Important Terrorist Captured in Iraq

US forces have captured their first senior officer of Hizballah’s Special Operations unit. Munah al-Abdullah, member of the al-Abdullah clan of Khayam in South Lebanon, joined the Iraq warfront on the orders of the wanted international terrorist Imad Mughniyeh, who heads this secret Hizballah unit.

Al-Abdallah was interrogated at the Abu Ghraib prison after he was caught in possession of documents and thick wads of cash for setting up contacts with Baathist guerillas and al Qaeda operatives in the main Sunni Triangle cities north of Baghdad.

Never before have the Americans netted living proof of the link between Mughniyeh, the Lebanese Hizballah and the Baath-al Qaeda alliance. Al Abdallah also embodies Tehran’s hand in both Sunni and radical Shiite insurgencies.

On the strength of the information obtained from their prisoner, the US command laid siege Wednesday and Thursday to the two Sunni Triangle towns of Fallujah and Samarra, for two purposes: One, to deter them from opening a second anti-US front north of Baghdad – as happened in the first Shiite-Sunni twin revolts in April; two, to warn the Baathist and al Qaeda combatants in the two hotbed cities that they were next in line after the Sadr Mehdi Army militia had been dealt with in Najef.

Thursday afternoon, Iran stepped squarely into the Iraqi conflict.

General Qassem Suleimani, commander of the Revolutionary Guards al Quds Brigade, called on all fighting men in Iraq to join Moqtada Sadr’s stand against the Americans and to stage anti-American, anti-government rallies up and down Iraq after Friday prayers in the mosques.

Iran’s al Quds Brigade acts as sponsor of the al Qaeda and Ansar al-Islam Iran-based operations. It is also used by Mughniyeh as his operational arm in Iran.

There is more on the events leading up to these last-minute developments in the articles below.