US troops seize arms in raid on Iraqi Sunni party

Source: Reuters

BAGHDAD, April 7 (Reuters) - U.S. and Iraqi troops raided a house belonging to a Sunni political party in Baghdad and seized a large number of weapons, including bomb-making equipment and rockets, the U.S. military said on Saturday.

It said 14 suspects had been arrested in the raid on what it called a "safe house" in Baghdad's western Mansour district on Tuesday. It said the 14 were part of a government-sanctioned bodyguard force for an Iraqi member of parliament.

It did not name the party or the member of parliament.

Shi'ite and Kurdish officials have often accused some Sunni political parties of ties to the anti-government insurgency.

The incident comes at a time when the Shi'ite-led government is coming under increasing pressure from Washington to draw minority Sunnis closer into the political process to take the sting out of the four-year-old Sunni insurgency.

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/KHA744045.htm

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Bombs, rockets seized in Iraqi lawmaker's home
07 Apr 2007 14:48:24 GMT

BAGHDAD, April 7 (Reuters) - U.S. and Iraqi troops raided a house belonging to a Sunni political party in Baghdad and seized a large number of weapons, including bomb-making equipment and rockets, the U.S. military said on Saturday.

It said 14 suspects had been arrested in the raid on what it called a "safe house" in Baghdad's western Mansour district on Tuesday. It said the 14 were part of a government-sanctioned bodyguard force for an Iraqi member of parliament.

It did not name the party or the legislator, but sources in the Sunni Accordance Front, the biggest Sunni political group in parliament, said the house belonged to Khalaf Alian, a leading member of the political bloc.

Alian, a former senior army officer under Saddam Hussein, is out of the country for medical treatment, the sources said, adding that the bodyguards had been living in his house. They had no information on the weapons haul.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/COL752606.htm

Suicide Vehicle Detonates outside Police Checkpoint
Multi-National Force – West PAO

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq – Twelve Iraqi civilians were killed and 43 were injured including one policeman after a suicide truck bomber detonated a vehicle suspected of containing chlorine in western Ramadi at approximately 11 a.m. today.

The attack occurred when a white truck approached an Iraqi Police checkpoint in the Ta’meem district of Ramadi at a high rate of speed. The police standing guard attempted to signal the driver, but he did not stop, forcing the officers to engage the vehicle with small arms fire.

It is unclear whether the police gunfire caused the vehicle to explode or if the driver detonated it.

Coalition Forces arrived after the explosion to assist in the medical evacuation and set up security around the blast site.

more:http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11185&Itemid=128