U.S. forces detain son of powerful Iraqi politician

Edited on Fri Feb-23-07 11:14 AM by maddezmom

KUT, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. troops detained the eldest son of Iraq's powerful Shi'ite politician Abdul Aziz Hakim at a border checkpoint with Iran on Friday, Iraqi security force officials told Reuters.

The U.S. military said it was checking the report.

Ammar Hakim's convoy was stopped at the Badrah checkpoint in Wasit province as he returned from Iran, they said. It was not immediately clear why he had been detained. The Iraqi security sources said U.S. forces had taken him to forward operating base Delta, a U.S. camp in nearby Kut, capital of Wasit province.

A colonel in the Iraqi border guards based in Kut said he was arrested by U.S. troops at gunpoint and handcuffed before being taken away. A colonel in the 8th Division of the Iraqi Army confirmed his arrest.

An aide to a senior SCIRI official sought to play down what had happened, saying: "There was a misunderstanding at an American checkpoint, but now it is over. He was not arrested."

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Shiites say U.S. arrested leader's son

Al-Sagheer said the younger al-Hakim's security guards were also detained.

A U.S. spokesman, Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, said he was looking into the report and "we will release information as it becomes available."

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and remember the US detained the 2 Iranian officials

The U.S. focus on al-Sadr overlooks the fact that Iran has even deeper, stronger links to the very Shiite and Kurdish parties the Americans consider their partners in Iraq.

Those include the Shiite group Supreme Council for the Islamic Republic in Iraq, whose leader Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim has been welcomed in both Washington and Tehran, and the Dawa party of the prime minister. Both major Kurdish parties also have their own longtime ties to Iran.

In December, U.S. troops detained two Iranian security officials in the home of a Shiite politician associated with al-Hakim. Last month, six other Iranians were captured at an Iranian liaison office in Irbil, the capital of the Kurdish self-ruled region. "It is remarkable that even as the U.S. military seems to spend a lot of energy trying to dig up detailed evidence" against al-Sadr, Washington is courting "the very Iraqi Shiite faction that historically has enjoyed the strongest ties to Iran," Visser said.

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No disrespect meant over Iraq arrest -U.S. envoy

BAGHDAD, Feb 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. ambassador to Iraq said on Friday he was unaware why the son of powerful Shi'ite politician Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim had been detained by American troops, but added no disrespect was intended.

U.S. soldiers detained Ammar Hakim at a border checkpoint with Iran on Friday for several hours, before he was freed.

"We don't know the circumstances of his arrest, we are investigating. We do not mean any disrespect to Abdul-Aziz al- Hakim or his family. But he (Ammar) is being released," U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters in Baghdad

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By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer

9 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. troops detained the son of Iraq's most powerful Shiite
politician Friday as he returned to the country from Iran, keeping him in
custody for nearly 12 hours before releasing him, Shiite officials said.
The U.S. ambassador apologized for the arrest.

Amar al-Hakim, son of Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, was taken into custody at a
crossing point and was transferred to a U.S. facility in Kut, according to
the elder al-Hakim's secretary, Jamal al-Sagheer.

U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the arrest was being investigated
but stressed that Washington did not mean any disrespect to al-Hakim or
his family.

"I am sorry about the arrest," he said. "We don't know the circumstances
of the arrest and we are investigating ... but he is being released."

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