U-S says top al-Qaida-in-Iraq leader captured

BAGHDAD (AP) U-S commanders in Iraq report the arrest of the top Iraqi in Iraq's branch of al-Qaida.

He's identified as Dawoud Mahmoud al-Mashhadani (dah-OOD' mahk-MOOD' al-mah-sha-DAH'-nee) and the announcement today says he was captured on the Fourth of July in Mosul.

A U-S spokesman says al-Mashhadani is believed to be the most senior Iraqi in the group. Army Brigadier General Kevin Bergner says information from him indicates that the terror group's foreign leaders have considerable influence over the Iraqi branch.

Bergner says al-Mashhadani served as an intermediary between the chief of al-Qaida-in-Iraq and the international group's top leaders, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri (AY'-muhn ahl-ZWAH'-ree).

The general says he also was a founder of a cyberspace organization known as the Islamic State of Iraq.

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