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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Iraqi ministry officials arrested | Iraqi ministry officials arrested |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Twenty-three officials from Iraq's interior and defence ministries have been arrested on suspicion of being members of a banned Baathist party. | Twenty-three officials from Iraq's interior and defence ministries have been arrested on suspicion of being members of a banned Baathist party. |
| An interior ministry spokesman told the BBC that the arrested officials, who rank from lieutenant to brigadier general, were being questioned. | An interior ministry spokesman told the BBC that the arrested officials, who rank from lieutenant to brigadier general, were being questioned. |
| They are accused of belonging to al-Awda, "The Return", a descendant of Saddam Hussein's Baath party. | They are accused of belonging to al-Awda, "The Return", a descendant of Saddam Hussein's Baath party. |
| The Baath party was outlawed after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. | The Baath party was outlawed after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. |
| It had ruled Iraq for more than three decades, mostly under Saddam Hussein. | |
| Election run-up | |
| Some of those arrested were from the interior ministry, which is responsible for policing and internal security, the BBC's Caroline Wyatt in Baghdad says. | |
| Others were from the defence ministry. | |
| Interior Ministry spokesman Major General Abdul Karim Khalaf says it is not clear whether those arrested were Sunni or Shia. | |
| And, contrary to media reports, they are not suspected of plotting a coup or bribing others to join the party, he said. | |
| The arrests come at a delicate time, just ahead of January's provincial elections, which Iraqis hope will pass off peacefully, our correspondent says. | |
| But the political atmosphere is charged, with rumours of coup attempts and conspiracies rife in Baghdad in the run-up to the elections, she adds. |