BAGHDAD, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- U.S. and coalition forces have captured the leader of the New Baath Party in Diyala province.
Coalition members apprehended Hamid Sharki Shadid on Nov. 9 and his capture was announced Tuesday. Shadid is a former member of the Baath Party in Diyala province and is suspected of being responsible for all insurgent Baath Party activities in that area.
Coalition forces believe he can provide crucial information on the whereabouts of former Staff Gen. Jamal Karki, a suspected Baathist insurgent, and Abd-al-Baqi al-Saadun, who has been a fugitive since the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime in 2003, Multinational Force Iraq officials said.
As the former Baath Party regional chairman of Diyala province and regional chairman of southern Iraq, Saadun is wanted for crimes against humanity committed during the 1999 Shiite uprising, the American Forces Press Service said.
Saadun has remained a key leader within the Iraqi insurgency, recruiting and financing foreign terrorists in eastern and central Iraq. He also actively coordinated, financed and directed attacks against Iraqi police and civilians in Nasiriyah, Basra and Diyala provinces. Up to $1 million is being offered for his capture or killing.
