A man accused of killing two police officers while acting as the leader of an al Qaeda group in Iraq was arrested in Phoenix, Arizona, federal officials said.

It is not known how long the man was living in Arizona or what he was doing there. He will now face being extradited to Iraq.

He is wanted in Iraq on charges of the premeditated murder of two Iraqi police officers in 2006, according to a statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Arizona.

According to the Iraqi government, al-Nouri was the leader of an al Qaeda group in the Iraqi city of Al-Fallujah which planned operations targeting Iraqi police.

He and other members of al-Qaida allegedly shot and killed a lieutenant on June 1, 2006, and an officer with the Fallujah Police Directorate on October 3, 2006.

An Iraqi judge issued a warrant for Al-Nouri’s arrest and the government there issued an extradition request to the U.S. Justice Department.

The Justice Department sought an arrest warrant for Al-Nouri Wednesday and he was taken into custody on Thursday in Phoenix.

The arrest was announced by Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Michael Bailey for the District of