Iraqi Forces Seize Top Zarqawi Aide

Baghdad (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Iraqi forces have captured one of al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's top bomb-makers in Iraq, the prime minister's spokesman said Monday.

Sami Mohammed al-Jafi, known as Abu Omar al-Kurdi, is accused of being behind some 32 car bombings since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, he said. "Kurdi has confessed to some 75 percent of the car bombs that were used for attacks in Baghdad since March 2003 and to making the explosives used in the attack on the Jordanian embassy in August 2003," spokesman Thair al-Naqib said. "Kurdi also confirmed he was responsible for some of the bloody attacks on the police."

Kurdi was arrested on Jan. 15 but his capture was announced now, just a week before Iraq's landmark elections in which Prime Minister Iyad Allawi is running on a list that promises to bring security to beleaguered Iraqis.

Today a suicide car bomber struck near the Iraqi prime minister's party headquarters, injuring  at least 10 people, police said. The blast was also not far from Baghdad's Green Zone, the heavily fortified compound that houses the US Embassy and the offices of the Iraqi interim government.

In an audio tape posted on the Internet Sunday, Zarqawi vowed all-out war against the elections and described those planning to participate as "infidel voters."

Insurgents have stepped up attacks intended to derail Iraq's Jan. 30 poll. Zarqawi has claimed responsibility for some of the bloodiest suicide bombings and hostage beheadings to hit the economy of the country.

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