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Baghdad, Iraq — Iraqi Kurds, among America's staunchest supporters, condemned the detention Thursday of six Iranian diplomats during a raid by U.S. forces on an Iranian consulate in the Kurdish city of Irbil.
The Kurdish president and regional government released a statement calling for the release of the six detained during the early-morning raid and firefight. One of the diplomats later was freed, the U.S. military said.

“The U.S. action does not conform to the policy of attempting to spread security and stability throughout all of Iraq,” the statement said, adding that the raid was conducted without local approval.

“The people of the Kurdistan Region protest against and reject this action which violates our internal sovereignty,” the statement said. “We do not accept that disputes with our neighboring countries should be brought onto our soil.”

The raid follows similar detentions of Iranian diplomats during raids in Baghdad three weeks ago. The Bush administration has accused Iran of arming and supporting Shiite militias and meddling otherwise in Iraq's affairs.

In his speech Wednesday night, President Bush vowed that troops will “interrupt the flow of support from Iran and Syria,” and “destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq.”

The raid occurred several hours before Bush's speech.

The language of the Bush address contrasts with a call by the Iraq Study Group to open negotiations with Iran, as well as Syria.





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