Suicide bombers kill 27; Sunni leader detained

HILLA, Iraq, Monday (Reuters) Two suicide bombers strapped with explosives blew themselves up in a crowd of protesting former policemen south of Baghdad on Monday, killing 27 in one of the deadliest attacks in a month of escalating violence.

Further stoking sectarian tensions, U.S. troops burst into the home of a leading Sunni Arab politician before dawn, arresting him and three of his sons. After angry protests from Sunnis, the military released Mohsen Abdul-Hamid, head of the Iraqi Islamic Party, saying he was arrested by mistake.

Al Qaeda's network in Iraq, led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claimed responsibility for the double suicide bomb attack in the mainly Shi'ite town of Hilla. Police said the bombers mingled with former police commandos who were demonstrating outside a government office because their unit had been disbanded.