US troops raid Sunni Arab complex

[Tafari]

US troops raid Sunni Arab complex


Sunday 08 January 2006

US troops have raided the headquarters of the Association of Muslim Scholars, which opposes the US occupation of Iraq, and detained five people.

The association said US troops burst into the Umm al-Qura Mosque complex in western Baghdad at 3am (0000 GMT) on Sunday, blowing doors off hinges and ransacking offices.

A source in the office of Shaikh Harith al-Dhari, who heads the Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS), said: "They took Shaikh Unis al-Ugaidi [a member of the association], two employees and two guards.

"We do not know the reason, but it's obvious, it's due to the association's attitude towards the occupation."

He said US troops had disarmed about 20 bodyguards stationed in the complex and confiscated their weapons.

The AMS is an influential group of Sunni Muslim scholars who hold sway over many Muslims, especially in the western governorate of Anbar, heartland of the revolt against the US presence in Iraq.

Its leaders have called on US forces to withdraw from Iraq and boycotted the 15 December parliamentary election.

Christian crosse?

Reuters Television footage showed spent shotgun shells and explosive charges lying on the ground of the offices. Many office doors showed signs of forced entry.

In one room, cupboards used to store the shoes of worshippers had what appeared to be Christian crosses scrawled on them.

Lieutenant-Colonel Barry Johnson, a US military spokesman, said the raid had been deliberately timed to minimise the risk to civilians and that the soldiers had respected the fact they were in a place of worship.

He rejected as "unbelievable" any suggestion they may have been responsible for the crosses.

Condemnation

In a related development, US and Iraqi forces raided on Sunday villages in Abu Ghraib area west of Baghdad. The villages are the home of the Zowba tribe to which al-Dari belongs.

The AMS issued a statement condeming the raid, and claimed that 35 people have been arrested including women, children and elderly men.

The statement called on called on "occupation forces" and the Iraqi National Guard immdiately to release six women who it said were arrested in Sunday's raid.

[Don Quixote]

er... remind me again.which ones are the terrorists??

is it the ones in uniform or the other ones??ahh well , on a lighter note , the BP/EXXON pipeline is doing well.the bit that runs thru Afganistan , Kazakstan and into russia is complete , the bit runiing thru Iraq is complete and the bit running thru Kurdish territory , Turkey , the former Yugoslavia and into Europe is complete that only leaves one country left to take over.

Iran , here we come!all in the name of justice and freedom and all that other bogus nonsense.nothing to do with oil , of course , ooooo no.

ah well , if a few ordinary Americans have to die in the name of BP/EXXON it doesn't really matter.i mean , theres plenty more.after all thats what peasants are for isn't it.?serving their masters.they are expendable.

and as for a few hundred thousand Iraqi civilians , well , they don't really count do they?after all , they are nothing like us.do they count as human beings?there is plenty more where they come from!

and as for me?i am completely innocent!no blood on my hands.as long as my belly is full and i have a few corporate baubbles and trinkets to play with , i will do as i am told.after all , i just want to be accepted.i dont want to 'stand out from the crowd'.i will march in step with all the other automatons.i will try to think nice thoughts.thoughts officialy sanctioned by the state of course.none of that revolutionary , fundamentalist , communist anti-social behavior for me.

wooops.i am a bit overdue for my glaxo welcome ICI IG Farben Dupont PLC. happy pills today.they really help me to be a good citizen and obey my corporate demi-gods.i have a shrine to them in my home.

cynical world , aint it?

PEACE.