[JURIST] UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan [official profile] questioned the legality of the "arbitrary detention" of thousands of Iraqis by Coalition and Iraqi forces in his latest periodic report [PDF] to the UN Security Council on the situation in Iraq released Tuesday. Annan suggested that although international law allows for internment in situations requiring 'imperative reasons of security', actions by the Multi-National Force (MNF) and Iraqi authorites go beyond what is legally permitted.

Annan also expressed concern over the increase in sectarian strife [UN news report] and the February 22 bombing [JURIST report] of a Shiite Shrine, and lamented the failure of Coalition forces to publish results from an investigation of alleged torture at the Interior Ministry detention center in Baghdad. AP has more.