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EARLY MORNING RAIDS CONDUCTED IN BAGHDAD

BAGHDAD, Iraq –- Task Force Baghdad Soldiers captured 15 terror suspects in three early-morning raids conducted throughout the capital The biggest operation netted 10 suspected terrorists in the Yusafiyah district of south Baghdad.

In east Baghdad, a tip from an Iraqi citizen prevented an attack. During a routine patrol, members of Task Force Baghdad’s 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, were approached by a farmer with information on the location of roadside bomb. The farmer told the Soldiers he had seen terrorists emplace the bomb. The Soldiers expressed their appreciation to the farmer and secured the roadside bomb.

"This event shows that the population continues to turn away from the terrorists. I am grateful that the people care enough to provide us the tips that are helping us to defeat the terrorists. There is no question in my mind that the farmer who provided the tip today saved the lives of our Soldiers,” said Maj. Paul Reese, executive officer 3-7 Cavalry.

Mohsen Abdul Hamid, the head of the Iraqi Islamic Party, leaves a meeting in Baghdad, Iraq Monday, May 23, 2005. U.S. troops detained Mohsen Abdul Hamid, the head of Iraq's largest Sunni Muslim political party, along with his three sons and four guards, during a dawn house raid Monday, May 30, 2005 in western Baghdad, according to a top party official and police. (AP Photo/Samir Mizban)

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Guard Shot

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The Sunni party leader, Mohsen Abdel Hamid, was arrested at about 4 a.m. local time in a raid on his Baghdad home by U.S. soldiers who blew open the front door, shot a guard, and confiscated money and jewelry, party official Ammar Wajeeh said in a telephone interview. Hamid was hooded and treated ``in a very bad way,'' and his three sons were also held, Wajeeh said.

Hamid is being returned to his home after being interviewed, a U.S. military spokesman, Mayor Wes Hayes, said in a telephone interview from Baghdad.

``Following the interview it was determined that he was detained by mistake and should be released,'' the military said without providing details of the arrest, in a statement read by Hayes. Hayes said he didn't know what prompted the arrest.

Arrests of Islamic Party officials are ``common practice,'' with five or six party members apprehended by security forces every day, Wajeeh said.

The arrest drew condemnation from President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, who had called for Hamid to be released, AFP reported.