Former police chief arrested in southern Iraq

DIWANIYA, Iraq (Reuters) – A former police chief in southern Iraq has been arrested and accused of assisting insurgents, police said on Saturday.

Brigadier-General Abdul-Khaliq al-Bderi was fired from his post as provincial police chief for Diwaniya in July this year after regional authorities voted him out at a time when the city was beset by assassinations and clashes.

Police said he was arrested on Friday, with a colonel in charge of police foot patrols in the province who was also accused of aiding insurgents.

Diwaniya, in the mainly Shi’ite south of Iraq, has been the scene of conflict among Shi’ite factions and saw several clashes between militia members and U.S. forces in the first half of this year.

Check Also

Western sanctions against Damascus must evolve—Just as Syria has

The fall of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s regime came not with a grand international …