Iraqis Capture, Prosecute, Convict Terrorists

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10, 2005 - Iraqi Ministry of Justice officials announced today that the country's Central Criminal Court has convicted seven members of al Qaeda in Iraq for heinous crimes against the Iraqi people.

Four of the convicted terrorist-insurgents were members of a Mosul bombing cell led by Abu Talha. They were found guilty, on Nov. 23 of attacking Iraqi police, Iraqi national guard and coalition forces -- all Article 194 violations of the Iraqi penal code. All four convicts were sentenced life imprisonment, 20 years under the Iraqi system, officials said.

The other three convicted terrorists were based in the Adhamiya area of Baghdad. They were found guilty of threatening the public safety, crimes against the security of Iraq, and belonging to armed groups that threaten the Iraqi people.

Officials said the Mosul bombing cell convicts are foreign fighters from Jordan, Syria and Algeria. They reportedly entered Iraq illegally and committed crimes ranging from murder and terrorism to possession of illegal weapons. They were captured in a house where the kidnapped governor of Anbar was found murdered. These terrorists resisted arrest, and a firefight ensued before they all eventually were captured, officials said.

Iraqi police, Iraqi national guard and coalition forces raided the house on May 29 and apprehended the four terrorists: Bilal Mahmoud Abdul Hadi, aka Abu Muhommad; Abdullah Muhammed Atala Muhammed, aka Abu Muhammed; Mohammed Ben Rabit Saada, aka Abu Amar; and Ishmail Muhammad Abdullah Bin Abdullah, officials said.

Elsewhere, the three convicted insurgents in Baghdad's Adhamiya terrorist cell planned and participated in armed attacks against Iraqi police, national guard and civilians, and coalition forces. The Adhamiya terrorist cell also provides safe passage into Iraq of foreign fighters from Morocco, Tunisia and North Africa, officials said.

- Iraq's Central Criminal Court found Musab Kasar Abdul Rahman al-Hafith, aka Yunis, guilty of threatening the public safety on Nov. 16. He was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.
- Uthman Awad Hamid Ahmed al-Jubouri, aka Ossman Awad Hamid Ahmed, was found guilty of crimes against the security of Iraq on Nov. 22 and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.
- Daud Salman Mohammed Ali al-Barmani was found guilty Dec. 5 of belonging to armed groups who threaten the Iraqi people on and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.

Officials hailed the convictions as a landmark for the Iraqi judicial system. The verdict reinforces the will of the Iraqi people that former regime members, terrorist-insurgents, foreign fighters and their supporters be held accountable and punished by an Iraqi court of justice, officials said. Iraq's fledgling civic governmental institutions are working increasingly in tandem to capture, prosecute and convict terrorist-insurgents, officials said.

Indeed, one of the latest Iraqi and coalition efforts, Operation Able Rising Force, has resulted in the capture of 52 suspected terrorists in Khadisia, near Tikrit, officials said. Three of the suspected terrorists are wanted for having launched improvised explosive devices against Iraqi civilians and the military, officials said.

Operation Able Rising Force involves Iraqi soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division, local Iraqi police, and U.S. troops from 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division.

(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq news releases.)

Related Site:

Multinational Force Iraq [http://www.mnf-iraq.com/]

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