U.S. raid on sheik’s house sparks protest by Sunnis

BAGHDAD, Iraq – U.S. troops in the Iraqi city of Tikrit raided the house of a senior Sunni Muslim religious leader on Saturday and detained him for several hours, outraging Sunnis and sparking a protest in front of the governor’s office.

The unrest over the detention of Sheik Jamal Abdel Karim al-Dabaan came on a day when the American military announced that four American soldiers died in and around Baghdad despite a security crackdown in the city.

One soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in central Baghdad early Friday morning. Two others were killed by a bomb Saturday morning while on a foot patrol south of the capital, and the fourth died early Friday evening from a “non-combat incident” that is under investigation.

At least 16 U.S. service members were killed or found dead last week.

Iraq’s Sunni Arab minority drives the insurgency battling Iraq’s government and its foreign allies, and the response to the raid on Dabaan’s home in Tikrit illustrated how combustible relations are between U.S. troops and Sunnis.

The U.S. military said in a statement that the early morning raid, prompted by intelligence gained during the recent killing of insurgent leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, led to the detention of “five suspected terrorists.” One of the suspects, who was not named, was directly associated with several senior al-Qaida members, the statement said.

During the raid, two people fired at coalition forces, who responded with a flash grenade, the military said. In the house, the troops found five AK-47 assault rifles, 13 loaded magazines and two pistols, U.S. officials said.

But the capture of Dabaan, who is in his 70s, was a mistake, the U.S. officials said, because the troops did not know the house was his. He was released several hours later. Army Lt. Col. Edward Loomis said that four other people were released, including one of Dabaan’s sons, but that a second son remained in custody Saturday afternoon.

More than 1,000 protesters soon gathered outside the office of the governor of the Salahuddin province to condemn the raid. Government workers walked off their jobs, and the provincial governor vowed to cut off all relations with the Americans until Dabaan was released.