IRAQ/UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION: Authorities say they have captured regional leader of one of the most violent Sunni Islamist insurgent groups, Ansar al-Sunna

Record ID: 566550

  • Title: IRAQ/UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION: Authorities say they have captured regional leader of one of the most violent Sunni Islamist insurgent groups, Ansar al-Sunna
  • Date: 23rd September 2006
  • Summary: (BN09) VARIOUS LOCATIONS, IRAQ (FILE: UNSPECIFIED DATES) (REUTERS) MANGLED WRECKAGE OF CAR VARIOUS OF PEOPLE AT BLAST SCENE WRECKED VEHICLE
  • Embargoed: 8th October 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVAB54RS3UWL3H96MR6UKG1EI799
  • Story Text: Iraq said on Saturday (September 23) that it captured the regional leader of a top Iraqi insurgent group Ansar al-Sunna, along with two of his aides north of Baghdad.
    Muntasir al-Jibouri was seized overnight along with two comrades in a village near Muqdadiya, 80 km (50 miles) northeast of Baghdad, Brigadier Qasim al-Moussawi said, describing him as the leader of the group in that province, Diyala, where Ansar al-Sunna and its al Qaeda allies have been very active.
    "The operation was conducted at 0100 (2200gmt September 22) by the 3rd Brigade, the 5th battalion in cooperation with the multi-national forces. The operation lasted for nearly an hour without resistance and we managed to arrest the terrorists without any resistance. We also seized a number of light arms which were in the possession of the terrorists," Qasim Al-Moussawi, a military spokesperson told a news conference.
    "The full name of the terrorist is Muntasir Hmoud Eliwi al-Jibouri who was captured along with two of his aides whose names will be withheld for security reasons. We will give you all the details of the operation later. The terrorists have confessed to committing many crimes against innocent people. We have also obtained valuable information regarding terrorist activities in that area," Moussawi added.
    Earlier state television described Jibouri simply as "the leader" of the organisation.
    Allied with al Qaeda, Ansar al-Sunna came to prominence in 2004 with video of its militants beheading foreign hostages and later claiming a suicide attack on a U.S. military mess hall that killed 19 Americans shortly before Christmas that year.
    U.S. forces killed al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Diyala in June and Iraqi and U.S. officials have announced the arrests of other militants there since then.
    Ansar al-Sunna emerged out of an Islamist movement called Ansar al-Islam, which was based in autonomous Kurdish northern Iraq during the Sunni-dominated secular rule of Saddam Hussein.
    Apparent successes against Sunni militants who have attacked occupying U.S. forces and the Shi'ite-led government for the past three years, have come at a time when U.S. commanders warn of a growing risk of sectarian civil war involving Shi'ite and Sunni armed groups.
    Dozens of people die in Baghdad every day.
    The U.S. commander of troops in the capital said on Friday that U.S.-trained Iraqi soldiers do not want to leave other parts of their country to serve in Baghdad, leaving security efforts in the capital short by 3,000 Iraqi troops.
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