BAGHDAD - Iraq demanded an apology Friday for a coalition raid against a police intelligence headquarters in the main southern city of Basra which it said was an assault on its sovereignty.
A commission set up to investigate the March 4 raid carried out by Iraqi special forces and coalition troops found that commanders had "exceeded their powers" in conducting the raid without the permission of the Iraqi judiciary.
"The troops committed an aggression against Iraq's sovereignty," said a statement from the office of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who angrily ordered the inquiry after last month's raid.
"The committee concludes that multinational forces exceeded their powers and henceforth should not carry out such raids alone. The leader of the multinational forces must apologise to Iraqis and the people of Basra."
British commanders, who oversee operations in Basra, said at the time that the raid on an interior ministry intelligence headquarters targeted militia infiltration of the security forces and revealed "significant criminal activity such as torture".
But Maliki's office said the raid caused damage to the ministry building and resulted in the release of more than 37 criminal suspects.
"Multinational forces broke the door, destroyed the files including those of suspects held in the centre, and even abused Iraqi officials," the statement said.
"The troops also broke the prison and freed prisoners who were facing criminal proceedings."
Iraqi police said at the time that US troops were involved in the raid, although the city is normally patrolled by British forces.
04/06/2007 19:12 GMT