Posted on 10/01/2006 12:19:53 PM PDT by SandRat
BAGHDAD — Coalition Forces thwarted a potentially deadly attack on the International Zone this week, and officials responded to news reports citing unnamed senior military members as being critical of the Iraqi government.
Coalition forces detained an individual suspected of planning a multi-vehicle suicide operation inside Baghdad’s International Zone. They arrested the suspect at the residence of Dr. Adnan al Dulaymi in Baghdad Sept. 29. Dulaymi is the leader of the Iraqi Accordance Front, the main Sunni parliamentary bloc.
Credible intelligence indicates the individual, a member of Dulaymi’s personal security detachment, and seven members of the detained individual’s cell were in the final stages of launching a series of vehicle-borne improvised explosive attacks inside the International Zone, possibly involving suicide vests.
Coalition Force personnel detained the individual without incident, securing the area without physically entering the residence of Dulaymi at any point. They did conduct searches in the security trailer of the home and the suspect’s vehicle.
The detained individual has links to the VBIED network operating in the southern area of Baghdad. He is believed to be a member of al-Qaida in Iraq.
the Iraqi government imposed a city-wide curfew Sept. 30 in response to the planned attack, but the curfew ended Oct. 1 at 6 a.m.
On the same day the Coalition announced the failed plot to attack the International Zone, Multi-National Force-Iraq officials responded to news reports that cited unnamed senior military officials as being critical of Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his government.
MNF-I released the following statement:
“Recent news articles cite unnamed senior military officials as being critical of Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his government. These un-attributed comments do not reflect the close partnership between the Government of Iraq and Multi-National Force - Iraq. We fully support the courageous and decisive efforts of the Prime Minister and the [Government of Iraq].
"Prime Minister al-Maliki’s government is Iraq’s first democratically-elected government chosen by an overwhelming majority of voters and has made impressive progress in a very short time. As Gen. George W. Casey Jr., Commanding General, Multi-National Force – Iraq, said in an interview last week, “What I’ve seen in the four months he has been the Prime Minister here [is that] he is very capable and he’s doing a good job in a tough environment. He is a determined, courageous leader taking on some very difficult issues [Baghdad Security, reconciliation, militias and federalism]. He has an awful lot of challenges facing him, and I do believe he is very much up to the task.”
"Iraqis are taking control of their streets and their future and will soon serve as a model for democracy and freedom in the Middle East."
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