Less than two weeks after US authorities named Talib Abd Ghayib al-Lahibi to lead three battalions of the Iraqi National Guard in the Baquba area northeast of Baghdad, international forces have arrested him for possible ties to militant groups fighting in Iraq. According to a US military statement, "Lahibi was detained by multinational forces on 23 September for having associations with known insurgents," but US authorities have provided no other details of his arrest, which took place Thursday. BBC News has more.

General Lahibi, who previously served in the military under Saddam Hussein and was named to this post after his predecessor's August assassination, is the most senior member of the new Iraqi forces to be arrested on such a charge. The Iraqi National Guard is the centerpiece of US efforts to build a security force capable of taking over from US troops and restoring stability, and the Baquba area is one of Iraq's most troubled and violent regions, the site of frequent fighting between insurgents and coalition forces. The Voice of America has more.