Iraqi officer arrested in assassination probe

[unhappycamper]

Iraqi officer arrested in assassination probe
By Heath Druzin, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Monday, December 1, 2008

BAGHDAD — U.S. soldiers Sunday arrested an Iraqi police officer suspected of being part of an assassination ring targeting local leaders in the southern part of the capital.

A metallic crash broke the drizzly pre-dawn quiet as a soldiers with the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division kicked in the front door of a modest home in the Abu T’Shir neighborhood, eventually detaining a man wearing a long-sleeved Iraqi police shirt who appeared to be in his 20s.

The man, whose name has not been released, is suspected of training insurgents with Jaish al-Mahdi, a Shiite insurgent group, on how to use sniper rifles in hopes of assassinating local council members, said Staff Sgt. John Hardin, who helped coordinate the raid. The suspect appeared resigned, laughing during his interview.

Though U.S. forces are increasingly shifting focus from battle to rebuilding, security remains fragile in much of Iraq, as highlighted by a series of deadly bombings and shootings in recent weeks. Iraqi security forces in particular have been targeted lately. Graffiti around town says Jaish al-Mahdi is coming back and U.S. forces are scrambling to head off a possible resurgence in violence.

Police units are still full of militants, though the situation is much better than a year ago, when officers often were little more than sectarian death squads, Hardin said. Hardin said continued problems with the Iraqi security forces undermine the legitimacy of the government.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=59146