Iraq: US hands over Tariq Aziz, other detainees

[July 14, 2010]  BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraq's deputy justice minister says U.S. authorities have handed over 55 members of Saddam Hussein's former regime, including the longtime international face of the regime, Tariq Aziz.

Wednesday's announcement comes a day before U.S. authorities are to depart Camp Cropper, the last American-run detention facility in Iraq.

Iraq's deputy justice minister Busho Ibrahim tells The Associated Press the handover has taken place over the last three days.

U.S. authorities confirmed Wednesday that they had handed over some detainees but would not give any identities.

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THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE.
AP's earlier story is below.

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BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraqi officials say militants have attacked the house of a member of a moderate Sunni Muslim sect in the country's west, killing two women and a six-year-old child in their sleep.

Police and hospital officials say they attackers surrounded the house of Rahal Hussein, a member of the Sufi sect, just after midnight on Tuesday in a village near the former Sunni insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.

The militants sprayed the house with machinegun fire and threw hand grenades inside, killing the sleeping women and child.

The officials say six people were also wounded. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak the media.

Sunni extremists have repeatedly targeted Iraq's religious minorities while also battling the Shiite Muslims majority.

[Associated Press]

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