Thursday, June 01, 2006

'Beheader of Hundreds' Arrested in Iraq...

US says insurgent behind major 2004 bombs arrested

31 May 2006 16:18:58 GMT31 May 2006 16:18:58 GMT
Source: Reuters
BAGHDAD, May 31 (Reuters) - An insurgent accused of beheading hundreds of people, who was captured by Iraqi forces on Monday, was also behind major bomb attacks on Shi'ite shrines in 2004, the U.S. military said on Wednesday.
Ahmed Hussein Dabash Samir al-Batawi confessed after he was arrested that he had "chopped off the heads of hundreds of innocent Iraqis" in Baghdad and other parts of the country, the prime minister's office said in a statement on Tuesday.
It was not possible to independently verify the statement.
The U.S. military identified Batawi on Wednesday as a key insurgent leader.
"Sheikh Ahmed al-Dabash was a major financier and facilitator of terrorism in Iraq, most notably the bomb attack in the Shi'ite holy city of Kerbala on March 2, 2004," said a military statement.
The Kerbala attack killed more than 110 people.
"It is believed that al-Dabash was also responsible for the attack on the Shi'ite al-Tawhid Mosque in Baghdad and for facilitating other terror attacks around Baghdad," the statement said.

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