Posted on 01/11/2007 2:03:26 AM PST by FairOpinion
ARBIL, Iraq, Jan 11 (Reuters) - U.S. forces raided the Iranian consulate office in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil on Thursday and arrested five employees, the official Iranian news agency IRNA said.
There was no immediate comment by the U.S. military on the raid which came hours after President George W. Bush vowed in a speech to interrupt what he called the "flow of support" from Iran and Syria for insurgent attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq.
The raid was the second such operation in the past month against Iranian interests in Iraq by U.S. forces.
"Around 5.00 a.m., after disarming the guards they (U.S. troops) broke into the office, without giving any explanation and arrested five employees," the official IRNA news agency reported, adding that documents and computers were seized.
It said Iran had sent a protest letter to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.
Earlier Iraqiya state television reported the raid on the building in central Arbil and a Kurdish station said Kurdish security forces had taken over the building after the Americans left the area.
U.S. officials have repeatedly accused non-Arab, Shi'ite Iran of interfering in Iraq, where the long-oppressed Shi'ite majority is now in power.
In December, U.S. forces in Baghdad arrested a number of Iranians they said were suspected of planning attacks on Iraqi security forces, including diplomats who were later turned over to Iraqi authorities.
A U.S. official said that the arrests in December validated U.S. assertions about "Iranian meddling" in Iraq. (Additional reporting by Edmund Blair in Tehran) (Writing by Ibon Villelabeitia, editing by Diana Abdallah)
Sweet revenge. US should do this to all Iranian embassies.
They don't deserve any such Diplomatic relations, period.
Ping!
"great"
WOO HOO!!
When we conduct these raids and find involvement in the insurgency the buildings should be leveled, the folks arrested.
This is starting to sound more like it. We need to start roughing the Syrians and Iranians up.
Thank God for Wikipaedia.
Raided the consulate did they? Oh man, this is good. The MSM is going to be in a dither. Nancy and her Nancy boys are going to wet their collective panties.
Someone correct me if I am wrong, but doesn’t a consulate have the diplomatic status of an embassy? I hope every embassy and consulate office we have throughout the world has increased security to a very high level - and isn’t restricted to depending on the host nation.
Why in the world has our president not done this sooner?
The little munchkin will not be pleased about this. And perhaps just a little worried about what we've learned, or should I say, found proof of.
Yes they do. And this action nibbles away at the diplomatic immunity that keeps OUR brave diplomats safe while serving overseas. Shame on the Pentagon.
I don't know, but I am sure Ted Kennedy and Nancy will be looking into this.
All I can say Its About Dam time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
One can only assume that very shortly the Democrat leadership, together with the ACLU and the MSM, will protest this invasion of soverign property.
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