| In Tikrit, US troops detained four suspected high-level Baath party members and a former Republican Guard officer involved in arms sales to insurgents, the military reported Monday. A total of 19 suspects were detained in four separate raids and a huge weapons cache was uncovered in one location, said Maj Josslyn Aberle, spokeswoman for the 4th Infantry Division which controls much of the country's north. Of the suspects, four turned out to be high-level Baath party members and another was a former Republican Guard special forces officer believed involved in arms sales to anti-coalition forces, according to Aberle. Three other suspects were implicated in mortar attacks on US troops in the Balad area, between Baghdad and Tikrit, 200 kilometers (120 miles) north of the capital. Also, US troops acting on a tip from an Iraqi informer discovered a huge weapons cache in Taji, just north of Baghdad. |