Reuters: Iraq Seeks Release of Iranians Seized By U.S.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L12805994.htm

Iraq seeks release of Iranians seized by U.S.
12 Jan 2007 06:40:58 GMT

BAGHDAD, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Iraq's foreign minister said he was seeking the release of five Iranians seized by U.S. troops from a representative office of the Tehran government in the Iraqi Kurdish city of Arbil on Thursday.

"What happened ... was very annoying because there has been an Iranian liaison office there for years and it provides services to the citizens," Hoshiyar Zebari, who is himself a Kurd, told Al-Arabiya television.

"We are in contact with the (U.S.) embassy and the American forces to seek their release."

After the autonomous Kurdish regional government, one of Washington's closest allies in Iraq, issued a strong condemnation of the raid, the U.S. military made a statement on Friday saying one of six people arrested had been released.

"The detained individuals will be questioned and the documents and equipment that was removed will be examined to determine the extent of the alleged illegal or terrorist activity," it said. "Based on the outcome of that investigation, appropriate action will be taken regarding the detainees."

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W, in his total stupidity, needed a few lessons on domsetic violence. What an idiot.

I don't think this is exactly what The Decider had in mind.

government of Iraq anyway? If he doesn't like what they're doing, even though he touts them as a "sovereign" nation, he just goes ahead with whatever lame-brained "plan" he has on the top of this pointed head at the moment anyway, the "surge" being the latest example.

The US moves to confront Iran and Syria By Scott Peterson, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
2 hours, 6 minutes ago



ISTANBUL, TURKEY - Close to the same hour Wednesday night that President Bush vowed to disrupt the "flow of support" from Iran and Syria to "terrorists and insurgents" in Iraq, US forces raided an Iranian consulate in northern Iraq, arresting five diplomats and staff and taking computers and files.

The raid, and a buildup of US warships in the Persian Gulf, indicate that the Bush administration is ignoring the advice of the Iraq Study Group (ISG) to reach out to the two neighbors to help quell the violence in Iraq.

in the prickly US-Iran dynamic that could further complicate American efforts to calm the fires in Iraq and establish regional stability.

"It seems these 21,000 new troops Mr. Bush wants to send to Iraq are not just to calm country," says Saeed Laylaz, a political and security analyst in Tehran. "It means the new strategy of the US in Iraq and the region is going to put more actual pressure against Iran - financial and military at the same time."


more;http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20070112/wl_csm/oiranconfront_1


hearing the drumbeats for war again.

and therein lies the essential bushco problem -- acting without consultation -- here you have the kurds of all people unhappy with bushco's new aggression.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Iraqi foreign minister said Friday that the five Iranians detained by U.S.-led forces in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq were working in a liaison office that had government approval and was in the process of being approved as a consulate.

Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurd, also said U.S. forces tried to seize more people at the airport in Irbil, 220 miles north of Baghdad, prompting a confrontation with Kurdish troops guarding the facility that was resolved without casualties. The U.S. military did not immediately comment on that incident.

The arrests drew condemnation from local Kurdish authorities, who protested that they were not informed in advance, and have raised fears that tensions between Iran and the United States were hurting Iraq's interests.

"We don't want Iraq to be a battleground for settling scores with other countries," Zebari told CNN later in an interview.



more;http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070112/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_070112123240

"In the process of being approved as a consulate" means that it didn't have full diplomatic protection yet so the fact they were there at Iraq/ Kurdistan's invitation mattered not to US forces at all.

Good reason for the Kurds to be ticked off.

See, Condi's announcement that the Kurds can't sign contracts for the oil in the territory in Northern Iraq they control. Are we going to fight the Kurds now?

US Secretary of State: Kurds have no authority over oil in their region

Edited on Fri Jan-12-07 06:31 AM by maddezmom
London (KurdishMedia.com) 12 January 2007: U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stated that Kurds do not have the right over oil in their areas, Reuters reported on Thursday.

On the issue of the ownership of oil Reuters stated, “Ethnic Kurds whose region includes the country's northern oil fields including the giant Kirkuk field have signed some contracts with foreign oil companies, spurring confusion over who has the authority to ink contracts.”

Rice said the oil law would not give the Kurds such authority.

"Even though the Kurds might have been expected ... to insist that they will simply control all the resources themselves, that's not what the oil law does," Rice said.

Rice predicted what would be in the Iraqi oil law. She was not asked how she knew what is in the law that is not yet written.
more:http://www.kurdmedia.com/news.asp?id=13878

Looks like the only allies and area Americans will control in the region will be the Green Zone. Way to go, Condi. She's a genius, you know. :think:

Who's she gonna get to sign these laws?

Gaining time for armtwisting until someone can ink that sucker is the real reason for The (5th) Surge.

But, seeing as how it requires the sell-off of Iraqi resources, I don't think they'll find anyone willing to put their name on it. You should read Naomi Klein's piece that explains why the occupation failed - it's not because there was no plan for reconstruction, it's because the plan involved the privatizion and sell-off of Iraqi industry, along with the elimination of 60 percent of the jobs.

Another purloined Playstation raid?

I don't know what the full outcome was, if we ever released all these people or not. From the NYT:

December 25, 2006
U.S. Is Holding Iranians Seized in Raids in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Dec. 24 — The American military is holding at least four Iranians in Iraq, including men the Bush administration called senior military officials, who were seized in a pair of raids late last week aimed at people suspected of conducting attacks on Iraqi security forces, according to senior Iraqi and American officials in Baghdad and Washington.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/25/world/middleeast/25iraq.html?ei=5090&en=d7bbb4578e61b6da&ex=1324702800&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=print

By KIM GAMEL Associated Press Writer
© 2007 The Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The Iraqi foreign minister <Hoshyar Zebari> called Sunday for the release of five Iranians detained by U.S. forces in what he said was a legitimate diplomatic mission in northern Iraq ...

"You have to remember, our destiny, as Iraqis, we have to live in this part of the world. And we have to live with Iran, we have to live with Syria and Turkey and other countries," he said. "So in fact, on the other hand, the Iraqi government is committed to cultivate good neighborly relations with these two countries and to engage them constructively in security cooperation." ...

Zebari, a Kurd, said those detained had been working in a liaison office issuing travel permits for the local population, and he reiterated that the office was in the process of being regularized into a consulate.

"Well, we have asked for their release," he told CNN. "They are being interrogated by the U.S. forces. But we have established all the information that this office has been there for many years with the approval of the Kurdish regional authorities with their knowledge of the Iraqi government." ...

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4470499.html