False arrest

last updated 8 January 2015

Baghdad

The U.S. military apologized this week after mistakenly arresting Iraq’s most important Sunni leader. Mohsen Abdul-Hamid heads Iraq’s largest Sunni Arab political party and was briefly president of the now-dissolved Iraqi Governing Council. He is known for his moderation and advocacy of dialogue with the majority Shiites. The military said it “regretted” that a case of mistaken identity led soldiers to raid the politician’s home, detaining him, his three sons, and several bodyguards. “They blew up our doors and dragged us out of the house like sheep,” Abdul-Hamid said. His fellow Iraqi Islamic Party officials were incensed. “The U.S. administration claims that it is interested in drawing Sunnis into the political process,” said IIP Secretary-General Tariq al-Hashimi, “but it seems that their way of doing so is by raids, arrests, and violating human rights.”