Soccer star kidnapped, 35 mangled bodies found in spike of violence in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A popular Iraqi soccer star was kidnapped and 35 bullet-riddled bodies were found in Iraq on Monday, a day after Iraqi officials touted the capture of al-Qaida in Iraq's No. 2 leader as a move to reduce violence in the country.\nThe U.S. military announced the deaths of five more American troops, including a soldier who was killed by a roadside bomb north of Baghdad on Monday.\nA roadside bomb also killed two British soldiers and seriously wounded a third in Ad Dayr, north of the southern city of Basra, British military spokesman Maj. Charlie Burbridge said.\nAuthorities found 33 bodies of people who had been shot to death, all showing signs of torture, dumped around several neighborhoods in Baghdad, police said. The bodies, all of men, were blindfolded, and their feet and hands were tied.\nIn Kut, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, police found another two bodies dumped on a highway. Both had been shot in the head and chest, said Maamoun Ajil al-Robaiei from the morgue at a hospital in Kut.\nElsewhere in the capital, Ghanim Ghudayer, 22, considered one of the best players in Baghdad's Air Force Club, was abducted Sunday evening by unknown assailants, some of whom were wearing military uniforms, police said.\nThe head of the Air Force Club, Sameer Kadhim, said the player, who also was on Iraq's Olympic team, had planned to leave for Syria in two or three days to join a new team there. Iraqi sports officials and athletes have frequently faced threats, kidnappings and killings.\nAt least two people also were killed and six were wounded in and around Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, in shootings and bomb attacks.\nThe violence came a day after Iraq's national security adviser announced the capture of al-Qaida in Iraq deputy Hamed Jumaa Farid al-Saeedi, also known as Abu Humam or Abu Rana, saying the arrest has left the terror group facing a "serious leadership crisis."\n"Our troops have dealt fatal and painful blows to this organization," Mouwafak al-Rubaie said Sunday.\nThe Iraqi Defense Ministry also announced Monday that 15 people believed to have been involved in insurgent activities were killed over the last 24 hours by Iraqi army units.\nAl-Rubaie accused al-Saeedi, who he said was arrested a few days ago, of supervising the creation of death squads and ordering assassinations, bombings, kidnappings and attacks on Iraqi police and army checkpoints.\nWhile it may be too soon to say what the effect will be of al-Saeedi's capture, sectarian violence and other attacks have continued after the arrests or killing of other high-ranking figures, including ousted leader Saddam Hussein.\nNot much is known about al-Saeedi, but al-Rubaie said he was the second most important al-Qaida in Iraq leader after Abu Ayyub al-Masri. Al-Masri is believed to have taken over the group after a U.S. air strike killed al-Zarqawi in June.\nAl-Rubaie said al-Saeedi was "directly responsible" for the man whom authorities have accused of leading the Feb. 22 bombing against the Shiite shrine in Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad. The attack inflamed tensions between Shiite and Sunni Muslims and triggered reprisal attacks that have killed hundreds of Iraqis.\nA senior coalition official told The Associated Press that coalition forces were involved in al-Saeedi's arrest but would not give details on what role they played.