| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Criminal suspects arrested near Diwaniya |
| 2008-12-23 |
| (AKI) - Iraqi police on Monday arrested 89 criminal suspects near Diwaniya, south of Baghdad. The men are suspected of involvement in a number of crimes ranging from murder to kidnapping. The arrests, reported by the news agency Voices of Iraq, followed a large-scale security operation that lasted for six months in the al-Shanafiya district west of Diwaniya. Diwaniya, a Shia province, lies 180 kilometres south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. It has been the scene of many intense clashes between militias and security forces since the US-led invasion in March 2003. In July this year, the US military formally handed security control of surrounding Qadisiya province to the Iraqi armed forces. After the fall of former dictator Saddam Hussein, supporters of radical Shia cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr, were accused of terrorising residents in Diwaniya, and killing many people who were said to have offended their interpretation of Islamic morality. |
| Posted by:Fred |