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High-level Popular Mobilization Forces leader Taleb Abbas Ali al-Saedi was shot dead late on Saturday in Karbala, a city about 62 miles southwest of Baghdad. Local media reported that al-Saedi was 'assassinated' by unknown gunmen, but no further details about the shooters were immediately available. Al-Saedi was the commander of the Karbala Brigades, a unit within the Iran-backed Shiite PMF umbrella group.

The al-Qaeda terror network on Monday denied claims by the Iraqi authorities that its second in command in Iraq, Hamdi Jamaa Faris Juri al-Saeidi, was captured by US and Iraqi forces over the weekend. Reports of al-Saedi's arrest had been invented by the Americans, al-Qaeda said in a statement.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Al Qaeda's No. 2 operative in , Hamed Juma Faris al-Suaidi, has been arrested, the U.S. military and Iraq's national security adviser announced Sunday. Al-Suaidi, also known as Abu Rana and Abu Humam, is said to be second in command in the terrorist group al Qaeda in Iraq, behind Abu Ayyub al-Masri. Al-Masri succeeded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi after he was killed during a U.S. airstrike in June. "This is a very important development," Iraq's Planning Minister Barham Salih told CNN.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi and coalition forces have arrested the second most senior figure in al-Qaida in Iraq, Iraq's national security adviser announced on Sunday, saying the group now suffered from a "serious leadership crisis." Hamed Jumaa Farid al-Saeedi, known as Abu Humam or Abu Rana, was captured north of Baghdad a few days ago "along with another group of his aides and followers," Mouwafak al-Rubaie said. He was the second most important al-Qaida in Iraq leader after Abu Ayyub al-Masri, who took over the group after Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed by a U.S. air strike north of Baghdad...

The Iraqi authorities have announced the arrest of a man they say is the second-in-command of al-Qaeda in Iraq. Iraq's national security adviser, Mowaffaq al-Rubaie, told a news conference the man, Hamad Jama al-Saedi, was detained a few days ago. Mr Rubaie said the man was behind the bombing of a Shia shrine in Samarra in February that drew revenge attacks. American troops killed the insurgent group's key leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, in June. "We announce today the arrest of the most important al-Qaeda leader after the criminal Abu Ayyub al-Masri. He's the second man in the organisation," Mr Rubaie...

Iraqi security forces killed 14 "terrorists" and arrested almost 200 suspects, the government said Monday, in a spectacular follow-up to their earlier capture of an alleged top-level Al Qaeda leader. Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki's office announced that over the previous 24 hours a large force of Iraqi troops and police swept through suspected insurgent strongholds in the Euphrates valley south of Baghdad. Taken with the arrest of Hamed Jumaa Al Saedi, an Iraqi alleged to be the Al Qaeda militant network's number two in the country, the arrests will be seen as a victory for Maliki's embattled government in...

Hamid al-Saedi, (also spelled Hameed al- Sheedi) has been captured in Iraq. He is reported to have been al-Qaeda’s number two man under Abu Musab Zarqawi and then number two man under Abu Ayyub al-Masri. He was captured by joint American and Iraqi forces near Baquba. Al-saedi, a/k/a Hamed Juma Faris al-Saedi, also known as Abu Humam or Abu Rana. Al-Saedi was hiding in civilian homes and tried to use children and women as human shields. He ordered bombings and mortar attacks, killed innocent civilians, was in charge of a group that kidnapped individuals, and is accused of ordering a...

DUBAI (AFX) - The Iraqi branch of Al-Qaeda denied that its second-highest official, Hamed Jumaa al-Saedi, had been arrested in Iraq, in a statement posted on an internet site. "The apostate government is trying to disguise its defeats by announcing the arrest of the 'number two in Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia'," the statement said, a day after Iraqi national security advisor Muwaffaq al-Rubaie hailed Saedi's capture. "This announcement is also designed to hide the latest defeats of the Crusaders and their valets in Al-Anbar (province of western Iraq) and Baghdad," said the group calling itself the Mujahedeen Consultative Council.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. and Iraqi forces have arrested the second most senior figure in al Qaeda in Iraq, National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie said on Sunday. "I can say al Qaeda in Iraq is severely wounded," he told a news conference. He named the man as Hamed Juma Faris al-Suaidi, also known as Abu Humam or Abu Rana, and said he was the deputy to Abu Ayyub al-Masri, who took over the insurgent group after Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. air strike in June. The U.S. military says Sunni Islamist al Qaeda is a "prime instigator"...

NO. 2 FIGURE IN AL QAEDA IN IRAQ ARRESTED - IRAQ'S NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER

AL-QAEDA'S number two in Iraq, Hamed Jumaa al-Saedi, has been arrested, Iraq's national security adviser said today. "We have arrested the number two al-Qaeda leader after Abu Ayyub al-Masri,” Muwaffaq al-Rubaie said. Saedi, an Iraqi, was detained in June and is accused of ordering a February bomb attack which demolished a revered Shiite shrine in Samarra. The bombing of the shrine triggered a nationwide wave of sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiite factions that has left thousands dead. Mr Rubaie said intelligence received after the slaying of the former al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, led “security forces to...