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| Iraq | ||
| US Forces Detain Arab Candidates to Kirkuk Council | ||
| 2003-05-22 | ||
| KIRKUK - U.S. military forces in Kirkuk have detained two Arab candidates for the provincial council days ahead of elections to the body. Lawyer Mijbil al-Sheikh Isa is being held following allegations he was from the upper echelons of Saddam Hussein's once all-powerful Baath Party. The second of the six Arab candidates, Burhan Muzher al-Asi, was detained after U.S. forces received intelligence which alleged he was involved in supplying weapons ahead of a fierce clash between U.S. troops and Arab gunmen on Sunday. He was later released without charge. But they've kept their eye on him since "Colonel (William) Mayville had a squad of troops take them away yesterday after a meeting of the Arab delegation. It was quiet and orderly," spokeswoman Major Josslyn Aberle said. Neither of the two will take part in Saturday's election in which 300 delegates will chose 24 council members for an interim local government. There will be six representatives each from Kirkuk's diverse mix of Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens and Assyrians. It was still unclear who would replace the two candidates. The U.S. military will choose six further "independent" council members. Al-Asi belongs to the Obeid tribe which lives in the Hawija region, southwest of Kirkuk, where the firefight between Arab gunmen and U.S. troops took place. Al-Asi's elder brother, Sheikh Ghassan, is head of the tribe and has stayed away from Kirkuk ahead of the ballot to show his dissatisfaction with the political process. "If I had to choose now between the occupying American forces and Saddam Hussein, I would choose Saddam. Even though I hate him," the sheikh told Reuters this week
But we do know the Kurds haven't been sniping our troops and the Arabs didn't help overthrow Saddam, so maybe we do favor them | ||
| Posted by:Frank G |