Iraq Minister Dismisses Coup Plot

Saturday, December 20, 2008 at 1:23 pm

Iraq Minister Dismisses Coup Plot Iraq’s Interior Minister vigorously denied reports that the arrest of several officers was related to a plot to overthrow the government. “It is a big lie. The public must understand this,” Interior Minister Jawad Bolani said at a news conference the day after Baghdad was seized by rumors surrounding the arrest of more than 20 officers from Iraq’s interior and defense ministries. “It was clearly motivated by politics and was not related to security,” said Bolani, an independent Shi’ite who is seen as having largely wrested Iraq’s strategic Interior Ministry from the grip of militias. The New York Times reported Thursday that a spate of arrests of ministry officials was linked to suspected attempts to reconstitute Saddam Hussein’s banned Baath party and that some of those arrested were believed to be plotting a coup. The report sent shockwaves around Baghdad, where politicians are gearing up for provincial elections in January and struggling to find political unity after more than five years of war. Thursday, an Interior Ministry spokesman said the 23 arrested officers were under suspicion of being part of the al-Awda (“Return”) party, seen as a new incarnation of the once omnipotent Baath party outlawed after the U.S-led invasion. Defense Ministry officials also were detained, the office of the general commander said.

Iraq Minister Dismisses Coup Plot

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