The U.S. military announced on Thursday that a top militant of the al-Qaida terror network in Iraq had been captured.

Iraqi forces had captured Muhammad al-Ubaydi, a former senior intelligence official under the regime of Saddam Hussein and also a top aide to the al-Qaida leader in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the U.S. military said in a statement.

The statement also said that al-Ubaydi, who headed the Secret Islamic Army, was captured by Iraqi forces in southern Baghdad on March 7.

The U.S. military said that al-Ubaydi was the prime suspect in the abduction of Italian journalist Guiliana Sgrena in February 2005, who was released a month later.

Al-Ubaydi was also responsible for assassination attempts against Iraqi officials and some other kidnappings, the statement added, without revealing further details.

Iraq's al-Qaida group is believed to be behind some of the most gruesome kidnappings of foreigners, some of whom were beheaded. The group has been waging a bloody war against the U.S. and Iraqi forces.

Source: Xinhua