The interim Iraqi government of Iyad Allawi threatened...

The interim Iraqi government of Iyad Allawi threatened to charge anti-US occupation imams with high treason, which carried capital punishment.
Interim Interior Minister Fallah Al-Naqib said imams inciting "bloodshed from their pulpits" would be treated as traitors and brought to justice.
Under the Iraqi penal code, high treason was only applied with unpatriotic acts such as espionage and tampering with national security and economy.
"Ironically, the interim government wants to punish those imams calling for an end to the US-led occupation with the same," Mohammad Al-Azami, a professor of law, said.
US occupation troops had arrested and raided homes of Sunni imams and scholars, who publicly criticized its onslaught on the densely-populated Iraqi city of Fallujah.