Suspects arrested after Iraq attack

11 May 2004

AMSTERDAM — Iraqi police have arrested two suspects following the death of a Dutch soldier in a grenade attack on Monday.

Deputy Prime Minister Thom de Graaf said on Tuesday the arrests were carried out by Iraqi police shortly after the attack. Dutch military police and a legal advisor are to sit in on the interrogation of the suspects.

The 36-year-old soldier was killed in a grenade attack in the city As Samawah and a 20-year-old colleague was injured. Both of them were taken to the Dutch field hospital in the southern Iraqi city.

One of the injured troops later succumbed to his injuries and has been identified as a sergeant with the 11th airborne brigade. The Schaarsbergen man is survived by his wife and two children, newspaper De Telegraaf reported.

De Graaf said the attack came as a terrible shock for everyone and the government shared in the the grief felt by the man’s relations and the rest of the country.

Subject: Dutch news