Iraq Forces Arrest Suspected Recruiter of Female Suicide Bombers

A woman suspected of recruiting more than 80 female suicide bombers has been arrested, the Iraqi military claimed today, potentially dealing a blow to one of the deadliest forms of insurgent attack in Iraq.

The woman, who was identified as Samira Ahmed Jassim and by her nickname Umm al-Mumineen, was shown confessing in a video at a press conference in Baghdad.

Dressed in a black Islamic robe, she described how she would persuade women to carry out suicide missions, escort them to an orchard for insurgent training, and finally pick them up and lead them to their targets.

She said she was acting on behalf of insurgents based in the volatile Diyala province, north of Baghdad.

Major General Qassim al-Moussawi, a spokesman for the Iraqi military, said the suspect had recruited more than 80 women willing to carry out attacks, and had admitted masterminding 28 bombings in different areas.

Although the overall level of violence in Iraq has declined, the number of suicide bomb attacks carried out by women has risen, with US commanders warning that insurgents are actively trying to find more recruits.

At least 36 female suicide bombers attempted or successfully carried out a total of 32 attacks last year, compared with eight in 2007, according to US military figures.

The US could not provide information on the number of female suicide bombers so far this year. A single female suicide bomber is known to have blown herself up among a crowd of Iranian pilgrims worshipping at the Imam Mousa al-Kazim shrine in northern Baghdad on 4 January, killing 38 people and wounding 72 others.

Insurgents in Iraq are increasingly using female suicide bombers to help them penetrate security at the military checkpoints that have become ubiquitous in Iraq as part of more thorough security measures.

Iraqi women often are allowed to pass through male-guarded checkpoints without being searched, and they traditionally wear flowing black robes that make it easier to hide explosives belts.

To counter the threat, the US military has stepped up efforts to recruit women for the Iraqi security forces.

Jassim, whose nickname means "the mother of believers", was arrested on 21 January by Iraqi security forces acting on tips. She is allegedly linked to the Ansar al-Sunna insurgent group, Moussawi said.

The spokesman would not say where Jassim was arrested because the investigation was ongoing. He said the recruits had been from Baghdad and Diyala province and alleged that Jassim had contact with a pair of recently detained insurgent brothers.

In the video Jassim said she had to talk to one elderly woman several times before persuading her to blow herself up at a bus station. It took Jassim two weeks to recruit another woman who was a teacher and had problems with her husband and his family, according to the confession. The woman eventually attacked members of government-backed Sunni groups in Diyala province, the suspect said.

US and Iraqi officials have pinned hopes on last Saturday's provincial elections to more equitably distribute power among Iraq's fractured ethnic and sectarian groups and staunch support for the Sunni-led insurgency.

Official results from the vote for 14 of Iraq's 18 provinces have not been released, but early returns have begun to trickle out. That has sparked a series of complaints from political groups that feel they have been cheated.

The Iraqi military lifted a curfew in the Sunni-dominated Anbar province a day after tribal sheiks sent gunmen into the streets claiming the Shia-led government stole votes in the elections.

An Iraqi commander, Major General Murdhi Mishhin, said a vehicle ban was lifted this morning and no violence had been reported.

US officials have said the test of the election was whether the public perceived a fair outcome. Tribal groups known as awakening councils claim there was fraud by a rival Sunni party. The sheiks believe they should have power because of their contribution in routing al-Qaida.

A Sunni Arab politician, Osama al-Nujaifi, claimed that his nationalist party had won a majority of votes in Mosul and the surrounding Ninevah province, where ethnic tensions are running high.

The Kurds disputed the claim by the Sunni National Hadba Gathering, saying it was too early to claim victory because official results had not been released.

Provincial elections were not held in the three semi-autonomous Kurdish provinces because officials said separate legislation was needed before any vote.

A senior politician said Kurds would elect a new parliament for their oil-rich semi-autonomous region in Iraq on 19 May.