Iraqi Sunni MP denies weapons cache, accuses Iran, Iraqi government of destroying him

Jamal Halaby, ASSOCIATED PRESS

An Iraqi Sunni lawmaker denied Monday that he had stashed weapons in his Baghdad home and accused the Iraqi government and Iran of trying to discredit him because of his criticism of state policies. Khalaf al-Ilyan spoke to The Associated Press one day after an Iraqi military spokesman said U.S. and Iraqi troops had found a huge stash of weapons in his home and arrested more than a dozen men. Al-Ilyan, who is recovering from knee surgery in Jordan, accused the Shiite-led government of a smear campaign against him. He said if there were weapons at his home, the Shiite-led security forces must have planted them. "Government authorities search my house twice a week. How can I stash away weapons there? How can I hide weapons there? Am I that foolish to do that when there are so many areas in Iraq where weapons could be concealed?" al-Ilyan said..

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