Iraq Officials Say Suspected Al-Qaeda-Linked Chief Nabbed

BAGHDAD — Iraqi security officials said they captured one of the most wanted leaders of the Al Qaeda-linked Sunni insurgency Thursday, an arrest that could deliver a significant blow to an intensified campaign of attacks. Two separate homicide bombings killed at least 54 people.

The officials identified the arrested man as Abu Omar al-Baghdadi who leads the Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella group of Sunni militant factions that is believed dominated by Al Qaeda in Iraq. However in the past, Iraqi officials have reported al-Baghdadi's arrest or killing, only to later say they were wrong. The U.S. military has even said al-Baghdadi could be a fictitious character used to give an Iraqi face to an organization dominated by foreign Al Qaeda fighters.

U.S. officials could not immediately confirm the arrest.