US forces arrest Iranian-linked agent in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Sept 5 (Reuters) US soldiers detained a ''highly sought individual'' suspected of links to senior officers in Iran's Revolutionary Guards in a predawn raid on the holy Iraqi Shi'ite city of Kerbala today, the US military said.

US commanders in Iraq have repeatedly accused Iran's Revolutionary Guards force of training Shi'ite militias in Iraq and supplying them with increasingly sophisticated weaponry to kill American soldiers. Iran denies the charges.

The US military said in a statement that the detained man, an Iraqi, was suspected of liaising with high-level officers in the Guards' elite Qods Force to arrange the transportation of Iraqis to training camps in Iran.

''It is likely that the affiliate is closely linked to individuals at the highest levels of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps Qods Force,'' it said.

Major-General Rick Lynch, the commander of US forces in central Iraq, said last month intelligence suggested there were about 50 members of the Revolutionary Guards training Shi'ite militias in how to use mortars and rockets in southern Iraq.

He acknowledged that his troops had so far failed to seize any weapon shipments coming across the Iranian border and that no Revolutionary Guards member had been captured in his area of responsibility, which includes Kerbala.

Today's arrest could therefore be significant in helping to establish a direct link between the Qods Force and militias.

The US military statement said troops had confiscated computer equipment, communications devices, documents and photographs from the suspect's home.

''As Iran continues its proxy war against the people of Iraq, Coalition forces will continue to build on recent operations to disrupt the flow of illicit, lethal materials from Iran to Iraq,'' said military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Garver.

US generals say Iran is also trying to influence debate on the war in Washington by boosting its support for militias.

US forces have been holding five Iranians since January that they say were providing support to militants. The military says the five are Qods Force agents, but Iran insists they are diplomats and has demanded their release.

REUTERS LPB RK1430