Several Hundred Iraqi Police Are Poisoned

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Hundreds of Iraqi policemen fell sick from poisoning yesterday at a base in southern Iraq after the evening meal breaking their daily Ramadan fast, and officials said they were investigating whether the poisoning was intentional. An official with the Environment Ministry said 11 policemen had died. However, the governor of Wasit province — where the poisoning took place — denied any deaths, though he said some of the victims were in critical condition. There was no immediate explanation for the contradictory reports.

Some of the policemen began bleeding from the ears and nose after the meal, an inspector for the Environment Ministry, Jassim al-Atwan, said.