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Gee wonder if any of the Sunday Show Democrats Activists in Journalist clothing will discuss this?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1767372/posts

U.S.: Iranian Detainees Had Ties to Insurgent Group
FOXNews/AP ^ | Jan 14, 2007

Posted on 01/14/2007 5:44:53 AM CST by nuconvert

U.S.: Iranian Detainees Had Ties to Insurgent Group

January 14, 2007

BAGHDAD, Iraq —

Five Iranians arrested in northern Iraq last week were connected to an Iranian Revolutionary Guard faction that funds and arms insurgents in Iraq, the U.S. military said Sunday.

The five were detained by U.S.-led forces Thursday in a raid on an Iranian government liaison office in Irbil, a city in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq 217 miles north of Baghdad.

"Preliminary results revealed the five detainees are connected to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Qods Force (IRGC-QF), an organization known for providing funds, weapons, improvised explosive device technology and training to extremist groups attempting to destabilize the Government of Iraq and attack Coalition forces," the U.S. military said in a statement.

"Qods" is the Arabic name for Jerusalem, and a frequent name for political or military factions across the Muslim world.

(excerpt)

The U.S. State Department has said American-led forces entered the Irbil facility because information linked it to Revolutionary Guards and other Iranian elements engaging in violent activities in Iraq.

(excerpt)

There has been debate over whether the Irbil office where the men were arrested had diplomatic status, and would therefore be protected by international treaties.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurd, described it as a liaison office that had government approval and was in the process of being approved as an Iranian consulate.

(excerpt)

But the U.S. State Department has said no legitimate diplomatic activity was being carried out at the site, and Rice said the office was not a consulate.

"The facility in which the detention took place has been described by various Iraqi officials as an Iranian liaison office, but it did not enjoy the diplomatic status of a consulate according to Iraqi and U.S. officials," the U.S. statement said.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...