• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

GIs Arrest 2 Iraqi Police Terror Suspects

Posted on: Sunday, 22 February 2004, 06:00 CST

U.S. soldiers arrested a pair of Iraqi policemen on suspicion they were members of Saddam Hussein's Fedayeen militia, officials said Sunday.

The two were arrested Saturday at their homes, where police also confiscated a rifle, pistol and two machine guns, said Maj. Josslyn Aberle, spokeswoman of the 4th Infantry Division.

The Fedayeen was effectively Saddam's private army and one of the groups believed to be behind the ongoing insurgency against the U.S.-led Coalition.

The arrests came after two Iraqis believed to have orchestrated riots in Beiji in October turned themselves into members of the division's 1st Brigade near the town. While they were being questioned, they tipped off soldiers to the pair of Iraqi police. Aberle had no other details.

All four men were being detained in Tikrit, where Task Force Ironhorse is headquartered.

The Beiji riots erupted following peaceful protests by pro-Saddam demonstrators against the U.S.-appointed police chief in the important oil refining town north of Baghdad. After two days of fighting between demonstrators and Iraqi police and U.S. soldiers, authorities removed the police chief.

Elsewhere, members of the new Iraqi army found a weapons cache near Abu Basul that contained several semiautomatic weapons, including Russian-made AK-47s and Chinese-built SKS rifles, along with six heavy machine guns, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

The soldiers arrested three Iraqis and handed them over to police. The weapons were turned over to coalition forces.

More News in this Category