Four Americans Held in Iraq over Suspicious Activity

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Four Americans were being held by security forces after they were stopped for "suspicious" activity in the center of Baghdad on Thursday, the governor of Baghdad province told Agence France Presse.

The two men and two women were driving a BMW with local license plates, rather than diplomatic registration, and were all wearing flak jackets and armed with pistols and automatic weapons, said Salah Abdulrazzaq, who described the group as "gunmen."

"They (security forces) stopped them, they checked their (personal ID) badges, they found them suspicious," he said, adding that the group had been stopped at 9:00 am (06:00 GMT) in the Sharchiyah neighborhood of central Baghdad.

The four were still being held as of 3:00 pm (12:00 GMT), Abdulrazzaq said, but had not been charged with any offence. It was unclear how much longer they would be held, and whether they would be charged.

Abdulrazzaq did not provide any details about the four, whom he said had been visited by a U.S. embassy official.

The U.S. embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment from AFP.

Comments 1
Default-user-icon Dougie (Guest) 12 years

Civilians In Arms?