Posted on 03/22/2007 10:21:42 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A man with ties to a radical Shiite cleric is in U.S. custody in connection with an attack that killed five American soldiers in Karbala in January, U.S. officials said.
"Over the past several days, coalition forces in Basra and Hilla captured Qais Khazali, his brother Laith Khazali and several other members of the Khazali network," the U.S. military said in a statement Thursday.
The military said the network is "directly connected" to the killings in Karbala, a Shiite city south of Baghdad.
Qais Khazali was known as a spokesman for Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's political movement in 2004 in Baghdad's Sadr City, but it is not clear whether he is still involved with al-Sadr's movement.
Al-Sadr's Mehdi Army, a Shiite militia, is suspected of heavy involvement in Iraq's sectarian violence.
Two Mehdi Army commanders told The Associated Press that Khazali had split with al-Sadr and leads 3,000 fighters of his own with financing from Iran.
Khazali has not been seen in public since late 2004, the AP reported.
U.S. officials have been tight-lipped about the arrests. The military has not disclosed evidence linking the Khazali network to the Karbala attack, but one official called it "significant."
A source close to the al-Sadr movement said the arrests occurred Wednesday.
A U.S. official said the Khazali brothers were suspected of being part of a network using weapons known as explosively formed projectiles or penetrators. Bush administration officials have alleged that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's Quds Force have provided these munitions to Shiite groups in Iraq.
In the January 20 attack, nine to 12 gunmen, wearing "American-looking uniforms" and carrying "U.S.-type weapons," passed easily through checkpoints in sport utility vehicles before opening fire on American soldiers inside a government compound in Karbala, according to the U.S. military.
(Excerpt) Read more at edition.cnn.com ...
CNN should be saying that the man is a hero for killing American troops! What is wrong with the network! They are slipping! CNN is going soft on us!
Yes, I was surprised.
Where's Rick Kaplan when you need him? (sarcasm).
Disgusting. And the looney libs whine about the Geneva Convention for these scum-sucking terrorists, who use women and children as shields and as living bombs, wear "American-looking uniforms" to get behind our lines, and blow up their own people. Once we've extracted all the info we can from them, they should be sent to meet their beloved allah. And may they burn for all eternity.
"Man with Al Sadr ties????"
What the heck is he doing with Al Sadr's ties? Dry-cleaner gone amuck?
Man: "I just like rubbing all over my boooooooooody.. yes yes. I like the feeeeel and smell of his steeeenky breath and spitttle......yes!"
The tide is turning.
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