Iraq arrests 93 in an anti-Qaeda sweep in Anbar

Iraqi forces have arrested 93 suspects, including 60 wanted men, in a crackdown on al-Qaeda in Anbar province, defense ministry spokesman Major General Mohammed al-Askari said on Thursday.

"A large military operation targeting al-Qaeda and their sleeper cells was launched overnight" Tuesday in Anbar, western Iraq, Askari said.

"Ninety-three suspects were arrested, including 60 wanted men," he said, adding that ammunition had been discovered as well.

The operation was jointly launched by the army, police, pro-government tribal forces and members of the Sahwa, or anti-Qaeda militia, Askari said.

The aim of the operation is to "secure Baghdad and not give any opportunity for Al-Qaeda to carry out terrorist actions, by arresting its members," and to "achieve security and stability in all Iraq," he said.

Iraqi general gunned down in Baghdad

Gunmen with silenced weapons raked an army brigadier general's car with gunfire in a Baghdad street, killing him and wounding his daughter, defense and interior ministry officials said Thursday.

The attack took place Wednesday night in the Mansour district of the capital, the officials said.

They named the victim as General Imad Hasham of the army's sixth division.

In another attack Wednesday evening, gunmen also with silenced weapons shot and wounded police Lieutenant Colonel Majid Hamid as he was driving through the Amiriya area of Baghdad, the officials said.

Also on Thursday, an Iraqi police patrol discovered the body of Barbaros Mohammed Habeeb, a member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan -- Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's party -- in the disputed northern oil hub of Kirkuk, police Colonel Azad Abdullah said.

Habeeb had been shot 10 times, Abdullah said.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki named security as one of his three top priorities after parliament on Tuesday approved his nomination for a second term of office and gave its stamp of approval to his national unity government.

While violence has dropped dramatically across Iraq since its peak in 2006 and 2007, attacks remain common, especially in the capital and the main northern city of Mosul.

Iran hopes new Iraq cabinet gets ‘occupies’ out

Iran expressed hope on Thursday that the new Iraqi government would help stabilize the war-torn country and lead to the exit of the "occupiers," the ISNA news agency reported.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran considers the formation of the new Iraq government an important and positive step forward in Iraq's development and hopes that this move leads to more stability, security and welfare of the Iraqi people," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted as saying by ISNA.

Mehmanparast said that Tehran hopes that the formation of the new government will lead to "complete independence and exit of occupiers."

Iran has regularly called for U.S. troops to leave Iraq, citing their presence as the main cause of violence in its western neighbor.

In mid-November Tehran welcomed Iraq's new power-sharing pact, which returned Maliki, a Shiite, as premier, left Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, as president and a Sunni Arab, Osama al-Nujaifi, from ex-premier Iyad Allawi's Iraqiya bloc as parliament speaker.

The deal came after an eight-month-long vacuum of power accompanied by worrisome outbreaks of violence as Iraq's sectarian factions struggled to form a government in the wake of March 7 elections.

Iran and Saddam Hussein's Iraq fought a bloody eight-year war in the 1980s which left almost a million people dead on both sides.