US troops arrest 40 Iraqi personnel after foreign prisoners found in bunker News
US troops arrest 40 Iraqi personnel after foreign prisoners found in bunker

[JURIST] US troops in Iraq [JURIST news archive] reportedly arrested more than 40 Iraqi Interior Ministry personnel Sunday after the discovery of a secret bunker complex in central Baghdad holding 17 foreign prisoners. In November 2005, some 170 Sunni detainees were found by Americans [JURIST report] at a secret police prison in Baghdad, launching a nationwide investigation into allegations of widespread abuse [JURIST report] occurring at Iraqi-run prisons.

Sunni Arab leaders have accused the Interior Ministry of working with Shi'ite militias who run death squads killing and rounding up minority Sunnis who they claim support the insurgency or who supported the regime of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein. Reuters has more.

7:35 PM ET – Iraqi Interior Ministry officials have disputed initial reports of the American raid, saying that only 10 Iraqi policemen were detained briefly and then released after the prisoners were found to have been Sudanese nationals legitimately held for "residency violations" who had not been abused. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Balfour Declaration issued

On November 2, 1917, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour issued the United Kingdom's formal statement regarding Jewish people in Palestine. The Balfour Declaration was later endorsed by the World War I Allied Powers. It stated the British intention to support a national homeland for Jewish people and became a cornerstone of the Zionist movement.

Read the full Balfour Declaration as well as other documents regarding Israeli-Palestinian relations from the BBC.