LOC16:42
13:42 GMT
BAGHDAD, Sept 2 (KUNA) -- The US forces dismantled a police station in
Baghdad under the charge of "leniency" and failure to track down criminal
organizations, a US military statement said here Sunday.
Al-Khadhra police station, in west Baghdad, was dismantled on August 29 due
to failure of its staffers to prevent insurgent activities in the area,
according to the statement.
The staff of the police station will join other stations in downtown
Baghdad after they received August salaries.
Explosive charges used to be found some 100 meters from police checkpoints
in Al-Khadhra district, the statement pointed out.
The inability of Al-Khadhra police station staff to prevent crimes led to
the conviction among local authorities and Multi-National Force in Iraq (MNF)
that the policemen were apathetic to insurgent activities there.
Units of the Iraqi national police force and armed forces assisted the US
forces in dismantling the police station, the first incident of its kind so
far.
Prompted by increasing instability nationwide, the Iraqi government decided
last week to sack hundreds of police officers in the southern Al-Naseriya
province and elsewhere under the charge of failure to prevent terrorist acts
in June. (end)
ahh.gb.
KUNA 021642 Sep 07NNNN