IRAQ Key Al-Qaida figure arrested

Sunni clerics called for the release of four kidnapped Christian peace activists.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- The American military arrested a high-ranking member of Al-Qaida in Iraq in the town of Ramadi on Friday, the U.S. Marines said.
Also Friday, Sunni Arab clerics pleaded for the lives of four Christian peace activists who were kidnapped.
Amir Khalaf Fanus, also known in the Ramadi area as "the Butcher," was wanted for criminal activities including murder and kidnapping, Capt. Jeffrey S. Pool said in a statement from the town, located 70 miles west of Baghdad.
Fanus was No. 3 on a most-wanted list for Ramadi drawn up by the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division.
"He is the highest ranking Al-Qaida in Iraq member to be turned in to Iraqi and U.S. officials by local citizens," Pool said. "His capture is another indication that the local citizens tire of the insurgents' presence within their community."
According to Pool, Iraqi and U.S. Forces "have witnessed increasing signs of citizens fighting the terrorists within Ramadi as the Dec. 15 National Elections draw nearer."
He said that 1,200 more Iraqi Security Force soldiers were recently stationed in Ramadi, and 1,100 Iraqi special police commandos and a mechanized Iraqi army company had moved into the city.
Sunni clerics also used the last major weekly religious service before Thursday's national elections to urge a big Sunni turnout. One Sunni preacher called the parliamentary vote "a decisive battle that will determine our future."
Call for hostages' release
In sermons at major Sunni mosques, clerics asked for the release of the four Christians -- an American, a Briton and two Canadians -- because of their humanitarian work and condemnation of the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
The clerics made the request on the eve of a deadline set by the kidnappers to kill the four captives unless U.S. and Iraqi authorities release all prisoners.
"We ask those who have authority and power to do their best to release the four ... people who work in Christian peace organization," cleric Ahmed Hassan Taha told worshippers in Baghdad's Sunni stronghold Azamiyah. "In fact, those activists were the first who condemned the war on Iraq."
Residents gathered outside the mosque held aloft banners demanding the hostages' release.
"The people of Azamiyah will not forget the honest positions of the peacemakers," read one. Another said: "We demand the release of the abducted peacemakers."
A spokesman for the Association of Muslim Scholars, an influential Sunni clerical organization, said he hoped the four were in the hands of insurgents and not a criminal gang. The association is believed to have links to some Sunni-led insurgent groups.
"I hope that the hostages are in the hands of people who reject the occupation," spokesman Abdel-Salam Al-Qubaisi told a news conference. "I think that those who abducted them are doves of peace who reject the occupation. They must be rewarded, not imprisoned."
Deadline for killing
The previously unknown Swords of Righteousness Brigade set today as a deadline for killing Norman Kember, 74, of London; Tom Fox, 54, of Clear Brook, Va.; and Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32.
All are members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams and were seized two weeks ago by the group, which is demanding the release of all prisoners. The group first set a Thursday deadline but then extended it until today, without setting a precise hour.
As the latest deadline approached, the Canadian Islamic Congress to Iraq sent an envoy, Ehab Lotayef, to try to win the activists' release.
"We hope that they would be released as soon as possible because Christmas is approaching and I hope that they will be with their families by then. We hope that this regrettable story will have a happy end," Lotayef said.
Lotayef told reporters Loney had worked among Palestinians and "was forbidden by Israelis to enter Palestine again."
A French aid worker and a German citizen also are being held by kidnappers. There was no word Friday on the fate of an American hostage, Ronald Allen Schulz, after an Internet statement in the name of the Islamic Army in Iraq claimed to have killed him.
Possible link to elections
Iraqi officials believe the revival of foreigner kidnappings may be part of a bid to undermine the elections, in which Iraqis will choose a parliament to serve for four years.
U.S. officials hope a big turnout among the Sunni Arab minority, the foundation of the insurgency, will help quell the violence so American and other foreign troops can begin withdrawing next year.
In a statement Friday, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad called on Iraq's political parties to condemn all attempts at voter intimidation.
"The Iraqis deserve an election that is free from intimidation and violence," he said in a statement. "Iraqi citizens will stand up to those who would intimidate them and vote for those who can bring them a better future."
Al-Qaida in Iraq, led by Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has threatened to disrupt the balloting. Sunni Arabs largely boycotted the January election, enabling rival Shiites and Kurds to win most of the 275 seats in parliament. This time, most Sunni clerics and leaders are urging fellow Sunnis to vote.
"The date of Dec.15 is landmark event," Sunni cleric Ali al-Zand told a congregation in Baghdad's Umm al-Qura mosque. "It is a decisive battle that will determine our future.
"If you give your vote to the wrong people, then the [U.S.] occupation will continue and the country would be lost. Participation in the elections is a must, and it is a religious duty."