Iraqi soldiers free 8 kidnapped tribal leaders [View All]

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Iraqi soldiers free 8 kidnapped tribal leaders
29 Oct 2007 17:21:58 GMT

BAGHDAD, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Iraqi soldiers freed eight
kidnapped tribal leaders on Monday in a raid on a house
near Baghdad where they were being held, and are
searching for three others seized at the same time, the
government said.

Eleven tribal sheikhs, some Sunni and some Shi'ite, were
seized on Sunday while returning to Diyala province
northeast of Baghdad after talks with a representative
of Iraq's prime minister. They were members of a group
set up to fight al Qaeda in Diyala.

A Defence Ministry spokesman said troops raided the
house after tip-offs from local residents. They said
another location was also being raided as part of efforts
to find the three tribal leaders who were still missing.

-snip-

The U.S. military said it had information that Arkan
Hasnawi, a former brigade commander in the Mehdi Army
militia loyal to radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, was
behind the kidnappings.

-snip-

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