Iran-backed groups using secret arms stores: U.S.

[maddezmom]

Source: Reuters

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Sunday it had evidence Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias in Iraq were increasingly using secret weapons stores to attack U.S. and Iraqi forces.

The accusation comes days after Tehran postponed talks with the United States on improving security in Iraq for "technical reasons," a move that prompted rebukes from U.S. officials.

"In just the past week, Iraqi and coalition forces captured 212 weapons caches across Iraq, two of those inside Baghdad, (which have) growing links to Iranian-backed special groups," military spokesman Real Admiral Gregory Smith told reporters.

The military uses the term "special groups" to describe rogue elements in the Mehdi Army militia of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. It says these militants get weapons, funding and training from neighboring Iran.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080217/wl_nm/iraq_dc

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Iran says U.S. talks delayed for technical reasons
2 hours, 34 minutes ago

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Sunday technical reasons were behind the delay in talks between Iranian and U.S. officials on Iraq and denied new U.S. charges that Tehran was stoking violence in its neighbor.


Tehran on Thursday postponed what would have been a fourth round of talks. The move has prompted Washington to question Tehran's commitment to dialogue.

Washington accuses Iran of destabilizing Iraq. Tehran blames the U.S. occupation for the unrest. David Satterfield, the U.S. State Department's Iraq coordinator, said on Friday Iran was "intent on continuing to promote violence within Iraq."

The U.S.-Iranian security talks are one of the few forums in which officials from the two bitter foes have direct contact. Diplomatic ties between Washington and Tehran have been frozen for almost three decades.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080217/ts_nm/iran_usa_iraq_dc_2