US-led forces in Iraq have captured a senior member of the al Qaeda-linked network led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in a raid in Baghdad.
The Iraqi government said Fadil Hussain Ahmed al-Kurdi (26) was captured along with two other suspected insurgents.
"[He] was responsible for facilitating communications between al-Qaeda and the Zarqawi terror networks as well as coordinating the movement of terrorists in and out of Iraq," a government statement said.
The government did not say when the arrests were made.
US forces said three weeks ago they had seized unidentified "transnational terrorists" in Baghdad.
On Monday, an audiotape purportedly from Osama bin Laden endorsed Zarqawi as al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq and called for holy war against foreign troops and Iraqi forces attempting to secure Iraq's elections scheduled for January 30th.
The government said this week another senior member of Zarqawi's network was captured in Mosul.
Zarqawi's group has claimed responsibility for many of the bloodiest suicide attacks in Iraq and has beheaded several foreign hostages.