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Iraq nabs ‘rebel financier’ Saddam nephew

BAGHDAD: Iraqi authorities said on Sunday that they have arrested a nephew of toppled Iraqi president Saddam Hussein suspected of playing a major part in financing the insurgency.

A government statement said Ibrahim Sabawi – son of Sabawi Ibrahim al-Tikriti, a half brother of Saddam also being held in custody for allegedly bankrolling rebels – was arrested ‘recently’ close to Baghdad. “Ibrahim Sabawi was part of the circle of those close to the deposed regime. Up until his arrest he was financing the terrorists as was the case for his father Sabawi,” the statement said.

No further details were given on the date of the arrest or its circumstances, which comes six weeks after his father was captured close to the border with Syria. Iraqi officials have said Ibrahim Sabawi was involved in guerrilla activities in the area south of Baghdad known as the “triangle of death” for its frequent attacks.

US and Iraqi forces are holding a record 17,000 men and women – most without being formally charged – and with those in Iraqi-controlled jails living often in deplorable conditions, said US and Iraqi officials.

About two-thirds are locked up as “security detainees” without any formal charges in US-run facilities, Lt Col Guy Rudisill, the US military spokesman for Iraqi detention operations, said.

The rest are incarcerated in Iraqi-run jails in conditions that fall well below any international standard and are in dire need of reform, said Bakhtiar Amin, Iraq’s outgoing human rights minister.

Iraq’s outgoing prime minister Iyad Allawi has agreed that his parliamentary bloc will join the country’s new government, and he is in negotiations on what cabinet posts it will receive, his spokesman said on Sunday.

Thaer al-Naqib said Allawi’s bloc wanted four cabinet posts, including one of the main ministries, as a condition for participation. Separately, Iraqi lawmakers on Sunday called for easing security measures imposed every time they meet. During Sunday’s National Assembly meeting, parliament speaker Hajim al-Hassani called for relaxing security measures that have snarled traffic and closed many Baghdad streets only when lawmakers meet. agencies

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