The spin is he was part of a commercial delegation, but official sources claim he was involved in smuggling IED's, as well as in the training of terrorists.
The US military said it seized an Iranian officer accused of smuggling bombs in northern Iraq on Thursday, as an American commander said Iraq is emerging from the most violent phase of the war.
The commander told reporters that violence across Iraq has fallen to its lowest level since early 2006.
US troops raided a hotel in the majority Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah, a military statement said, and detained an Iranian it said was an officer of the Quds Force, the covert operations arm of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards.
He was the latest Iranian national to be detained in Iraq by the US military, which accuses Iran of helping fund and arm Shiite militia groups in the country's bloody sectarian conflict.
"Contrary to recent diplomatic initiatives, this individual has been involved in transporting improvised explosive devices and explosively formed penetrators (EFPs) into Iraq," the US statement said.
EFPs, which on being detonated emit a white-hot slug of molten copper that can cut through the armoured skins of US military vehicles, have been blamed for the deaths of at least 200 US service personnel since May 2004.
"Intelligence reports also indicate he was involved in the infiltration and training of foreign terrorists in Iraq," the statement said.
For some reason The Boy Who Cried Wolf comes to mind.........
Posted by: nowingker | Thursday, September 20, 2007 at 04:52 PM
go figure
Posted by: Cindi | Thursday, September 20, 2007 at 05:36 PM