'Top' insurgents held in Iraq
2005-01-10 15:52
Baghdad - Iraq's interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi reeled off the names of captured insurgents as he sought on Monday to convince the public that his government had made strides in its battle against a rebel movement.
The sombre-faced Allawi told a news conference Iraqi forces had jailed some of the top leaders of Mohammed's Army, a hardline Islamist movement, and other rebel groups.
"This indicates our forces' growing capabilities ... in dealing with such terrorist groups.
"Each time they choose a new leader for these terrorist groups they will be detained, captured and they will face trial."
Allawi first mentioned the previously announced November arrest of the Mohammed's Army leader, Muayyed Ahmed Yassin.
But Allawi then said Iraqi forces had arrested Yassin's successor as leader, named Raad al-Duri, but gave no further details on the capture.
Many of the Mohammed Army's commanders had previously served in Saddam Hussein's intelligence and security apparatus before the old regime's collapse.
Allawi's listing of his security accomplishments comes as Iraqi officials fear a surge in attacks meant to mar the national elections on January 30, the country's first free polls since the fall of Iraq's constitutional monarchy in 1958.
Both US and Iraqi officials have said they need to convince the general public they can venture out to vote on election day without worrying about their personal safety.