Salah al-Din governor criticizes uncoordinated arrests

SALAH AL-DIN / IraqiNews.com: The governor of Salah al-Din criticized in a statement on Saturday the arresting of worshippers from inside a mosque in northern Tikrit on Friday without prior coordination with the province’s security forces. “We are for enforcing the law on everyone but this should take place through coordination with the security forces concerned in the province otherwise this could cause unfavorable confusion,” read the governor’s statement as received by Iraqi News. Meanwhile, a security source in Salah al-Din police said hundreds of Tikrit residents took to the streets in a demonstration that started from the Grand Mosque (Saddam Mosque) and roamed several main streets to condemn the detention of worshippers from inside al-Firdaws mosque in al-Qadissiya neighborhood, central Tikrit. “The protesters read out a statement calling on Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Interior Minister Jawad al-Bulani to intervene for the release of innocent detainees and to bring an end to the illegal practices by some security agencies,” the source added. On Friday, security forces beleaguered al-Firdaws mosque and arrested 12 worshippers, mostly officers of the former Iraqi army and security agencies, and led them to an unknown place. Tikrit, the capital city of Salah al-Din province, lies 175 km north of Baghdad . AmR (P)/SR 2