Samarra' Shrine Bombing Suspect Held.

The Iraqi government's National Security Adviser, Muwaffaq al-Rubai'e, on June 28 told a press conference that Yousri Fakher Muhammad Ali, known as Abu Qudama, had been captured "a few days ago" after being seriously wounded in clashes with security forces north of Baghdad, although the Iraqi mastermind of the attack remained at large. Ali was one of the Neo-Salafi terrorists who bombed the Shi'ite shrine of Samarra' on Feb. 22, which set off the current wave of sectarian violence across most of Iraq.

Rubai'e said other foreign Neo-Salafi fighters had been killed in the incident. Rubai'e said the gang was also responsible for the murder of an Arabic satellite TV reporter and her two colleagues hours after the Feb. 22 blasts brought down the golden dome of the al-Askariya mosque in Samarra'.

The announcement was intended to put a face on an incident which had triggered widespread attacks by Shi'ite militias on Sunni targets, leading to further reprisals in a cycle of violence which has left thousands dead. Rubai'e said the leading Neo-Salafi man in the gang, Haitham al-Badri, was in hiding in Iraq and was being sought by government forces. Badri personally killed Atwar Bahjat, an Iraqi female reporter for al-Arabiya who was abducted and murdered after travelling to Samarra', the site of the Shi'ite shrine, on Feb. 22. Rubai'e said the captured Ali was a Tunisian who entered Iraq in November 2003.

Ali confessed to carrying out the bombing under the guidance of Badri. Rubai'e said the assault gang also consisted of four Saudis and two Iraqis, he added: "The crime of Samarra' was one of the biggest crimes meant to provoke sectarian division and civil war, but they failed to achieve that".

The participation of Iraqis in the bombing, and the fact that the attack was the brainchild of an Iraqi, came as a shock to many. The destruction of the shrine's golden dome was so horrific that many Iraqis at the time blamed the attack on foreigners, saying that no local individual would resort to such measures in an attempt to foment sectarian strife. Indeed, many Iraqis still blame foreigners for the daily suicide bombings racking this country.

Rubai'e said Badri was born in Samarra' and came from a predominantly Sunni tribe which is common in Salahuddin Province, the home region of Saddam. He had ties to Saddam's government and was a member of Jaysh Ansar al-Sunna before joining al-Qaeda. Ansar al-Sunna is a particularly violent Neo-Salafi group founded in the far north after the American invasion, but has since recruited members from all across Iraq, including Anbar. Rubai'e said Badri now commanded the Qaeda branch in Salahuddin.

Badri and his gang entered the Askariya shrine the night of Feb. 21, after the Iraqi army had handed over guard duties to policemen belonging to the Facilities Protection Service, run by the Interior Ministry, Rubai'e said. The insurgents tied up the policemen and placed explosives around the shrine. The charges detonated on the morning of Feb. 22, ripping apart the dome and damaging the tombs of two revered Shi'ite imams.

The shrine is venerated by Shi'ites, especially those who believe in the prophecy of the Mahdi, or the 12th Imam. According to legend, that figure vanished from the earth where the shrine stands and will return at the apocalypse to cleanse the world of infidels. The followers of Muqtada al-Sadr adhere to this belief and were particularly inflamed by the bombing of the shrine.

Ali, the Tunisian, was captured as he tried storming a checkpoint in a town north of Baghdad. Rubai'e said 15 foreign Neo-Salafis were killed in the raid, and Ali was seriously wounded. Ali said in his confession that hours after the shrine bombing, Badri watched as Bahjat, the Arabiya journalist, did a broadcast from a petrol station in Samarra'. He then kidnapped her, a cameraman and a soundman and killed them. Like Badri, Bahjat was from Samarra'.