Some 35 Iraqi interior ministry officials have been arrested in recent days, some accused of plotting the return of Saddam Hussein's Baath party, the New York Times newspaper reported Thursday. The report, citing senior security officials in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, said the arrests had taken place over the last three days.
Four generals, including General Ahmed Abu Raqeef, the ministry's director of internal affairs, were among those detained, the newspaper reported. According to officials, an elite security force that reports directly to Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, carried out the arrest, the report said.
The New York Times quoted senior security officials as saying there was significant evidence tying those arrested to a wide array of political-corruption charges, including affiliation with Al Awda, a descendant of the Baath Party. The Baath Party was outlawed after the US-led invasion in 2003.
