Baghdad, Iraq – Police found the tortured, blindfolded bodies of 33 men scattered across the capital Monday and the U.S.-led coalition reported combat deaths of seven servicemen, a day after Iraqi leaders said the capture of a top terrorist suspect would reduce violence.
Kidnappers also dragged off a popular soccer star in Baghdad, while a security crackdown in the city expanded into the upscale Mansour neighborhood.
An al-Qaeda-affiliated group dismissed the Iraqi government’s claim that the organization’s second-most important leader had been arrested, suggesting that the man was not a senior figure and denying that the group had suffered a significant blow.
On Sunday, Iraq’s national security adviser announced the arrest of Hamed Jumaa Farid al-Saeedi, also known as Abu Humam or Abu Rana, and said that had left al-Qaeda in Iraq suffering a “serious leadership crisis.” But the Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization of Sunni Arab extremist groups that includes al-Qaeda in Iraq, issued a statement Monday saying its “leadership was in the best condition.” The statement did not directly deny the arrest or say what position al-Saeedi held, although it suggested he was not the No. 2 leader.
Al-Saeedi was involved in the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra, security adviser Mouwafakal-Rubaie said. The attack inflamed tensions between Shiite and Sunni Muslims and set off reprisals that have killed hundreds of Iraqis, such as those found in Baghdad on Monday.
Police said the 33 bullet-riddled bodies all showed signs of torture and had their hands and feet bound. The men had been dumped around several neighborhoods, police said. Two other bodies were found on a highway in Kut, southeast of Baghdad.
The Mujahedeen Shura Council’s statement also said insurgents have been inflicting heavy losses on U.S. troops in western Anbar province and in Baghdad.
The U.S.-led coalition said seven of its personnel had been killed in the past two days – five Americans and two Britons.
On Sunday, two U.S. Marines were killed in Anbar and two Army soldiers died from roadside bombs in Mosul and near Baqubah. Another soldier was killed Monday by a roadside bomb. Another American died of noncombat injuries, the military said.
In the south, a roadside bomb killed two British soldiers and seriously wounded a third north of Basra, British military spokesman Maj. Charlie Burbridge said.
British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett arrived in the capital Monday on an unannounced visit – her first to Iraq since taking the post in May.
“We do not underestimate the challenges ahead,” Beckett said in a statement. “But we must not forget the progress made … in bringing the first democratically elected national unity government to the country, with a constitution voted for by the people.”
Assailants abducted Ghanim Ghudayer, a soccer star and member of Iraq’s Olympic team. Considered one of the best players on Baghdad’s Air Force Club, the 22-year-old was taken Sunday evening by unknown assailants, some of whom were wearing military uniforms, police said.
The U.S.-led coalition said the Iraqi army had begun searching the capital’s Mansour district as part of a crackdown aimed at tackling violence in Baghdad, neighborhood by neighborhood. U.S. soldiers would “observe and advise” during the operation, the military said.
The coalition also said five suspected insurgents and a child were killed and a second child was wounded during a raid in Muqdadiyah, about 60 miles north of Baghdad.
Handing over control from the coalition to Iraqi authorities is a key part of any eventual drawdown of U.S. troops in the country.
