Arrest spurs U.S. apology

The U.S. military detained the son of one of America’s closest political allies in Iraq for several hours Friday, angering Shiite Muslim officials and straining delicate relations with the Iraqi leadership. The American ambassador here quickly apologized for the incident.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military announced that three soldiers attached to American-led forces were killed in combat in the Sunni-dominated Al Anbar province Thursday, but released few details pending notification of relatives. At least 3,154 American troops have died in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, according to icasualties.org, a website that tracks casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Soldiers arrested Ammar Hakim and at least three of his bodyguards around noon as they crossed into Iraq from Iran about 80 miles southeast of Baghdad. His father, Abdelaziz Hakim, heads the largest Shiite voting bloc in the Iraqi parliament. The elder Hakim met with President Bush in December in Washington and pledged to help end bloodshed in Iraq.

In a telephone interview with The Times, Ammar Hakim said troops arrested him because his passport was nearing expiration and they thought his identification picture did not match his appearance. He complained of being treated roughly at the hands of the soldiers, including being blindfolded as he was transported to a military base and having his underwear searched once he arrived there.

“We supported the new Baghdad [security] plan, and we hoped that it would succeed, but at the same time people’s dignity should respected,” he said, adding that the Iraqi government would seek answers from the U.S. about how the incident was handled.

Hakim was released after about seven hours, and U.S. officials rapidly began damage control. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad appeared on Iraqi government television, saying that the U.S. was “sorry about the arrest” and meant no disrespect.

Hakim’s father leads the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, or SCIRI. The elder Hakim was an opponent of Saddam Hussein and spent much of the 1980s in exile in Iran as a commander of the Badr Brigade, the militia affiliated with SCIRI. The Badr Brigade has been criticized for close ties with Iran and has been accused of operating death squads targeting Sunni Muslims, but it is also viewed as among the more moderate Shiite forces in Iraq.

Ammar Hakim heads the Shahid al-Mihrab Foundation, a charity affiliated with SCIRI. News of Hakim’s arrest drew widespread attention Friday, a day of relative calm in Iraq. Police patrols discovered the bodies of five men shot to death around the capital, a daily toll far lower than usual.

Meanwhile, religious leaders focused on allegations this week that Iraqi security forces had raped two Sunni women in the course of enforcing the new security crackdown. Sunni preachers condemned the alleged acts as evidence that the new effort was a failure.

“We thought that the security plan would stop the killing and the bloodshed,” Sheik Jamaledin Ighidee said during a sermon at the Shawaf Mosque in west Baghdad. “But this week we heard about two of the most terrible crimes. These crimes deserve that the whole nation would die instead.”

At least one Shiite prayer leader said the charges were false.

Sadruddin Qubanchi told worshipers at the Fatimiya Mosque in Najaf that the accusations were designed by “the enemies of Iraq ... to use the rape of women to bring down the security plan.”

christian.berthelsen @latimes.com

Times staff writers Zeena Kareem, Saif Rasheed and Saif Hameed in Baghdad and a special correspondent in Babil province contributed to this report.