U.S. raid on Iranian consulate angers Kurds

Story Highlights

• NEW: Kurdish regional government objects to U.S. action
• NEW: Bomb carried by 13-year-old boy kills Iraqi soldier
• U.S. official confirms Iranian detentions, disputes reports of raid
• Australia, Britain say they will not contribute more troops

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The U.S. military operation Thursday in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil that resulted in the arrests of six Iranians has drawn a sharp denunciation from Iraq's Kurdish regional government.

A spokesman for the autonomous regional government and its presidency expressed their "alarm" and condemned the Thursday morning operation.

They characterized it as a raid on the Iranian consulate in Irbil, "which opened in the provincial capital in an agreement between the Iraqi government and the Iranian government."

The Kurdish regional government is based in Irbil.

The Kurdish statement, which includes a call for the immediate release of the detainees, says the consulate is entitled to immunity in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963.

The statement also says the Kurdish government, which covers the provinces of Irbil, Sulaimaniya and Duhuk, needs to be informed when such actions are taken.

In Washington, a U.S. official confirmed that six Iranian officials were detained for questioning. But he disputed accounts that troops broke open a consulate gate and conducted a raid.

"No shots were fired. No altercation ensued," said the official. "It was a knock on the door and, 'Please come out.' "

The official also explained that the Iranians in question were not inside an officially designated diplomatic consulate or embassy-like building.

The official would not identify the six Iranian officials or say why they were being questioned. (Watch Iraqis express skepticism about President Bush's new plan for the war )

The U.S. military earlier issued a statement about six detentions during "routine security operations in northern Iraq," but didn't specify where the incident took place.

The military, in a statement, said it "took six individuals into custody suspected of being closely tied to activities targeting Iraqi and coalition forces."

"This operation was part of an ongoing effort by coalition forces targeting individuals involved in activities aimed at the killing of Iraqi citizens and coalition forces. The suspects surrendered without incident."

Iran's government-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported five people were detained and said U.S. forces disarmed guards, broke open the consulate gate and confiscated computers and documents.

IRNA reported that the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad "has sent a letter of protest to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry for the illegal move" and "called on the Iraqi government to help obtain the immediate release of its five detained staff."

One Kurdish lawmaker said computer files, documents and other equipment were confiscated in the raid, adding the nationality of those arrested could not be immediately confirmed. According to the lawmaker, the operation was conducted near the Kurdish Parliament compound in Irbil.

Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh confirmed the six detentions and said the government is awaiting more information from the United States and Iran before it issues an official position on the incident.

He said the government wants to know who the detained people are.

Iraq's state-run television network, Al-Iraqiya, said the forces raided an "Iranian consulate," but the Iraqi Foreign Ministry described the building as a "diplomatic representation."

Other news reports in Iran are referring to the incident as a kidnapping that coincided with President Bush's announcement of his new military strategy in Iraq.

Last month, the U.S. military arrested at least four Iranians in raids in Iraq, including two diplomats, prompting Iraqi President Jalal Talabani to express dismay. A U.S. official said those Iranians were suspected of involvement in attacks against U.S. forces.

Thursday's developments came as President Bush announced a U.S. troop increase of more than 20,000 in Iraq and denounced Iran and Syria for fomenting violence in war-torn country. (Watch how risky -- or feasible -- Bush's plan for Iraq is )

In an address Wednesday night, Bush vowed that U.S. troops "will interrupt the flow of support from Iran and Syria" to insurgents inside Iraq. (Full story)

Both Tehran and Damascus denounced his plans Thursday and said an increase of U.S. troops in Iraq will only increase bloodshed, The Associated Press reported.

Deadly ambushes in Iraq

Gunmen opened fire Thursday in Baghdad on a car carrying police officers in civilian clothing, killing five of them as they headed home, a police official said.

The attack happened the Khadhra neighborhood, where the police officers were stationed, the official said.

Meanwhile, 11 Shiite pilgrims were shot and killed in an ambush Wednesday as they returned home in a caravan from the Hajj in Saudi Arabia.

Fourteen others were wounded during the attack close to Nukhaib, an Iraqi town near the Iraq-Saudi border in Anbar province, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said. (Full story)

Other developments

An improvised explosive device carried by a 13-year-old boy in dangerous Anbar province killed an Iraqi soldier and the boy on Wednesday, the U.S. military said. It is not known if the boy knew he was carrying the explosive, the U.S. military said Thursday.

Timothy Carney, a former U.S. ambassador to Haiti, has been appointed to oversee American reconstruction efforts in Iraq, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday . The position was created in line with Bush's revamped Iraq strategy, which aims for a better balance of U.S. military and nonmilitary efforts to stop the violence. Carney was an adviser for the Iraqi Ministry of Industry and Minerals in 2003.

Britain welcomes Bush's plan to send more troops but won't contribute additional forces of its own, British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said Thursday. Beckett said Britain was continuing to work "progressively" on handing over security to Iraqis in Basra, the southern city where most of the 7,000-plus British troops are based. (Full story)

Australian Prime Minister John Howard also said his country backs the proposal but won't add troops, Reuters reported. (Full story)

CNN's Shirzad Bozorgmehr, Sam Dagher, Kathleen Koch and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.

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