Al-Qaida in Iraq No. 2's Death Trumpeted

A photograph presented to the media by Iraqi national security adviser Mouwaffak al-Rubaie, showing Hamed Jumaa Farid al-Saeedi, known as Abu Humam or Abu Rana, the second most senior figure in al-Qaida, during a press conference in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday Sept. 3, 2006. Iraq's national security adviser on Sunday announced the arrest of the second most senior figure in al-Qaida in Iraq, and said the group now suffered from a "serious leadership crisis." Hamed Jumaa Farid al-Saeedi, known as Abu Humam or Abu Rana, was arrested a few days ago, Mouwaffak al-Rubaie said, adding that his arrest also led to the capture or death of 11 other top al-Qaida in Iraq figures and nine lower-level members (AP Photo/ho) (AP)

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The U.S. military said Wednesday the arrest of al-Qaida in Iraq's second in command took place in June and was the most significant blow to the terror network since the death of al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell said the arrest of Hamed Jumaa Farid al-Saeedi, also known as Abu Humam or Abu Rana, was captured on June 19 _ not a few days ago, as the Iraqi government had initially announced.

Iraq's national security adviser, Mouwafak al-Rubaie, announced al-Saeedi's arrest on Sunday, saying it had occurred a few days earlier. But Caldwell said that it was only the permission to announce the arrest that had been given a few days earlier.

Caldwell called the arrest the most significant since al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. airstrike on June 7.

He added that the man who masterminded the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra reported directly to al-Saeedi. That attack, 60 miles north of Baghdad, inflamed tensions between Shiite and Sunni Muslims and triggered reprisal attacks for months that have killed hundreds of Iraqis.

Also on Wednesday, two bombs exploded in northern Baghdad within minutes of each other, killing at least nine people and wounding 39 others, police said.

The blasts _ from a parked car bomb and a roadside bomb _ had targeted a passing Iraqi army patrol at a busy intersection during the morning rush hour as people headed to work, police 1st Lt. Mohammed Khayun said.

The car bomb was parked in front of a tire repair shop, witness Abdel-Majeed Salah, told AP Television News. He said a minibus with passengers on board was behind the parked car when it detonated, and all on board were killed.

Two of the dead and eight of the wounded were Iraqi soldiers, police said.

In northeastern Baghdad, gunmen opened fire on a procession of pilgrims heading to the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, killing one person and wounding two, police 1st Lt. Ali Abbas said.

Tens of thousands of people are expected in Karbala, 50 miles south of the capital, on Saturday to observe Shaaban, a religious celebration. Many of the pilgrims travel to the city on foot.

Mortar attacks in residential areas in Diyala province, north of Baghdad, killed three people: a 2-year-old child in the Khan Bani Saad area and two people in Muqdadiyah, 60 miles north of Baghdad, police said.