McCain to Obama: Take action against Iraq for terror suspect release

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) called Iraq's Friday release of a Lebanese man accused of killing five U.S. soldiers an “outrage” and urged the Obama administration to respond in kind.

“This is an outrage,” the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee told reporters on Capitol Hill. “Families of those who were killed by this terrorist should also be outraged and appropriate actions should be taken with regards to our relationship with the Iraqi government.”

The release of Ali Mussa Daqduq, a suspected operative of the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, was expected after an Iraqi court acquitted him of the charges. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, however, had told Reuters that he had received “assurances” from Iraq that the country would not let him go.

Daqduq, who was captured in 2007, has been a source of U.S.-Iraqi tensions ever since Iraq refused to extradite him. He flew back to his native Lebanon on Friday.

—Jeremy Herb contributed.

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