While an Iraqi Interior ministry spokesman has denied reports that the dozens of detainees were involved in a coup plot against the Iraqi government, reports and speculation continue to swirl about the high-level raid and the aftermath, all citing "well-placed sources" who offer contradictory interpretations of the motivations and events.
Iraqi ministry spokesman Abd al-Karim Khalaf told journalists that the men were arrested for "breaking the law" and others for being in "inappropriate health conditions," adding that investigations were ongoing and that no detainee has yet been faced with any specific charges, and dismissing suggestions that the Interior ministry could have been subject to a coup plot, saying that the security forces are capable of defending themselves.
However, other reports in Arabic are emerging that Iraqi Army units have in fact surrounded the residence of the same Interior Ministry official, Abd al-Karim Khalaf. Details are sketchy on the reported reasons for this operation. One security source told Islam Memo that the deployment is likely related to the reported arrests at the Interior and Defense ministries, while Buratha News, affiliated with the pro-government Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq has reported that its sources confirm the deployment but deny any link with the earlier arrests in the alleged coup plot, linking the matter to "deceitful charges" against the Interior Ministry official by Iraqi MP Muhammad al-Dayni, related to security operations in Diyala province, without explaining further.
The Sadrist Nahrain Net says its sources in the security agencies link the arrests to the infiltration of Ba'thist elements into the security forces, which it in turn links to the integration of Sahwa elements into the security agencies. The Sadrist site also stresses a connection that it says its sources identified between two of the detainees and an American officer, with whom it says the men worked "in an earlier stage." Nahrain Net suggests in its reporting that its unidentified security sources suspect that the men were indeed involved in some form of "conspiracy," adding that the "elite force" that seized the men found "large sums" of money, and that interrogations are ongoing.
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