BAGHDAD -- Iraqi officials on Thursday confirmed a wave of arrests in what appeared to be a major internal crackdown inside the nation's security apparatus. But in an atmosphere of secrecy and political rivalry, the officials could agree on few other facts, from the number detained to the seriousness of the allegations.
At a news conference on Thursday, Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, the spokesman for the Interior Ministry, repeated some of the more serious allegations that had leaked out the night before. He told reporters that 23 officials from the Interior Ministry had been arrested in recent days, many for being affiliated with Al Awda, a descendant of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, which is now banned.
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