Resistance operations continue, detention of al-Salafeyah leaders
Iraq-USA, Military, 1/2/2004

The American forces detained some 20 members of of the higher commission for al-Dawa, Irshad and al-Fatwa ( Call, Guide and Fatwa ), in Iraq, at Ibn Teimeyah mosque, during breaking-in operations carried out by the occupation forces.

News reports in Baghdad said that among the detainees are one Sheikh of the "higher commission for guidance and religious awareness," Mahdi Saleh al-Sumeid'e, the representative of the Salafeyah faction in the Sunni Shoura council, as well as 20 of his supporters.

The news reports added that the detention operation was made during a breaking in operation into a mosque, where preparations were made for the meeting of members of the higher commission for "al-Dawa al-Irshad and al-Fatwa" in order to discuss issues pertinent to the commission and its links to the Sunni Shoura council.

The higher commission for Irshad is considered a member in the Sunni Shoura council. A unified Sunni commission aims at avoiding being margined.

Member of the al-Dawa and al-Irshad commission, Fakhri al-Qeisi, deplored the detention operation in being an attempt to prevent the natural birth of the Sunni reference, and comes in the context of violating the sanctity of mosques ( houses of God ) in Iraq.

The chairman of the Sunni endowment council in Iraq, Adnan Muhammad Salman, called on the coalition forces to honor and respect mosques and worshippers.

On the other hand, several American soldiers were wounded after their helicopters was forced to land in the north of Iraq, in what was believed to be a resistance operation.

One American spokesman ruled out that the plane was exposed to resistance fire, noting that the plane was obliged to land because of a mechanical damage, and that there is nothing to indicate that the landing of the plane was a result of an attack.

In Tikrit and Bqouba, the American forces carried out breaking in operations during which several persons were detained, and large amounts of weapons were confiscated.

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