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Residents carry coffins while protesting against US forces after US soldiers killed a policeman and a woman in an overnight raid that was condemned - Source: Reuters -
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Iraq considers a US military raid that killed two people a crime
and wants US forces to hand over those responsible to the courts,
an Iraqi official said.
Hundreds of Iraqis protested in the southern city of Kut against US
forces and the provincial governor also condemned the military
operation.
The US military had no immediate comment on the Iraqi stance
but said the raid was carried out with the full approval of Prime
Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government .
It said it had targeted special group fighters, its term for Shiite
militiamen the United States says are funded and armed by Iran, in
the operation early on Sunday in Kut, 150 km southeast of
Baghdad.
"The general commander is affirming that the killing of two
citizens and detaining of others in Kut is considered a violation
of the security pact," said an official in the office of Major
General Qassim Moussawi, Baghdad's security spokesman.
"He asks the commander of the multinational forces to release the
detainees and hand over those responsible for this crime to the
courts."
'General Commander' refers to Maliki.
Under the US-Iraqi security pact that came into force this year,
the 137,000 US troops in Iraq can no longer conduct military
operations without Iraqi approval.
The pact says US soldiers are immune from prosecution in Iraqi
courts unless they are suspected of grave crimes committed while
off duty outside their bases.
Two Iraqi military commanders who authorized the raid were detained
on the orders of the defense minister, spokesman Major General
Mohammed al-Askari said.
A committee had been sent to Kut to investigate.
"This committee has managed to get the six people detained by the
Americans released," he said.
Witness Nidhal Abdul Munem, the sister of the man killed in the
raid, choked back tears as she recounted her story.
"They invaded our house, shot my brother and my sister-in-law and
herded us into one area. All the while, we tried to ask, 'Why are
you doing this?'" she said.
Angry crowds
In a statement issued before the Iraqi government's condemnation,
the US military said its troops had shot and killed a man suspected
of being behind supplying weapons to the Shiite fighters.
A woman was killed in the crossfire, it said.
As a funeral procession made its way through Kut, carrying the
cloth-draped coffins of the two people killed in the raid,
protesters shouted angry slogans and demanded the release of the
seized men, calling Americans criminal occupiers.
"We condemn this horrific incident. Innocent people were killed and
the city is now very tense," said Latif al-Tarfa, governor of Wasit
province.
US First Lieutenant John Brimley said the women killed was in the
area with a suspect and moved into the line of fire.
She died of her wounds before she could be evacuated.
But Iraqi police Major Aziz al-Amara, who commands a rapid reaction
force in Kut, said all of those targeted in the raid were
innocent.
One of those arrested was a police captain.
Wasit deputy governing council head Mehdi al-Makosi said the
families of the victims were pursuing a legal case against the
soldiers who carried out the raid.
The raid was mounted just months before US combat troops are due to
withdraw from Iraqi cities.
US President Barack Obama has ordered all US combat operations
in Iraq to cease in August 2010 before the full withdrawal by the
end of 2011.
Kut and surrounding Wasit province were the last area south of
Baghdad to be handed over to Iraqi forces last October.
Wasit province was the scene of fighting during an uprising by
followers of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in March and April last
year but like other parts of the south has since become largely
quiet as Sadr's followers observe a ceasefire.
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