US and Iraqi forces raided homes on the outskirts of Baghdad today and detained several men believed to be linked to the death of Irish-born aid worker Margaret Hassan, who was kidnapped and killed late last year.
Iraqi police said the morning raids happened not far from Madaen, a town just south of Baghdad where insurgents have been active in recent weeks. They said 11 people were seized, at least five of whom had admitted complicity in Hassan's murder.
The arrests, which may mark a small breakthrough in the effort to bring insurgents to justice in Iraq, came amid a surge in guerrilla activity in the past three days, ever since Iraq formed its first democratically elected government in 50 years.
Some of the violence has been focused in Madaen, where three car bombs exploded on Friday. At least nine people were killed in car bombings and shootings in Baghdad today.
Hassan, a British national who headed CARE International in Iraq, was kidnapped last October. She was killed about a month later after appealing on video tapes made by her abductors for British forces to withdraw from Iraq. Her body was never found.
"We are aware that a raid was conducted and that items were recovered that we believe may belong to Margaret Hassan," a spokesman for the British embassy in Baghdad said.
"There is reasonable evidence to believe that the items were Hassan's ... it seems likely. But until our police have finished their investigation we cannot say definitively."
He said British police, many of whom are based in Iraq and assist in training Iraqi security forces, were investigating but could not say when their probe would end.
Iraqi authorities said clothing, a bag and identification documents belonging to Hassan had been found at the scene, but the embassy official declined to say what items were discovered.
Hundreds of foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq over the past 18 months. Around 50 have been killed, some by beheading, after their abductors' demands were not met.