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US arrests five in Iran consulate in Erbil-Kurdistan
11.1.2007
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Erbil, Kurdistan
Region (Iraq), January 11,-- US troops have raided
Iran's consulate in Kurdistan autonomous region, the
(northern Iraqi) city of Erbil and arrested five
employees, an Iranian diplomat said on condition of
anonymity.
"We don't know the reason for this," the diplomat
said of the raid, which came amid mounting US
accusations that Iranian agents are fomenting unrest
in Iraq and ordering attacks on American forces.
"The Americans arrested five employees and took all
the computers and documentation," the Iranian
official said Thursday.
The Iranian consulate building in Erbil, which is
the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, was
sealed off by Kurdish security forces, according to
an AFP correspondent at the scene.
In Tehran, the semi-official Fars new agency
confirmed the raid.
"In this attack, five of the consulate staff have
been arrested by the American troops. They also took
some documents and properties," Fars said, quoting
an unnamed official.
"In the US occupiers' attack on Iran's general
consulate in Erbil, the raiders have broken the gate
of the office and arrested the consulate's guards,"
the official added.
According to Iranian state television, Tehran's
embassy in Baghdad has sent a note to Iraq's foreign
ministry calling for the immediate release of the
arrested staff members.
An official at the Iranian foreign ministry told AFP
that an investigation had been launched, while a US
military spokesman in Baghdad failed to answer his
telephone or respond to e-mail queries.
Another US military spokesman, Major General William
Caldwell, said on December 27 that US forces had
detained two Iranian nationals among eight people
rounded up on suspicion of weapons smuggling in a
raid in Baghdad.
The two Iranians were later handed over to Iranian
officials in Baghdad.
Iraq and Iran reached agreement last year to set up
an Iranian consulate at the capital of Kurdistan
region of Erbil to facilitate cross-border visits by
their citizens.
According to Iranian state television, permission
had been granted by the Kurdish authorities for the
consulate to commence operations and the office was
currently "in the final stages of receiving
permission from the Iraqi government".
VOI news agency reported today that Forces of
Zirfani Brigade affiliated to Kurdistan Democratic
Party on Thursday surrounded a U.S. force at the
entrance of Einkawa town in northeastern of Erbil,
an informed source in the Kurdistani province of
Erbil said.
He noted that no clashes erupted between the two
forces.
"This American force wants to launch military
operations in Einkawa," the source, who declined to
be named, said. He did not elaborate on the nature
of such operations.
The U.S. force "is made up three personnel carriers
while Zirfani forces include some 200 elements," the
source said.
At dawn Thursday, U.S. forces raided the Iranian
consulate in Erbil, seized computers and documents
and detained all staff.
It was not immediately clear if the siege of the
U.S. force was related to the consulate raid.
In Sulaimaniyah, an official security source said
there was no similar U.S. military operation in the
city.
"There were no U.S. military operations against
Iranian targets in Sulaimaniyah," the source, who
declined to be named, said.
The Iranian have a diplomatic relations office and
other commercial offices, in Sulaimaniyah city.
Also today, Kurdish security forces on Thursday
detained al-Hurra TV correspondent Sarwa Abdul-Wahid
and assaulted the cameraman when they tried to shoot
U.S. and Kurdish forces on the main road from
Einkawa town to Erbil international airport, the
correspondent said.
Later, the Kurdish forces released her and the
cameraman "after we promised no to shoot and leave
the area."
AFP | VOI
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