Webcast News Service, 3 October 2008

The U.S.-led coalition in Iraq says it has killed the leader of one of al-Qaida's Baghdad networks, a terrorist who was wanted for several deadly bombings.

A U.S. military statement said Mahir Ahmad Mahmud Hudu' al-Zubaydi, also known as Abu Assad or Abu Rami, and an unidentified female were killed Friday in a raid on a building in Baghdad, in the Adhamiya neighborhood.

Soldiers targeted the building based on intelligence reports, and that they opened fire in self-defense, in response to small arms fire from inside the building.

The terrorist was believed to be behind multiple car bombings in Baghdad, including two attacks Thursday that killed at least eight people.

In a separate development, coalition forces also say they detained 10 suspected terrorists Friday and early Saturday in operations targeting al-Qaida in northern and central Iraq.