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Brother Of Iraqi Parliament Speaker Reportedly Detained

11 November 2005 -- Reuters news agency has cited Iraqi officials as saying that a brother of Iraq's parliamentary speaker has been detained on suspicion of running an insurgent cell.

The officials said on 10 November that Hatem al-Hassani was detained on 8 November.

His brother, Iraqi Parliament speaker Hajim al-Hassani, a moderate Sunni Arab, is running in the 15 December legislative elections on a secular list.

Rizgar Ali, the head of the Kirkuk city council, said Iraqi police arrested Hatem al-Hassani two days ago because he is the emir of a terrorist group.

He gave no further details. Kirkuk has seen violent confrontation among Sunni Arabs and ethnic Kurdish and Turkmen populations.

Earlier, police in Kirkuk said Hatem al-Hassani had been kidnapped, but later denied the account.

(Reuters)

Copyright (c) 2005. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org