U.S. says Iraqi deputy health minister detained

The U.S. military said on Thursday that a senior official of the Iraqi Health Ministry had been arrested by Iraqi forces for being involved in alleged corruption and infiltration of the ministry.

"Special Iraqi army forces captured a senior Ministry of Health official today who is suspected of being a central figure in alleged corruption and rogue Jaysh Al-Mahdi (Mehdi Army) infiltration of the MoH," the military said in a statement, without identifying the detainee.

The arrested was implicated in the deaths of several ministry officials, including the director-general in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, the statement said.

A ministry spokesman said earlier that U.S. and Iraqi joint forces raided the Health Ministry building in central Baghdad and detained Hakim al-Zamili, the deputy minister, for unknown reasons.

Al-Zamili is a senior member of the Sadr movement loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The movement is part of the Shiite Alliance which leads the government.

Sadr's Mehdi militia reportedly targeted Iraqi civilians by using Health Ministry facilities and services for sectarian kidnapping and murder.

Source: Xinhua