US special forces in Baghdad have arrested Abu Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian group that killed an American, Leon Klinghoffer, 69, on the hijacked Italian cruise liner Achille Lauro in 1985, US officials said on Tuesday.

He and some of his associates were held after a raid in a compound of three buildings on the outskirts of Baghdad on Monday night. Some documents and passports were also seized.

"One of our key objectives is to search for, capture and drive out terrorists who have found safe haven in Iraq," the US Central Command war headquarters in Qatar said in a statement.

"The capture of Abu Abbas in Iraq removes a portion of the terror network supported by Iraq and represents yet another victory in the global war on terrorism."

Abbas, who real first name is Mohammed, is the general director of the Palestine Liberation Front, one of the offshoots of the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

The PLF was initially based out of Tunisia, but relocated to Iraq after the Achille Lauro hijacking.

Rediff.com Senior Editor Shyam Bhatia is the co-author of Saddam's Bomb, on Iraq's search for nuclear weapons