Forces launch Iraq crackdown, arrest 100
US and Iraqi troops swept through a western Baghdad neighborhood yesterday, arresting about 100 suspected insurgents in a fresh crackdown near the city’s airport. A leading Sunni hard-line cleric condemned kidnappings, as police searched for a top Egyptian diplomat seized over the weekend. But in a sign of political progress, a Sunni Arab group called on Sunnis to take part in future elections. Sunnis boycotted the Jan. 30 vote, which went overwhelmingly to Shi’ites — an outcome that boosted the Sunni-led insurgency by convincing many Sunnis they would be marginalized in the new Iraq. Full Story