24 April,2009 11:51 AM IST | | Agencies
The Iraqi military announced the capture yesterday of the man said to be the head of al-Qaeda in Iraq, as at least 73 people were killed in bombings on the deadliest day in Iraq in 14 months.
"Abu Omar al-Baghdadi was arrested today in Baghdad," said the capital's security spokesman Major General Qassim Atta. "It was Iraqi forces who arrested him based on an intelligence tip-off from someone."
Atta added that Baghdadi -- who has been reported captured or killed several times in the past -- will be shown on television after being questioned, without specifying when.
Baghdadi is said to be the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, a self-styled umbrella organisation for Al-Qaeda-affiliated insurgent groups fighting US and Iraqi forces that has pledged loyalty to Osama bin Laden.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said that Baghdadi's real name is Ahmed Abed Ahmed and that he is a 40-year-old former officer in the Iraqi army, adding that the man arrested on Thursday was still being investigated.
"According to our intelligence he is Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, but we have to check very carefully because there have been a lot of Abu Omar al-Baghdadis," Dabbagh said.
