Amman, Jordan ? Jordan said Monday it arrested an unidentified leader of the al-Qaida in Iraq militant group, blaming him for kidnapping and killing Jordanians and Arabs and robbing commercial trucks driving to and from Iraq.

The announcement on Jordanian state television said the General Intelligence Department “has arrested an official with al-Qaida in Iraq who has committed several crimes that included robbing trucks, kidnapping and killing Jordanian citizens and other Arabs.”

The department did not provide other details of the arrest of the suspected militant, whose group is headed by Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Jordanian security officials said the arrest took place in Iraq. They did not make clear who conducted the operation.

Jordan’s intelligence department is known to be one of the most efficient security agencies in the Arab world. In the past, its agents have teamed with their American counterparts on interrogations of militants in Iraq, but the government has not acknowledged it has agents operating there.