Iraqi president urges release of Iranian detainee

[Eugene]

Source: CNN

updated 3 hours, 47 minutes ago

Iraqi president urges release of Iranian detainee

# Story Highlights
# In letter, Jalal Talabani says detainee is civil
   servant on trade mission
# U.S. military says man belongs to elite unit that
   trains, equips insurgents
# Man was merely doing business in Kurdistan region,
   Talabani says
# Iran threatens to close border, which would harm
   trade, he says

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has
blasted the United States for the arrest Thursday of an
Iranian and called for his immediate release.

The U.S. military said the detainee is a member of an elite
Iranian unit that has been accused of training and equipping
insurgents in Iraq, but Talabani said he is a civil servant
who was on an official trade mission in Iraq's Kurdistan
region.

The "letter of resentment" was dated Thursday and addressed
to Ryan Crocker, U.S. ambassador to Iraq, and Gen. John
Petraeus. Presumably, the Iraqi president was referring to
U.S. Gen. David Petraeus, commander of multinational forces
in Iraq.

-snip-

As a result of the incident, Tehran threatened to close its
border with the Kurdistan region unless the detainee, identified
as Agay Mahmoody Farhadi, is released. Closing the border
would cause "severe damage to markets and trade in the
province on this blessed month," Talabani said, referring to
Ramadan.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/09/22/talabani.letter/index.html

---

Source: BBC News

Last Updated: Saturday, 22 September 2007, 18:06 GMT 19:06 UK

US urged to free Iranian 'guest'

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has called for the immediate
release of an Iranian official detained by US forces in the
semi-autonomous Kurdish north.

Mr Talabani said the US had humiliated the Kurdish
authorities by ignoring their laws and failing to consult
them.

US officials said the man belonged to Iran's Revolutionary
Guards and that he was involved in smuggling explosives.

Both the Iraqi Kurds and Tehran insist the man was an
Iranian trade official in Iraq on the invitation of the
Kurds.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7008610.stm

[rodeodance]

1. do you think if we upset the leaders enough they will ask us to leave?