Iraq army offers to escort Sunni leader from home
Sun Dec 2, 2007 5:52am EST
By Waleed Ibrahim and Alaa Shahine
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's army said on Sunday it had
offered to escort the leader of the main Sunni Arab
political bloc out of his home, where he has been
confined for three days in a standoff that has
threatened to worsen sectarian tension.
But Adnan al-Dulaimi said he had received no offer of
an escort and considered himself still under house
arrest in Baghdad, three days after his son and dozens
of members of his entourage were detained, accused of
links to a car rigged as a bomb that was found near
Dulaimi's office.
The standoff has threatened to worsen tension between
the Shi'ite-led government and the Sunni Arab minority
at a time when violence countrywide has dropped
sharply after a U.S. "surge" of 30,000 additional
troops this year.
"This is not just house arrest. This is prison. They
will not even allow anyone to visit me. I am under
siege," Dulaimi told Reuters by telephone.
Baghdad security spokesman Brigadier-General Qassim
Moussawi said the military had sent an officer to
Dulaimi's compound with an offer to accompany him if
he wished to go out.
"We told him, if you want to go here or there, we are
ready and will provide protection... because his
security detail is in prison," he said.
Dulaimi's Accordance Front bloc, the Sunni Arab group
with the most seats, walked out of parliament on
Saturday while the legislature was debating a key bill
to allow members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party to
return to public life. Many Baath members were Sunni
Arabs.
The Front quit the government in August, complaining
that Sunni Arabs were being marginalized.
About 250 supporters of Dulaimi marched in the mainly
Sunni town of Tikrit north of Baghdad, demanding he be
released from "house arrest."
Police and soldiers arrested Dulaimi's son Mekki and
dozens of bodyguards after pursuing suspected gunmen
into his office compound following a shooting on
Thursday. The U.S. military has said one of Dulaimi's
guards had the key to a car rigged as a bomb which was
discovered near the office compound.
As a member of parliament, Dulaimi is immune from
prosecution, but the government has said it could lift
his immunity if he is found to have links to car
bombs.
Washington hopes measures like the "de-Baathification"
law will help ensure that the decline in violence
remains permanent by reconciling Sunni Arabs and
Shi'ites.
But the political process has so far been stalled,
with little progress in passing benchmark laws.
(Writing by Peter Graff, editing by Tim Pearce)
© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. Republication or
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and disclosure of relevant interests.
---
Allah yang digambarkan oleh al-Mushaf itu dungu, buas, kejam, keji, ganas,
zalim lagi biadab hanyalah Allah fiktif.
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