Iraqis slay alleged al-Qaida leader

BAGHDAD, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Iraqi military officials say they have killed an Al-Qaida In Iraq leader who was preparing to carry out a suicide bombing in Baghdad.

Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Mohammed Askari said that a Saudi-born suspected al-Qaida member known as Abu Ubaida was killed in the northeastern Baghdad neighborhood of Fatimiyat, al-Sumaria said Monday.

Askari said Abu Ubaida was wearing an explosives belt and was killed before he was able to detonate it, the broadcaster reported.

Iraqi officials also reported that members of an anti-al-Qaida Sunni Arab Awakening group uncovered a mass grave containing the bodies of 11 people allegedly kidnapped by al-Qaida last year.