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| Iraq | |
| Sadrist aide complaints of arrests in Missan | |
| 2008-06-21 | |
(VOI)-Iraqi troops arrested scores of policemen suspected of ties to anti-U.S cleric Muqtqda al-Sadr office in Missan, raising tensions the ongoing Iraqi military operation launched against gunmen in the southern province is targeting their movement , a Sadrist official said on Friday.
U.S.-backed Iraqi soldiers and police fanned out across the city of about 450,000, known as a Sadrist stronghold and hub of smuggler networks bringing in weapons from Iran. There was no resistance, and some gunmen avoided arrest by tossing weapons into the streets or irrigation canals. The operation is part of a campaign by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to assert government control in areas of the Shiite south where armed groups have held sway for years. The Sadrist official complained “We hoped the security plan to be transparent targeting wanted persons”. He noted “the security plan has started targeting Sadrists raising bad reactions from Missan residents”. Sadrists had promised to “cooperate with the operation so long as Iraqi troops did not make arrests without warrants or commit other human rights violations. 'We were surprised by the violations and the random raids in Amarah,' al-Silawi said. Sadrist officials have long complained that rival Shiite parties have been using security operations in other predominately Shiite cities as a pretext to weaken al-Sadr's political movement ahead of provincial elections expected this fall. | |
| Posted by:Fred |