US forces have surrounded al-Haj Sulayman al-Dhari village where Shaikh Harith al-Dhari, secretary-general of Iraq's Association of Muslim Scholars, lives.
| That's the local branch of the Learned Elders of Islam. I find it disappointing that they only surrounded his house, rather than reducing it to rubble and killing everyone inside to include the butler and the cat. |
Ahmad Abd al-Ghafur al-Samarrai, a member of the influential Iraqi Muslim body, told Aljazeera that the US forces had surrounded al-Dhari village "without justification" on Sunday. "US forces are carrying out random strikes and arrest operations," al-Samarrai said. Al-Dhari's house had been surrounded and stormed while an associate, Shaikh Abd al-Sattar, had been arrested, he added.
| That's good. Hopefully the full color 8x10 glossies of him with ladies underwear on his head and a banana up his butt will be widely circulated... |
US forces also surrounded al-Haswa and al-Iskandariya cities south of Baghdad, raided mosques and arrested three of their most prominent imams, the Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS) said in a statement. "The situation is very difficult," al-Samarrai said. "Cities are surrounded, US forces are heavily deployed in many areas in Iraq and helicopters are hovering over them. We don't know what they want."
"The Iraqis want nothing but to be liberated from occupation," he said. "They only want to be free people. However, US forces should never underestimate the Iraqis and their abilities."
| Nor should the big turbans of the Learned Elders of Islam underestimate the Americans and their abilities. |
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