Post by Moses on May 30, 2005 7:29:07 GMT -5
aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050528175109990002
Updated: 07:44 AM EDT
U.S. Troops Detain Head of Iraq's Largest Sunni Party
Suicide Bombers Kill 20 Policemen as 'Operation Lightening' Enters Second Day
By PATRICK QUINN, AP
BAGHDAD, Iraq (May 30) - U.S. troops detained the head of Iraq's largest Sunni Muslim political party on Monday, according to party officials, police and the man's wife. South of the capital, two suicide bombers attacked a crowd of policemen in Hillah, killing 20 and wounding nearly 100.
Iraq's president condemned the arrest of Mohsen Abdul-Hamid, head of the Iraqi Islamic Party, and demanded his immediate release.
The arrests came on the second day of Operation Lightning, a massive Iraqi-led anti-insurgent offensive in Baghdad that Abdul-Hamid's party opposes, believing security forces will trample on innocent people's rights.
Abdul-Hamid was taken from his home in the western Baghdad suburb of Khadra at about 6 a.m., along with his three sons and four guards, said party-secretary-general Ayad al-Samarei.
Al-Samarei accused American soldiers of raiding Abdul-Hamid's home and confiscating various items, including a computer. U.S. military officials could not immediately confirm the detentions. Iraqi officials were also reluctant to talk about the issue.
''This is a provocative and foolish act and this is part of the pressure exerted on the party,'' al-Samarei said.
''At the time when the Americans say they are keen on real Sunni participation, they are now arresting the head of the only Sunni party that calls for a peaceful solution and have participated in the political process,'' he added.
The party had in recent weeks taken steps to become more involved in the political process following what essentially amounted to a boycott of political life by the group. Sunni Muslim Arabs are also thought to make up the core of an insurgency.
On Sunday, Iraqi police fought pitched battles with insurgents as thousands of security forces backed by American troops began sweeping through Baghdad's streets in the search for militants responsible for killing more than 740 people since Iraq's new government was announced in late April.
In their biggest coup of ''Operation Lightning,'' Iraqi and U.S. soldiers arrested a former general in Saddam Hussein's intelligence service who was also a member of his Fedayeen secret police during a raid in western Baghdad, the scene of some of Sunday's heaviest fighting.
Insurgents struck back, killing at least 30 people, including a British soldier, in attacks in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for nearly all the attacks in Internet statements that could not be independently verified.
Gunmen also killed a senior Kurdish official, Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Barazanchi, the director of internal affairs of Kirkuk province and a former police chief. He died in hospital early Monday after being shot late Sunday, said Ismail al-Hadithi, Kirkuk's deputy governor.
In Hillah, about 60 miles south of the capital, Col. Adnan Abdul Rahman - who was contacted by telephone in Baghdad - said the suicide attacks happened shortly after 9 a.m. and were staggered to maximize death. They targeted police officers gathered outside the mayor's office.
Capt. Muthana Khalid Ali, of the Hillah police, said the officers were protesting a government decision to disband their special forces unit.
''The first explosion occurred in the middle of the demonstration in front of the mayor's office and the second one took place less than one minute later and about 100 yards away from the first one just near to the demonstration. Then I just saw a ball of fire and flying pieces of flesh. After that, confused policemen started firing into the air.''
Iraqi police and soldiers immediately cordoned off the area, and emergency workers set to work picking up slabs of flesh and severed limbs. Shoes and pieces of clothes worn by the victims were flung across the road.
The blasts blew out windows of the mayor's office, a court house and school, covering the road with shards of glass and rubble.
Hillah was the site of the deadliest single attack since the fall of Saddam Hussein, a Feb. 28 suicide car bombing against police recruits that killed 125 people.
Iraq's president, Jalal Talabani, who is Kurdish, expressed ''surprise and discontent'' on learning of Abdul-Hamid's arrest and called for his immediate release, according to a statement from his office. The statement did not identify who detained Abdul-Hamid.
''The Iraqi president said that no one gave prior notice to the Presidential Council about the arrest of Dr. Mohsen Abdul-Hamid. This way of dealing with such a distinguished political figure is unacceptable,'' the statement added.
A top police official, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, claimed U.S. forces arrested Abdul-Hamid as did his wife, Awatif Ibrahim.
''They (U.S troops) raided our house and my son's house, using bullets and stun bombs,'' Ibrahim told Associated Press Television News. ''And they arrested him (her son) and they also detained my husband, Mohsen Abdul-Hamid, head of the Iraqi Islamic Party.''
The party also released a statement alleging ''occupation forces arrested Abdul-Hamid'' and that an Arabic translator had assisted in the detention.
The Iraqi Islamic Party issued a statement demanding Abdul-Hamid's immediate release, saying he ''represents a large sector of the Iraqi people.''
''This irresponsible behavior will only complicate the situation,'' the party statement said.
Sunni Muslims were Iraq's dominant community under Saddam Hussein, but they have lost their influence since the dictator's ouster two years ago and the country's predominant Shiite community gained political power.
The country's raging insurgency is believed to be driven mainly from disaffected Iraqi Sunnis and extremist Islamists from neighboring, predominantly Sunni Arab states.
Tensions have been high in recent weeks during a spate of violence, some which has demonstrated Sunni-Shiite tensions. Sunni and Shiite religious leaders have been trading accusations against each other's communities amid the killings of hundreds of people, including Shiite and Sunni clerics.
Abdul-Hamid, aged in his late 60s, is regarded as a moderate Islamic leader. He was a member of the now dissolved U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council and has been involved with the party since the 1970s and headed it since 2003.
AP-NY-05-30-05 0711EDT
Updated: 07:44 AM EDT
U.S. Troops Detain Head of Iraq's Largest Sunni Party
Suicide Bombers Kill 20 Policemen as 'Operation Lightening' Enters Second Day
By PATRICK QUINN, AP
BAGHDAD, Iraq (May 30) - U.S. troops detained the head of Iraq's largest Sunni Muslim political party on Monday, according to party officials, police and the man's wife. South of the capital, two suicide bombers attacked a crowd of policemen in Hillah, killing 20 and wounding nearly 100.
Iraq's president condemned the arrest of Mohsen Abdul-Hamid, head of the Iraqi Islamic Party, and demanded his immediate release.
The arrests came on the second day of Operation Lightning, a massive Iraqi-led anti-insurgent offensive in Baghdad that Abdul-Hamid's party opposes, believing security forces will trample on innocent people's rights.
Abdul-Hamid was taken from his home in the western Baghdad suburb of Khadra at about 6 a.m., along with his three sons and four guards, said party-secretary-general Ayad al-Samarei.
Al-Samarei accused American soldiers of raiding Abdul-Hamid's home and confiscating various items, including a computer. U.S. military officials could not immediately confirm the detentions. Iraqi officials were also reluctant to talk about the issue.
''This is a provocative and foolish act and this is part of the pressure exerted on the party,'' al-Samarei said.
''At the time when the Americans say they are keen on real Sunni participation, they are now arresting the head of the only Sunni party that calls for a peaceful solution and have participated in the political process,'' he added.
The party had in recent weeks taken steps to become more involved in the political process following what essentially amounted to a boycott of political life by the group. Sunni Muslim Arabs are also thought to make up the core of an insurgency.
On Sunday, Iraqi police fought pitched battles with insurgents as thousands of security forces backed by American troops began sweeping through Baghdad's streets in the search for militants responsible for killing more than 740 people since Iraq's new government was announced in late April.
In their biggest coup of ''Operation Lightning,'' Iraqi and U.S. soldiers arrested a former general in Saddam Hussein's intelligence service who was also a member of his Fedayeen secret police during a raid in western Baghdad, the scene of some of Sunday's heaviest fighting.
Insurgents struck back, killing at least 30 people, including a British soldier, in attacks in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for nearly all the attacks in Internet statements that could not be independently verified.
Gunmen also killed a senior Kurdish official, Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Barazanchi, the director of internal affairs of Kirkuk province and a former police chief. He died in hospital early Monday after being shot late Sunday, said Ismail al-Hadithi, Kirkuk's deputy governor.
In Hillah, about 60 miles south of the capital, Col. Adnan Abdul Rahman - who was contacted by telephone in Baghdad - said the suicide attacks happened shortly after 9 a.m. and were staggered to maximize death. They targeted police officers gathered outside the mayor's office.
Capt. Muthana Khalid Ali, of the Hillah police, said the officers were protesting a government decision to disband their special forces unit.
''The first explosion occurred in the middle of the demonstration in front of the mayor's office and the second one took place less than one minute later and about 100 yards away from the first one just near to the demonstration. Then I just saw a ball of fire and flying pieces of flesh. After that, confused policemen started firing into the air.''
Iraqi police and soldiers immediately cordoned off the area, and emergency workers set to work picking up slabs of flesh and severed limbs. Shoes and pieces of clothes worn by the victims were flung across the road.
The blasts blew out windows of the mayor's office, a court house and school, covering the road with shards of glass and rubble.
Hillah was the site of the deadliest single attack since the fall of Saddam Hussein, a Feb. 28 suicide car bombing against police recruits that killed 125 people.
Iraq's president, Jalal Talabani, who is Kurdish, expressed ''surprise and discontent'' on learning of Abdul-Hamid's arrest and called for his immediate release, according to a statement from his office. The statement did not identify who detained Abdul-Hamid.
''The Iraqi president said that no one gave prior notice to the Presidential Council about the arrest of Dr. Mohsen Abdul-Hamid. This way of dealing with such a distinguished political figure is unacceptable,'' the statement added.
A top police official, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, claimed U.S. forces arrested Abdul-Hamid as did his wife, Awatif Ibrahim.
''They (U.S troops) raided our house and my son's house, using bullets and stun bombs,'' Ibrahim told Associated Press Television News. ''And they arrested him (her son) and they also detained my husband, Mohsen Abdul-Hamid, head of the Iraqi Islamic Party.''
The party also released a statement alleging ''occupation forces arrested Abdul-Hamid'' and that an Arabic translator had assisted in the detention.
The Iraqi Islamic Party issued a statement demanding Abdul-Hamid's immediate release, saying he ''represents a large sector of the Iraqi people.''
''This irresponsible behavior will only complicate the situation,'' the party statement said.
Sunni Muslims were Iraq's dominant community under Saddam Hussein, but they have lost their influence since the dictator's ouster two years ago and the country's predominant Shiite community gained political power.
The country's raging insurgency is believed to be driven mainly from disaffected Iraqi Sunnis and extremist Islamists from neighboring, predominantly Sunni Arab states.
Tensions have been high in recent weeks during a spate of violence, some which has demonstrated Sunni-Shiite tensions. Sunni and Shiite religious leaders have been trading accusations against each other's communities amid the killings of hundreds of people, including Shiite and Sunni clerics.
Abdul-Hamid, aged in his late 60s, is regarded as a moderate Islamic leader. He was a member of the now dissolved U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council and has been involved with the party since the 1970s and headed it since 2003.
AP-NY-05-30-05 0711EDT