Sept. 27, 2004, 1:09AM
U.S. military arrests a senior Iraqi commander
He's accused of having ties to 'known insurgents'
New York Times
BAGHDAD, IRAQ - The U.S. military said Sunday that it had arrested a senior commander of the nascent Iraqi National Guard, raising concerns about the loyalty and reliability of the new security forces just months before general elections are scheduled to be held across the country. The Iraqi commander, Brig. Gen. Talib Abid Ghayib al-Lahibi, based in the restive Diyala province, was arrested last Thursday and accused of "having associations with known insurgents," the military said in a written statement.
The military did not give further details on Lahibi's ties to the insurgency, and senior military commanders in Baghdad declined to provide more information at a news conference in the late afternoon. "I don't have any specifics on why he was picked up," one commander said.
The arrest is the most significant known one of an Iraqi commander who was supposed to help the U.S. military fill the gaping security vacuum left by the ousting of Hussein and the dismantling of the Iraqi army.
It raises questions about whether, in the haste to stand up a legitimate Iraqi force by recruiting former senior Baath Party officials, the Americans have signed on officials with questionable loyalties and abilities, and whether the military will have to conduct a more thorough review of such people as U.S. soldiers gird themselves to try to retake insurgent-controlled cities such as Fallujah, Samarra and Baqouba, the capital of Diyala province.
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http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/headline/world/2816194(Free registration required)
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