Roadside bombs found in the house of an Iraqi intelligence officer

Roadside bombs and other weapons have been found in the house of an Iraqi intelligence officer in Kerbala, the provincial capital and a centre of Shiite pilgrimage.

The head of police intelligence, Lieutenant-Colonel Hashem Chalub, was found to have a large quantity of weapons and explosives.

A special committee, including representatives of the Ministry of Interior, had been set up to investigate the arrest.

Kerbala is home to several Shiite Islam factions which are struggling for dominance.

Tensions between local factions in Kerbala exploded into violence in August and 52 people were killed.

The U.S military transferred security responsibility for the province to Iraqi authorities late last month"