wave of violence against Sunnis that killed scores of Iraqis and destroyed dozens of mosques.
Mastermind still at large
Al-Rubaie said Iraqi security forces have yet to capture the mastermind of the mosque attack, Haitham al-Badri, an Iraqi and leader of one of Al Qaeda in Iraq’s cells. Still, Abu Qudama’s capture marked a significant victory for Iraqi security forces, which have struggled to stem the tide of suicide bombings, kidnappings ambushes and sectarian violence that plagues daily life in Iraq.
The arrest was especially important because the aim of the attack on the Shiite mosque, al-Rubaie said, was to drive a wedge between Shiite and Sunni Muslims and ultimately trigger sectarian conflict.
“With an iron fist, we’ll hit the terrorists and anyone who tries to create a sectarian war in this country,” al-Rubaie said. “Detonating the gilded-dome mosque [in Samarra] was such an evil act. It’s clear the perpetrators were trying to spark civil war among our people.”
The 1,200-year-old al-Askari shrine contains the tombs of the 10th and 11th imams of Shiite Islam. It is doubly significant to Shiite Muslims because it is near where Imam Mehdi, the last leader regarded as a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, vanished in the 9th Century. The shrine’s location, Samarra, is a mostly Sunni city about 60 miles north of Baghdad that became an insurgent stronghold after U.S. troops deposed Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Incident recounted
Al-Rubaie said al-Badri, Abu Qudama, four Saudi nationals and two other Iraqis stormed the mosque Feb. 21, rounded up the shrine’s guards, members of Iraq’s Facility Protection Service, and bound their hands. The group then spent the rest of the night rigging the mosque with bombs. At dawn the next day, they detonated the explosives, bringing down the dome.
Abu Qudama also told Iraqi officials that al-Badri’s gang killed an Al-Arabiya television correspondent and two crew members who arrived later to cover the explosion. As Atwar Bahjat was on the air reporting from a gas station near Samarra, the insurgents recognized the reporter and kidnapped and murdered her.
The explosion sparked a devastating wave of violence that swept across the country. A day later, Sunni political leaders reported that 169 Sunni mosques had been set ablaze or attacked in what apparently were retaliatory strikes by Shiites. Several prominent Sunni clerics were abducted and killed.
U.S. and Iraqi leaders have tried to rein in violence in Baghdad by deploying 75,000 Iraqi and American troops as part of a two-week crackdown. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq, said this week that violence had declined, but not to “the degree we would like to see at this point.”
Though the troop presence has been beefed up on Baghdad streets, the linchpin to the Iraqi government’s strategy for ending violence in the country has become Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s sweeping reconciliation plan, which offers amnesty to insurgents who have not killed Iraqis or committed war crimes or acts of terrorism.
U.S. lawmakers have expressed concerns that insurgents who have killed American troops may be pardoned under the plan. However, on Wednesday, al-Maliki sought to allay those fears, saying insurgents responsible for the deaths of American soldiers will be excluded from amnesty.
Premier vows justice
“Those who commit such crimes will stand trial,” al-Maliki said, “because the aim of killing Iraqis or foreign soldiers is to frustrate democracy and the political process.”
Though al-Badri remains at large, al-Rubaie said Iraqi security forces have gathered information on his operations and are tracking him down. Al-Badri once belonged to the Ansar al-Islam terrorist organization but joined Al Qaeda in Iraq after the toppling of Hussein and became one of its key leaders, al-Rubaie said.
“We are aware of his plans, we know very well where he is operating,” al-Rubaie said.
Despite the death of its leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in a U.S. air strike, Al Qaeda in Iraq continues to inflict violence across the country through suicide bombings, roadside bomb attacks and kidnappings. Members of the group are believed to be responsible for the recent kidnapping and murders of four Russian diplomats.
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ajrodriguez@tribune.com
