Iraq annouces Diyala al-Qaida arrests

BAQUBA, Iraq, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Iraqi officials said Sunday they have arrested key figures of al-Qaida's leadership in Diyala province, where suicide bombings have been frequent.

Al-Qaida's "governor" in the region was arrested, as well as its Diyala "defense minister," Naseer Ali Khalaf, Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdulkareem Khalaf told the KUNA news agency.

The men were arrested Saturday night by Iraqi police and army forces in Baquba, he said. Khalaf added another senior member of al-Qaida's Diyala leadership, Abu Anas al-Baghdadi, and four members of the group's Mujahedin Shura council were also arrested.

KUNA also reported that a female al-Qaida member allegedly responsible for training and recruiting female suicide bombers had been captured along with 268 people arrested in the wake of Monday's triple attacks by female bombers that killed at least 25 people.