BAGHDAD – The American military today announced the arrest of a suspect in the killing of a sheik who spearheaded the American-backed Sunni revolt against Al Qaeda in Iraq, even as the terror network launched a campaign of violence during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Dozens of suspected Sunni insurgents raided Shiite villages north of Baghdad, killing at least 15 people and setting homes ablaze, police said. A bicycle bomb exploded at a cafe serving tea and food during the Ramadan fast in northern Iraq.

The surge of bloodshed — with 54 people killed or found dead nationwide — occurred a day afterAl Qaeda announced a new campaign aimed at countering American and Iraqi claims the terror movement is reeling following the American-led offensives around the Iraqi capital.

But the American military insisted it had the group on the run and said a man believed responsible for the assassination of an American-allied Sunni tribal leader in Anbar province had been arrested north of Baghdad.

Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, 37, was the leader of Anbar Awakening — an alliance of clans backing the Iraqi government and American forces against Al Qaeda in Iraq that was touted as one of the success stories of the war. He and three companions were killed in a bombing Thursday outside his heavily guarded compound in the provincial capital of Ramadi, days after he had met with President Bush.

The American military said an Al Qaeda-linked militant connected to his death and a plot to kill other tribal leaders — Fallah Khalifa Hiyas Fayyas al-Jumayli, an Iraqi also known as Abu Khamis — was seized yesterday during a raid west of Balad, and the search continued for other suspects.
Brigadier General Joe Anderson, chief of staff to the No. 2 commander in Iraq, said Al Qaeda fighters were “off-balance” and had “clearly been neutralized” in Baghdad.

“They are very fractured. It’s very localized and the ability for them to conduct large-scale, sensational attacks has been greatly decreased,” General Anderson said at a news conference.

In the raids on the Shiite villages of Jichan and Ghizlayat, the fighters arrived from several different directions and residents fought back until Iraqi security forces arrived and forced the attackers to flee to nearby farms.

Iraqi police and army officials said 15 people were killed and 10 wounded, including two children, in the clashes some 60 miles north of Baghdad.

Mohammed Azzawi Ali al-Timimi, 30, said he was out buying supplies for his store when the attacks occurred. He returned home to devastation.

“When I came back to my Jichan village I was shocked to find that my father had been killed, along with two of my brothers and my 7-year-old nephew,” he said. “Four other houses of my relatives were attacked as well and more than eight cars were burned out.”

Farther north, a booby-trapped bicycle exploded in the religiously mixed town of Tuz Khormato, killing at least five people and wounding 19.

Witnesses said a boy left the bike near the outdoor cafe, which was in a popular market and was one of the few open during daylight hours despite Ramadan. Tradition requires the faithful to abstain from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset during the monthlong observance.

Two of the slain victims were in the cafe, while three were in the market, police chief Captain Abbas Mohammed said.

No one claimed responsibility, but the attack bore the hallmark of Sunni insurgents led by Al Qaeda and underscored militants’ ability to find new ways to thwart stringent security measures.

In Baghdad, Iraqi police said security contractors opened fire in a predominantly Sunni neighborhood of western Baghdad today, killing at least nine civilians.

The American Embassy said contractors working for the State Department were involved in an incident in Baghdad but provided no further details. A State Department spokeswoman in Washington, Leslie Phillips, said an investigation was under way.

“We saw a convoy of SUVs passing in the street nearby. One minute later, we heard the sound of bomb explosion followed by gunfire that lasted for 20 minutes between gunmen and the convoy people who were foreigners and dressed in civilian clothes. Everybody in the street started to flee immediately,” said Hussein Abdul-Abbas, who owns a cell phone store nearby.

The police officer who reported the shootings in Mansour spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.
American soldiers arrived afterward and were not involved, military spokesman Lieuenant Colonel Scott Bleichwehl said.

Many contractors have been accused of indiscriminately opening fire and shooting to death Iraqis who get too close to their heavily armed convoys, but none has faced charges or prosecution.

The wartime numbers of private guards are unprecedented — as are their duties, many of which have traditionally been done by soldiers. They protect American military operations and have guarded high-ranking officials including Genera; David Petraeus, the American commander in Baghdad.

They also protect journalists, visiting foreign officials and thousands of construction projects.