US and Iraqi forces have arrested the second most senior figure in al-Qaeda in Iraq, the country's National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie said today.
"I can say al-Qaeda in Iraq is severely wounded," he told a news conference.
He named the man as Hamed Juma Faris al-Suaidi, also known as Abu Humam or Abu Rana, and said he was the deputy to Abu Ayyub al-Masri, who took over the insurgent group after Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a US air strike in June.
Mr al-Rubaie said al-Suaidi was captured a few days ago but did not say where in Iraq he was found.
"He was hiding in a building used by families. He wanted to use children and women as human shields as our forces attempted to capture him," he told a news conference.
The US military says al-Qaeda is a "prime instigator" of sectarian conflict between Iraq's Sunni minority and Shia majority that threatens all-out civil war.
But despite US and Iraqi military successes, violence continues to tear Iraq apart.
A 63-page Pentagon report said on Friday attacks rose by 24 per cent in the past three months. Iraqi casualties soared by 51 per cent and the violence was extending north beyond Baghdad.
The announcement of the arrest came as talks between the United States and Iraq over the transfer of operational command of Iraq's armed forces remained deadlocked, with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki demanding more independence from the US military.
A day after the dispute forced an embarrassing delay of a signing ceremony in Baghdad, an Iraqi Defence Ministry source said disagreements remained over the wording of a document that outlines the new relationship between US-led occupying forces and Iraq's military.
"There are some disputes between the two parties. We have our own point of view and they have theirs. We want thorough control and want the freedom to make decisions independently," the source said on condition of anonymity.