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    Iraqi forces have arrested the second most senior operative in al-Qaida in Iraq, and the group now suffers from a “serious leadership crisis,” the national security adviser said Sunday.

    Hamed Jumaa Farid al-Saeedi, known as Abu Humam or Abu Rana, was arrested a few days ago, Mouwaffak al-Rubaie said, adding that his arrest also led to the capture or death of 11 other top al-Qaida in Iraq figures and nine lower-level members.

    He was the second most important al-Qaida in Iraq leader after Abu Ayyub al-Masri, al-Rubaie said. Al-Masri succeeded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike north of Baghdad on June 7.

    “We believe that al-Qaida in Iraq suffers from a serious leadership crisis. Our troops have dealt fatal and painful blows to this organization,” the security adviser said.

    Al-Saeedi was “directly responsible” for the person who carried out the bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra in February, al-Rubaie added. The bombing inflamed tensions between Shiite and Sunni Muslims and triggered reprisal attacks that continue still.

    “Al-Saeedi carried out al-Qaida’s policies in Iraq and the orders of the slain al-Zarqawi to incite sectarian violence in the country, through attempting to start a civil war between Shiites and Sunnis — but their wishes did not materialize,” al-Rubaie added.

    After his arrest, al-Saeedi gave up information that led to the arrest or death of 11 top al-Qaida in Iraq figures and nine lower-level members, he added. He would not reveal the identities of the others, or where al-Saeedi was captured, for security reasons.

James Joyner:

    Dead or arrested terrorists are always good news. Still, I would think we’d have learned by now to stop claiming that it will make a huge difference in the group’s ability to wreak mayhem. The level of killing did not drop after Zarqawi’s death and, if al-Saeedi has been in custody “a few days,” it certainly does not seem to have had any effect on the level of violence.

Poliblogger:

    This sounds like a very significant event–and hopefully it does represent a substantial degradation of al Qaeda in Iraq’s ability to operate. However, it seems unlikely at this point that it will have a substantial effect on the overall violence.

Captain Ed is more optimistic:

    The AQ organization will continue its efforts, of course, but the capture of the man who targeted the Golden Mosque in Samara may take a lot of the sting out of the sectarian bitterness that erupted afterwards. It’s another step towards peace and security — not the final step nor even close to it, but another step in the right direction.

RantingProf’s:

    It also matters because catching someone that high-up, with his boys, would have meant an intelligence bonanza. Notice that no public announcement was made for several days: presumably that was to permit American and Iraqi forces to do everything possible to exploit any intelligence gained when the men were captured. They might never say a word, but doubtless with them came at least their cell phones, if not a computer or two.