Tuesday, November 15, 2005

One more Bites the Dust in Iraq... High-Level Baath Party Leader Captured

Coalition forces captured the leader of the New Baath Party in Diyala province, Iraq, during a Nov. 9 patrol, officials announced today.

Coalition members apprehended Hamid Sharki Shadid along with physical evidence at his home. Shadid is a former member of the Baath Party in Diyala province and is suspected of being responsible for all insurgent Baath Party activities in that area.

Coalition forces believe he can provide crucial information on the whereabouts of former Staff Gen. Jamal Karki, a suspected Baathist insurgent, and Abd-al-Baqi al-Saadun, who has been a fugitive since the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime in 2003, Multinational Force Iraq officials said.

As the former Baath Party regional chairman of Diyala province and regional chairman of southern Iraq, Saadun is wanted for crimes against humanity committed during the 1999 Shiite uprising. Saadun has remained a key leader within the Iraqi insurgency, recruiting and financing foreign terrorists in eastern and central Iraq. Saadun also actively coordinated, financed and directed attacks against Iraqi police and civilians in Nasiriyah, Basra and Diyala provinces.

Officials believe that Saadun finances insurgent activities with money stolen from the people of Iraq during the Saddam regime and that Shadid may be an accomplice. Coalition forces will continue their pursuit of Saadun and Karki and view Shadid's capture as a step closer to their apprehension, officials said. Up to $1 million is being offered for the capture or killing of Saadun. (Above taken from DoD, American Forces Press Service. All info compiled from MNF-I and Task Force Baghdad news releases.)

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