The US military in Iraq says coalition forces have captured a man described as a top aide to al-Qaida-linked terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. A statement says the suspect, Amar Adnan Muhammad Hamzah al-Zubaydi, was seized Thursday during a raid in Baghdad, along with plans to assassinate Iraqi government leaders. The statement says the suspect (also known as Abu al-Abbas,) was the key planner of an early April attack on Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison and a series of car bomb attacks in the Baghdad area. In other developments, the US military says seven US military personnel have been killed across Iraq since Saturday in three separate attacks and bombings.
Meanwhile, Iraq's parliament on Sunday approved six cabinet ministers to fill vacant posts in the new government. One appointee later said he would not accept the Human Rights portfolio he said was given him solely because he is a Sunni.