Deputy health minister detained by Iraqi troops

Iraqi forces today detained a senior Health Ministry official accused of corruption and helping to funnel millions of pounds to Shiite militiamen blamed for much of the recent sectarian violence in the capital, the US military said.

The raid was the latest in a crackdown on radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s militia, coming a day after the chief US military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said a security sweep to stop the rampant attacks in the capital was under way.