Blasts kill 4 Iraqis; Saddam's 'executioner' arrested

TIKRIT, Iraq - Explosions killed four Iraqis and wounded five others, and American soldiers arrested a man described as an "executioner" for Saddam Hussein, the U.S. military reported Friday.

South of Baghdad, in the holy Shiite Muslim city of Najaf, 50,000 faithful gathered for ceremonies marking the 40th day since the car bomb assassination of revered cleric Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim.

The U.S. military said the man they labeled a Saddam executioner was caught in a raid in Baquoba, 40 miles northeast of Baghdad. Maj. Josslyn Aberle, a spokeswoman for the 4th Infantry Division, did not identify the man by name. She said he and another man, identified as a former general, were arrested in an overnight raid. The alleged executioner will be turned over to Iraqi police for questioning and trial if his identity is verified, Aberle said.

Overnight, the U.S. military reported soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division witnessed two Iraqis killed as they were trying to place a roadside bomb in Kirkuk, 145 miles northeast of Baghdad. Two other Iraqis were killed south of Tikrit when a bomb exploded at a traffic circle. Tikrit, 120 miles north of Baghdad, is Saddam's hometown.

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