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Iraqi Islamic Party Leader Arrested May 30, 2005 BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S. troops detained the head of Iraq's (search) largest Sunni Muslim political party during a house raid early Monday in western Baghdad, a top party official and police said. Mohsen Abdul Hamid (search), head of the Iraqi Islamic Party (search), was detained by American soldiers along with his three sons and four guards, said party-secretary-general Ayad al-Samarei. U.S. military officials could not immediately confirm the detentions. Al-Samarei said American soldiers raided Hamid's home at around 6 a.m. and confiscated various items, including a computer. "This is a provocative and...

BAGHDAD, May 30 (Reuters) - U.S. troops arrested the leader of one of Iraq's main Sunni Arab political parties at his house in Baghdad on Monday, party officials said. The U.S. military had no immediate comment on the arrest of Mohsen Abdul-Hamid, head of the Iraqi Islamic Party. The party officials said it was not clear why he was arrested. The party boycotted Iraq's Jan. 30 elections but was among several Sunni Arab groups that signalled this month that they were ready to take a greater role in the country's politics. Iraq's parliament, dominated by Shi'ites and Kurds, has...

A leading Sunni Muslim political party pulled out of Iraq's US-backed interim government today in protest at the onslaught by American forces on the rebel-held city of Falluja. "The Iraqi Islamic Party has decided to withdraw from the government in protest against the attack on Falluja that is harming the people," said Mohsen Abdul Hamid, senior party official and member of Iraq's provisional National Assembly. US forces pushed deeper into Falluja today in an assault to root out foreign Islamic militants and Saddam Hussein loyalists they say are entrenched in the Sunni Muslim city. The party's decision to quit the...