Iraq prison riot leaves 13 dead

Seven detainees were killed in the clash early today, including the suspected insurgent, along with six police officers.

Three other suspected Islamist militants escaped and a fourth turned himself in without incident, said Tareq Yusuf Dulaimi, Anbar province police chief. One of the escapees is considered a high-ranking leader in Al Qaeda in Iraq who has confessed to killing at least three police officers, authorities said.

Ramadi Mayor Latif Ubaid Iyada blamed the escape on a negligent prison guard, who unlocked the cell while carrying his AK-47. "They attacked our policeman and killed him," Iyada said. "They did their dirty trick and exploited his humanity for trying to help the sick prisoner."

Dulaimi said police officers took control of the situation quickly, containing most of the three dozen prisoners held in one of two cells at the station. In all, about 11 suspects escaped their cells. Three were killed inside the jail and three others died just outside the station. Police chased a seventh suspect about 10 miles before fatally shooting him.

Authorities immediately instituted a curfew at 5 a.m., which lasted throughout the day. Police searched large swaths of Anbar province to look for the three remaining escapees. Roads exiting to Ramadi were closed.

"The citizens of Anbar condemn the jailbreak," Iyada said in an interview on Arabiya TV. "There is no return for terrorism in Ramadi -- not today, nor in the future, because the police forces in Anbar are in full control."

At least 10 other police officers were wounded in the attack, which authorities believe may have been premeditated. They were being treated at a hospital in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar.

kimi.yoshino@latimes.com

A correspondent in Ramadi and Times staff writers in Baghdad contributed to this report.