Iraq's national security adviser was holed up inside a Shiite mosque in northwest Baghdad for several hours Friday as an angry crowd gathered outside to demand the release of security detainees, government and police officials said. Mouwaffak al-Rubaie, a Shiite, was safely extracted by a security force that escorted him to the Prime Minister's office in the fortified Green Zone, home to the US Embassy and government offices, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
They said the crowd, estimated at several dozens, gathered outside the Jawadeen mosque in the Shiite Shula neighborhood to demand the release of relatives from detention. They pelted al-Rubaie's entourage with rocks and shoes, but there were no reports of injuries and al-Rubaie later spoke by telephone to Iraq's state television.