ANBAR / Aswat al-Acting Defense Minister Saadon al-Dulaimi arrived in Anbar on Monday coming from Baghdad in a military helicopter to discuss protestors' demands, a member of the Anbar council said.
"Al-Dulaimi arrived in Anbar for the second time in the past two days to discuss the protestors' demands," Mezher Hassan al-Mulla told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
"The minister will hold a meeting with operations commander, chief of police and a number of local officials to discuss the protestors' demands and to arrange a meeting with Sheikh Abdulmalek al-Saadi," he added.
The protesters are condemning Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government for arresting 150 officials and bodyguards linked to Foreign Minister Rafi' al-Issawi.
The government claims that they were “terrorists” and has claimed a number of “confessions” since the arrests.
Al-Issawi is the top ranking Sunni in the coalition government, excluding only Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, who has already been sentenced to death in absentia.
The arrests are seen as an attempt to undermine the Iraqiya Party leading into provincial elections.

SH (TP)