Iraqi forces arrest men suspected of attacks
targeting US
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By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA and SAMYA KULLABtoday
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi security forces arrested
over a dozen men suspected of a spate of rocket attacks against the U.S.
presence in Iraq, the Iraqi military said Friday — the strongest action to date
by the new government in Baghdad against perpetrators suspected of ties to
Iran.
The arrests marked a bold move by the government
to crack down on groups that have long been a source of tension for U.S.-Iraq
relations. Two senior Iraqi officials, speaking on condition of anonymity in
line with regulations, said the 14 men who were arrested had ties to an Iran-backed
militia group.
A series of rockets have struck close to U.S.
installations inside the Green Zone and an Iraqi army base near to the airport
in the Iraqi capital since Baghdad embarked on strategic talks with Washington
on June 11.
The U.S. has blamed Iran-backed militia group
Kataib Hezbollah for orchestrating attacks against its embassy and American
troops inside Iraqi bases, and criticized the Iraqi government for not
identifying and arresting the culprits.
The recent attacks posed a challenge for Prime
Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, who was sworn in last month. His administration
pledged to crack down on the groups behind the attacks at the start of
strategic talks, according to senior U.S. officials.
The raid carried out by Iraq’s elite Counter-Terrorism
Service late Thursday in Baghdad’s Dora neighborhood was a step toward this
promise. A military statement following the arrests did not explicitly state
the 14 arrested had militia ties. It said a special investigative committee was
formed to include the Interior Ministry and other Iraqi security forces to
follow up on the case.
It was unclear who was holding the men, with one
Iraqi official saying it was the Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella group
of paramilitary groups, while another said they were being held by the Interior
Ministry.
“It looks like Mustafa al-Kadhimi is
continuing to try and put actions to words,” said Renad Mansour, a senior
research fellow at Chatham House.
Officials and experts speculated whether the
move was part of a broader negotiation strategy with the Popular Mobilization
Forces, an umbrella group of Iraqi paramilitary groups, some of which are
Iran-backed. Al-Kadhimi, who was the head of Iraq’s intelligence prior to being
named the prime minister, had a meeting with various leaders of the umbrella
group on Thursday.
There was no immediate comment from Kataib
Hezbollah.
The next test for al-Kadhimi rests on the
ability of the courts to prosecute the men. Mansour’s research suggests Kataib
Hezbollah wields some influence over Iraq’s judiciary through key political
officials. “This will be difficult,” he said.
Reactions from some political leaders and
Iran-backed militia groups highlighted tensions that might arise between state
security forces and militia groups in the aftermath of the raid.
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Former prime minister and head of the State of
Law party, Nouri al-Maliki said the Popular Mobilization Forces should be
respected and spared any detrimental actions.
“We must respect it and preserve its
prestige, and it is not permissible to attack or diminish it,” al-Maliki said
in a tweet.
Another militia in the group, the Iran-backed
Harakat al-Nujaba, warned in a statement against “any attempt to target them
and draw the parties into internal strife.”
Following the arrests, armed groups in
government vehicles entered the heavily fortified Green Zone “without official
approval” and surrounded the headquarters of the counter-terrorism agency, the
military statement said. The Green Zone houses government buildings and foreign
embassies.
“These parties do not want to be part of
the state and its obligations and seek to remain outside the authority of the
commander-in-chief,” the statement said.
The raid was carried out according to a judicial
order based on Iraq’s anti-terrorism laws, and was issued following
intelligence reports indicating the men had orchestrated attacks against U.S.
installations at the Baghdad airport and inside the Green Zone.
The statement said further intelligence reports
indicated another plot targeting the Green Zone. Two launching pads for rockets
were discovered during the raid by security forces.
On Monday, a rocket struck in the vicinity of
the airport without causing casualties. It was the fourth such attack targeting
the U.S. presence since Baghdad embarked on strategic talks with the U.S. on
June 11. Before that, four had hit inside the Green Zone near the American
Embassy.
Following the attack, al-Kadhimi tweeted: “I
will not tolerate rogue groups hijacking our homeland to create chaos and find
excuses to maintain their narrow interests.”
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