Thursday, May 10, 2007
INM daily summary – 10 May 2007
Scroll down for full articles.
- Dick Cheney’s visit to Baghdad stop was met by demonstrations and spiraling violence punctuated by an explosion that shook windows at the US embassy he was at.
- Lionel Beehner from the Council on Foreign Relations discusses what the oil law is about, the difficulty of drafting the oil law, the main points of contention, how much oil Iraq has, why oil production has stalled and how long it will take for the draft oil law to pass.
- Turkey believes Kirkuk is an internal affair of Iraq but also says it has to speak up for the rights of Turkmens, Kurds, Arabs and all other groups living in this oil rich city.
- Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said the military had credible intelligence that Iran is supporting Sunni insurgents.
- Parliament overwhelmingly voted Wednesday to start legal proceedings against Al-Jazeera television over perceived insults by the Arabic news channel against Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
- A sharp increase in mortar attacks on the Green Zone - the one-time oasis of security in Iraq's turbulent capital - has prompted the U.S. Embassy to issue a strict new order telling all employees to wear flak vests and helmets while in unprotected buildings or whenever they are outside.
- Baghdad inhabitants say the presence of armed groups has intensified since the start of U.S. military operations to pacify the city more than two months ago.
- Iraqi National Security Minister Shirwan al-Waili arrived on Wednesday morning in Najaf to meet top Shiite cleric in Iraq Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
- Terrorists flee Anbar Province and head north to Mosul Province after tribal leaders and Sheiks crack down on them.
- The Iraqi government has taken a constructive step in efforts to settle its YTL 2 billion ($1.5 billion) in debt to Turkey's Central Bank, nominating US accounting and consulting firm Ernst & Young to carry out negotiations.
- A majority of Iraqi lawmakers have endorsed a bill calling for a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops and demanding a freeze on the number of foreign troops already in the country.
- The leaders of Iraq's Christian minority on Thursday called on the country's beleaguered government to protect their community from attacks by Al Qaeda-inspired Muslim extremists.
- Iraqi national security advisor Mowaffak Al Rubaie is lobbying US politicians in Washington to keep US troops in Iraq to avoid anarchy.
- Security round-up.
