Baghdad - Four bombs in Baghdad Wednesday killed seven
people and injured 26 while the US military captured in separate
raids a suspected Iranian-backed bomb expert and nine suspected al-
Qaeda in Iraq members, including a leader of an extremist court.
A bomb blast on a minibus in north Baghdad killed five with 10
others were injured.
A roadside bomb went off hitting the minibus in the Shiite-
dominated Kazimiyah district in north Baghdad, police sources told
the Voice of Iraq news agency.
Three other attacks occurred across the Iraqi capital, police
said.
One civilian was killed and seven others were injured when a bomb
went off in the Camp Sara area in east Baghdad while another bomb was
detonated near a gas station in the bank district, injuring two
civilians.
In another incident, one person was killed and seven people were
injured when a bomb exploded in Karada district in the centre of the
city.
The US military said it arrested on Wednesday a suspected special
group explosives expert in Numaniyah, 180 kilometres south-east of
Baghdad near the city of Kut.
The military uses the term 'special groups' to describe Shiite
fighters breaching a truce order issued by radical cleric Moqtada al-
Sadr, whose militia fought Iraqi and US troops for months until the
truce was reached in May.
Acting on intelligence from other Shiite militiamen already in
detention, US soldiers captured the expert, who is believed to have
travelled to Iran several times for training, according to a military
statement.
Troops entered the suspect's home and subdued him without firing
any shots, according to the statement.
The Iranian government denies long-standing US allegations that
Tehran arms, funds and trains Shiite militiamen in Iraq.
In a separate statement, the US military said it held the
suspected leader of a court system set up by the al-Qaeda in Iraq
group, designed to impose extremist ideology on Iraqis in northern
Iraq.
The alleged leader of the extremist court was captured during an
operation mounted by US forces in the northern city of Mosul, the
statement said.
Intelligence received from insurgents in custody indicated that
the man has connections with senior members of the al-Qaeda in Iraq
group in Mosul, about 400 kilometres north of Baghdad, according to
the statement.
The al-Qaeda in Iraq group, which also calls itself the Islamic
State of Iraq, espouses a radical from of Islam and tries to impose a
strict version of Islamic law in enclaves under its control in Sunni-
dominated areas.
Eight other suspected members of al-Qaeda in Iraq were captured in
separate raids in northern Iraq on Tuesday and Wednesday.
In a separate statement, the US military said 506 insurgents have
surrendered since May 22 in Balad in central Iraq and reconciled with
the Iraqi government.
The former fighters have already led security forces to various
weapon caches, which contained rockets, artillery rounds, ammunition
and rifles.
'Those who choose to reconcile must sign a ceasefire agreement and
if they face criminal charges, they must stand before the Iraqi court
system before being fully reintegrated into civil society,' the
statement said.
USA
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