Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Media: AFP
Byline:
Date: 23 October 2006
AMARA, Iraq, Oct 23, 2006 (AFP) - The Iraqi army declared a curfew in the
streets of the southern city of Amara on Monday amid mounting tension two
days after clashes erupted beteen police and Shiite militia.
"These are precautionary measures to prevent tension in the city," said
defence ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari. "The curfew was imposed upon
agreement between the prime minister and the defence minister."
As he spoke militia supporters were gathering near one of the offices of
radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's political movement in Amara and denouncing
the death of one of their leaders, allegedly in police custody.
Last week Hussein al-Bahdli, the brother of Mahdi Army militia commander
Fadhel al-Bahdli, was detained in Amara on suspicion of murdering a senior
police intelligence officer with ties to another Shiite political party.
The arrest triggered two days of violence in which at least 24 people were
killed and Mahdi Army fighters burned down two police stations, forcing the
army to send more than 2,000 reinforcements into the city.
On Monday, the spokesman for Sadr's office in Amara, Oda al-Bahrani,
accused the police of torturing the suspect to death.
"We found Hussein's body dumped 26 kilometres (16 miles) west of Amara. He
had been shot dead and tortured," he said, as Mahdi Army partisans held a
brief but angry funeral for their dead comrade.
Following this accusation the mood in the city darkened once more, and
Iraqi Army troops could be seen deploying onto the streets to keep order.
Byline:
Date: 23 October 2006
AMARA, Iraq, Oct 23, 2006 (AFP) - The Iraqi army declared a curfew in the
streets of the southern city of Amara on Monday amid mounting tension two
days after clashes erupted beteen police and Shiite militia.
"These are precautionary measures to prevent tension in the city," said
defence ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari. "The curfew was imposed upon
agreement between the prime minister and the defence minister."
As he spoke militia supporters were gathering near one of the offices of
radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's political movement in Amara and denouncing
the death of one of their leaders, allegedly in police custody.
Last week Hussein al-Bahdli, the brother of Mahdi Army militia commander
Fadhel al-Bahdli, was detained in Amara on suspicion of murdering a senior
police intelligence officer with ties to another Shiite political party.
The arrest triggered two days of violence in which at least 24 people were
killed and Mahdi Army fighters burned down two police stations, forcing the
army to send more than 2,000 reinforcements into the city.
On Monday, the spokesman for Sadr's office in Amara, Oda al-Bahrani,
accused the police of torturing the suspect to death.
"We found Hussein's body dumped 26 kilometres (16 miles) west of Amara. He
had been shot dead and tortured," he said, as Mahdi Army partisans held a
brief but angry funeral for their dead comrade.
Following this accusation the mood in the city darkened once more, and
Iraqi Army troops could be seen deploying onto the streets to keep order.