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Iraq releases man held in slayings of U.S. soldiers
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| Contributor | Brandonius Maximus |
| Last Edited | Brandonius Maximus Jun 09, 2009 05:35pm |
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| Category | News |
| Media | TV News - CNN |
| News Date | Tuesday, June 9, 2009 11:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- In a goodwill gesture to militant groups, the Iraqi government has freed a man who had been held in connection with the killing of five U.S. soldiers, a government spokesman said Tuesday.
The release of Laith al-Khazali on Sunday comes after recent media reports that he would be among a number of militiamen -- all with links to Iran -- who would be released in exchange for the freeing of five British hostages.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said al-Khazali's release was not linked to any rumored negotiations about the British hostages or to any other deal.
Al-Khazali's release was a gesture by the Iraqi government as part of the national reconciliation process with militant groups, al-Dabbagh told CNN.
Al-Khazali was detained in March 2007 along with his brother, Qais, in connection with the killing two months earlier of five U.S. soldiers who were in the central city of Karbala.
In that attack, nine to 12 gunmen in five SUVs, wearing "American-looking uniforms" and carrying "U.S.-type weapons," drove through checkpoints before opening fire on U.S. soldiers in the Karbala government compound, the U.S. military said.
One soldier was killed at the scene. The attackers drove off with four other soldiers, three of whom were later found fatally shot in a neighboring province and one of whom was found alive with a gunshot wound. That wounded soldier died en route to a hospital, the military said. |
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