Iraq arrests cooks after hundreds of police poisoned

[sabra]

http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=145913

Iraq arrests cooks after hundreds of police poisoned

Iraqi authorities have arrested a produce supplier and four cooks after hundreds of police fell sick at their training barracks in an apparent bout of food poisoning, a spokesman said.

Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier General Abdel-Karim Khalaf dismissed earlier reports from officers at the barracks that three officers had died, but confirmed that an investigation was underway involving the five suspects.

"For the moment, we are still proceeding on the basis that this was unintentional. For the moment," he told AFP Monday.

Colonel Badr al-Ziadi said his men started falling ill immediately after breaking their daylight Ramadan fast on Sunday at the Numaniyah training base in eastern Iraq, and that 60 of them had required hospital treatment.

"We are not sure whether there was something in the water or if the food was spoiled," the officer from the 4th police division, a largely Shiite unit answering to the interior ministry, told AFP.

[lcordero2]

1. hmmmmmm

The press had reported before that the police was infiltrated by militia. If anybody wants to find somebody with a motive...

[Drum]

2. Goin' old-school! nt

[TexasLawyer]

3. You don't bleed from your ears

with food poisoning.

Also it generally takes hours for food poisoning to manifest itself (been there). It sounded from reports that the victims were seized by bleeding and convulsions at the table-- way too fast for food poisoning.