Identical explosives and al-Qaeda arrests suggest bombings are part of a larger strategy. The explosives used in the devastating bomb attack on the Shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf that may have killed over 100 worshippers, including a leading Iraqi Shia cleric, are identical to those used in last week’s bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad. The disclosure, by Iraqi police sources, came as they announced that they had arrested four men – including two Saudis – in connection with the bombing of Iraq’s most holy Shia shrine. All four had links to an al-Qaeda terror network. US military sources confirmed three arrests – two of them brought to soldiers by angry locals who said they believed they were suspicious strangers. If the al-Qaeda link is true, the arrests would confirm claims by coalition officials in Baghdad that former members of Saddam’s security apparatus have formed an alliance with the hundreds of Jihadist fighters entering Iraq to fight US troops. Full Story
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