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Iraq
High Ranking al-Quds Commander Captured In Kurdistan, Iranians Squealing
2007-10-04
An Iranian arrested by US forces in IraqÂ’sKurdish region had been involved in TeheranÂ’s intelligence operations in Iraq for more than a decade, an American general said on Wednesday.

‘Multiple sources’ had also implicated him in providing weapons to ‘Iraqi criminal elements in the service of Iran,’ US military spokesman Major General Kevin Bergner told a news conference in Baghdad.

On September 20, US troops raided a hotel in Sulaimaniyah in the autonomous northern autonomous region and seized Mahmudi Farhadi, claiming he was a member of the Quds Force, the covert operations arm of IranÂ’s elite Revolutionary Guards.

Iran condemned what it called the ‘unwarranted’ arrest of a businessman it said was in Iraq at the invitation of the Kurdish regional government, and lodged a strong protest with the authorities in Baghdad.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has slammed the arrest as illegal and demanded Farhadi's release.

And on September 24, Iran shut its frontiers with Iraq in protest, causing mayhem at the border and major economic losses to traders in the Kurdish region.

Bergner insisted on Wednesday that the detainee was a Quds Force operative.

'Farhadi was the officer in charge of the Zafar command, one of three subordinates of the Ramazan core of the Quds Force,' Bergner said.

'As Zafar commander, he was responsible for Quds Force operations in north-central Iraq, including cross border transfers of weapons, people and money.

'We also know that for more than a decade he was involved in Iranian intelligence operations in Iraq,' he added, without elaborating.
Posted by:Anonymoose

#5  Waterboard the maggot like a slalom ski.
Posted by: Zenster   2007-10-04 23:05  

#4  Long story, Keystone.
Posted by: newc   2007-10-04 22:48  

#3  Why would a Kurd vouch for the guy?
Posted by: Keystone   2007-10-04 22:23  

#2  Yummy.

Or *snicker*. Whichever is more appropriate.
Posted by: trailing wife   2007-10-04 21:57  

#1  time to book the satellites to watch the shifting of "supplies" from certain underground bunkers to others...heh
Posted by: Frank G   2007-10-04 21:40  

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