US army says weapons seized, 32 detained in raid on Baghdad mosque

AFP ^ | 1/02/04

[saquin]

BAGHDAD (AFP) - US soldiers seized a large cache of weapons when they raided a Sunni mosque in southwestern Baghdad on Thursday and arrested 32 people, including foreign nationals, the coalition's deputy director of operations, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, said.

Three packages of TNT explosives, a 60 mm mortar tube, eight improvised grenades, bomb-making equipment, two rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 11 assault rifles and two bags of gunpowder were among the weapons recovered in the raid, he told reporters, showing them a slide presentation.

"Over the last several months, the First Armoured Division in Baghdad has received numerous reports from local Iraqis that the Al-Tubul mosque had been used for criminal and terrorist activities," he said.

"The Al-Tubul mosque was believed to have been a hub of anti-coalition and anti-Iraqi activities, with various cells using the mosque as a meeting location and weapons cache," Kimmitt said.

He was referring to the Um al-Tubul mosque, renamed Ibn Taimiya, where a leading Sunni fundamentalist cleric was detained.

"Several detainees are suspected of being foreign nationals. Confirmation of their nationalities and any possible connection to terrorist organisations has not yet been established," he said.

The raid was conducted with Iraqi Civil Defense Corps and police, Kimmitt said, stressing that his troops conducted the operation with respect for the house of worship.

"Despite the clear use of this mosque for criminal, terrorist and anti- coalition activities, the greatest care was taken by coalition forces to uphold the sanctity of the mosque and use the minimal amount of force to conduct the operation," he said.

Imam Mahdi Ahmed Saleh al-Sumaydaei was detained along with more than a dozen worshippers and staff of the mosque in the Yarmuk district of the capital, witnesses said on Thursday.

One witness said US tanks and armoured personnel carriers forced their way through the front gate of the mosque, while helicopters flew overhead during the search.

Other worshippers said the raid had taken place because Sumaydaei was wrongly suspected of fuelling insurgency in Iraq linked to tensions between Shiite Muslims and minority Sunnis, from whose ranks former president Saddam Hussein hails.

On Friday, 500 people held a vigil inside the mosque after prayers and shouted: "Bush, Bush, you are the devil" and "We are the soldiers of Allah."

The raid came to the backdrop of growing unease among Iraq's Sunni Muslim minority, which has long held the reins of power in the country but feels marginalized under the emerging US-sponsored political order.

[saquin]

An Iraqi man shouts slogans calling for a Jihad (Holy War) against U.S. forces, during a rally outside Baghdad's Sunni Muslim Ibn Taymiyah mosque, January 2, 2004. The mosque was raided on new year's day by U.S. Army troops, backed by helicopters, who arrested 20 Sunni clerics. REUTERS/Faleh Kheiber

These people love to complain when U.S. soldiers "violate" the sanctity of a mosque. Here's a hint... stop using your religious institutions to hide RPGs and TNT and plan bombings, and we'll respect the sanctity of your mosque.

[TexasRepublic]

Any so-called house of worship used for military or terror applications should be utterly destroyed immediately.

[DannyTN]

What!!!!!? We actually raided a mosque???? And we arrested 20 Clerics!!!! Excellent!!!

New Year - New Tactics!!!

I totally approve!!!!

[EggsAckley]

Agreed. We've been way too soft on the mosques.

[expatpat]

Other worshippers said.....Sumaydaei was wrongly suspected of fuelling insurgency in Iraq

What were the bomb-making equipment and rocket-propelled grenade launchers for, then, Summy?

[sheik yerbouty]

The mosque should be razed.

[EggsAckley]

I think they should extend it a little further and start searching mosques here in the US.

[sheik yerbouty]

That is a policy that is long overdue!

[observer5]

"to uphold the sanctity of the mosque..."

what?

[Sacajaweau]

btt

[eddiespaghetti]

start searching mosques here in the US.

IINM, the Feds could not put listening devices in mosques (absent "probable cause" in a criminal case) until the Patriot Act. (Someone correct me if I am mistaken).

es

[Rebelbase]

The lefties are calling this an "atrocity" and demanding the soldiers repsonsible for "trashing" the mosque be beaten with sticks.

[Calpernia]

Pro Military, Pro Coalition News

Coalition forces led by Iraqi Civil Defense Corps personnel and Iraqi police seized a weapons cache and detained 32 people at the Umm al Tabul Mosque Jan. 1, said the deputy director of operations for Combined Joint Task Force 7 today.

Thank you Saquin!

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[StormEye]

Dynamite this house of murder and criminality!

[McGavin999]

This is being done with the overwhelming support of the Iraqi people. They think it's wonderful that we are so respectful of their religion, but they also know that the terrorists are using these mosques the same way that Saddam did. The Iraqi people are not fools.

The only "uprising" there will be from this is within the terrorist community, the rest of the Muslims are thrilled to have these evil people taken away and punished for dirtying a house of God.

[miltonim]

"The Al-Tubul mosque was believed to have been a hub of anti-coalition and anti-Iraqi activities, with various cells using the mosque as a meeting location and weapons cache," Kimmitt said.

[Freedom of Speech Wins]

Let them have it. Their protest rally should be broken up with live ammunition.

[F.J. Mitchell]

It's about time!

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

8 3RD BRIGADE COMBAT TEAM CAPTURES 34 SUSPECTS ~ CENTCOM | 1/02/04