At least 73 killed in two separate suicide blasts

At least 70 people were killed in two separate suicide bomb attacks in Iraq as a security spokesman told Agence France-Presse that the head of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Omar Al-Baghdadi, had been arrested in 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.Al-Baghdadi has been a key target for U.S. and Iraqi forces for years. But little is known about his origins or real influence over insurgent groups. The insurgents have staged a series of high-profile attacks in recent weeks, apparently including the two homicide blasts Thursday in Baghdad and north of the capital in Diyala province.In July 2007 a US military spokesman said Baghdadi was a fictional character and that the voice on audiotapes released in his name was that of an actor.The US military has always said that the real leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq is Abu Hamza al-Muhajir -- better known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri -- a veteran Egyptian militant named Al-Qaeda chief in June 2006 following the death of his better-known Jordanian predecessor Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in a US air raid.The Iraqi military's announcement came amid a surge in bloodshed in two attacks on Thursday that killed more than 70 people less than three months before US troops are set to withdraw from all Iraqi cities and major towns.In the deadliest strike, at least 45 people -- including many Iranian pilgrims -- were killed when a suicide bomber struck a restaurant in the town of Muqdadiyah northeast of Baghdad, a military official said.The official said another 55 people were wounded in the restaurant, which was packed with Iranian pilgrims on their way to the Shiite holy city of Karbala south of Baghdad.