Security forces find huge cache of explosives in Baghdad, impose partial curfew

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By Leila Fadel and Aziz Alwan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, January 13, 2010; A08

BAGHDAD -- Iraqi security forces shut down large portions of the capital Tuesday after arresting at least 25 men and seizing more than 400 pounds of explosives that insurgents allegedly had been planning to use in a major attack.

Iraqis woke up to partial curfews and vehicle bans in their neighborhoods, setting off rumors that a military coup was underway and that a popular Sunni legislator had been assassinated.

But Baghdad law enforcement officials said the curfew was enacted, in part, as a show of force by security personnel. Col. Qassim al-Ameri of the Interior Ministry, which oversees Iraqi police, said officers found the explosives during morning raids. Security officials suspect the explosives may have been part of a plan to launch an attack ahead of parliamentary elections in March.

Although police routinely find explosives in Iraq, Tuesday's find was substantial. Iraqi security forces hailed their discovery of the cache and their ability to shut down parts of the capital, saying their efforts were a testament to the ability of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government to maintain security.

"It proves that the Baghdad Operations Command can close all of Baghdad's exits when the situation requires it," Ameri said. "Maliki is proving that he controls Baghdad at any minute."

Ameri warned that the Interior Ministry planned similar curfews and vehicle bans in the city in the coming days to preempt any election-related violence.

By Tuesday afternoon, government spokesmen had defused rumors of a coup.

"The government calls on the people to understand these measures, which included preemptive operations, partial curfews and tightening of security measures, all of which are aimed at protecting people's lives," Ali al-Dabbagh, a government spokesman, said at a news conference.

Since August, a series of high-profile attacks have devastated the capital and killed more than 300 people. Most have targeted government buildings.

Another major attack would have been particularly damaging to members of Maliki's coalition running in parliamentary elections. The coalition's candidates are campaigning on a security platform.

The discovery of the explosives on Tuesday was part of what will be an ongoing security effort to crack down on insurgent hideouts and showcase Maliki's military might, Ameri said.

Violence is expected to escalate in the run-up to the elections. Also Tuesday, a leading member of the Sons of Iraq, a group of U.S.-allied Sunni militiamen, was fatally shot in Babil province south of the capital. Ali Ayed al-Janabi died instantly in the town of Mussayeb. Another member of the group was injured in an attack at his home.

Special correspondent Saad Sarhan contributed to this report.

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Thailand Blocks Extradition of Viktor Bout, Held in Arms Sales to Colombia’s FARC Rebels

By THOMAS FULLER

BANGKOK — A Thai court stunned American officials here on Tuesday by rejecting the extradition of Viktor Bout, a Russian businessman who is accused of global arms trafficking.

The United States says Mr. Bout agreed to sell millions of dollars worth of weapons to agents posing as Colombian rebels intending to kill American pilots patrolling in the drug war.

A three-judge panel said that the case did not fall under Thailand’s extradition treaty with the United States for two main reasons. One, the country recognizes the rebels — the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC — as a political organization, not a terrorist group. Two, on the charge that Mr. Bout was conspiring to kill American citizens, one of the judges, Jitakorn Patanasiri, said, “A Thai court cannot judge a case regarding aliens killing aliens outside of Thailand.”

Thai government prosecutors, acting as proxies for their American counterparts, immediately said they would appeal. Mr. Bout would be freed only if an appeal was not filed within 72 hours.

James Entwistle, a diplomat in the United States Embassy in Bangkok, said he was “disappointed and mystified” by the decision. “We think the facts of the case, our extradition treaty and the relevant Thai law all clearly support extraditing Viktor Bout to the United States to stand trial on serious terrorism charges.”

Mr. Bout has denied any links to arms trafficking and told the judge during the proceedings earlier this year that he was being held in “extremely inhumane” conditions. He has argued that the undercover agents violated Thai law by apprehending him before calling the Thai police and carrying firearms in violation of Thai law.

After the ruling was read, Mr. Bout, 42, hugged his wife, and shook hands with his two lawyers. But he said little to reporters in the courtroom. “I’m not allowed to say anything,” he said.

Wearing a soiled prison uniform and leg irons that clanked across the courtroom floor, Mr. Bout hardly fit his accuser’s portrayal of him as one of the world’s most notorious weapons traffickers — or the Nicolas Cage character he supposedly inspired in the 2005 film “Lord of War.”

According to legal papers, Mr. Bout told undercover agents for the Drug Enforcement Administration that he could deliver 700 to 800 surface-to-air missiles, 5,000 AK-47 assault weapons, millions of rounds of ammunition, land mines, C-4 explosives and unmanned aerial vehicles, and that the weapons would be airdropped into the jungles of Colombia “with great accuracy.”

Thai officials say they have come under pressure from Russia, which has asked for custody of Mr. Bout, and the United States over the case. Judge Jitakorn prefaced the reading of the decision with what sounded like an apology: “Today there must be someone happy and someone sad.” The reading took so long — more than an hour — that Judge Jitakorn gestured to Mr. Bout to sit down halfway through.

Mark McDonald contributed reporting from Hong Kong.