The headquarters of the Iraq Freedom Congress, a civil anti-occupation coalition, were raided by US troops June 7. The premises were damaged when the soldiers forced down the door, and five of the office's guards were arrested and their weapons confiscated. Documents were also seized in the raid.

A statement from the Freedom Congress said: "The growing activities of IFC in the face of the occupation and its crimes, and [the IFC's] turning into a libertarian hub that gives human beings in Iraq a single identity and unites them under one banner to expel the occupation have created panic in the ranks of the occupation forces."

The statement claimed the raid as evidence the occupation forces feel threatened by the Freedom Congress, especially citing the recent launch of the IFC satellite TV station, the group's campaign against the pending Oil Law, its Safety Force which has estabished security in many areas, and its marches under the slogan "No Sunni, no Shi'ite... Occupation is the enemy of humanity." (IFC press release, June 7)

See our last posts on Iraq and the civil resistance.