Suspect in Carroll kidnapping arrested

BAGHDAD (CNN) - U.S. military officials have arrested two "senior" members of al Qaeda in Iraq, including one suspected of planning the kidnapping of U.S. journalist Jill Carroll, a military statement said.

Coalition forces captured the suspects during operations in Baghdad on Aug. 11 and 17, according to the statement.

The suspects were identified as Salim Abdallah Ashur al-Shujayri, also known as Abu Uthman, and Ali Rash Nasir Jiyad al-Shammari, also known as Abu Tiba.

Abu Uthman is suspected of masterminding the abduction of Carroll, the statement said. Carroll, with the Christian Science Monitor, was abducted in January 2006 and freed unharmed in March of that year.

The men were also suspected of being connected to other kidnappings, car bombings and suicide attacks, the statement said.