http://www.khaleejtimes.ae/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2006/December/theworld_December660.xml§ion=theworld&col=
US holding Iranian officials seized in Iraq: NYT (Reuters) 25 December 2006 WASHINGTON - The US military is holding at least four Iranians in Iraq, including men the Bush administration calls senior military officials, who were seized in raids last week, The New York Times reported on Sunday. The raids were aimed at people suspected of conducting attacks on Iraqi security forces, the Times said, citing senior Iraqi and US officials in Baghdad and Washington. Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the US National Security Council, told the Times two Iranian diplomats were among those initially detained in the raids. They were turned over to Iraqi authorities and released, he said. The Times said Johndroe confirmed that a group of other Iranians, including the military officials, remained in custody while an investigation continued. It was unclear what kind of evidence American officials possessed that the Iranians were planning attacks, and the officials would not identify those being held, the Times said. One official said that "a lot of material" was seized in the raid, but would not say if it included arms or documents that pointed to planning for attacks, the paper reported. The two raids, in central Baghdad, have deeply upset Iraqi government officials, who have been making strenuous efforts to engage Iran on matters of security, the Times said. At least two of the Iranians were in Iraq on an invitation extended by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani during a visit to Tehran earlier this month. The Times said it was particularly awkward for the Iraqis that one of the raids took place in the Baghdad compound of Abdul Aziz Al Hakim, one of Iraq's most powerful Shi'ite leaders, who traveled to Washington three weeks ago to meet President George W. Bush. Over the past four days, the Iraqis and Iranians have engaged in intense behind-the-scenes efforts to secure the release of the remaining detainees, the Times reported. A senior Western official in Baghdad said the raids were conducted after US officials received information that the people detained had been involved in attacks on official security forces in Iraq, the paper reported. US and Iraqi officials have long accused Iran of interfering in Iraq's internal affairs, but have rarely produced evidence. The Bush administration presented last week's arrests as a potential confirmation of the link, the Times said. "We suspect this event validates our claims about Iranian meddling, but we want to finish our investigation of the detained Iranians before characterizing their activities," Johndroe told the Times. +++ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
