An update from BBC WORLD NEWS-
Again this highlights the powder keg which is Iraqi politics
The arrest of 23 officials from the interior and defence ministries comes at a delicate time politically in Iraq.
The interior and defence ministries are in charge of Iraq's security
January sees provincial elections which Iraqis hope will pass off peacefully - but there are countless political parties vying for power and influence.
The political atmosphere in Baghdad is charged, with rumours of coup plots and conspiracies rife in the run-up to the polls.
The fear is that the relative calm in Iraq, compared with the violence of the past years, could be shattered if the elections are perceived to be unfair or corrupt.
The interior ministry is a key part of stabilising the new Iraq.
It looks after policing and internal security, and has in the past been heavily-infiltrated by Shia militias, although it has improved over the past two years.
More Sunnis were brought back in, although there have been tensions between different groups within the ministry.
In February this year, a new law allowing former low-ranking Baath party members to become civil servants again meant that some lower-level officials who had served under Saddam Hussein were allowed back to work in Baghdad's ministries.
Ties to Saddam
However, interior ministry spokesman Major General Abdul-Karim Khalaf has laughed off the idea of a coup or conspiracy, although he confirmed that the men - including both Sunni and Shia - are being questioned over their links to the banned al-Awda party.
I know most of these men, and I don't believe they would commit these crimes against the Iraqi people
Maj Gen Abdul-Karim Khalaf
Iraqi interior ministry spokesman
It is known as a clandestine Sunni organisation founded in 2003 to try to restore the Baath party to power, and included former members of the Baath party, Saddam's former elite Republican Guard and members of his security services.
The group has carried out assassinations and attacks over the past five years.
Asked about the idea of the men who have been arrested plotting a coup, Major General Abdul-Karim Khalaf told the BBC: "It would be like someone asking ants to overpower an elephant. It's just not credible.
"I know most of these men, and I don't believe they would commit these crimes against the Iraqi people. If it turned out to be true, I would be deeply disappointed," he said.
"If they were members of this fascist party, it would make me question my own judgement."
Political motivation?
One of the men said to have been held for questioning, General Ahmed Abu Raqeef, was in fact still at work on Thursday as director of the interior ministry's internal affairs.
He was filmed by several media organisations as he pointed out that reports of his arrest were premature, to say the least.
So talk of conspiracies and coups currently seems overblown, but the rapidity with which rumours have spread, amid varying accounts of the arrests emerging from different ministries, give an indication of the febrile political atmosphere, and the relative fragility of the current coalition government and relations between the different communities.
Critics of the government, who include politicians loyal to the radical Shia cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr, have in the past accused the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki of using detentions and arrests as a political tool. Some MPs have asked whether any of this week's arrests might be politically-motivated.
Again this highlights the powder keg which is Iraqi politics
The arrest of 23 officials from the interior and defence ministries comes at a delicate time politically in Iraq.
January sees provincial elections which Iraqis hope will pass off peacefully - but there are countless political parties vying for power and influence.
The political atmosphere in Baghdad is charged, with rumours of coup plots and conspiracies rife in the run-up to the polls.
The fear is that the relative calm in Iraq, compared with the violence of the past years, could be shattered if the elections are perceived to be unfair or corrupt.
The interior ministry is a key part of stabilising the new Iraq.
It looks after policing and internal security, and has in the past been heavily-infiltrated by Shia militias, although it has improved over the past two years.
More Sunnis were brought back in, although there have been tensions between different groups within the ministry.
In February this year, a new law allowing former low-ranking Baath party members to become civil servants again meant that some lower-level officials who had served under Saddam Hussein were allowed back to work in Baghdad's ministries.
Ties to Saddam
However, interior ministry spokesman Major General Abdul-Karim Khalaf has laughed off the idea of a coup or conspiracy, although he confirmed that the men - including both Sunni and Shia - are being questioned over their links to the banned al-Awda party.
Maj Gen Abdul-Karim Khalaf
Iraqi interior ministry spokesman
It is known as a clandestine Sunni organisation founded in 2003 to try to restore the Baath party to power, and included former members of the Baath party, Saddam's former elite Republican Guard and members of his security services.
The group has carried out assassinations and attacks over the past five years.
Asked about the idea of the men who have been arrested plotting a coup, Major General Abdul-Karim Khalaf told the BBC: "It would be like someone asking ants to overpower an elephant. It's just not credible.
"I know most of these men, and I don't believe they would commit these crimes against the Iraqi people. If it turned out to be true, I would be deeply disappointed," he said.
"If they were members of this fascist party, it would make me question my own judgement."
Political motivation?
One of the men said to have been held for questioning, General Ahmed Abu Raqeef, was in fact still at work on Thursday as director of the interior ministry's internal affairs.
He was filmed by several media organisations as he pointed out that reports of his arrest were premature, to say the least.
So talk of conspiracies and coups currently seems overblown, but the rapidity with which rumours have spread, amid varying accounts of the arrests emerging from different ministries, give an indication of the febrile political atmosphere, and the relative fragility of the current coalition government and relations between the different communities.
Critics of the government, who include politicians loyal to the radical Shia cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr, have in the past accused the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki of using detentions and arrests as a political tool. Some MPs have asked whether any of this week's arrests might be politically-motivated.