I wish this were more of a surprise...
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Sept. 26 -- The American military said today that it had arrested a senior commander of the nascent Iraqi National Guard, raising concerns about the loyalty and reliability of the new security forces just months before general elections are scheduled to be held across the country.
The Iraqi commander, Brig. Gen. Talib Abid Ghayib al-Lahibi, based in the restive Diyala province, was arrested last Thursday for "having associations with known insurgents," the military said in a written statement.
Under the rule of Saddam Hussein, General Lahibi served as lieutenant general of an infantry unit in the Iraqi army, taught at the military college in Baghdad and led troops in the northern city of Mosul during the American-led invasion in March 2003, the American military said.
The military did not give further details on Mr. Lahibi's ties to the insurgency, and senior military commanders in Baghdad declined to provide more information at a news conference in the late afternoon. "I don't have any specifics on why he was picked up," one commander said.
The arrest is the most significant known one of an Iraqi commander who was supposed to help the American military fill the gaping security vacuum left by the ousting of Mr. Hussein and the dismantling of the Iraqi army. It raises questions about whether, in the haste to stand up a legitimate Iraqi force by recruiting former senior Baath Party officials, the Americans have signed on officials with questionable loyalties and abilities, and whether the military will have to conduct a more thorough review of such people as American soldiers gird themselves to try to retake such insurgent-controlled cities such as Falluja, Samarra and Baquba, the capital of Diyala province.
Read the whole article here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/26/international/middleeast/26CND-IRAQ.html (registration required)