Via The Telegraph: Iraq's most prominent Shia militia has emerged as the chief suspect in the kidnappings of five British nationals in Iraq.

Police security check motorists in Baghdad: SAS on alert to rescue Baghdad Britons
Iraqi police security check motorists close to the finance ministry's information section in Baghdad

Negotiations with the Mahdi Army are already under way after one of several spokesmen for the armed force under the command of the Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr claimed responsibility for the kidnappings at the finance ministry in Baghdad.

Hundreds of Iraqi and American troops raided Sadr City, Baghdad’s largest Shia neighbourhood, in an operation that ended early today. Residents said areas of Sadr City were sealed off and several arrests were made.

Iraqi forces have established a special battalion of soldiers and police officers to search for the kidnapped men. “We are conducting search operations near the site where the abduction took place,” said Brig Gen Qassim al Musawi, an Iraqi army spokesman.

“Maybe today or in the coming few days, we will find them with the help of secret intelligence.”

Via CNN: BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S.-led coalition forces detained five suspected terrorists in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood Wednesday, including their cell leader, a U.S. military statement said.

All are believed to be members of a cell involved in weapons trafficking.

"Intelligence reports indicate the cell leader that was targeted and detained during the morning's operation is suspected of being a key weapons trafficker ... of small arms, mortars and other munitions," the military said, including "explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, from Iran to Iraq, as well as bringing militants from Iraq to Iran for terrorist training."

The U.S. military has been saying for months that militants are getting the EFPs from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force and that Iraqi militants are being trained in Iran.

Damn productive for the Iranians that is.

Hat Tip: Captain Ed.

Posted by: Howie at 11:32 AM | Comments (12) | Add Comment
Post contains 368 words, total size 3 kb.

1 They won't kill the Brit soldiers I'll wager. They want the UK to pull their troops out, plain and simple. If they torture and kill these Brit soldiers, the Brits will stay in for the long haul and the terrorists know it. But, if they show their "generosity" and release the Brits as a show of "good faith" it will get the dialogue going in the UK again to remove their troops. That's the reason why they just kill our US troops, because they know that no matter howthe peaceniks  keep crying to stop the war, they know the US Govt is committed to killing off the terrorists. That's why they don't make demands for our troops, just kill them outright.

Posted by: DrTheopolis at May 30, 2007 01:22 PM (9ZqGe)

2 Muktada ... Kill him. Now.

Posted by: Paul A'Barge at May 30, 2007 01:28 PM (T3gfS)

3 Lay this problem at the feet of Bush's Administration, specifically, those in the Pentagon who "allowed" the early "Rules of Engagement" that enabled our dear friend, Mooki, to live.

We should have killed this bastard a few years ago!

Posted by: RJ at May 30, 2007 01:52 PM (yyxO/)

4 Why is al-Sadr still breathing????
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
http://www.mp3.com.au/artist.asp?id=16834

Posted by: doriangrey at May 30, 2007 03:11 PM (XvkRd)

5 Because he has diplomatic immunity thanks to the corrupt Interior Mnistry. We stopped searching for Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie because of al-Sadr's influence. Anyway, these Brits have a better chance at living than the two missing soldiers still being held by the ISI.

Posted by: George Ramos at May 30, 2007 03:31 PM (TmLg9)

6 Damn, he is ugly.

Posted by: Jack's Smirking Revenge at May 30, 2007 03:39 PM (ou0cx)

7

Dr. Theopolis,

Are you sure you are a doctor?  Your logic is a bid convoluted.

What makes you think they really want the Brits and Americans to leave?  Why the occupation is the best recruiting tool they have working for them, and oncemore, they know that if they keep western powers stuck long enough they just might cause an economic and moral collapse - just like the USSR experienced in Afghanistan.
 
Iraq, at this point, cannot be "won."  Sooner or later boys and girls we have to face this ugly fact and hold accountable those people who led us into this mess.

 

Posted by: Bo at May 30, 2007 03:40 PM (Ywo+X)

8 I don't understand the reluctance of the administration to come right out and tell the American people that the Mullahcracy of Iran is engaged in a proxy war against the coalition in Iraq and that the bastards are using the innocent people of Iraq as human shields!?!?!?

It's time to start bombing the hell out of the IRGC bases inside Iran. I suggest starting with the following twenty terrorist training bases. [The format of each entry is, "name", "location/address", "nearest city".]


1) Imam Ali Training Garrison, Tajrish Square, Tehran,

2) Bahonar Garrison, Chalous Street, close to the dam of Karaj,

3) Qom’s Ali-Abad Garrison, Tehran-Qom highway,

4) Mostafa Khomeini Garrison, Eshrat-Abad district, Tehran,

5) Crate Camp Garrison, 40 kilometres from the Ahwaz-Mahshar
highway,

6) Fateh Qani-Hosseini Garrison, between Tehran and Qom

7) Qayour Asli Garrison, 30 kilometres from Ahwaz-Khorramshahr
highway,

Abouzar Garrison, Qaleh-Shahin district, Ahwaz, Khuzestan
province. This is the one nearest the Shiite areas of Iraq.

9) Hezbollah Garrison, Varamin, east of Tehran

10) Eezeh Training Garrison

11) Amir-ol-Momenin Garrison, Ban-Roushan, Ilam province

12) Kothar Training Garrison, Dezful Street, Shoushtar,
Khuzestan province

13) Imam Sadeq Garrison, Qom

14) Lavizan Training Centre, north-east Tehran

15) Abyek Training Centre, west of Tehran

16) Dervish Training Centre, 18 kilometres from the Ahwaz-Mahshar
highway,

17) Qazanchi Training Centre, Ravansar-Kermanshah-Kamyaran
tri-junction,

1 Beit-ol-Moqaddas University, Qom

19) Navab Safavi School, Ahwaz

20) Nahavand Training Centre, 45 kilometres from Nahavand,
western Iran

Posted by: Garduneh Mehr at May 30, 2007 04:30 PM (j97MF)

9

Bo, I ain't no doctor. Dr. Theopolis was the little plastic robot hanging around Twiki's neck in the 1980's run of the Buck Rogers television show. It's just a funny name I picked because my real name is boring, kind of like using Bo as your name. I understand what you are saying though. Its just a gut feeling I have. If after all they make demands of us to leave the countries of Islam, they want us out or they want us in. It's really hard to say. Maybe each of these groups differ on what they really want. I think some of them just want money and I think most of them are fucking criminals and murderous thugs but that's a whole other argument for a different day. My instincts tell me they want the Brits out so they make the US look like we stand alone against the Middle East.

Posted by: DrTheopolis at May 30, 2007 04:35 PM (9ZqGe)

10 Sadr+.50=problem solved. This guy is even suspect by his own people. How does he do all this? His band of merry men extort $20 from each person. How do I know this? I spent 4 years in Iraq. If you don't pay, you PAY! Understand? He's not a cleric, he flunked cleric school. He is in the position because his goons prey on the poor and being uneducated, they believe his rhetoric, plus his father was well respected and had half a brain. I hate that the educated, average Iraqi has to put up with this bullshit and I'm here to tell you they do too.

Posted by: Steve at May 30, 2007 05:14 PM (wHd49)

11 Boy is Al Sadr and ugly mother******!

Lose some weight and get some dental work!

Posted by: Richard Romano at May 30, 2007 07:10 PM (iD1fP)

12 Bo be slow.

Posted by: greyrooster at June 02, 2007 12:58 AM (0CFtS)

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