Jalal Mohammed Saleh is a brigadier general in the Iraqi army and the commander of the 8th Mechanized Police Brigade. One of the first armoured units to be reassembled after the war and the dissolution of Saddam Hussein's army, the 1,600-strong interior ministry unit was formed specifically to deal with insurgents and criminal gangs.

Brig-Gen Saleh was seized by gunmen from his car along with bodyguards Bashar Mohammed Daham and an unidentified second bodyguard in the upscale Mansour district. A video showing Brig-Gen Saleh's Interior Ministry badge as well as the identification card for Mr. Daham were posted online on April 5.