BERLIN, 21 August - Masked German police stormed the Iraqi Embassy in Berlin yesterday, freeing two hostages, both of whom were slightly injured during the operation, and arresting five of their abductors.
"The situation is under control," a police spokesman told journalists at the scene, adding that the raid had been launched at 7:40 p.m. (1740 GMT).
Police confirmed that the Iraqi Charge d' Affaires Shamil Mohammed was one of the two people freed.
Responsibility for the incident was claimed by a group calling itself the Democratic Iraqi Opposition in Germany, which had said in a statement that the occupation would be a "peaceful and temporary action." The operation lasted just about five minutes.
Members of the group had burst into the embassy in the afternoon, injuring two people and taking several others hostage. The group of Iraqi dissidents had claimed in a statement faxed to news agencies it had seized the embassy as a first step toward liberating Iraq.
Police said there had been shooting during the takeover but that they believed only tear gas pistols had been used and that those who took control of the building might be otherwise unarmed.
A member of the group told the Al-Jazeera television speaking by telephone from the embassy earlier that his little-known opposition group wanted "to liberate the land of Iraq."
"We are determined to free Iraq working from inside as well as outside, and you will all hear news very soon," said the member. "I reject the words 'occupation or assault' (of the embassy). The operation aims to free the land of Iraq, that's all," the opposition member said, claiming that the group was unarmed, and that the situation inside the building was calm.
Established Iraqi opposition groups and US officials in Washington, where the administration has said it is seeking the removal from power of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, appeared to have no knowledge of the group.
Baghdad denounced the takeover as an act of terrorism and accused American and Zionist intelligence services of masterminding the assault.
Nearby residents reported hearing shots after the group stormed the embassy, but police could not confirm whether they came from a gun or a tear gas device.
In Berlin, a man who said he was a real member of the Iraqi opposition told AFP that he was stunned by the incident.
"This was a complete shock for us. I have talked to my friends here and no one has ever heard of this group before," said Abbas Amir, 44, who has lived in Berlin for 23 years.
In a telephone call from London, an Iraqi opposition official said the Democratic Iraqi Opposition in Germany was set up a few months ago by Iraqi political refugees living there. The Iraqi National Congress (INC) official, who asked not to be named, said the hostage-taking had nothing to do with mainstream exiled Iraqi groups. "The policy of the opposition is to fight the dictatorship inside Iraq and not abroad and we are sticking to this policy," the official from the INC's London headquarters said.
Before the police action, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry had called on Germany "to take measures quickly to oust the mercenary terrorists from the embassy building and protect our employees from this act of terrorism." The United States also slammed the seizure of the embassy. (The Independent)
