Topic: Several hundred Iraqi police rushed to hospital after falling ill during meal

Media: The Associated Press
Byline: QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
Date: 08 October 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq_Several hundred Iraqi police fell sick from poisoning during a
meal breaking their daily Ramadan fast on Sunday, Iraqi officials said. The
cause was under investigation.

Ambulances and helicopters sent by the U.S. military ferried the sickened
policemen to hospital after they fell ill at their base near the southern
town of Numaniyah, said an Interior Ministry official, speaking on condition
of anonymity because he was not authorized to release details to the press.

Gen. Adnan Thabit, commander of the National Police, confirmed that the
police _ members of the National Police's 4th Division _ had been struck by
poisoning after the meal.

He would not say how many and said the incident was under investigation to
determine the cause.

The Interior Ministry official said that up to 40 percent of the Division's
1,700 policemen may have been affected. He said authorities suspected they
may have fallen sick from drinking water, raising the possibility that the
poisoning was intentional.

A town council official in Numaniyah also put the number of victims at
several hundred, saying they had been taken to three hospitals in the Shiite
town, 80 kilometers (60 miles) south of Baghdad. The council official also
spoke on condition of anonymity.

The 4th Division was in Numaniyah for a round of training along with members
of the Iraqi military.
________________________________________________