Iraq rounds up Baathists ahead of U.S. pullout
Tue Oct 25, 2011 5:35pm GMT
By Ahmed Rasheed and Suadad al-Salhy
http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFTRE79O60F20111025?sp=true
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq has arrested at least 240 former members of Saddam Hussein's banned Baath Party and ex-military officers over what some senior officials described as a plot to seize power after U.S. troops withdraw at year's end.
While several officials characterised the round-up which began this week as the foiling of a specific plot, others said it was a precautionary measure before the U.S. withdrawal, nearly nine years after the 2003 invasion that ousted Saddam.