Iraqi troops arrested MP Ahmed al-Alwani and killed his brother and at least three of his guards during a raid on his home in the western city of Ramadi.
Ahmed al-Alwani, a member of the Sunni community, had backed protests against the mainly Shia government of PM Nouri al-Maliki and was reportedly wanted on terrorism charges.
Police said Ahmed al-Alwani’s guards opened fire as officers arrived to detain him.
Another 18 people were wounded in the ensuing skirmish, an official said.
“Security forces attacked the residence of MP Ahmed al-Alwani in central Ramadi to arrest him this morning, sparking a battle with his guards with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades,” a police major told AFP news agency.
“Five of Alwani’s guards and his brother were killed and eight others wounded, while 10 security forces members were also wounded,” the major said.
Ahmed al-Alwani, a member of the Sunni community, had backed protests against the mainly Shia government of PM Nouri al-Maliki and was reportedly wanted on terrorism charges
Some reports suggest that a sister of the MP – a member of the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc – was also among those killed in the raid.
The reasons for Ahmed al-Alwani’s arrest were not immediately clear. Associated Press news agency said he was wanted on terrorism charges.
He has also been a prominent supporter of a group of activists camped on a highway near Ramadi protesting against the perceived marginalization and persecution of Iraqi Sunnis by the Shia-dominated government.
PM Nouri al-Maliki has reportedly threatened to shut down the camp, saying it has become a headquarters of al-Qaeda.
Ahmed al-Alwani’s arrest comes as Iraq remains in the grip of sectarian fighting which has made this the deadliest year since 2008.
Norway’s intelligence agency PST is investigating whether a Norwegian citizen was involved in the attack on Nairobi’s Westgate mall.
The PST said it had sent investigators to Kenya to try to verify the claim.
It said it was opening an inquiry “based on information that a Norwegian citizen may have been involved”.
A Norwegian of Somali origin may have been involved in planning and carrying out the September 21 attack in which at least 67 people died, the PST said.
“The enquiry will primarily be aimed at helping prevent new terrorist acts and [determining] to what degree the Norwegian… was involved in the attack,” the agency said.
Norway’s intelligence agency PST is investigating whether a Norwegian citizen was involved in the attack on Nairobi’s Westgate mall
The PST added that it would also try to establish if the unnamed suspect had ties to Somalia’s al-Shabab, the al-Qaeda-linked militant group which said it had carried out the attack.
It said it was working to assess any potential threats to Norway and Norwegian interests.
Reports have suggested that an al-Shabab leader targeted at the weekend in a US military operation may have spent time in Norway.
The October 5 raid failed to capture Abdukadir Mohamed Abdukadir, alias Ikrima. He is thought to be a Kenyan citizen of Somali origin, one of many Kenyan Somalis and other foreign fighters who have joined the group.
Norway’s TV2 reported earlier this week that Ikrima had travelled to Norway and applied for asylum in 2004 but left in 2008 before there was a decision on his application.
Norwegian officials have not commented on the claims.
Last week Kenya’s military identified four men it said were involved in the Westgate siege. It said Abu Baara al-Sudani, Omar Nabhan, Khattab al-Kene and Umayr were killed during the standoff.
Abu Baara al-Sudani was said to have been an “experienced fighter” from Sudan, who led the group. Nabhan was a Kenyan of Arab origin and Kene a Somali linked to al-Shabab. Details about Umayr were not available.
American officials say US Navy SEALs have carried out two separate raids in Libya and Somalia targeting senior Islamist militants.
In Libya, US commandos captured an al-Qaeda leader accused of the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Anas al-Liby was seized in the capital Tripoli.
A leader of the al-Shabab group was targeted in southern Somalia, but that raid appears to have failed.
The al-Shabab leader – who has not been identified – is suspected of involvement in last month’s attack in the Westgate shopping centre in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, which left at least 67 people dead.
Al-Shabab has said it carried out the attack on September 21.
Anas al-Liby’s relatives and US officials said he had been seized in the Libyan capital early on Saturday.
He was parking outside his house when three vehicles encircled him, his car’s window was smashed and his gun was seized before he was taken away, his brother Nabih was quoted as saying by AP.
He added that his brother’s wife also saw the attack, describing the abductors as foreign-looking “commandos”.
US Navy SEALs have carried out two separate raids in Libya and Somalia targeting senior Islamist militants
The raid was conducted with the knowledge of the Libyan government, a US official was quoted as saying by CNN.
Anas al-Liby “is currently lawfully detained by the US military in a secure location outside of Libya”, Pentagon spokesman George Little said.
The 49-year-old is believed to have been one of the masterminds behind the 1998 US embassy attacks, which killed more than 220 people in Kenya and Tanzania.
He has been indicted in a New York court in connection with the attacks.
Anas al-Liby – whose real name is Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai – has been on the FBI’s most wanted list for more than a decade with a $5 million bounty on his head.
Al-Qaeda’s leadership has been consistently targeted since the killing of Osama Bin Laden by US special forces in 2011 in Pakistan.
The US defense department has also confirmed that special forces carried out a seaborne operation in Somalia’s coastal town of Barawe on Saturday.
George Little said the forces “were involved in a counter-terrorism operation against a known al-Shabab terrorist”. He declined to provide any further details.
Initial reports in the US media quoted unnamed US officials as saying that the suspect had been captured or killed by US Navy SEALs in the pre-dawn raid on a villa.
However, the officials later said that the SEALs failed to find the intended target, who was not identified.
The raid was carried out by members of Seal Team Six – the same unit that killed bin Laden, a US military official told AP.
The official added that in Barawe the commandos had decided to abort the mission after encountering fierce resistance from al-Shabab fighters.
“The Barawe raid was planned a week and a half ago,” a US security official told the New York Times.
“It was prompted by the Westgate attack,” added the official, who was speaking on the condition of anonymity.
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