SULAIMANIYAH - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on Tuesday declared the arrest in northern Iraq of an Iranian national by US forces "illegal" and again demanded his release.
"We have asked the US authorities to release the arrested man," Talabani told reporters in the northern city of Sulaimaniyah in Iraq's Kurdish autonomous region before leaving for New York for the UN General Assembly.
"Arresting a person in Kurdistan is illegal because his security file was under the jurisdiction of the provincial government," said Talabani, who is himself a Kurd.
Iran shut its border with Iraq on Monday in protest at the detention by US forces in Sulaimaniyah last Thursday of the Iranian, Mahmudi Farhadi.
The US military charges that Farhadi is an officer in the covert operations arm of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, accused by American commanders of helping Shiite militias involved in Iraq's bloody sectarian conflict.
Iran and the Kurdish regional government however say Farhadi is a businessman who was part of a commercial delegation visiting Sulaimaniyah.
Tehran has made clear that it regards Iraqi sovereignty at stake in Farhadi's continued custody after both the regional and national authorities of Iraq said he had been visiting with their consent.
Talabani on Tuesday repeated the charge.
"This is a violation of the sovereignty and authority of Kurdistan province," he said.
The closure by Iran of the border was hurting commerce in the region, Talabani added.
"Many merchants in Sulaimaniyah asked me to urge the American side to release the arrested man and end this crisis," he said.
At the weekend, Talabani had said the arrest was "a humiliation for the regional administration."
str-sf/bpz/kir
09/25/2007 12:56 GMT