This is something new in Iraq. An arrest of someone who is a relatively high ranking official.

From LAT:

Iraqi and U.S. forces on Thursday launched a crackdown on the web of patronage that sustains radical anti-American cleric Muqtada Sadr, detaining a high-level Iraqi official in connection with the killings of Health Ministry officials and the diversion of millions of dollars to a Shiite Muslim militia.

Iraqi special forces, backed by U.S. troops, stormed the Health Ministry complex in downtown Baghdad, detaining Deputy Minister Hakim Zamili, a Sadr loyalist.

It was the second raid at the ministry in six months, but the first high-profile arrest. (more...)