OIF Summary, Dec. 10, 2009: Forces in Iraq Arrest Suspected Terrorists

Dispatches from the Front:

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10, 2009 -- Iraqi security forces arrested two terrorism suspects in operations over the last two days, military officials reported.

In western Baghdad, Iraqi forces arrested a suspected al-Qaida in Iraq member believed to be a recruiter for foreign fighters and to have ties to high-level members of the terror organization who stage vehicle-bomb attacks across central Iraq.

Intelligence gathered by U.S. and Iraqi sources led ae combined security team to a building where the suspect was believed to be. Iraqi forces questioned several people, and they identified and arrested the suspect without incident.

In Iraq's Salahuddin province yesterday, an Iraqi special weapons and tactics team, observed by U.S. forces, arrested Hussein Salih Sabum, a suspected member of al-Qaida in Iraq.

Hussein is the suspected leader of a cell responsible for planning and facilitating bombing attacks against Iraqi security forces, including a suicide-bomber attack that killed 11 people and injured 15 others in Tikrit.

He also is believed to be responsible for the assassination of Lt. Col. Ahmad Fahal, the Tirkit riot-dispersal unit commander.

(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)