US forces raided a Sunni Muslim mosque in Iraq's capital city of Baghdad on Friday, finding a large weapons cache and detaining dozens of people.
Mortar rounds, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, rifles, improvised grenades, bomb-making equipment and gunpowder were among the confiscated munitions, US military spokesman Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt told reporters.
He said 32 people were arrested in the raid on the Um al-Tubul mosque, situated at the beginning of a volatile highway leading to the Baghdad International Airport south of Baghdad.
The US 1st Armored Division made the cordon and search based on tip-offs received in recent months that the mosque "was being used for criminal and terrorist activities," said Kimmitt.
He said the weapons found and "additional items of intelligence value" were evidence that the mosque was involved in activities other than free religious expression.
Meanwhile, Arab TV reports said 34 people, including clergymen and worshipers, were detained and no weapons were found in the six-hour long search.
A group of several hundred people gathered after the Friday noon prayers in protest of the US soldiers' violation of the Qoran, or Muslim holy book, during the search.
Kimmitt said the forces "are aware of the allegation that coalition forces tore pages from the Qoran," but assured that "the greatest possible care was taken" to respect the sanctity of the mosque.
Late Friday, fierce bombardment and cannon fire could be heard in the same general area in southern Baghdad, as the US military was apparently conducting the 10-day-old Operation Iron Grip.
US forces have been engaged in anti-rebel operations across the Sunni dominated area in central northern Iraq, where attacks on the US-led coalition troops were the strongest.
(Xinhua News Agency January 3, 2004)
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