BAGHDAD — Iraq’s prime minister on Sunday denounced a predawn American raid in southern Iraq during which two Iraqis were killed, saying his government intends to prosecute U.S. soldiers who carried out the operation.
The incident marked the first time the government has called for the prosecution of U.S. soldiers and sets the stage for a showdown between the countries at a time when sectarian violence appears to be spiking.
Since the implementation this year of a bilateral security agreement, U.S. forces have been barred from conducting unilateral operations and can no longer detain Iraqis for long periods. The agreement says American forces can be prosecuted in Iraqi courtrooms for grave, premeditated crimes committed off base and off duty — criteria that U.S. officials have said effectively mean American soldiers will never face Iraqi justice.
But the language of the agreement is vague, U.S. and Iraqi officials have said, which could make this a test case. If that happens, it may become an irritant in U.S.-Iraqi relations and could exacerbate hostility toward American soldiers at a time when extremists are vowing to step up attacks against U.S. troops.
American officials, speaking anonymously, suggested that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s threat could be politically motivated. National elections are scheduled for next winter.
In a statement issued by the government’s Baghdad security command, which reports to the prime minister, al-Maliki called the raid “a violation of the security agreement.”
He demanded the immediate release of the six men U.S. forces took into custody after the raid and said he would ask the top U.S. commander in Iraq to “send those who carried out this action to the judiciary.”
The U.S. military earlier in the day said the raid had been “fully coordinated and approved” by the Iraqi government. A U.S. military spokesman would not say who in the Iraqi government approved the raid or whether Iraqi security forces were present.
The raid targeted Shiite militiamen who belong to an elite unit created by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to carry out attacks against U.S. forces, the U.S. military said.
Hours after the raid, as protesters gathered in downtown Kut, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, the Iraqi Defense Ministry announced that it had detained two top Iraqi military officials for authorizing the U.S. raid without obtaining approval from commanders.
The U.S. military said soldiers suspected that members of the Promise Day Brigade, the elite al-Sadr militia, were in the house that was raided.
The prime suspect was a “network financier” suspected of smuggling weapons into Iraq.
Um Amar, a relative of the two people killed in the raid, said top American military officials visited her home Sunday afternoon to offer an apology and return cash and cellphones that soldiers confiscated.
“They said it was a mistake,” she said, weeping during a telephone interview. “But they couldn’t return those who died back to us.”
