US: Arrest of Sunni leader a mistake
Time, 14:30 GMT
US forces in Baghdad have acknowledged they had detained Iraqi Sunni leader Muhsin Abd al-Hamid in error and said they were releasing him.
"This morning coalition forces detained and interviewed Muhsen Abd al-Hamid. Following the interview it was determined that he was detained by mistake and should be released," a statement issued by the US military said on Monday.
The potentially damaging mistake took place against a backdrop of pervasive sectarian mistrust, made even worse by a double bombing earlier in the day in Hilla, a predominantly Shia city south of Baghdad, that left least 27 Iraqis dead and more than 118 wounded, according to Aljazeera.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani had called for the immediate release of the leader of Iraq's main Sunni party, Islamic Party, a statement from his office said.
Abd al-Hamid and his three sons were hooded and detained at his home by US forces on Monday morning.
"President Talabani expressed his surprise and unhappiness at the arrest of the leader of the Islamic Party and called for his immediate release," it said.
"The Presidential Council has not been consulted ... and feels that treating a political personality of this level in such an arbitrary way is unacceptable."
Mistreated?
Abd al-Hamid was arrested at 4am at his home in the al-Khadra district, in western Baghdad, along with his sons Yassir, Muqtad and Assyad, an Islamic Party official Alaa Makki said.
Abd al-Hamid's wife, Muhsin Abd al-Hamid Awatif Ibrahim, told Aljazeera that the US forces ransacked the house.
Talabani said in a statement that the arrest was unacceptable.
"They stormed the house, arrested Dr Muhsin and three of our sons, Miqdad, a first Secretary at the Foreign Ministry, and Yasir, Deputy Head of the Sunni Waqf [endowments]. They took their mobile phones and some money from the house," she said.
"They have scattered all the contents of my house, and took our money, jewellery and our ID cards and passports," she added.
"They even wanted to arrest me too, but I told them I had leukaemia so they left me," she said.
No reason was given for the arrest, and the US military in Baghdad was not immediately able to confirm the incident.
Low point
Makki slammed the arrest as "a low point in the history of Americans in Iraq".
He said more than 200 members of the party were currently being held without charge in US detention centres in the country.
All the more surprising, Makki added, was that the action came a day after Iraqi government spokesman Laith Kubba had welcomed a statement by the Sunni party against violence threatening the country's fledgling democracy and social fabric.
The statement had also warned the government against transforming security forces into an instrument of repression under the control of Shia Muslims who now dominate the political scene.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6779B776-EA32-44AC-94AB-088258872169.htm
Time, 14:30 GMT
US forces in Baghdad have acknowledged they had detained Iraqi Sunni leader Muhsin Abd al-Hamid in error and said they were releasing him.
"This morning coalition forces detained and interviewed Muhsen Abd al-Hamid. Following the interview it was determined that he was detained by mistake and should be released," a statement issued by the US military said on Monday.
The potentially damaging mistake took place against a backdrop of pervasive sectarian mistrust, made even worse by a double bombing earlier in the day in Hilla, a predominantly Shia city south of Baghdad, that left least 27 Iraqis dead and more than 118 wounded, according to Aljazeera.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani had called for the immediate release of the leader of Iraq's main Sunni party, Islamic Party, a statement from his office said.
Abd al-Hamid and his three sons were hooded and detained at his home by US forces on Monday morning.
"President Talabani expressed his surprise and unhappiness at the arrest of the leader of the Islamic Party and called for his immediate release," it said.
"The Presidential Council has not been consulted ... and feels that treating a political personality of this level in such an arbitrary way is unacceptable."
Mistreated?
Abd al-Hamid was arrested at 4am at his home in the al-Khadra district, in western Baghdad, along with his sons Yassir, Muqtad and Assyad, an Islamic Party official Alaa Makki said.
Abd al-Hamid's wife, Muhsin Abd al-Hamid Awatif Ibrahim, told Aljazeera that the US forces ransacked the house.
Talabani said in a statement that the arrest was unacceptable.
"They stormed the house, arrested Dr Muhsin and three of our sons, Miqdad, a first Secretary at the Foreign Ministry, and Yasir, Deputy Head of the Sunni Waqf [endowments]. They took their mobile phones and some money from the house," she said.
"They have scattered all the contents of my house, and took our money, jewellery and our ID cards and passports," she added.
"They even wanted to arrest me too, but I told them I had leukaemia so they left me," she said.
No reason was given for the arrest, and the US military in Baghdad was not immediately able to confirm the incident.
Low point
Makki slammed the arrest as "a low point in the history of Americans in Iraq".
He said more than 200 members of the party were currently being held without charge in US detention centres in the country.
All the more surprising, Makki added, was that the action came a day after Iraqi government spokesman Laith Kubba had welcomed a statement by the Sunni party against violence threatening the country's fledgling democracy and social fabric.
The statement had also warned the government against transforming security forces into an instrument of repression under the control of Shia Muslims who now dominate the political scene.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6779B776-EA32-44AC-94AB-088258872169.htm
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 3:54 PM
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