PDA

View Full Version : US Plays Catch-n-Release with Sunni Leader



LoungeMachine
06-24-2006, 11:00 AM
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. forces released a revered 70-year-old Sunni cleric on Saturday hours after detaining him, Iraqi officials said.

Crowds earlier gathered to denounce the early morning raid on the Tikrit home of Sheikh Jamal Abdul Karim al-Dabban, which was described as "outrageous" by a key political party.

U.S. forces told Iraqi authorities that bad intelligence led to the raid and detention of al-Dabban and two of his sons, officials from Salaheddin province said.

The officials told CNN that the U.S. military apologized to al-Dabban and to the provincial governor and the head of the provincial council.

Earlier the largest and most powerful Sunni Arab political party issued a statement attacking the raid in Tikrit, the hometown of Saddam Hussein, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Baghdad.

"The foolishness of U.S. troops has reached its limit," the Iraqi Islamic Party said.

"These outrageous violations are only going to worsen the security situation in the country."

Hundreds of people responded to calls over mosque loudspeakers to gather in front of the governor's office to protest the detention, said local official Sheikh Yahya Ibrahim al-Atwani, The Associated Press reported.

Officials later told CNN that a banquet would be held at the Tikrit Grand Mosque on Saturday evening to celebrate the sheikh's release.

The deputy governor of Salaheddin province, Abdullah Hussein Ajbara, said earlier that the Salaheddin provincial council and other government institutions suspended work to protest the detention.

"He is against terrorism and sectarianism," Ajbara said of al-Dabban, whom he described as a very revered, moderate senior leader of Iraq's Sunni Muslim community. "There was no reason for U.S. forces to detain him."

Bomb attacks
A roadside bomb attack killed the intelligence chief for the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk and two of his guards Saturday, according to Kirkuk's police chief.

Intelligence chief Mussa Hachim died when the bomb tore through his vehicle around noon in the central part of the oil-rich city, police chief Maj. Gen. Torhan Abdul Rahman said.

In northern Baghdad Saturday morning, a roadside bomb also struck a police patrol, wounding eight people, including four police officers, according to a Baghdad emergency police official.

U.S. soldiers killed
One U.S. soldier died Saturday morning at 7:20 a.m. after suffering injuries from a bomb explosion sustained while on foot patrol south of Baghdad, according to a military news release.

The soldier's death brings to seven the number of troops killed in bombings and a non-combat incident this week, according to the U.S. military. All were assigned to Multi-National Division-Baghdad.

Four soldiers were killed on Friday, including a non-combat death.

With the latest deaths, 2,518 U.S. military personnel have died in the Iraq war.

frets5150
06-24-2006, 11:18 AM
Originally posted by LoungeMachine

U.S. forces told Iraqi authorities that bad intelligence led to the raid and detention of al-Dabban and two of his sons, officials from Salaheddin province said.


Bad intelligence? Where the Fuck are they getting their information from the Boyscouts? Who the Fuck are they kidding. How many time have we heard this before?
This is the reason why we started this Fuckin abortion in the first place.
We thought they had WMD opps sorry America we had bad intelligence.


:rolleyes:

BigBadBrian
06-24-2006, 12:16 PM
Operation Desert Fox

:gulp: