Foreign hostages freed in Iraq
2006-03-26 20:27
Baghdad - US troops on Sunday arrested
at least 40 Iraqi interior ministry forces who were holding 17
foreigners in a secret bunker complex, political sources said.
A Reuters reporter who approached the bunker complex on
Sunday was turned away by Shi'ite militiamen.
It was not clear who the foreigners were but the Shi'ite-led
Iraqi government has launched a crackdown on Sunni foreign
fighters from Arab states it accuses of carrying out suicide
bombings which have killed thousands of mostly Shi'ite Iraqis.
US troops last year found 173 mostly Sunni Arab prisoners
held in a secret interior ministry bunker.
They showed signs of
torture and malnourishment in a scandal that embarrassed the
government.
Sunni Arab leaders accuse interior ministry forces of
working alongside Shi'ite militias who run death squads, a
charge the ministry denies.
- Reuters