Iraqi official detained at Baghdad airport

[unhappycamper]

Iraqi official detained at Baghdad airport
By Qassim Abdul-Zahra - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Aug 28, 2008 9:39:42 EDT

BAGHDAD — American forces arrested a top Iraqi Shiite government official as he stepped off a plane at Baghdad’s airport, a political ally said today. The U.S. said the man arrested was a leader of Iranian-backed militias and was behind a bombing that killed 10 people, including four Americans.

The arrest of Ali al-Lami could bring serious pressure on the U.S.-backed government from Sunni groups and others worried about Iranian and Shiite militia influence in the top ranks of the Iraqi leadership.

The U.S. military confirmed it arrested a senior Shiite figure at the airport Wednesday but would not release the name or say whether it was al-Lami.

The military said the man detained is believed to be a senior leader of Iranian-backed militias and behind a June bomb blast in Baghdad that killed four Americans and six Iraqis.

Al-Lami heads a committee that is in charge of keeping senior Saddam Hussein loyalists out of government positions. He was returning to Iraq from Lebanon, where he sought medical treatment, when he was detained, said Qaiser Watout, a member of al-Lami’s committee.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/08/iraqi_official_detained_ap_082808w/%2e