2ND Baghdad curfew was in response to "coup attempt" - MP

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Sunday October 1, 2006

Baghdad- A blanket 36-hour curfew imposed on the Iraqi capital Baghdad from Friday evening was in response to an information leak concerning a possible coup attempt, according to an Iraqi Shiite parliamentary deputy. Iraqi press reports on Sunday quoted Bahaa al-Araji of the United Iraqi Alliance as saying that the alleged coup plot had been masterminded by supporters of ex-dictator Saddam Hussein and of the former ruling Baath party.

Security officials had according to al-Araji told several MPs that a coup attempt had been uncovered.

"It was not a serious attempt though," said al-Araji. "It was more like a message from the Takfiris (Islamic extremists) and Saddamis telling us that they are still there, have power, and that they can do whatever they want," al-Araji said.

A total curfew was imposed on Baghdad Friday evening and ran until Sunday morning.

The curfew was linked to the detainment of Sunni Iraqi MP Adnan al-Dulaimi's bodyguard on suspicion that he was plotting to carry out bomb attacks inside Baghdad's heavily-fortified Green Zone. However, it was not clear whether the two incidents were connected.

In other developments meanwhile, a total of 23 corpses of people apparently shot to death were discovered around Baghdad following a 36-hours blanket curfew imposed on the Iraqi capital, police said.

The victims were found blindfolded and with their hands and bodies tied up and bore signs of torture and gunshots. They were scattered around various streets in Baghdad.

The identities of the victims had not yet been determined.

The finds, the latest in the long-running sectarian strife in Iraq, came as meanwhile the situation in Baghdad seemed to return to normal after the curfew.

Schools, government institutions, big markets and trade shops opened their doors again early Sunday while US army and Iraqi police patrolled districts and streets across Baghdad.

Also in Baghdad, Iraqi national security advisor Mowafaq al-Rubaei said that Iraqi forces are closing in on top leader of the al-Qaeda faction in Iraq, Abu Ayub al-Masri.

"Through the will of the Iraqi people" we will get him soon, either dead or shackled by the hands (alive)," al-Rubaei said.

He showed a video tape, which the police forces had reportedly obtained a few days earlier, showing al-Masri training a group of his followers on how to assemble a hand-made-type car bomb, pointing out different elements of the explosive device and showing them how to plant it in a vehicle.

Police sources said that the tape was taken in the area of al- Yusufiya, south of Baghdad. It is not clear, however, how the Iraqi police obtained the tape. Independent confirmation of an imminent action against al-Masri was also not available.

In another development in Mosul, 400 kilometres north of Baghdad, US forces said Sunday morning that an American soldier died Saturday from injuries suffered in a Humvee accident.

An investigation is currently underway, the US army said.

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency