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Baghdad, Jan 11,
IRNA - US forces raided the
Iranian consulate in the Iraqi northern city of Erbil and arrested five of its
staff, it was announced Thursday. After
disarming the consulate's guards and breaking open its gate, the US troops
entered the consulate building, reliable sources told IRNA this morning.
The US forces stormed the building at about 5 am
(local time), arrested its five staff members and confiscated computers and
documents, the sources added.
The Islamic Republic of Iran set up its consulate in
Erbil in response to the official request of the government in this Kurdish
region in order to facilitate traffic of the two countries' nationals.
Erbil is a city in the Kurdish-controlled north of
Iraq, 350 kilometers (220 miles) from Baghdad.
The Iranian embassy in Baghdad sent a letter to the
Iraqi Foreign Ministry this morning protesting the US' illegal move.
In its protest letter, the Iranian embassy called on
the Iraqi government to help obtain the immediate release of its five detained
staff.
US occupying forces had previously detained two
Iranian diplomats entering Baghdad at the official invitation of the Iraqi
president.
Iran's FM spokesman says US wants to continue the occupation
of Iraq
Tehran, Jan 11, IRNA - Iranian
Foreign Ministry spokesman
Mohammad-Ali Hosseini on Thursday said US President George W Bush's new strategy
for Iraq announced Wednesday was intended to continue the US occupation of that
country.
Condemning the new strategy, he said Bush's decision to increase the
number of its troops in Iraq comes as "an unpleasant present to the American
people for the new Christian year."
Bush's decision to increase the
number of US military troops in Iraq will only result in further insecurity and
tension in that occupied country, he said, adding that an increase in troops
will not solve the Iraqi problem.
Alluding to Bush's accusations of Iranian and Syrian
interference in Iraq's domestic affairs, the spokesman said Washington was
seeking pretexts for its failed policies in the country.
He said an immediate withdrawal of US troops from
Iraq would be the only way of solving the US' numerous problems in that country.
He said Washington's decision to deploy Patriot
missiles over Iraq is intended to bolster its support for the Zionist regime
purportedly to protect the Islamic state. "We and all world Muslims condemn such
a move," Hosseini added.
He further criticized the appointment of a
coordinator for Iraqi affairs by Bush as an indication of Washington's open
interference in Iraqi domestic affairs.
In other developments, US forces raided the Iranian
consulate in the Iraqi northern city of Erbil, arrested its five staff members
and confiscated computers and documents early Thursday morning.
Erbil, a main city in the Kurdish-controlled north of
Iraq, is 350 kilometers (220 miles) from Baghdad.
The Iranian embassy in Baghdad has sent a letter of
protest to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry for the illegal move.
It has called on the Iraqi government to help obtain
the immediate release of its five detained staff.
US troops had no
legal right to enter Iran's consulate: Iraqi security official
Baghdad, Jan 11, IRNA-
An Iraqi Kurdish security
official said Thursday that US forces who raided the Iranian consulate in the
Iraqi northern city of Erbil had no right to conduct the raid.
Talking to IRNA on condition of anonymity, he said
the government of Iraqi Kurdistan is responsible for maintaining security in the
entire region.
The government of Iraqi Kurdistan was in no way
informed of the storming of the Iranian consulate by US forces, he said, adding
that the region's security forces were cognizant of the legal activities of the
Iranian consulate.
The Islamic Republic of Iran set up its consulate in
Erbil upon the request of the province's governor-general to facilate exchanges
of the two countries' nationals two year ago and was under the supervision of
the government of this Kurdish region, the the official added.
Kurdish security forces are responsible for guarding
the Iranian consulate, he said, adding that the US forces disarmed the Kurdish
guards of the consulate and used force to enter the building.
US forces stormed the consulate at about 5 am (local
time), arrested its five staff members and confiscated computers and documents,
reliable sources said.
Erbil, a city in the Kurdish-controlled north of
Iraq, is 350 kilometers (220 miles) from Baghdad.
There is still no news about the whereabouts of the
Iranian consulate staffers who were forcibly taken by the US forces after their
raid.
The Iranian embassy in Baghdad has sent a letter to
the Iraqi Foreign Ministry protesting the US' illegal move.
In its protest letter, the Iranian embassy called on
the Iraqi government to help obtain the immediate release of its five detained
staff.
US occupying forces had previously detained two
Iranian diplomats entering Baghdad at the official invitation of the Iraqi
president.
Iraq calls for best relations with Iran,
Syria, US
Baghdad, Jan 11, IRNA- Spokesman for the Iraqi government, Ali
al-Dabagh on Thursday declared his country's call for most favorable relations
with Iran, Syria and the US.
Speaking to reporters, he said that Iraq's ties
with Iran and Syria will never be affected by Iraq-US relations and the ongoing
tensions observed in the US relations with Syria and Iran.
Meanwhile, he said that the instability in Iraq is
related to tensions in the US relations with some regional states, adding that
Iraq is paying for such tension between its neighboring countries and the US.
The Iraqi official added that his country will do
its best to improve the US relations with Iran as well as Syria and converge
their views.
Al-Dabagh said, "The Iraqi government hopes that
none of the neighboring states will interfere in Iraq's internal affairs, just
as Iraq avoids such interference."
Concerning the new strategy of President George
W. Bush on Iraq, he said that it underlines ceding the responsibility for the
security to Iraqi forces, adding that Iraq welcomes such a strategy by the US.
Turning to the rotating tour of the US Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice to the Middle East as one serving the interests of
Washington, he said, "She will undoubtedly remind the regional states that the
security of the region is interconnected with that of Iraq.
"The US secretary of state will call on the
regional countries to help the Iraqi government promote stability and security."
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