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Iraqi special forces units raided the homes of two Sunni politicians north of Baghdad on Friday, according to security officials, heightening fears among Sunni leaders that Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is targeting them along sectarian lines.
The raids, which followed the arrest two days earlier of a Sunni official in Baghdad, were carried out against the backdrop of a larger investigation of the country’s Sunni vice president, Tariq al-Hashimi. All the cases involve allegations of terrorism, officials said.
“Why don’t we hear about any kind of arrests or charges presented against members of the Shiite militia?” Salim al-Jubouri, the Sunni head of the Iraqi parliament’s Human Rights Committee, asked Friday.
Jubouri said more than 20 members of the Islamic Party of Iraq, a Sunni group, have been arrested on terrorism charges in the last two months. He said the suspects are all innocent.
Echoing assertions made this week by former Iraq prime minister Ayad Allawi, Jubouri said suspects are being tortured. “There are a lot inhumane ways that they are trying to take confessions,” he said.
A spokesman for Maliki could not be immediately reached for comment. In the past, Maliki has said he is committed to going after terrorists while treating all sects fairly.
In the Hashimi case, three of the vice president’s bodyguards have been shown on television confessing to carrying out bombings and assassinations at his request. The vice president has taken refuge in the country’s semiautonomous region of Kurdistan. He has said the charges against him are bogus and politically motivated by Maliki. The prime minister, meanwhile, said the matter is being handled by judicial authorities and urged Hashimi to return to Baghdad to face the charges.
On Friday morning, officials said, the special forces hit the home of Talal al-Jubouri, the Diyala province deputy governor in charge of planning, who was reported to be away on business and not arrested. The forces also raided the home of Ghadban al-Khazraji, another deputy governor.
Khazraji and several body guards were taken into custody, according to Hafid al-Jubouri, the deputy governor for security in Diyala province. He said the security agents also confiscated laptop computers.
On Wednesday, forces in Baghdad arrested Riyad al-Adad, vice president of the Baghdad provincial council, on his way to the office, officials said.
All three Sunni politicians — Adad and the two in Diyala — are members of the Islamic Party of Iraq, Salim al-Jubouri said.
He said security forces are using the Hashimi case as an excuse to arrest other Sunni leaders.
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The raids, which followed the arrest two days earlier of a Sunni official in Baghdad, were carried out against the backdrop of a larger investigation of the country’s Sunni vice president, Tariq al-Hashimi. All the cases involve allegations of terrorism, officials said.
“Why don’t we hear about any kind of arrests or charges presented against members of the Shiite militia?” Salim al-Jubouri, the Sunni head of the Iraqi parliament’s Human Rights Committee, asked Friday.
Jubouri said more than 20 members of the Islamic Party of Iraq, a Sunni group, have been arrested on terrorism charges in the last two months. He said the suspects are all innocent.
Echoing assertions made this week by former Iraq prime minister Ayad Allawi, Jubouri said suspects are being tortured. “There are a lot inhumane ways that they are trying to take confessions,” he said.
A spokesman for Maliki could not be immediately reached for comment. In the past, Maliki has said he is committed to going after terrorists while treating all sects fairly.
In the Hashimi case, three of the vice president’s bodyguards have been shown on television confessing to carrying out bombings and assassinations at his request. The vice president has taken refuge in the country’s semiautonomous region of Kurdistan. He has said the charges against him are bogus and politically motivated by Maliki. The prime minister, meanwhile, said the matter is being handled by judicial authorities and urged Hashimi to return to Baghdad to face the charges.
On Friday morning, officials said, the special forces hit the home of Talal al-Jubouri, the Diyala province deputy governor in charge of planning, who was reported to be away on business and not arrested. The forces also raided the home of Ghadban al-Khazraji, another deputy governor.
Khazraji and several body guards were taken into custody, according to Hafid al-Jubouri, the deputy governor for security in Diyala province. He said the security agents also confiscated laptop computers.
On Wednesday, forces in Baghdad arrested Riyad al-Adad, vice president of the Baghdad provincial council, on his way to the office, officials said.
All three Sunni politicians — Adad and the two in Diyala — are members of the Islamic Party of Iraq, Salim al-Jubouri said.
He said security forces are using the Hashimi case as an excuse to arrest other Sunni leaders.
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