Senior Member of Sunni Party Arrested

[Barrett808]

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. forces arrested a senior member of an influential Sunni political party Tuesday after a dawn raid on his Baghdad home, party officials said.

Naseer Ayaef, a high-ranking member of the Iraqi Islamic Party, was taken into custody in the northwestern Jamiah neighborhood in retaliation for the party's opposition to the U.S.-led offensive on the rebel city of Fallujah, party official Ayad al-Samarrai told The Associated Press.

"This action is a kind of punishment to the (Iraqi) Islamic Party because we object to what is happening in Iraq, especially Fallujah and to the security policies adopted by the Americans and the Iraqi government," al-Samarrai said.

"We think that peaceful solutions and negotiations are the best way to solve problems away from violence. Such attitudes will complicate things in Iraq," he said.

Ayaef, a member of the interim Iraqi National Council, a government oversight body, was also part of the Fallujah delegation that tried and failed to negotiate peace talks with the central government.

(more)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20041116/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_political_arrest

[hatrack]

1. And this will accomplish . . . . what?

Yessirree, planting more seeds of democracy.

And the fact that he was arrested by US forces is just icing on the cake for the Iraqi resistance.

[lil-petunia]

2. Political leader? Arrested? For his opinions?

Hey, it is like looking into the crystal ball. the US of A next year.

[FormerOstrich]

3. How very democratic. Democracy on the March. n/t

[mike_c]

4. a bit of water-boarding in his future to encourage the march...

...of freedom. He made the critical mistake of trying to intercede when the U.S. military had its sights on a bloodbath.

[Huckebein the Raven]

5. But....But Freedom's on the march

/end bushbot mode

:grr:

[chiburb]

6. We hated him for his freedom...

So we took it.

[Roland99]

7. What?!?!? Thought police in Iraq? Democracy 2.0!

Vote it a '5', too

[dkofos]

8. * democracy

[damntexdem]

9. We're going to bring freedom and democracy to Iraq ...

and we'll arrest anyone who objects to how we do it.

"Live free or we'll jail you!"