Iraqi Interior Ministry in referendum arrests row

The new head of Iraq’s biggest Sunni government organisation has accused “some elements” in the Shiite-controlled Interior Ministry of random arrests to keep Sunni Arabs from registering to vote in the constitutional referendum.

Ahmed Abdul Ghafour al-Samarrai, head of the government’s Sunni Endowments, said the alleged arrest campaign was underway in the Madain area about 12 miles south-east of Baghdad.