Iraqi Officials: US Forces Raid Iranian Consulate in Irbil, Detain Five
11 January 2007
Iraqi officials say U.S. forces have detained five Iranians during a raid on Tehran's diplomatic mission in the northern city of Irbil.
The U.S. military issued a statement Thursday, saying six people were taken into custody in the Kurdish region, but did not mention raiding the Iranian consulate.
Local officials said the raid was carried out in the pre-dawn hours and that American troops also confiscated computers and documents.
Iran's official news agency says Tehran has lodged a protest to Iraq's foreign ministry.
Last month, U.S. forces in Baghdad detained a number of Iranians suspected of planning attacks on American troops. Two of the detainees had diplomatic immunity and were later released.
The United States accuses Iran of meddling in Iraq's sectarian violence.
Separately, the U.S. military said coalition forces killed eight suspected terrorists and detained seven others in a series of raids in the Tarmiyah region, northeast of Baghdad.
On Wednesday, Iraqi National Security Adviser Mouwaffak al-Rubaie met in Najaf with the nation's top Shi'ite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Rubaie says the cleric stressed that Iraqis with unauthorized weapons should be disarmed.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
