Free Republic

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.

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.

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