A senior figure in al-Qaeda in Iraq armed group was arrested on Monday northeast of Baghdad, the official spokesman of the law-imposing security plan said. "Hussein al-Heyalli, the general mufti of al-Qaeda network in Iraq, was arrested and gave us information that will help to dismantle the group," Brigadier Qassem Atta al-Mousawi said in news conference. "Since the beginning of March, 241 gunmen and 700 suspected militants have been arrested," he said in the news conference, which was attended by General William Caldwell, spokesman for the Multi-National forces in Iraq. "A number of hospitals and markets were secured during that period and the security forces played an important role in limiting gunmen's attacks," he noted. The spokesman added "the defense ministry has signed contracts to buy devices for detecting explosives, bomb cars and will be used by Iraqi forces soon."
For his part, General William Caldwell said that two brigades of the Multi-National force-Iraq arrived in Baghdad, while a third brigade arrived in Kut, 180 km southeast of Baghdad, and will be in Baghdad in the upcoming days. "The number of forces heading for Baghdad will be completed by June and 7,000 more troops will be deployed, including military police forces, in addition to other 2,000 Georgian troops," General Caldwell added.
U.S. President George W. Bush had vowed to send 21,500 extra troops to Iraqi capital Baghdad to support Iraqi government under Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Iraqi and U.S. troops have been involved in a large-scale operation called Fard al-Qanoon (Rule of Law), since mid-February, in a bid to quell bombings and sectarian violence in Baghdad.