Friday 7 December 2012 09:05

Code: 117423

Najaf:

Planed bomb blast at Najaf shrine & assassination of Ayatollah Sistani foiled

TNA-ISB

An Iraqi security official has said Iraqi security forces have foiled an attempt to bomb the Holy shrine of the first holy Imam in Islam, Imam Ali Ibn Abi-Taleb (Peace be upon him), in the holy city of Najaf,Iraq.

According to the Iraqi security official, gunmen also intended to assassinate prominent Iraqi religious authorities, including Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Al-Sistani.

The Iraqi security official in an interview with Baghdad International News Agency (WAB) said after discovering the plot, Iraqi security forces arrested 30 gunmen, mostly in northern regions of Babil province in central Iraq.

According to the Baghdad International News Agency (WAB), the arrested individuals are implicated in a string of terrorist attacks in Baghdad, Babil province and elsewhere.
 
The arrested individuals have also admitted that they intended to blow up the holy shrine of the first holy Imam, Imam Ali Ibn Abi-Taleb (Peace be upon him), in the holy city of Najaf.

In other news, Iraqi security forces have arrested 15 wanted terrorists, along with large quantities of weaponry and explosives, to the east of the city of Mosul in northern Iraq./AHM

http://www.taghribnews.com/vdchiqnzx23nzkd.01t2.html

Iraq Defuses Bomb Plot at Imam Ali (PBUH) Shrine

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iraqi sources said that the country's security forces defused a dangerous terrorist plot which included a bomb attack on Imam Ali (PBUH)'s holy shrine and assassination of Shiite leaders.

"The security forces defused a bomb plot at Imam Ali (PBUH) shrine and assassination of religious leaders in (the Iraqi holy city of) Najaf, including (senior Shiite cleric) Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani," a security source in Iraq's central province of Babil told Baghdad International News Agency (Wab) on Wednesday.

The source added that the Iraqi security sources have also arrested 30 armed members of a group known as the 'Islamic State of Iraq' in the Northern region of Babil province.

"These armed men have been charged with conducting many operations, including several bomb attacks on the lives of Iraq's citizens and have conducted several bomb blasts in the province of Babil," the source said, and added, "They have confessed to have plotted to target Imam Ali (PBUH)'s shrine and assassinate religious leaders."

Terrorists in Iraq are trying to stir sectarian strife in the war-torn country by attacking holy places in Iraq as part of a broader plot to destabilize the country.

Last Thursday, string of bombings in Iraq killed 44 and left another 155 people wounded.

In the holy city of Karbala, a car bomb killed four and left another 16 people wounded. The bomber parked the vehicle near the entrance of the Hazrat Abbas (PBUH) shrine.

Thursday's attacks marked the second wave of bombings this week after three car bombs exploded near the Shiite holy places in Baghdad on Tuesday, killing 12 people and wounding 50.

http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9107124572

Iraq's 'al-Qaeda chief' arrested

Officials say counter-terrorism forces have arrested Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, head of the Islamic State of Iraq.

Last Modified: 02 Dec 2012 19:33


An Iraqi counter-terrorism official tells Al Jazeera that security forces have arrested the top al-Qaeda leader in Iraq and seized a list of names and locations of other operatives.

"We've spoken to an official in the counter-terrorism unit that actually arrested this man, and they maintain that he is the top al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, but they're not releasing his name because they say they're still interrogating him," said Al Jazeera's Jane Arraf, reporting from Baghdad.

"But what they do say is that he was arrested in Baghdad after a two-month long investigation tracking him, and that in addition to arresting him, they also seized the names and locations of other al-Qaeda operatives," said our correspondent.

Samir al-Shuili, spokesman for a counter-terrorism unit confirmed that members of the unit infiltrated the Islamic State of Iraq, an al-Qaeda umbrella group, and that operatives on the list were from other Arab countries and Iraq was seeking the help of those countries in arresting them.

Robert Grenier, the former head of the CIA's anti-terrorism centre, told Al Jazeera that officials had a good reason to withhold the name of the man they have detained.

"In counter-terrorism operations, as in military operations, the rule of thumb is that the first reports are never correct, so we may see a bit of that at work here," said Grenier.

"Also, there are indications that along with this individual capture there may have been quite a quantity of other materials providing leads to other militants, perhaps in other countries, and so the people responsible for this may want to keep a lid on it for a bit until they've had a chance to follow up on some of those leads with cooperating countries."

Iraqi media has been reporting that the man in custody is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was named head of the Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella organisation of armed groups, two years ago after the killing of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi in a US air strike in 2010.

"It's not known whether Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the man who is said to have taken over the al-Qaeda organisation here is actually Iraqi, or, in fact, even exists or is a composite of several people," said Arraf.

"He has kept a very low profile, except for the regular bombings that have taken place [for which] the Islamic State of Iraq has claimed responsibility."

"He has not come out with a lot of statements or videos. He has been, even by al-Qaeda standards, quite a shadowy figure," our correspondent said, adding that the reports of al-Baghdadi's arrest are yet to be confirmed.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/12/201212214201962755.html

Alhamdulilah they failed!