Money exchange office robbery gang leader nabbed – source

KIRKUK / IraqiNews.com: Policemen arrested a gunman who led a gang that robbed a money exchange office and a BMW vehicle containing 150 million Iraqi dinars in northern Kirkuk, a local police official said on Sunday. “The gang had conducted an armed robbery operation on a money exchange office and then stole the office owner’s BMW vehicle with 150 million dinars in al-Hosseir souk (outdoor market) in northern Kirkuk on July 22,” Maj. Youssef Saleh of the Kirkuk Police Department told IraqiNews.com news agency. “The detained man, of the name Farouq Fa‘eq Shokour, is a local resident of al-Touz district, south of Kirkuk. He was arrested at a checkpoint on al-Corniche street, central Kirkuk, and confessed to involvement in the operation during initial investigations with him,” added Saleh. The oil-rich Kirkuk, a city of mixed Kurdish, Arab and Turkmen population, lies 250 km northeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. AmR (P)/SR 28