Hakim complains of rough handling

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The eldest son of an influential Shia politician says US troops treated him roughly when they briefly arrested him near the Iran-Iraq border on Friday.

Ammar al-Hakim says he was targeted for arrest, rudely bound and blindfolded.

The US military says he was arrested because his convoy was suspicious, but was treated with "dignity and respect".

In Najaf, thousands have protested at the arrest. Mr Hakim's father is Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.

The US has repeatedly said that Iraq's Shia militias are being armed with weapons smuggled in from Iran.

US ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad swiftly apologised for the incident.

The BBC's Jane Peel, in Baghdad, says the diplomat was doubtless keen to head off a row with Shia leaders working with the US on the new Iraq security plan.

'Rude treatment'

But Mr Hakim told a news conference in Najaf: "Senior officials intended to arrest me, and these officials gave instructions to personnel at the site."

"They tied my hands and blindfolded me," he said, adding that American soldiers had treated him "rudely".

A number of weapons belonging to his guards, several mobile phones and some cash had not yet been returned, Reuters news agency quoted Mr Hakim as saying.

US military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Chris Garver said Mr al-Hakim's convoy was stopped as it re-entered Iraq near the Mehran border crossing with Iran, 130km (70 miles) east of Baghdad.

Lt Carver said that the vehicles were stopped because they "met specific criteria for further investigation in an area where smuggling activity has taken place in the past".

The officer said Mr Hakim was arrested when people travelling in the convoy "did not co-operate with coalition forces and displayed suspicious activities".

Compound raided

Abdul Aziz al-Hakim is the leader of the largest party in Iraq's parliament, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI).

The party was founded in 1982 by Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim's brother Mohammed Bakr al-Hakim in Tehran.

Abdul Aziz al-Hakim took over the party when Mohammed Bakr was killed in an al-Qaeda car bombing in August 2003.

Ammar al-Hakim heads the Al-Mihrab Martyr's Foundation, in honour of his uncle, and is seen as the deputy leader of the political movement.

Last December, the Hakim residential compound in Baghdad was raided by US forces who arrested two Iranians said to be members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.