[QODLink]
Middle East
Iraqis 'with links to Iran' seized
US detains 16 men it claims belong to group supplying sophisticated weapons.
Last Modified: 04 May 2007 12:16 GMT
 US forces have arrested people in Iraq they say are linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard [AP]

US forces have detained 16 men it says have links to Iran during a raid in Baghdad's Sadr City, the US military has said.
 
The arrests were made in a raid against suspected members of a cell known for facilitating the transport of sophisticated bombs - explosively formed penetrators (EFPs) - from Iran, military sources said on Friday.
"Intelligence reports also indicate the secret cell has ties to a kidnapping network that conducts attacks within Iraq as well as interactions with rogue elements throughout Iraq and into Iran," a US military statement said.

They were also suspected of moving fighters from Iraq to Iran for training, it said.

Weapons cache

 

US soldiers also found a weapons cache which they said included seven Iranian rockets and an Iranian mortar near Mahmudiya, 30km south of Baghdad.

 

Your Views

"As long as profitable weaponry can be made and delivered, the killing [in the Middle East] will continue"

Judiann, Bloomington, US

 

Send us your views

US forces in Iraq detained five Iranians in a raid in January and said they were linked to Iranian Revolutionary Guard networks that provided weapons to fighters. Iran said the five were diplomats and has demanded their release.

   

Iraq has received promises of co-operation on border security over the past three years but armed groups are still able to smuggle recruits and weapons into the country.

   

Iraqi diplomats are pressing Condoleezza Rice, US secretary of state, to meet her counterpart, Manouchehr Mottaki, the Iranian foreign minister, on the sidelines of a conference on Iraq on Friday.

 

The conference in Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh resort brings together Iraq's neighbours and industrialised powers.
Source:
Agencies
Topics in this article
Country
Featured on Al Jazeera
An unflinching portrait of physical labour in the 21st century.
The stark choice between a fascist or an imperialist course in Syria should be discarded for a third and better course.
Israel's propaganda machine carefully chooses its words to assert illegal ownership over Jerusalem and Palestine.
As Western fears grow over Iran's continuing nuclear programme, we ask how a military strike could impact the region.
<  > 
join our mailing list

Enter Zip Code
Go