Militant detained as al-Maliki heads to Iran

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Coalition forces in Iraq said Friday they detained an "Iranian-trained" militant leader as Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki gets ready to visit Iran on Saturday to discuss security concerns and other issues.

Soldiers in Wasit province southeast of Baghdad arrested the suspect in a raid on his home. He is suspected of directing and ordering attacks on coalition troops and civil authorities and kidnappings.

The insurgent, called a "Special Groups" leader, is also suspected of smuggling Iranian weapons, such as Katyusha rockets, into Baghdad, the military said.

The military uses the term "Special Groups" to describe Iranian-backed Shiite militants. The suspect "surrendered without incident," it said.

Troops also arrested another suspected Special Groups militant in the region.

Al-Maliki is planning his second trip within a year to neighboring Iran.

He formed a committee last month to document what Iraqi officials call Iranian interference in Iraqi affairs.

The move came after an Iraqi delegation confronted Iranian officials in Tehran with evidence that Iran is smuggling weapons into Iraq and training Iraqi militants. The Iranians vehemently denied the assertions.

U.S. military officials have said Iranian support for Shiite militias battling Iraqi and American troops in Baghdad has begun to alarm the Iraqi government.

The U.S. government believes that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force has been training militias and providing weaponry, such as the penetrator roadside bomb.

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