RCMP leadership purge reported

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OTTAWA, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- Several senior Canadian mounties who crossed swords with Commissioner William Elliott have been forced out or left the force, CBC News reports.

Among the top Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers caught in the shake-up is Deputy Commissioner Raf Souccar, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. said Monday. Souccar was asked to leave, with trust issues cite as the reason, the network said it has learned.

Another deputy commissioner, Tim Killam, has given notice he will retire in December.

The CBC said Mike McDonell, an assistant commissioner who left the RCMP in August, wrote to Public Safety Minister Vic Toews last week, saying officers who complained last summer about Elliott's abrasive management style "have simply become sacrificial lambs."

Elliott, the first civilian to head the mounties, has been accused of verbal abuse, arrogance, being close-minded and insulting. He has headed the national law enforcement agency since July 2007.