NYT : Hundreds of Iraqi Policemen Sickened by Meal

Hundreds of Iraqi Policemen Sickened by Meal

By MICHAEL LUO | October 9, 2006

BAGHDAD, Oct. 9 — Hundreds of Iraqi policemen fell sick during a meal at a base in the southern city of Kut on Sunday, and the government was investigating whether it was a deliberate poisoning, an Iraqi armed forces spokesman said today.

Between 350 and 400 policemen from the Fourth Division of the Iraqi National Police were sickened, but they were all treated at a hospital and returned to work, the spokesman said.

The incident took place during the month of Ramadan, in which Muslims abstain from food during the day and break their fast with a communal meal. The sickening of the policemen apparently raised suspicions because the Iraqi police have often been targets of attacks by insurgents or criminals who are opposed to the authority of the new government and its forces.

The army spokesman’s statement said that a number of suspects were arrested, including the restaurant contractor. A police spokesman in Kut said that test samples were sent to Baghdad and that the hospital believed the cases were caused by food poisoning.

The army spokesman’s statement contained fewer casualties than other reports. Lt. Col. Hasan Nima, an official at the base, said at least 1,350 of the 2,000 policemen were hospitalized, and other police sources there said seven people had died, Reuters reported.

Several attacks against the Iraqi police took place on Sunday, an Interior Ministry official said. A roadside explosion in central Baghdad at 6:30 a.m. wounded six police officers. Another roadside bomb went off in the western Baghdad neighborhood of Amel as an Iraqi police patrol passed, wounding one officer, and a mortar attack near an Iraqi police checkpoint in the Waziriya neighborhood killed one police officer and wounded another and a civilian, the official said.

Today’s army statement also said that four suspects who had been arrested in the southern city of Diwaniya on Sunday were being questioned. The spokesman was referring to a fierce battle that American and Iraqi troops fought on Sunday with militants in the city, which is a stronghold of militia members loyal to the radical Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr.

The American military said in a statement on Sunday that one of the four people arrested on Sunday was a “high-value target” believed to have been involved in the killings of Iraqi Army soldiers on Aug. 28.

The United States military said on Sunday that an Abrams tank was severely damaged by rocket-propelled grenades fired by up to 10 teams of Mahdi Army militiamen in the Diwaniya battle.. No Iraqi or American troop casualties were reported, but 30 militiamen were killed, the military said. An official of the Sadr militia disputed that figure.

The skirmish, which shook the Shiite city overnight with heavy machine-gun fire and explosions, was the third serious clash between American or Iraqi soldiers against members of the Mahdi Army in Diwaniya in less than two months.

In late August, Iraqi Army troops battled militiamen for 14 hours, killing at least 20 of them but losing 23 of their own. Last month, a joint Iraqi and American patrol raided one of Mr. Sadr’s offices, leading to a three-hour exchange of gunfire between militia forces and Iraqi police commandos.

Abdul Razzaq al-Nedawi, the head of Mr. Sadr’s office in Diwaniya, said residents were surprised Sunday when American troops began raiding homes in three residential neighborhoods in the middle of the night.

“There was an agreement with the Iraqi government that U.S. forces would not enter residential areas in this city,” he said. “This agreement was made through a channel linked to the office of the prime minister.”

Mr. Nedawi denied that any Mahdi Army fighters were killed. Three were wounded, he said, one seriously. Hameed al-Shawali, an official from the Diwaniya Health Ministry, said the city’s hospital treated six of the wounded and received no bodies.

The fighting was touched off in the early morning hours when the home of Kefeh al-Greiti, a Mahdi commander, was raided, The Associated Press reported.

“The Americans had a list of wanted people from the Sadr movement,” said Mr. Nedawi, adding that Mr. Greiti eluded capture.

In the aftermath of the lengthy battle in August, Iraqi Army officials had accused Mahdi fighters of executing a group of soldiers in a public square in front of residents.

American officials have been increasing the pressure in recent weeks on Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, a conservative Shiite, to rein in armed militias like the Mahdi Army, calling them the greatest threat to Iraq’s future.

American military officials have pledged to tackle every problematic neighborhood in Baghdad, including Sadr City, the Shiite slum in eastern Baghdad that is controlled by the militia.

But a major confrontation with forces loyal to Mr. Sadr, which number about 7,000 militiamen in Baghdad alone, would be delicate for Mr. Maliki, who relies on Mr. Sadr for support against other rival Shiite politicians. Mr. Sadr is popular among impoverished Shiites and has become increasingly powerful politically. His candidate list won about 30 seats in the most recent Parliament, more than most parties.

Khalid al-Ansary, Abdul Razzaq al-Saiedi and Iraqi employees of The New York Times contributed reporting from Baghdad, and Carlotta Gall from Kabul, Afghanistan. Christine Hauser contributed from New York.