BAGHDAD - Shiite cleric Muqtada Al Sadr charged Wednesday that US forces’ arrest of the president of the Karbala Governate Council last week was “terrorism” and a violation of Iraqi national sovereignty. Al Sadr, in comments to Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, said “the occupation forces’ act of storming the Karbala Governorate Council represents a direct breach of Iraq’s independence and a violation of its national sovereignty.” He was referring to the US forces seizure of Uqail Al Zebeidy in a raid at his home in Karbala, some 110 kilometres south of Baghdad, on June 15.
“We must confront such acts, since they are acts of terrorism - assaulting an elected government is an act of terrorism,” Al Sadr said. He expressed concern that similar acts may be perpetrated against other elected officials in other governorates. The media spokesman for the Karbala Governorate Council had told DPA that Al Zebeidy had been taken to an undisclosed location. The spokesman added that a number of Al Zebeidy’s personal belongings were confiscated, including his personal computer. The spokesman also said that US armed forces beat Al Zebeidy’s personal bodyguards before storming his home.
A US military spokesman said that Al Zebeidy was arrested on charges of organizing and assisting armed groups in conducting assassination operations in Karbala. The US spokesman added that intelligence information revealed that Al Zebeidy was storing weapons and ammunition in his home. |