Iraq denies arrest of Iranians

BAGHDAD, (KUNA) -- An Iraqi security spokesman denied here Tuesday that Iranians might be picked up in the country.

Brigadier Qassem Atta, spokesman for the Operation Imposing Law, made the denial following reports that the US-backed Sahwa (Awakening) Group in Al Azmaiya caught three Iranians, making it certain that the arrested persons worked at the Interior Ministry.

But, Maj. Gen. Abdel-Karim Khalaf, chief of operations at the Iraqi Interior Ministry, said that the Multi-National Force would set them free immediately.

"I dismiss that the three persons, who were arrested by US forces yesterday after they were stopped by Al Azmaiya Sahwa Group, may hold Iranian nationality," he told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) "Belonging to the Interior Ministry, they were roaming Al Azmaiya as security forces and Sahwa Councils at the area managed to prevail security there. It is their right as Iraqis to go wherever they want," he said.