US forces have captured a man described as a senior commander of a militant group linked to al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Iraqi government said today.
It said in a statement the 33-year-old Iraqi, whom it named only as Abu Marwan, was a leader of the hitherto unknown Abu Talha group, affiliated to the Jordanian militant whom Osama bin Laden this week endorsed as his lieutenant in Iraq.
Zarqawi's al-Qaeda Organisation in Iraq has claimed responsibility for some of bloodiest suicide bombings and beheadings of foreign hostages in Iraq this year.
A separate but possibly allied group, Ansar al-Sunna, said it was behind last week's suicide bombing of a US mess tent in Mosul, which killed 18 Americans and three Iraqis.
The government statement did not say whether Abu Marwan was connected to that suicide bombing.
"Abu Marwan was responsible for conducting and commanding terrorist operations in Mosul, purchasing weapons for Talha's terrorist group, and coordinating the training of terrorist cells within the Abu Talha terrorist group," it said.
It said Abu Marwan had been detained six days ago after a tip-off from local residents.
