IRAQ:IRAQI OFFICIALS said on Saturday that a raid on Friday by US special forces killed a relative of prime minister Nouri al-Maliki. The killing has sparked a row between Baghdad and Washington during crucial negotiations on the status of US forces once the UN mandate ends in December.
The operation involved a helicopter landing of 60 troops who, acting on a tip-off, targeted a private home in the town of Janaja in the Shia majority province of Kerbala, handed over to Iraqi military control in October 2007.
Ali Abdel Hussein Razak al-Maliki, who was not only the first cousin of the premier but who also belonged to his personal protection unit, died when the soldiers entered his room and shot him while other members of the family were being held in another room.
Kerbala governor Aqeel al-Khazaly expressed shock at the news.
"The aerial landing and subsequent operations led to the death of an innocent civilian and the arrest of another," he said.
The detained man was identified as Hussein Nima, a visitor to the town. Mr al-Khazaly said Iraqi officials had not been informed of the operation and called it a breach of the transfer arrangement. He called for an investigation and demanded that soldiers involved should "face Iraqi courts".
A US military official said there was concern that the incident could have a negative impact on the already highly-sensitive negotiations.
Ministers, legislators and Iraqi citizens have expressed opposition to any status of forces agreement with Washington if Iraqis are not granted the right to authorise US operations, particularly in the nine of 18 provinces transferred to Iraqi control.
"We are afraid now of signing the long-term pact between Iraq and America because of such unjustified violations by the troops. Handing over security in provinces doesn't mean anything to the American troops," said Mohamed Hussein al-Musawi, a senior member of Mr al-Maliki's Dawa party.
"We condemn these barbaric actions not only when they target a relative of Maliki's, but when any Iraqi is targeted in the same way."
Since the US invaded and occupied Iraq in 2003, US forces have carried out tens of thousands of similar raids at Iraqi homes, seizing and shooting suspects, frightening family members, and destroying possessions.
Consequently, most Iraqis insist that US troops should be held accountable for their actions under local law, a demand Washington is not prepared to concede although it has, reportedly, accepted that 150,000 civilian contractors employed by the US in Iraq will not be given immunity.
Kurdish deputy Mahmoud Othman said the raid was "a big embarrassment" for the prime minister because he was in the area two days earlier telling people "we are the masters in our country and the decisions are ours to make".
