BRIEFS

Al-Zarqawi’s Aide Captured, Pro-U.S. Leader of Karabila Tribe Assassinated

Kassim al-Ani, a senior aide to al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was apprehended in Baghdad on May 28. Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman Kassim al-Mosawi informed the media of the capture, calling al-Ani one of the most wanted insurgents in Iraq, responsible for a series of attacks in several districts (KUNA, May 29). Al-Ani was arrested with two other insurgents; they were captured in Baghdad’s northern Adhamiya district (Gulf Times, May 30). Also on May 29, an al-Qaeda affiliated insurgent group assassinated Sunni Arab Sheikh Osama Jedaan in Mansur in western Baghdad (Gulf Times, May 30). Jedaan, the leader of the Karabila tribe in al-Anbar province, was a public supporter of U.S. attempts to quell the insurgency in al-Anbar province; on May 25, for instance, he organized a press conference where he claimed that his tribe assisted in the capture of al-Qaeda member Ziyad Khalaf Karbouli, who was apprehended by Jordan’s special forces (Gulf Times, May 30; Terrorism Focus, May 31). His death came after gunmen drove up alongside his vehicle and opened fire, killing both Jedaan and his bodyguard (Lebanon’s Daily Star, May 29).

New Study Details More Than 1,000 al-Qaeda Arrests in Pakistan

A new study released by the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies found that Pakistani security forces arrested more than 1,000 al-Qaeda suspects between January 2002 and May 2006 (Dawn, May 26). The study, which acquired its information through media reports, found that of these arrested suspects, 86 were from Saudi Arabia, 70 from Algeria, 20 from Morocco, 20 from Egypt, 28 from Indonesia, 18 from Malaysia, 22 from the UAE, 11 from Libya, seven from Kuwait and 36 from West Asian countries (Dawn, May 26). Additionally, five of the suspects were American and 11 were from the United Kingdom; there were also German, French and Australian suspects (Dawn, May 26). The study does not include Afghans and Pakistanis fighting Pakistani security forces in the country’s tribal areas of the NWFP and FATA (IRNA, May 25). The report also states that security forces killed more than 1,000 al-Qaeda militants in Pakistan during this period.