Wednesday, May 16, 2007
INM daily summary – 16 May 2007
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- A statement attributed to "Al-Qaeda" has warned Kurds against converting to Christianity or Zoroastrianism.
- While stressing that the Arab League has pushed for national reconciliation in Iraq, Musa said that as secretary-general, he has no plans to hold an extraordinary Arab summit on Iraq, and that it would be up to Arab foreign ministers to propose such a meeting.
- A parked car bomb possibly containing chlorine exploded near a market in a Shiite enclave northeast of the capital, killing at least 32 people and wounding 50, police said Wednesday.
- An apparent split emerging in the Mahdi Army, led by anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, is where the U.S. military hopes to make its gains.
- 50,000 Turkish soldiers are now concentrated at Turk-Iraqi border region of Sirnak.
- U.S. forces searching for three soldiers abducted in a Saturday attack south of Baghdad believe the troops were kidnapped in a "planned snatch," involving at least 10 insurgents.
- Clashes between militias loyal to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and Iraqi forces killed eight people and wounded 40 in the southern city of Nasiriya on Wednesday, hospital and police sources said.
- Local citizens of Mahmudiya reported they saw gunmen wearing Iraqi Army uniforms stopping a US patrol that consisted of three Humvees at a fake checkpoint.
- The government has hinted at ongoing talks with armed groups fighting U.S. occupation troops.
- Yesterday, Vice Presidents Tariq Al Hashimi and Adil Abd Al Mahdi met and discussed several issues.
- US company Horne International today announced that Horne Engineering Services has successfully completed the procurement of a mission-critical, dual-fuel replacement core gas turbine engine for the Al-Qudas Power Plant in Iraq.
- Total loans provided by the Farmers Lending Fund in the Ministry of Agriculture for farmers in Basrah province in March alone were nearly IQD58 million (US$46,000) covering five different activities.
- Norwegian oil producer DNO will become the first foreign firm in more than three decades to start pumping Iraqi crude into the global market next month.
- Security round-up.
- Louis Berger Inc. and Versar Inc. have both been awarded multi-million dollar contracts in Iraq from USAID and USACE respectively. Iran's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Wednesday said he supported U.S.-Iran talks in Baghdad about improving Iraq's security, state-run television reported.
