Saturday, April 14, 2007
INM daily summary – 14 April 2007
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- A suicide car bomber killed at least 40 people and wounded 128 at a crowded bus station near a major Shi'ite shrine in the Iraqi holy city of Kerbala on Saturday, and in Baghdad, police said a suicide car bomber detonated his device before a checkpoint at the southern Jadriyah bridge, killing 10 people, wounding 15 .
- The agenda has been announced for the Sharm el-Sheikh May 3-4 international Iraq security conference as Iran ponders participation.
- Iraqi civilian deaths have fallen in Baghdad in the two months since the Feb. 14 start of the U.S.-led offensive, according to an Associated Press tally. Outside the capital, however, civilian deaths are up as Sunni and Shiite extremists shift their operations to avoid the crackdown.
- The Turkish Army is planning to deliver "pinpoint strikes" against PKK bases in northern Iraq.
- The U.S. government has decided not to release five Iranians captured in Iraq.
- In an Internet posting, the Islamic State of Iraq said one of its followers detonated a belt of explosives in the Iraqi parliament's cafeteria.
- Missan has received offers from Iraqi, Arab and foreign investors to launch projects in the oil, industrial, agricultural and service sectors in the province.
- Tribal chiefs and notables in Afak and other districts in Diwaniya staged a march on Friday demanding the departure of U.S. forces from Iraq and the handover of security responsibilities to Iraqi forces.
- A spokesperson at Russia-based LUK-Oil Company said that the company has signed a $4 billion contract with Iraq's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to develop oil fields in West Qurna.
- Security round-up.
Round-up of violence across Iraq
Security
(Reuters) - Security developments in Iraq as of 0845 GMT on Saturday. Follow link for further information.
KERBALA - A suicide car bomber killed up to 50 people and wounded more than 70 at a bus station next to a crowded market in the Iraqi holy city of Kerbala, police said.
BAGHDAD - A car bomb killed 10 civilians and wounded 15 when it exploded on southern Baghdad's Jadriyah Bridge, police said.
BAGHDAD - Gunmen attacked the deputy industry minister's convoy and wounded three of his bodyguards in Baghdad's southwestern Jihad neighbourhood, police said. Deputy Minister Mohammed Abdullah was present but unhurt from the attack.
TAL AFAR - A sniper shot dead a civilian woman in the religiously mixed town of Tal Afar on Friday, police said.
BAGHDAD - Five bodies were found in different parts of Baghdad on Friday, police said.
Labels: assassination attempt, Baghdad, car bombs, Deputy Minister Mohammed Abdullah, Kerbala, sniper, Tal Afar
Russian oil company signs $4 billion contract with Iraq
Oil
(MENAFN) - A spokesperson at Russia-based LUK-Oil Company said that the company has signed a $4 billion contract with Iraq's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to develop oil fields in West Qurna, Iraq Directory reported. He added that the accord aims at assisting the company's projects abroad and to improve diplomatic ties. The Chairman of LUK-Oil said that the company is confident about the new deal with Iraq. The Iraqi Parliament still has to approve of the new law for oil which seeks to establish general work outline for foreign companies that invest in Iraq.
Labels: contract, LUKoil, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, West Qurna
Tribal chiefs in Diwaniyah demand the departure of U.S. troops
Security, Tribal
(VOI) – Tribal chiefs and notables in Afak and other districts in Diwaniya staged a march on Friday demanding the departure of U.S. forces from Iraq and the handover of security responsibilities to Iraqi forces. A statement issued by a rally and received by the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) on Friday held the local council and governor responsible for the recent incidents in Diwaniya, capital of predominantly Shiite province of al-Qadissiya.
Diwaniya has witnessed recent violent confrontations between joint Iraqi-U.S. forces and gunmen from Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militias, in which dozens were killed and wounded. The marchers also called for releasing the detainees loyal to al-Sadr and other prisoners "save those whose hands were stained with blood" and compensating the people harmed by operations conducted by U.S. forces. Troops from the Iraqi army's 8th Division and the Multi-National Force have been waging a wide-scale campaign in Diwaniya for a week now under the codename Operation Black Eagle to impose order and law in the city.
Labels: Afak, Diwaniya, Mahdi Army, Operation Black Eagle, tribal leaders, U.S. soldiers
Missan council invites regional and international reconstruction bids
Business, Reconstruction
(VOI) – Missan has received offers from Iraqi, Arab and foreign investors to launch projects in the oil, industrial, agricultural and service sectors in the province, an Iraqi official said on Friday. "The offers came thanks to the province's stable security conditions and investment outlets that would contribute to building infrastructures in the province that suffered from negligence for many decades," Taha al-Dayf, the chairman of the Missan investment committee, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
Dayf added that the Missan local council had received investment offers from Arab and global corporations in the fields oil, power and establishment of tourist cities, referring to a company that offered bids worth 12 billion Iraqi dinars (roughly 9,436,188 million U.S. dollars) to establish vital projects to re-build the city. "There are other offers "to invest oilfields and build first-class hotels and residential compounds," said Dayf. The local council in Missan, 390 km south of Baghdad, had invited Iraqi, Arab and foreign investors to start business projects in the province namely in the service and infrastructure sectors, praising security conditions in the province compared to other Iraqi provinces.
Labels: agriculture, bids, industry, Missan, oil, reconstruction, Taha al-Dayf
Islamic State of Iraq claims parliament bombing
Security
(Washington Post) - A group linked to al-Qaeda in Iraq asserted responsibility Friday for the previous day's deadly suicide bombing inside the Green Zone, while the U.S. military said the blast killed fewer people than it originally reported. In an Internet posting, the Islamic State of Iraq, a Sunni umbrella organization said to have been created by the group al-Qaeda in Iraq, said one of its followers detonated a belt of explosives in the Iraqi parliament's cafeteria. The group also warned of future attacks on the building.
"These disbelieving parliamentarians challenge the Lord of earth and heaven for his rule, and deserve nothing but death," the statement said, according to a translation by the Washington-based SITE Institute, which tracks terrorist organizations. "Oh men of Sunnah, you made Allah laugh as you saw these parliamentarian monkeys cry and scream at the terror of what they had seen after a brave knight entered upon them."
The Islamic State of Iraq and other Sunni insurgent groups have asserted responsibility for several recent attacks against both Sunnis and Shiites who have cooperated with Americans or the Iraqi government. The Islamic State of Iraq said it was also behind a suicide bombing last month inside the Baghdad home of Deputy Prime Minister Salam Z. al-Zobaee. That attack wounded the lawmaker and killed at least six people.
"These disbelieving parliamentarians challenge the Lord of earth and heaven for his rule, and deserve nothing but death," the statement said, according to a translation by the Washington-based SITE Institute, which tracks terrorist organizations. "Oh men of Sunnah, you made Allah laugh as you saw these parliamentarian monkeys cry and scream at the terror of what they had seen after a brave knight entered upon them."
The Islamic State of Iraq and other Sunni insurgent groups have asserted responsibility for several recent attacks against both Sunnis and Shiites who have cooperated with Americans or the Iraqi government. The Islamic State of Iraq said it was also behind a suicide bombing last month inside the Baghdad home of Deputy Prime Minister Salam Z. al-Zobaee. That attack wounded the lawmaker and killed at least six people.
Labels: Iraqi parliament, Islamic State of Iraq
U.S. will not release Iranian detainees
Security, Iran, U.S.
(Reuters) - In a move likely to irritate Tehran, the government has decided not to release five Iranians captured in Iraq, a newspaper reported on Friday. The Washington Post said that after intense internal debate, the Bush administration had decided to keep the Iranians in custody and make them go through a periodic six-month review process used for the other 250 foreign detainees held in Iraq.
The next review is not expected until July, the newspaper quoted U.S. officials as saying. Washington says the five, seized in a January 11 raid by U.S. forces in the Kurdish city of Arbil, are linked with Iranian Revolutionary Guard networks involved in providing explosive devices used to attack U.S. troops in Iraq. Iran says they are diplomats and has demanded their release.
The Post said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had wanted to free the men because she judged them no longer useful but went along with the decision to retain them in custody that was strongly supported by Vice President Dick Cheney.
The next review is not expected until July, the newspaper quoted U.S. officials as saying. Washington says the five, seized in a January 11 raid by U.S. forces in the Kurdish city of Arbil, are linked with Iranian Revolutionary Guard networks involved in providing explosive devices used to attack U.S. troops in Iraq. Iran says they are diplomats and has demanded their release.
The Post said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had wanted to free the men because she judged them no longer useful but went along with the decision to retain them in custody that was strongly supported by Vice President Dick Cheney.
Labels: Iranian detainees, U.S.
Turkish Army to deliver 'pinpoint' strikes against PKK bases
Security, Turkey
(AINA) - The Turkish military may start a three-month transborder operation against Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq, the weekly Tempo quoted the Army chief of staff as saying Friday. Gen. Yasr Buyukanit said Thursday it was necessary to carry out a military operation against Kurdish insurgents in northern Iraq.
He said the Turkish Army was currently conducting large-scale operations in different parts of southeast Turkey against the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), adding 13 Turkish servicemen had been killed in action against the separatists so far this year. According to the weekly, the Turkish Army is not planning to conduct large-scale operations in northern Iraq, but will deliver "pinpoint strikes" against PKK bases.
"Troops will be airlifted to operation areas for a day and after effectively engaging pre-planned targets, will be airlifted back to base," it said. The paper quoted sources in the Democratic Party of Kurdistan and military experts as saying that in the lead-up to the operation, the Turkish Army is planning to establish a "buffer zone" along the border with Iraq to prevent infiltration of Kurdish militants into Turkey.
A similar zone is to be set up on Iraqi territory. "An operation in North Iraq is imperative. It requires political will," General Yasr Buyukanit said Thursday, adding the Turkish Army had evidence the PKK plans to intensify terrorist activity in Turkey. He said terrorism is one of the principal threats to Turkey.
The Turkish chief of staff denied reports that a group of senior Army officers were plotting to overthrow the Tayyip Erdogan government. "We have no evidence confirming the media reports [about an imminent coup]," he said. Prime Minister Erdogan said Ankara insisted Iraq meet its demand to crack down on the Kurdish separatists based in northern Iraq.
The speakers of both the Iraqi Parliament and Iraq's Kurdistan assembly described a call by Turkey's top general for a cross-border military operation as a "dangerous escalation," warning Ankara against interfering in the country's affairs. The warning came as the European Commission urged Turkey and Iraq to settle differences peacefully.
He said the Turkish Army was currently conducting large-scale operations in different parts of southeast Turkey against the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), adding 13 Turkish servicemen had been killed in action against the separatists so far this year. According to the weekly, the Turkish Army is not planning to conduct large-scale operations in northern Iraq, but will deliver "pinpoint strikes" against PKK bases.
"Troops will be airlifted to operation areas for a day and after effectively engaging pre-planned targets, will be airlifted back to base," it said. The paper quoted sources in the Democratic Party of Kurdistan and military experts as saying that in the lead-up to the operation, the Turkish Army is planning to establish a "buffer zone" along the border with Iraq to prevent infiltration of Kurdish militants into Turkey.
A similar zone is to be set up on Iraqi territory. "An operation in North Iraq is imperative. It requires political will," General Yasr Buyukanit said Thursday, adding the Turkish Army had evidence the PKK plans to intensify terrorist activity in Turkey. He said terrorism is one of the principal threats to Turkey.
The Turkish chief of staff denied reports that a group of senior Army officers were plotting to overthrow the Tayyip Erdogan government. "We have no evidence confirming the media reports [about an imminent coup]," he said. Prime Minister Erdogan said Ankara insisted Iraq meet its demand to crack down on the Kurdish separatists based in northern Iraq.
The speakers of both the Iraqi Parliament and Iraq's Kurdistan assembly described a call by Turkey's top general for a cross-border military operation as a "dangerous escalation," warning Ankara against interfering in the country's affairs. The warning came as the European Commission urged Turkey and Iraq to settle differences peacefully.
Labels: EU, Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, Iraqi parliament, PKK, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey
Civilian deaths fall in Baghdad, rise outside the capital
Security
(AP) - Iraqi civilian deaths have fallen in Baghdad in the two months since the Feb. 14 start of the U.S.-led offensive, according to an Associated Press tally. Outside the capital, however, civilian deaths are up as Sunni and Shiite extremists shift their operations to avoid the crackdown. And the sweeps have taken a heavy toll on U.S. forces: Deaths among American soldiers climbed 21 percent in Baghdad compared with the previous two months.
Figures compiled by the AP from Iraqi police reports show that 1,586 civilians were killed in Baghdad between the start of the offensive and Thursday. That represents a sharp drop from the 2,871 civilians who died violently in the capital during the two months that preceded the security crackdown. Outside the capital, 1,504 civilians were killed between Feb. 14 and Thursday, April 12 compared with 1,009 deaths during the two previous months, the AP figures show.
Sunni and Shiite militants remain a potent force, regardless of whether they are slaughtering civilians in the capital at the previous rate. "It is not going to be possible to see just how well the resulting mix of capabilities will counter the insurgency until the late spring of 2008 at the earliest," wrote former Pentagon analyst Anthony Cordesman. "The various insurgents and hostile groups may be weakened or suppressed early on, but will do their best to react." It is unclear why deaths outside Baghdad have increased. However, U.S. military officials say both Sunni and Shiite extremists left Baghdad ahead of the crackdown, instead stepping up their operations in a belt of communities around the capital.
The rise in deaths outside Baghdad may also be partly a result of clashes in Anbar province between al-Qaida extremists and Sunni tribes that have broken with the extremist movement. One key finding of the figures: Although civilians deaths are down in the capital, a careful analysis of the figures shows that sectarian tensions remain high.
Of the 1,586 civilians killed in Baghdad since the start of the crackdown, more than half, or 832, appear to have been the victims of sectarian death squads. Their bodies were found scattered around the city. That number represents a significant drop from the 1,754 bodies found in the capital during the two months before the crackdown, according to AP figures. Still, the figure shows that the security crackdown has been unable to stop death squads entirely.
Furthermore, the number of civilians killed by suicide bombers has risen in Baghdad, 352 during the crackdown compared with 279 in the two months before. Suicide bombings are considered the signature attack of Sunni religious extremists, including al-Qaida in Iraq. And most of the suicide attacks occurred in largely Shiite areas of the capital, indicating attacks on Shiites by Sunnis.
The AP count includes civilians as well as government officials and police and security forces, and is considered a minimum based on AP reporting. There have been no figures provided by the U.N. or the Iraqi government since the Baghdad crackdown began.
Figures compiled by the AP from Iraqi police reports show that 1,586 civilians were killed in Baghdad between the start of the offensive and Thursday. That represents a sharp drop from the 2,871 civilians who died violently in the capital during the two months that preceded the security crackdown. Outside the capital, 1,504 civilians were killed between Feb. 14 and Thursday, April 12 compared with 1,009 deaths during the two previous months, the AP figures show.
Sunni and Shiite militants remain a potent force, regardless of whether they are slaughtering civilians in the capital at the previous rate. "It is not going to be possible to see just how well the resulting mix of capabilities will counter the insurgency until the late spring of 2008 at the earliest," wrote former Pentagon analyst Anthony Cordesman. "The various insurgents and hostile groups may be weakened or suppressed early on, but will do their best to react." It is unclear why deaths outside Baghdad have increased. However, U.S. military officials say both Sunni and Shiite extremists left Baghdad ahead of the crackdown, instead stepping up their operations in a belt of communities around the capital.
The rise in deaths outside Baghdad may also be partly a result of clashes in Anbar province between al-Qaida extremists and Sunni tribes that have broken with the extremist movement. One key finding of the figures: Although civilians deaths are down in the capital, a careful analysis of the figures shows that sectarian tensions remain high.
Of the 1,586 civilians killed in Baghdad since the start of the crackdown, more than half, or 832, appear to have been the victims of sectarian death squads. Their bodies were found scattered around the city. That number represents a significant drop from the 1,754 bodies found in the capital during the two months before the crackdown, according to AP figures. Still, the figure shows that the security crackdown has been unable to stop death squads entirely.
Furthermore, the number of civilians killed by suicide bombers has risen in Baghdad, 352 during the crackdown compared with 279 in the two months before. Suicide bombings are considered the signature attack of Sunni religious extremists, including al-Qaida in Iraq. And most of the suicide attacks occurred in largely Shiite areas of the capital, indicating attacks on Shiites by Sunnis.
The AP count includes civilians as well as government officials and police and security forces, and is considered a minimum based on AP reporting. There have been no figures provided by the U.N. or the Iraqi government since the Baghdad crackdown began.
Labels: civilian deaths, militias, sectarian violence
Agenda announced for Sharm el-Sheikh conference as Iran ponders participation
Security, International
(RFE/RL) - Iran is still considering whether it will attend the next meeting of foreign ministers of Iraq's neighboring countries, Iranian media reported on April 12. Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki said it is "not definite" that Iran will attend the meeting, which will be held in Cairo. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu al-Ghayt said some 50 countries are slated to take part in the May 3-4 meeting, which will be held in the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, MENA reported on April 12.
The Sharm el-Sheikh conference will focus on nine key points, "Al-Sabah" reported on April 12. In the political sphere, the conference will discuss support for national reconciliation, expanding political participation, revising constitutional issues, ending political and sectarian tension, and guaranteeing a fair distribution of wealth. Four subjects related to the security file will be addressed: supporting the law enforcement plan, speeding up the training and rehabilitation of the security forces, addressing the issue of militias and armed groups, and ending foreign interference in Iraq's domestic affairs.
The Sharm el-Sheikh conference will focus on nine key points, "Al-Sabah" reported on April 12. In the political sphere, the conference will discuss support for national reconciliation, expanding political participation, revising constitutional issues, ending political and sectarian tension, and guaranteeing a fair distribution of wealth. Four subjects related to the security file will be addressed: supporting the law enforcement plan, speeding up the training and rehabilitation of the security forces, addressing the issue of militias and armed groups, and ending foreign interference in Iraq's domestic affairs.
Labels: international security conference, Iran, Manouchehr Mottaki, Sharm el-Sheikh
Suicide bombs in Karbala, Baghdad
Security
(Reuters) - A suicide car bomber killed at least 40 people and wounded 128 at a crowded bus station near a major Shi'ite shrine in the Iraqi holy city of Kerbala on Saturday, police and hospital sources said. In Baghdad, police said a suicide car bomber detonated his device before a checkpoint at the southern Jadriyah bridge, killing 10 people, wounding 15 and burning several cars in the second major attack on a bridge in the capital in the past two days.
Saturday's violence came a day after leaders from across Iraq's sectarian divide pleaded for unity as they gathered under high security at a special session of parliament to condemn a suicide bombing that tore through the building on Thursday.
A police source put the death toll in Kerbala, 110 km (70 miles) southwest of Baghdad, at 65. But Khaled al-Rubaie, media director of al-Husseini hospital in Kerbala, said 41 people had been killed and 128 wounded, many of them women and children. Salim Katham, media director of Kerbala's health directorate, said 32 people were killed and 58 wounded. The attack occurred near a crowded market and some 200 meters from the Imam Hussein shrine, where the grandson of Islam's Prophet Mohammad is buried -- one of the most important sites for Shi'ites.
Saturday's violence came a day after leaders from across Iraq's sectarian divide pleaded for unity as they gathered under high security at a special session of parliament to condemn a suicide bombing that tore through the building on Thursday.
A police source put the death toll in Kerbala, 110 km (70 miles) southwest of Baghdad, at 65. But Khaled al-Rubaie, media director of al-Husseini hospital in Kerbala, said 41 people had been killed and 128 wounded, many of them women and children. Salim Katham, media director of Kerbala's health directorate, said 32 people were killed and 58 wounded. The attack occurred near a crowded market and some 200 meters from the Imam Hussein shrine, where the grandson of Islam's Prophet Mohammad is buried -- one of the most important sites for Shi'ites.
Labels: car bomb, Jadriyah bridge, Kerbala
Friday, April 13, 2007
INM daily summary – 13 April 2007
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- President Jalal Talabani announced on April 11 that negotiations with five armed groups are entering the final stages, and that they will abandon violence and join the political process.
- The Islamic Army in Iraq has highlighted the split in the ranks of the Iraqi insurgency through its spokesman accusing al-Qaida and its umbrella organization of killing its members and pursuing the wrong policies.
- Parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani called for a parliamentary session, a rare occurrence on Friday, to "defy terrorism.’’
- Some 10,000 Baghdad residents packed a sports stadium March 31 to celebrate the 73rd anniversary of the Iraqi Communist Party.
- Turkey's military, which began staging several "large-scale" attacks on separatist Kurdish rebels in the country's southeast, asked the government Thursday for approval to launch a cross-border incursion into northern Iraq.
- Iraq hopes to raise oil production by nearly 1 million barrels per day (bpd) this year, achieving its long-held target of 3 million bpd by restoring northern exports.
- A joint U.S. and Iraqi force has retaken Bahraz, a major stronghold for al-Qaeda fighters in Iraq.
- Gunmen opened fire on Thursday against the headquarters of the Sunni Islamic Party in al-Iskandariya district, injuring one of its guards.
- Three cafeteria workers in Iraq's parliament have been detained following a suicide bombing in the building which killed one MP, a senior lawmaker said on Friday.
- Secuirty round-up
Round-up of violence across Iraq
Security
(Reuters) - Security developments in Iraq as of 1230 GMT on Friday:
MOSUL - Gunmen shot dead Mohammed Abd al-Hameed, a mosque imam in the northern city of Mosul, as he was on his way to his mosque, police said. Hameed was also a well-known figure in the Sunni Muslim Scholars' Association.
BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb wounded four policemen and one civilian when it exploded in the southern Baghdad district of Zaafaraniya, police said.
ISKANDARIYA - Several mortars rounds landed in al-Qaria al-Asria, a town near Iskandariya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, wounding 10 people, police said.
KIRKUK - Gunmen seriously wounded two people when they attacked a barber shop in southern Kirkuk, about 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
HILLA - Gunmen opened fire on the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party's offices near Hilla, wounding three guards, police said.
BAGHDAD - U.S. forces captured 14 suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq insurgents during operations on Friday, the U.S. military said.
MOSUL - Gunmen shot dead Mohammed Abd al-Hameed, a mosque imam in the northern city of Mosul, as he was on his way to his mosque, police said. Hameed was also a well-known figure in the Sunni Muslim Scholars' Association.
BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb wounded four policemen and one civilian when it exploded in the southern Baghdad district of Zaafaraniya, police said.
ISKANDARIYA - Several mortars rounds landed in al-Qaria al-Asria, a town near Iskandariya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, wounding 10 people, police said.
KIRKUK - Gunmen seriously wounded two people when they attacked a barber shop in southern Kirkuk, about 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
HILLA - Gunmen opened fire on the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party's offices near Hilla, wounding three guards, police said.
BAGHDAD - U.S. forces captured 14 suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq insurgents during operations on Friday, the U.S. military said.
Labels: Hilla, Iskandariyah, Kirkuk, Mohammed Abd al-Hameed, mortar rounds, Mosul, roadside bombs, Zaafaraniya
Three people held over parliament bombing
Security, Politics
Three cafeteria workers in Iraq's parliament have been detained following a suicide bombing in the building which killed one MP, a senior lawmaker said on Friday. Hasan Al Senaid, a lawmaker from the ruling Shiite Alliance bloc, said the three were being held for questioning but had not yet been charged. Some parliamentary guards were also being investigated but none were being held.
The original death toll from the blast was announced as eight deaths, but the US military revised the toll to one, although some reports say two MPs were killed in the attack. The bombing was the worst breach of security in the Green Zone, Baghdad's most secure area. The suicide bomber who blew himself up inside Iraq's parliament building was probably the bodyguard of a lawmaker, a senior security official at the national assembly said yesterday.
"There is a strong indication that the suicide bomber was a bodyguard of one of the lawmakers," the official said. He said three lawmakers, for example, are known to regularly refuse security checks inside the heavily guarded Green Zone where parliament sits. The official said police were also questioning the manager of the cafeteria, who was new on the job after being hired last month, as well as kitchen staff working at the cafe.
"There is a strong indication that the suicide bomber was a bodyguard of one of the lawmakers," the official said. He said three lawmakers, for example, are known to regularly refuse security checks inside the heavily guarded Green Zone where parliament sits. The official said police were also questioning the manager of the cafeteria, who was new on the job after being hired last month, as well as kitchen staff working at the cafe.
Iraqi authorities had intelligence that militants were planning an attack on parliament before a suicide bombing at the building, a senior government source said on Friday. "We had prior intelligence that there would be an attack on the parliament," the source told Reuters, without specifying when or how the information had been received.
Labels: Hasan Al Senaid, Iraqi parliament, suicide bomber
Iraqi Islamic Party offices attacked
Security, Politics
(Voices of Iraq) - Gunmen opened fire on Thursday against the headquarters of the Sunni Islamic Party in al-Iskandariya district, north of Hilla city, injuring one of its guards, a source in Babel police department said. “Gunmen opened fire from a car at the headquarters of the Islamic Party in al-Iskandariya district, north of Hilla, injuring one guard seriously,” the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
“The wounded guard was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment,” he added. The party is one of three components that form the Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF), a Sunni parliamentary bloc with 44 seats out of the 275-member parliament. The IAF recently threatened to withdraw parliament. Hilla is the capital city of Babel province and is located 100 km south of Baghdad.
“The wounded guard was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment,” he added. The party is one of three components that form the Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF), a Sunni parliamentary bloc with 44 seats out of the 275-member parliament. The IAF recently threatened to withdraw parliament. Hilla is the capital city of Babel province and is located 100 km south of Baghdad.
Labels: Iraqi Islamic Party, Iskandariyah
Al Qaeda stronghold in Diyala taken by Iraqi and U.S. forces
Security
(Azzaman) - A joint U.S. and Iraqi force has retaken Bahraz, a major stronghold for al-Qaeda fighters in Iraq. Bahraz, a small town in the restive and violent Diyala Province of which Baaqouba is the capital, has been a scene of intensive fighting since shortly after the 2003 U.S. invasion of the country.
The Qaeda group in Iraq has been using the town as a staging point for attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces and also for the training and deploying of suicide bombers. The town has been exchanging hands between Qaeda fighters and U.S. troops with the inhabitants paying heavily in terms of causalities and damages.
The fighters only withdrew from the town after heavy U.S. bombardment in which helicopter gunships were deployed. An Iraqi army officer, refusing to be named, said at least ten Qaeda fighters were killed and “scores of suspects arrested”. He said the troops cordoned off the town and conducted house-to-house search for gunmen.
The inhabitants were apparently pleased with coming of the troops, but feared Qaeda would use the presence of U.S. troops in the town as an excuse for suicide attacks. The officer said the inhabitants pleaded with authorities not to let the Americans enter or stay in their town, while many young accepted the offer to volunteer in the Iraqi police and army to protect their Bahraz.
The Qaeda group in Iraq has been using the town as a staging point for attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces and also for the training and deploying of suicide bombers. The town has been exchanging hands between Qaeda fighters and U.S. troops with the inhabitants paying heavily in terms of causalities and damages.
The fighters only withdrew from the town after heavy U.S. bombardment in which helicopter gunships were deployed. An Iraqi army officer, refusing to be named, said at least ten Qaeda fighters were killed and “scores of suspects arrested”. He said the troops cordoned off the town and conducted house-to-house search for gunmen.
The inhabitants were apparently pleased with coming of the troops, but feared Qaeda would use the presence of U.S. troops in the town as an excuse for suicide attacks. The officer said the inhabitants pleaded with authorities not to let the Americans enter or stay in their town, while many young accepted the offer to volunteer in the Iraqi police and army to protect their Bahraz.
Labels: Al Qaeda in Iraq, Bahraz, Diyala
Iraq targets 3 million bpd 2007 oil production
Oil, South Korea
(Reuters) - Iraq hopes to raise oil production by nearly 1 million barrels per day (bpd) this year, achieving its long-held target of 3 million bpd by restoring northern exports, its oil minister said on Thursday. Iraq has struggled to overcome the sabotage and outdated infrastructure that has hobbled its production since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003, largely due to unrelenting attacks on a key pipeline that runs north through Turkey. It has regularly fallen short of production and export targets aimed at restoring pre-war levels.
"Iraq wishes to exceed producing 3 million barrels a day in 2007 -- this is achievable by repairing the northern pipeline that connects to the Mediterranean," Hussain al Shahristani told Reuters after a meeting with South Korean energy officials. Iraq produced 1.97 million bpd in March, up from 1.89 million bpd in February, a Reuters survey shows, but Shahristani said last December that 2006 production averaged 2.3 million bpd.
Despite the weak production figures, exports climbed last month to 1.62 million bpd, the highest since last September, on increased shipments from the southern Basra oil terminal, shipping sources said. Shahristani said the country was targeting oil production of more than 4 million bpd in 2011. Shahristani was in Seoul to sign a cooperation deal with South Korea's energy minister Kim Young-joo on broadening opportunities for South Koreans to secure oilfields in Iraq, anxious to inject new investment into the ailing industry.
In 1997, state-owned Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) and Iraq's oil ministry under Saddam Hussein signed a preliminary deal to develop the Halfaya oilfield, estimated to hold up to 3.8 billion barrels of reserves and produce 250,000 bpd. The South Korean energy ministry said the deal was never followed through due to United Nations financial sanctions against Iraq. But Iraq will "positively consider" involving South Korea in the field once oil legislation is in place, according a memorandum of understanding signed by the two sides on Thursday.
Iraq issued invitations for 15 Arab, Asian and American firms to drill 100 oil wells in the country's south as part of efforts to boost production, the oil ministry said earlier this month. "It is achievable to pass the [draft oil] law within two months since all political parties are in favor," Shahristani said. The law will also restructure the Iraq National Oil Company (INOC) as an independent holding firm and establish a Federal Council as a forum for national oil policy.
"Iraq wishes to exceed producing 3 million barrels a day in 2007 -- this is achievable by repairing the northern pipeline that connects to the Mediterranean," Hussain al Shahristani told Reuters after a meeting with South Korean energy officials. Iraq produced 1.97 million bpd in March, up from 1.89 million bpd in February, a Reuters survey shows, but Shahristani said last December that 2006 production averaged 2.3 million bpd.
Despite the weak production figures, exports climbed last month to 1.62 million bpd, the highest since last September, on increased shipments from the southern Basra oil terminal, shipping sources said. Shahristani said the country was targeting oil production of more than 4 million bpd in 2011. Shahristani was in Seoul to sign a cooperation deal with South Korea's energy minister Kim Young-joo on broadening opportunities for South Koreans to secure oilfields in Iraq, anxious to inject new investment into the ailing industry.
In 1997, state-owned Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) and Iraq's oil ministry under Saddam Hussein signed a preliminary deal to develop the Halfaya oilfield, estimated to hold up to 3.8 billion barrels of reserves and produce 250,000 bpd. The South Korean energy ministry said the deal was never followed through due to United Nations financial sanctions against Iraq. But Iraq will "positively consider" involving South Korea in the field once oil legislation is in place, according a memorandum of understanding signed by the two sides on Thursday.
Iraq issued invitations for 15 Arab, Asian and American firms to drill 100 oil wells in the country's south as part of efforts to boost production, the oil ministry said earlier this month. "It is achievable to pass the [draft oil] law within two months since all political parties are in favor," Shahristani said. The law will also restructure the Iraq National Oil Company (INOC) as an independent holding firm and establish a Federal Council as a forum for national oil policy.
Labels: Halfaya oilfield, Hussain al-Shahristani, INOC, Iraq National Oil Co., KNOC, Korea National Oil Corp., South Korea
Turkish general pushes for approval for northern Iraq incursion
Security, Turkey
(AP) - Turkey's military, which began staging several "large-scale" attacks on separatist Kurdish rebels in the country's southeast, asked the government Thursday for approval to launch a cross-border incursion into northern Iraq. "An operation into Iraq is necessary," Gen. Yasar Buyukanit said, pushing for permission to raid northern Iraq to fight Kurdish guerrillas despite strong opposition from the United States and Iraq against such unilateral action.
The call raises the pressure on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to take a harder line against Kurdish guerrillas and against the Kurdish leadership in northern Iraq, where the rebels are based and train. Buyukanit said the military already was moving against separatists in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeastern region bordering Iraq.
"There are several large-scale operations under way in several areas," Buyukanit told reporters. "Our aim is to prevent them from taking positions in the region with the coming of spring." He said the rebels generally intensify their attacks on Turkey as the snow melts, opening up mountain passes. Clashes already have killed 10 soldiers and 29 Kurdish guerrillas in recent fighting, Buyukanit said. The separatist conflict has left more than 37,000 people dead since 1984.
On Monday, the Turkish government demanded that U.S. and Iraqi officials crack down on guerrillas from the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, running their rebellion from hideouts in the predominantly Kurdish region of northern Iraq. "The PKK has huge freedom of movement in Iraq," Buyukanit said. "It has spread its roots in Iraq."
But Iraq's government is barely able to control its own cities. U.S. commanders, who are battling the Iraqi insurgency in the middle of the country, are stretched too thin to take on Turkish Kurds hiding in remote mountains near the frontier. Washington repeatedly has cautioned Turkey against staging a cross-border offensive, fearing that it could destabilize the region and antagonize Iraqi Kurds, who are allied with the U.S. However, Turkey has asserted its right to stage a cross-border offensive if Iraqi officials fail to clamp down on the guerrillas.
The call raises the pressure on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to take a harder line against Kurdish guerrillas and against the Kurdish leadership in northern Iraq, where the rebels are based and train. Buyukanit said the military already was moving against separatists in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeastern region bordering Iraq.
"There are several large-scale operations under way in several areas," Buyukanit told reporters. "Our aim is to prevent them from taking positions in the region with the coming of spring." He said the rebels generally intensify their attacks on Turkey as the snow melts, opening up mountain passes. Clashes already have killed 10 soldiers and 29 Kurdish guerrillas in recent fighting, Buyukanit said. The separatist conflict has left more than 37,000 people dead since 1984.
On Monday, the Turkish government demanded that U.S. and Iraqi officials crack down on guerrillas from the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, running their rebellion from hideouts in the predominantly Kurdish region of northern Iraq. "The PKK has huge freedom of movement in Iraq," Buyukanit said. "It has spread its roots in Iraq."
But Iraq's government is barely able to control its own cities. U.S. commanders, who are battling the Iraqi insurgency in the middle of the country, are stretched too thin to take on Turkish Kurds hiding in remote mountains near the frontier. Washington repeatedly has cautioned Turkey against staging a cross-border offensive, fearing that it could destabilize the region and antagonize Iraqi Kurds, who are allied with the U.S. However, Turkey has asserted its right to stage a cross-border offensive if Iraqi officials fail to clamp down on the guerrillas.
Labels: Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, Kurdistan, Kurdistan Workers Party, PKK, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey
Mass events nationwide celebrate Iraqi Communist Party anniversary
Politics
(PWW) - Some 10,000 Baghdad residents packed a sports stadium March 31 to celebrate the 73rd anniversary of the Iraqi Communist Party. It was the first mass event in Baghdad in years by any secular democratic group. Similar events took place around the country. In Basra, Iraq's second largest city, 2,000 overflowed a cultural center for a celebration featuring music, poetry and dance.
The throng, including many families, children and youth, was mobilized on three days' notice due to security precautions. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who heads one of the main Kurdish parties, and Speaker of Parliament Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, of the Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front, sent representatives who read greetings. Representatives of a wide spectrum of political parties and civil society organizations also participated. Well-known poets and singers performed, including the head of the Iraqi Writers Union.
The huge turnouts in Baghdad and elsewhere point to a "change of mood among the people, especially the young, towards the Islamic parties," spokesman Salam Ali said. "People are just fed up" with sectarianism and violence. "The Communist Party appeals to people because it is not tainted with corruption and does not have blood on its hands from sectarian killings. People are seeing the party as hope, as a potential alternative, something different."
Slogans for the celebrations emphasized demands for social and economic improvements, women's rights, sovereignty and ending the occupation. They called on the people to fight for their rights, against sectarianism, for national reconciliation and unity. A reporter for the Arab-language newspaper Al-Hayat noted that the big, youthful turnout and culture-rich program in Basra, in southern Iraq, was in sharp contrast to the repressive environment imposed by Islamic parties there. It indicated that young people have "had it" with social and cultural suppression like the smashing of stores selling CDs and movies.
Celebrations also took place in Najaf, Karbala, Nasiriya, Diwaniya, Omarah, Nineveh and Wasit provinces and elsewhere. At least 1,000 turned out in Alqosh, in the northern Nineveh plain near Mosul, a predominantly Christian Chaldean and Assyrian area.
Both the democratic and nationalist trends were weakened by the U.S. occupation's fanning of sectarian division. "Once the American presence is out or weakens, the old political map will come into play -- these big political groups will gradually come back," he said. "This is the real Iraqi political scene. All the nonsense of 'Shia vs. Sunni' doesn't hold much ground."
The ICP sees national reconciliation and unity as necessary to ending foreign occupation and regaining political and economic sovereignty. Sadr draws support from among the poorest and most marginalized people of the countryside and Baghdad's Sadr City. In the Iraqi Communists' view, this underscores the fact that security and sovereignty require immediate economic and social measures to meet the needs of the people including the most downtrodden.
The throng, including many families, children and youth, was mobilized on three days' notice due to security precautions. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who heads one of the main Kurdish parties, and Speaker of Parliament Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, of the Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front, sent representatives who read greetings. Representatives of a wide spectrum of political parties and civil society organizations also participated. Well-known poets and singers performed, including the head of the Iraqi Writers Union.
The huge turnouts in Baghdad and elsewhere point to a "change of mood among the people, especially the young, towards the Islamic parties," spokesman Salam Ali said. "People are just fed up" with sectarianism and violence. "The Communist Party appeals to people because it is not tainted with corruption and does not have blood on its hands from sectarian killings. People are seeing the party as hope, as a potential alternative, something different."
Slogans for the celebrations emphasized demands for social and economic improvements, women's rights, sovereignty and ending the occupation. They called on the people to fight for their rights, against sectarianism, for national reconciliation and unity. A reporter for the Arab-language newspaper Al-Hayat noted that the big, youthful turnout and culture-rich program in Basra, in southern Iraq, was in sharp contrast to the repressive environment imposed by Islamic parties there. It indicated that young people have "had it" with social and cultural suppression like the smashing of stores selling CDs and movies.
Celebrations also took place in Najaf, Karbala, Nasiriya, Diwaniya, Omarah, Nineveh and Wasit provinces and elsewhere. At least 1,000 turned out in Alqosh, in the northern Nineveh plain near Mosul, a predominantly Christian Chaldean and Assyrian area.
Both the democratic and nationalist trends were weakened by the U.S. occupation's fanning of sectarian division. "Once the American presence is out or weakens, the old political map will come into play -- these big political groups will gradually come back," he said. "This is the real Iraqi political scene. All the nonsense of 'Shia vs. Sunni' doesn't hold much ground."
The ICP sees national reconciliation and unity as necessary to ending foreign occupation and regaining political and economic sovereignty. Sadr draws support from among the poorest and most marginalized people of the countryside and Baghdad's Sadr City. In the Iraqi Communists' view, this underscores the fact that security and sovereignty require immediate economic and social measures to meet the needs of the people including the most downtrodden.
Labels: ICP, Iraqi Communist Party, Jalal Talabani, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani
Parliamentary session in defiance of terrorism
Politics, Security
(AP) - Few Iraqi lawmakers managed to attend a rare emergency legislative session Friday, a day after a suicide bomber ripped through their cafeteria in a brazen attack inside Baghdad's U.S.-guarded Green Zone. Both Iraqi and American officials Friday revised down their estimates of those killed in the suicide bombing, which penetrated several layers of security. The U.S. issued a statement saying one civilian was killed.
But Iraqi parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani opened Friday's session by asking members of recite verses from the Quran to mourn the death of a "hero, the parliament member Mohammed Awad." Awad, a Sunni, was a member of the moderate National Dialogue Front. Party leader Saleh al-Mutlaq also confirmed his death, and said a female lawmaker from the same list was wounded.
Friday's emergency meeting had been scheduled to begin at 11 a.m., but began nearly 1.5 hours late, apparently because of low turnout and increased security measures. Many lawmakers were unable to reach the parliament building, whose interior was still in shambles Friday, because of a weekly driving ban on the Muslim day of rest. Mohammed Abu Bakr, head of the parliament's media office said, "the MPs' turnout is very low today because most of them are visiting those who were wounded by the blast," he said.
Parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani called for the session, a rare occurrence on Friday, to "defy terrorism," state television quoted him as saying. State-run Iraqiya television's transmission was draped Friday in a black mourning banner. Regular programming aired, but the screen had a black stripe across the upper left hand corner.
But Iraqi parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani opened Friday's session by asking members of recite verses from the Quran to mourn the death of a "hero, the parliament member Mohammed Awad." Awad, a Sunni, was a member of the moderate National Dialogue Front. Party leader Saleh al-Mutlaq also confirmed his death, and said a female lawmaker from the same list was wounded.
Friday's emergency meeting had been scheduled to begin at 11 a.m., but began nearly 1.5 hours late, apparently because of low turnout and increased security measures. Many lawmakers were unable to reach the parliament building, whose interior was still in shambles Friday, because of a weekly driving ban on the Muslim day of rest. Mohammed Abu Bakr, head of the parliament's media office said, "the MPs' turnout is very low today because most of them are visiting those who were wounded by the blast," he said.
Parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani called for the session, a rare occurrence on Friday, to "defy terrorism," state television quoted him as saying. State-run Iraqiya television's transmission was draped Friday in a black mourning banner. Regular programming aired, but the screen had a black stripe across the upper left hand corner.
Security officials at parliament, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing, said they believed the cafeteria bomber was a bodyguard of a Sunni lawmaker who was not among the casualties. Caldwell said the attack bore the trademarks of al-Qaida in Iraq. "We don't know at this point who it was. We do know in the past that suicide vests have been used predominantly by al-Qaida," he said.
It would be the second time in less than a month that a bodyguard wearing a suicide vest attacked a Sunni official. On March 23 a member of Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zubaie's security detail exploded his suicide vest and seriously wounded al-Zubaie, the highest-ranking Sunni in the Iraqi government.
It would be the second time in less than a month that a bodyguard wearing a suicide vest attacked a Sunni official. On March 23 a member of Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zubaie's security detail exploded his suicide vest and seriously wounded al-Zubaie, the highest-ranking Sunni in the Iraqi government.
Labels: Iraqi parliament, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, Mohammed Awad
Islamic Army in Iraq says Iran is a bigger enemy than the U.S.
Insurgency, Politics
(AP) - An Iraqi militant group has highlighted the split in the ranks of the Iraqi insurgency by having its spokesman give a television interview in which he accuses al-Qaida and its umbrella organization of killing its members and pursuing the wrong policies. "The gap has widened and the injustices committed by some brothers in al-Qaida have increased," Ibrahim al-Shimmari told Al-Jazeera television in an interview broadcast Wednesday and repeated Thursday.
Al-Shimmari was filmed sitting with Al-Jazeera's interviewer in an undisclosed location. He was wearing a red-and-white checkered keffiyeh but his face was blurred by video engineering. Al-Shimmari is the spokesman for the Islamic Army in Iraq, a Sunni militant group that first aired its grievances against al-Qaida and umbrella Islamic State of Iraq on its Web site last week. He took the division further in the TV interview, putting his name to the charges and giving specifics in answer to questions. He accused al-Qaida of killing 30 members of the Islamic Army, and said the Islamic State of Iraq's claim to constitute a state was both inaccurate and incorrect policy.
"We don't recognize (the Islamic State of Iraq). It is void. There is no state under crusader occupation. There is resistance," al-Shimmari said. He was more critical of Iranian influence in Iraq than American, apparently out of opposition to the growing power of Iraq's Shiite majority, a trend that Shiite-dominant Iran supports. "Our goal is to free Iraq from the American and Iranian occupation. There is a bigger Iranian occupation than the American one," he said. "The United States does not claim that Iraq is part of America. It came for its own interests, and that includes its imperialist project ... But Iran regards Iraq as a part of itself."
Al-Shimmari's comments provoked a series of postings on Islamic Web sites by militant sympathizers, who said they were saddened by the split. He said the Islamic Army used to be very close to al-Qaida in Iraq, but the two groups had increasingly diverged since al-Qaida leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. airstrike last June. "They killed 30 members of the Islamic Army," he said of al-Qaida.
He attacked Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, accusing him of violating Islamic law as well as sanctioning the "assassination" of fighters and forcing others to surrender their weapons to the umbrella group. The Islamic State of Iraq groups eight Sunni insurgent factions, of whom al-Qaida is deemed the most important. "The dream of every Muslim is to live in an Islamic nation. But an Islamic nation cannot be created in this way. It cannot be created under occupation," al-Shimmari said.
"We have sent our advice to the brothers in al-Qaida, and we sent messages to Sheik Osama bin Laden, the other jihad groups and all the religious scholars," he added, naming the founding leader of the al-Qaida network. He seemed eager to indicate that the division was not irreconcilable. He said the Islamic Army had refrained from turning its guns on al-Qaida.
An Islamic Web site on Thursday carried a message by a person who gave his name as Nabil al-Athari. "It is sad to see what is happening among the fighters in Iraq," he wrote. "The Islamic Army is Sunni and it has been fighting the enemies of religion for a while, just like the Islamic State of Iraq. Both did a lot. We need to bring the two groups together."
Al-Shimmari was filmed sitting with Al-Jazeera's interviewer in an undisclosed location. He was wearing a red-and-white checkered keffiyeh but his face was blurred by video engineering. Al-Shimmari is the spokesman for the Islamic Army in Iraq, a Sunni militant group that first aired its grievances against al-Qaida and umbrella Islamic State of Iraq on its Web site last week. He took the division further in the TV interview, putting his name to the charges and giving specifics in answer to questions. He accused al-Qaida of killing 30 members of the Islamic Army, and said the Islamic State of Iraq's claim to constitute a state was both inaccurate and incorrect policy.
"We don't recognize (the Islamic State of Iraq). It is void. There is no state under crusader occupation. There is resistance," al-Shimmari said. He was more critical of Iranian influence in Iraq than American, apparently out of opposition to the growing power of Iraq's Shiite majority, a trend that Shiite-dominant Iran supports. "Our goal is to free Iraq from the American and Iranian occupation. There is a bigger Iranian occupation than the American one," he said. "The United States does not claim that Iraq is part of America. It came for its own interests, and that includes its imperialist project ... But Iran regards Iraq as a part of itself."
Al-Shimmari's comments provoked a series of postings on Islamic Web sites by militant sympathizers, who said they were saddened by the split. He said the Islamic Army used to be very close to al-Qaida in Iraq, but the two groups had increasingly diverged since al-Qaida leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. airstrike last June. "They killed 30 members of the Islamic Army," he said of al-Qaida.
He attacked Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, accusing him of violating Islamic law as well as sanctioning the "assassination" of fighters and forcing others to surrender their weapons to the umbrella group. The Islamic State of Iraq groups eight Sunni insurgent factions, of whom al-Qaida is deemed the most important. "The dream of every Muslim is to live in an Islamic nation. But an Islamic nation cannot be created in this way. It cannot be created under occupation," al-Shimmari said.
"We have sent our advice to the brothers in al-Qaida, and we sent messages to Sheik Osama bin Laden, the other jihad groups and all the religious scholars," he added, naming the founding leader of the al-Qaida network. He seemed eager to indicate that the division was not irreconcilable. He said the Islamic Army had refrained from turning its guns on al-Qaida.
An Islamic Web site on Thursday carried a message by a person who gave his name as Nabil al-Athari. "It is sad to see what is happening among the fighters in Iraq," he wrote. "The Islamic Army is Sunni and it has been fighting the enemies of religion for a while, just like the Islamic State of Iraq. Both did a lot. We need to bring the two groups together."
Labels: Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, Al Qaeda, Ibrahim al-Shemmari, Iran, Islamic Army in Iraq, Islamic State of Iraq
Talabani in final negotiations with five armed groups
Politics, Insurgency
(Al-Iraqiyah ) - President Jalal Talabani announced on April 11 that negotiations with five armed groups are entering the final stages, and that they will abandon violence and join the political process, state-run Al-Iraqiyah television reported the same day. He declined to name the groups, fearing they may be singled out and targeted by groups connected to Al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Talabani also stressed that a dialogue should be opened with all groups that reject terrorism. "We should be ready to deal with the groups that have distinguished themselves from terrorists," he said. "There are two trenches: the trench of Iraqi people and the trench of terrorism. We cannot be in the two trenches." Talabani singled out the Iraqi Islamic Party as being one of the groups that has rejected terrorism and as a result should be given the full support of the government and people.
Labels: armed groups, Iraqi Islamic Party, Jalal Talabani, negotiations
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Summary of parliament attack
Security, Politics
Who was behind it? As the casualty count for Thursday's bombing of the Iraqi Parliament continued to rise, the Islamic State in Iraq claimed responsibility for the attack, calling it a message to those who cooperate with "the occupier and its agents." The statement, posted on an Islamist Website, further warned, "We will reach you wherever you are"
Who carried it out? Security officials at parliament, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information, said they believed the bomber was a bodyguard of a Sunni member of parliament who was not among the dead. They would not name the member of parliament.
Two more bombs found The officials also said two satchel bombs were found near the cafeteria. A U.S. bomb squad took the explosives away and detonated them without incident. Iraqi officials said the bomber struck the cafeteria while several lawmakers were eating lunch, and at least three of them — two Sunnis and a Shiite — were killed. Figures vary and some sources state 10 were killed. State television said 30 people were wounded.
Who was killed? One of the dead lawmakers was Mohammed Awad, a member of the Sunni National Dialogue Front, said party leader Saleh al-Mutlaq. A female Sunni lawmaker from the same list was wounded, he said. Another was Taha al-Liheibi, of the Sunni Accordance Front, said Mohammed Abu Bakr, who heads the legislature's media department. A third dead legislator was Niamah al-Mayahi, a member of the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance bloc, said Saleh al-Aujaili, a fellow member. Asif Hussein Muhammad, an MP from the Islamic Union of Kurdistan, was also killed in the blast.
Security breach Earlier in the day, security officials used dogs to check people entering the building in a rare precaution — apparently concerned that an attack might take place. A security scanner for pedestrians at the entrance to the Green Zone near the parliament building was not working Thursday, Abu Bakr said. People were searched only by hand and had to pass through metal detectors, he said.
Who was killed? One of the dead lawmakers was Mohammed Awad, a member of the Sunni National Dialogue Front, said party leader Saleh al-Mutlaq. A female Sunni lawmaker from the same list was wounded, he said. Another was Taha al-Liheibi, of the Sunni Accordance Front, said Mohammed Abu Bakr, who heads the legislature's media department. A third dead legislator was Niamah al-Mayahi, a member of the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance bloc, said Saleh al-Aujaili, a fellow member. Asif Hussein Muhammad, an MP from the Islamic Union of Kurdistan, was also killed in the blast.
Security breach Earlier in the day, security officials used dogs to check people entering the building in a rare precaution — apparently concerned that an attack might take place. A security scanner for pedestrians at the entrance to the Green Zone near the parliament building was not working Thursday, Abu Bakr said. People were searched only by hand and had to pass through metal detectors, he said.
Labels: Iraqi parliament, Islamic State in Iraq, suicide bomber
Parliament bombing update
Security, Politics
(AP) - A suicide bomber blew himself up in the Iraqi parliament cafeteria Thursday, killing at least eight people — including three lawmakers — and wounding dozens in a stunning assault in the heart of the heavily fortified, U.S.-protected Green Zone. A news video camera captured the moment of the blast — a flash and an orange ball of fire causing a startled Muslim imam who was being interviewed to duck, and then the smoky, dust-filled aftermath of confusion and shouting. The video was shot by Alhurra, a U.S. government-funded Arab-language channel.
The blast came hours after a suicide truck bomb exploded on a major bridge in Baghdad, collapsing the steel structure and sending cars tumbling into the Tigris River, police and witnesses said. At least 10 people were killed.
The parliament bombing was believed to be the deadliest attack in the Green Zone, the enclave that houses
Iraq's leadership as well as the U.S. Embassy, and is secured by American and Iraqi checkpoints. Security officials at parliament, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information, said they believed the bomber was a bodyguard of a Sunni member of parliament who was not among the dead. They would not name the member of parliament.
The officials also said two satchel bombs were found near the cafeteria. A U.S. bomb squad took the explosives away and detonated them without incident.
President Bush strongly condemned the attack, saying: "My message to the Iraqi government is `We stand with you.'Maj. Gen. William Caldwell told The Associated Press that eight people were killed in the attack, which witness accounts indicated was carried out by a suicide bomber.
Iraqi officials said the bomber struck the cafeteria while several lawmakers were eating lunch, and at least three of them — two Sunnis and a Shiite — were killed. State television said 30 people were wounded. "We don't know at this point who it was. We do know in the past that suicide vests have been used predominantly by al-Qaida," Caldwell said. Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh suggested that those behind the attack might work in the building. "There are some groups that work in politics during the day and do things other than politics at night," he told Alhurra.
The Alhurra video showed what appeared to be the moments just after the attack: A smoky hallway, with people screaming for help. One man was slumped over, covered in dust, motionless. A woman kneeled over what appeared to be a wounded or dead man near a table. Then the camera focused on a bloody severed leg. TV cameras and videotapes belonging to a crew sending footage to Western networks were confiscated and apparently handed over to U.S. authorities. After the blast, security guards sealed the building and no one — including lawmakers — was allowed to enter or leave.
A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said no Americans were hurt. The bombing came amid the two-month-old security crackdown in Baghdad, which has sought to restore stability in the capital so that the government of Iraq can take key political steps by June 30 or face a withdrawal of American support. "We know that there is a security problem in Baghdad," added Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, speaking at the State Department. "This is still early in the process and I don't think anyone expected that there wouldn't be counter-efforts by terrorists to undermine the security presence."
One of the dead lawmakers was Mohammed Awad, a member of the Sunni National Dialogue Front, said party leader Saleh al-Mutlaq. A female Sunni lawmaker from the same list was wounded, he said. Another was Taha al-Liheibi, of the Sunni Accordance Front, said Mohammed Abu Bakr, who heads the legislature's media department. A third dead legislator was Niamah al-Mayahi, a member of the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance bloc, said Saleh al-Aujaili, a fellow member. Asif Hussein Muhammad, an MP from the Islamic Union of Kurdistan, was also killed in the blast. Abu Bakr and other lawmakers said they saw the suspected bomber's body amid the ghastly scene. "I saw two legs in the middle of the cafeteria and none of those killed or wounded lost their legs — which means they must be the legs of the suicide attacker," he said.
Earlier in the day, security officials used dogs to check people entering the building in a rare precaution — apparently concerned that an attack might take place. A security scanner for pedestrians at the entrance to the Green Zone near the parliament building was not working Thursday, Abu Bakr said. People were searched only by hand and had to pass through metal detectors, he said.
The brazen bombing was the clearest evidence yet that militants can penetrate even the most secure locations. Masses of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers are on the streets in the ninth week of a security crackdown in the capital and security measures inside the Green Zone have been significantly hardened.
The U.S. military reported April 1 that two suicide vests were found in the Green Zone, also home to the U.S. Embassy and the Iraqi government. A rocket attack last month killed two Americans, a soldier and a contractor. A few days earlier, a rocket landed within 100 yards of a building where U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was holding a news conference. No one was hurt.
Khalaf al-Ilyan, one of the three leaders of the Iraqi Accordance Front, which holds 44 seats, said the attack was "aimed at everyone — all parties — our parliament in general being a symbol and a representative of all segments of Iraqi society." Al-Ilyan, who is in Jordan recovering from knee surgery, said the blast also "underlines the failure of the government's security plan. The plan is 100 percent a failure. It's a complete flop. The explosion means that instability and lack of security has reached the Green Zone, which the government boasts is heavily fortified," he said.
Hadi al-Amiri, head of the parliament's security and defense committee, said the blast shook the building just after legislators ended their main meeting, and broke into smaller committees. He said Iraqi forces are in charge of security in the building, and that explosives could have been smuggled in amid restaurant supplies.
Attacks in the Green Zone are rare. The worst previous known assault occurred Oct. 14, 2004, when a blast at a market and a popular cafe killed six people — the first bombing in the sprawling region. On Nov. 25, 2004, a mortar attack inside the zone killed four employees of a British security firm and wounded at least 12. On Jan. 29, 2005, insurgents hit the U.S. Embassy compound with a rocket, killing two Americans — a civilian and a sailor — on the eve of landmark elections. Four other Americans were wounded.
The blast came hours after a suicide truck bomb exploded on a major bridge in Baghdad, collapsing the steel structure and sending cars tumbling into the Tigris River, police and witnesses said. At least 10 people were killed.
The parliament bombing was believed to be the deadliest attack in the Green Zone, the enclave that houses
Iraq's leadership as well as the U.S. Embassy, and is secured by American and Iraqi checkpoints. Security officials at parliament, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information, said they believed the bomber was a bodyguard of a Sunni member of parliament who was not among the dead. They would not name the member of parliament.
The officials also said two satchel bombs were found near the cafeteria. A U.S. bomb squad took the explosives away and detonated them without incident.
President Bush strongly condemned the attack, saying: "My message to the Iraqi government is `We stand with you.'Maj. Gen. William Caldwell told The Associated Press that eight people were killed in the attack, which witness accounts indicated was carried out by a suicide bomber.
Iraqi officials said the bomber struck the cafeteria while several lawmakers were eating lunch, and at least three of them — two Sunnis and a Shiite — were killed. State television said 30 people were wounded. "We don't know at this point who it was. We do know in the past that suicide vests have been used predominantly by al-Qaida," Caldwell said. Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh suggested that those behind the attack might work in the building. "There are some groups that work in politics during the day and do things other than politics at night," he told Alhurra.
The Alhurra video showed what appeared to be the moments just after the attack: A smoky hallway, with people screaming for help. One man was slumped over, covered in dust, motionless. A woman kneeled over what appeared to be a wounded or dead man near a table. Then the camera focused on a bloody severed leg. TV cameras and videotapes belonging to a crew sending footage to Western networks were confiscated and apparently handed over to U.S. authorities. After the blast, security guards sealed the building and no one — including lawmakers — was allowed to enter or leave.
A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said no Americans were hurt. The bombing came amid the two-month-old security crackdown in Baghdad, which has sought to restore stability in the capital so that the government of Iraq can take key political steps by June 30 or face a withdrawal of American support. "We know that there is a security problem in Baghdad," added Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, speaking at the State Department. "This is still early in the process and I don't think anyone expected that there wouldn't be counter-efforts by terrorists to undermine the security presence."
One of the dead lawmakers was Mohammed Awad, a member of the Sunni National Dialogue Front, said party leader Saleh al-Mutlaq. A female Sunni lawmaker from the same list was wounded, he said. Another was Taha al-Liheibi, of the Sunni Accordance Front, said Mohammed Abu Bakr, who heads the legislature's media department. A third dead legislator was Niamah al-Mayahi, a member of the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance bloc, said Saleh al-Aujaili, a fellow member. Asif Hussein Muhammad, an MP from the Islamic Union of Kurdistan, was also killed in the blast. Abu Bakr and other lawmakers said they saw the suspected bomber's body amid the ghastly scene. "I saw two legs in the middle of the cafeteria and none of those killed or wounded lost their legs — which means they must be the legs of the suicide attacker," he said.
Earlier in the day, security officials used dogs to check people entering the building in a rare precaution — apparently concerned that an attack might take place. A security scanner for pedestrians at the entrance to the Green Zone near the parliament building was not working Thursday, Abu Bakr said. People were searched only by hand and had to pass through metal detectors, he said.
The brazen bombing was the clearest evidence yet that militants can penetrate even the most secure locations. Masses of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers are on the streets in the ninth week of a security crackdown in the capital and security measures inside the Green Zone have been significantly hardened.
The U.S. military reported April 1 that two suicide vests were found in the Green Zone, also home to the U.S. Embassy and the Iraqi government. A rocket attack last month killed two Americans, a soldier and a contractor. A few days earlier, a rocket landed within 100 yards of a building where U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was holding a news conference. No one was hurt.
Khalaf al-Ilyan, one of the three leaders of the Iraqi Accordance Front, which holds 44 seats, said the attack was "aimed at everyone — all parties — our parliament in general being a symbol and a representative of all segments of Iraqi society." Al-Ilyan, who is in Jordan recovering from knee surgery, said the blast also "underlines the failure of the government's security plan. The plan is 100 percent a failure. It's a complete flop. The explosion means that instability and lack of security has reached the Green Zone, which the government boasts is heavily fortified," he said.
Hadi al-Amiri, head of the parliament's security and defense committee, said the blast shook the building just after legislators ended their main meeting, and broke into smaller committees. He said Iraqi forces are in charge of security in the building, and that explosives could have been smuggled in amid restaurant supplies.
Attacks in the Green Zone are rare. The worst previous known assault occurred Oct. 14, 2004, when a blast at a market and a popular cafe killed six people — the first bombing in the sprawling region. On Nov. 25, 2004, a mortar attack inside the zone killed four employees of a British security firm and wounded at least 12. On Jan. 29, 2005, insurgents hit the U.S. Embassy compound with a rocket, killing two Americans — a civilian and a sailor — on the eve of landmark elections. Four other Americans were wounded.
Labels: Ali Al Dabbagh, Iraq's parliament, Khalaf al-Ilyan, Mohammed Awad, National Dialogue Front, Niamah al-Mayahi, satchel bombs, suicide bomber, Taha al-Liheibi, United Iraqi Alliance
INM daily summary – 12 April 2007
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- A suicide bomber driving a truck has blown himself up on the on al-Sarafiya bridge in Baghdad, killing at least 10 people and injuring 26 others according to hospital officials.
- The Pentagon has said that US soldiers will serve up to 15 months in Iraq and Afghanistan instead of one year, showing more signs of the strain the wars have taken on the military.
- Iranian state television has shown officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross examining an Iranian diplomat who has accused the CIA of torturing him while he was detained in Iraq.
- Fighting in the southern city of Diwaniya has forced hundreds of families to flee their homes.
- In parts of Baghdad the Islamic State of Iraq has imposed extremist laws on citizens.
- British forces have hit back at Iraqi insurgents who killed six colleagues last week, by launching an operation in which they shot dead more than 20 gunmen of Basra's rogue militias.
- Experts specialised in the oil sector and academics confirmed, at a symposium held in the city of Amarah in Southern Iraq, that the bill of oil and gas which is currently being discussed by the Parliament for approval “needs a review and adjustments” that are considered “essential”.
- Chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell Company said on Thursday that the oil company will invest in Iraq only if they are fully confident of the legal framework that governs the oil and gas projects.
- The Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein Shahrastani invited Korean and Japanese companies to engage in a dialogue with the South Oil Company to develop the currently discovered fields in the southern region within the ministry's plan to develop and increase production rates in these fields.
- The Iraqi Accord Front may withdraw from the political process.
- A bomb rocked a cafeteria inside Iraq's parliament building in the heavily fortified Green Zone Thursday, killing a Sunni and a Shia lawmaker and wounding many people, a parliament official said.
- A spokesman for the Iraq Islamic Army said in an interview with al-Jazeera television Wednesday that his group was willing to negotiate with the United States if the power withdraws from the country.
- Nearly two months into a Baghdad security plan intended to calm the Iraqi capital by protecting residents from sectarian violence; Shiite Muslim militia members are still driving Sunni Muslims from religiously mixed neighborhoods.
Sectarian violence ongoing despite Baghdad security operation
Security
(McClatchy Newspapers) - Nearly two months into a Baghdad security plan intended to calm the Iraqi capital by protecting residents from sectarian violence, Shiite Muslim militia members are still driving Sunni Muslims from religiously mixed neighborhoods. Iraqi soldiers, usually ethnic Kurds, reportedly have intervened in some instances to stop the militia campaign. But interviews with Sunni residents found that most of the efforts go unchallenged in a city where it's increasingly rare for Shiites or Sunnis to remain in neighborhoods that the other sect dominates.
Residents displaced in the past four months describe a new effort that haunts them after they flee. It begins with intimidating phone calls, then escalates into bombings or the dismantling of Sunni homes. The residents said the perpetrators were members of the Mahdi Army militia, which is loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Al-Sadr reportedly has told his followers to lie low and not challenge U.S. troops as they fan out across the capital in an effort to restore order.
But that show of cooperation hasn't prevented the militia from trying to cement its grip on some formerly mixed-sect neighborhoods, residents report. Lt. Col Chris Garver, a U.S. military spokesman, didn't dispute that Mahdi Army members are still working to clear neighborhoods of Sunni residents. He said the security plan was in its early stages and that with three of five additional U.S. brigades now in Baghdad, there still weren't enough troops to halt illegal militia activities in every neighborhood.
"These are exactly the type of activities that we will clear, and free the neighborhoods from the influence of illegal armed groups, insurgents, militias or other criminals," Garver said. "In order for the plan to work, Iraqi residents must report these activities." Residents described a multifaceted program that begins with efforts to force a family to leave and continues even after the house is abandoned. Then, residents reported, Mahdi Army members work to persuade the homeowner to sell the abandoned house at below-market rates and to prevent the owner from installing a tenant.
Residents displaced in the past four months describe a new effort that haunts them after they flee. It begins with intimidating phone calls, then escalates into bombings or the dismantling of Sunni homes. The residents said the perpetrators were members of the Mahdi Army militia, which is loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Al-Sadr reportedly has told his followers to lie low and not challenge U.S. troops as they fan out across the capital in an effort to restore order.
But that show of cooperation hasn't prevented the militia from trying to cement its grip on some formerly mixed-sect neighborhoods, residents report. Lt. Col Chris Garver, a U.S. military spokesman, didn't dispute that Mahdi Army members are still working to clear neighborhoods of Sunni residents. He said the security plan was in its early stages and that with three of five additional U.S. brigades now in Baghdad, there still weren't enough troops to halt illegal militia activities in every neighborhood.
"These are exactly the type of activities that we will clear, and free the neighborhoods from the influence of illegal armed groups, insurgents, militias or other criminals," Garver said. "In order for the plan to work, Iraqi residents must report these activities." Residents described a multifaceted program that begins with efforts to force a family to leave and continues even after the house is abandoned. Then, residents reported, Mahdi Army members work to persuade the homeowner to sell the abandoned house at below-market rates and to prevent the owner from installing a tenant.
The plan to keep Sunnis out of formerly mixed neighborhoods is evident as well in the Hurriyah section of northern Baghdad, which the Mahdi Army now dominates. Photos of dead Mahdi Army members hang throughout the streets, and red X's mark businesses and homes where Sunni families were pushed out. One Kurdish member of Iraq's army, interviewed Wednesday, said his unit was ordered to intervene 10 days ago when Mahdi Army members began dismantling homes near a Sunni mosque that had been destroyed during what residents said was a three-month militia push late last year to drive Sunnis from the area.
A prominent member of the Mahdi Army, who asked not to be identified because he was admitting illegal activities, acknowledged that the militia was behind a campaign to drive what he termed "bad" Sunnis from Hurriyah. He was unapologetic, saying the militia acts on orders to kill or kick out Sunnis who are connected to insurgent groups that have killed thousands of Shiites. Asking Shiites not to pay rent to Sunnis was an educational campaign, he said. "This is wrong, and that amount of money may be used by Sunni terrorists for killing Shiites," he said. "We must inform them."
A prominent member of the Mahdi Army, who asked not to be identified because he was admitting illegal activities, acknowledged that the militia was behind a campaign to drive what he termed "bad" Sunnis from Hurriyah. He was unapologetic, saying the militia acts on orders to kill or kick out Sunnis who are connected to insurgent groups that have killed thousands of Shiites. Asking Shiites not to pay rent to Sunnis was an educational campaign, he said. "This is wrong, and that amount of money may be used by Sunni terrorists for killing Shiites," he said. "We must inform them."
Labels: Kurds, Lt. Col Chris Garver, Mahdi Army, sectarian violence, Shiite militias
Iraq Islamic Army may be willing to negotiate with U.S.
Security
(DPA) - A spokesman for an Iraqi insurgent group said in an interview with al-Jazeera television Wednesday that his group was willing to negotiate with the United States if the power withdraws from the country. Ibrahim al-Shemmari, spokesman of the predominantly Sunni Iraq Islamic Army (IIA), offered to enter into negotiations with the United States under certain 'conditions' provided that an outside body like the European Union, Russia or Turkey hosted talks.
Al-Shemmari vowed that IIA fighters would continue resistance against US troops until they leave the country, but said the group was prepared to enter into negotiations if the US Congress made a 'binding decision' to withdraw US troops. 'Our second condition is that the Americans recognize the resistance as a legitimate party,' he said.
Al-Shemmari vowed that IIA fighters would continue resistance against US troops until they leave the country, but said the group was prepared to enter into negotiations if the US Congress made a 'binding decision' to withdraw US troops. 'Our second condition is that the Americans recognize the resistance as a legitimate party,' he said.
He also said in an interview with al-Jazeera television that there was a 'widening gap' between his group and al- Qaeda forces in Iraq. And he claimed that insurgent forces have killed 25,000 Americans - a number that is disputed by carefully kept US figures. Al-Shemmari described his group as including 'faithful elements' from the dissolved Iraqi army but excluding 'all Baathists.'
Al-Shemmari charged that the gap with al-Qaeda came about after it had killed 40 IIA fighters, but vowed that the group was seeking reconciliation to unify all the insurgent groups and fight until the US troops leave the country. 'We are keen on the unification of all resistance groups. We have written for this end to Osama bin Laden and other scholars,' al- Shemmari said.
In Washington, the private think tank, Brookings Institute, which keeps a widely respected tally of deaths in Iraq, reports only 470 deaths of foreign non-Iraqi private military contractors. In all, it estimated there were more than 20,000 private military contractors serving in Iraq, but did not specify their nationality.
Another website, Iraq Body Count, estimates Iraqi civilian deaths at 61,000 to 67,000. Al-Shemmari faulted the official figures of the US military command in Iraq, which officially puts the number of troops killed in the past four years at about 3,243. He said the number neglected 'the mercenaries and personnel involved in the logistic services.'
Al-Shemmari said that the former Iraqi army 'included both faithful personnel and corrupt Baathists,' which was why Baathists were excluded from the IIA. He dismissed as 'propaganda' reports that Baathists, belonging to the ruling party of former President Saddam Hussein, represented the backbone of the Iraqi insurgency. He pointed out that the IIA had 'benefited' from all previous guerrilla warfare experiments, including the Vietnam war, in its operations against the US-led multinational force in Iraq. He blasted the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shiite, as a 'sectarian cabinet which is part of the Iranian project'.
In Washington, the private think tank, Brookings Institute, which keeps a widely respected tally of deaths in Iraq, reports only 470 deaths of foreign non-Iraqi private military contractors. In all, it estimated there were more than 20,000 private military contractors serving in Iraq, but did not specify their nationality.
Another website, Iraq Body Count, estimates Iraqi civilian deaths at 61,000 to 67,000. Al-Shemmari faulted the official figures of the US military command in Iraq, which officially puts the number of troops killed in the past four years at about 3,243. He said the number neglected 'the mercenaries and personnel involved in the logistic services.'
Al-Shemmari said that the former Iraqi army 'included both faithful personnel and corrupt Baathists,' which was why Baathists were excluded from the IIA. He dismissed as 'propaganda' reports that Baathists, belonging to the ruling party of former President Saddam Hussein, represented the backbone of the Iraqi insurgency. He pointed out that the IIA had 'benefited' from all previous guerrilla warfare experiments, including the Vietnam war, in its operations against the US-led multinational force in Iraq. He blasted the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shiite, as a 'sectarian cabinet which is part of the Iranian project'.
Labels: Al Qaeda, Ibrahim al-Shemmari, Iraq Islamic Army, negotiations, U.S.
Bomb rocks Iraq's parliament in the Green Zone
Security, Politics
(AP, Agencies) - A bomb rocked a cafeteria inside Iraq's parliament building in the heavily fortified Green Zone Thursday, killing a Sunni lawmaker and wounding many people, a parliament official said. The explosion took place while several lawmakers were eating lunch, said Mohammed Abu Bakr, who heads the media department at the parliament. Al-Jazeera television reported that Muhammad Awadh of the National Dialogue Block, had been killed in the blast and at least five members of the Accord Front block were injured.
"Several people were wounded, including members of parliament and some employees," Abu Bakr said. Initial media reports said at least four people were wounded. Al-Arabiyah television said a member of parliament was killed. A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, which is also in the Green Zone, said no Americans were injured in the blast. A security official at the parliament building said a second lawmaker, a Shiite member, also was killed. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
"We are aware of reports of an explosion in the Green Zone. We are investigating the nature and source of the explosion," spokesman Lou Fintor said. "No Embassy employees or U.S. citizens were affected." Mobile telephones and landlines in central Baghdad around the Green Zone, which is home to the parliament complex, did not appear to be in service after the blast.
The US military said it was tracking media reports of a blast inside the sprawling Green Zone compound, also home to the Iraqi government and foreign embassies. Militants have rarely managed to penetrate the various checkpoints and carry out attacks. Recently, the U.S. military said two suicide vests had been found inside the zone, a sprawling area that comprises many government buildings and the U.S. embassy. Attempts to reach dozens of lawmakers by telephone were unsuccessful.
"Several people were wounded, including members of parliament and some employees," Abu Bakr said. Initial media reports said at least four people were wounded. Al-Arabiyah television said a member of parliament was killed. A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, which is also in the Green Zone, said no Americans were injured in the blast. A security official at the parliament building said a second lawmaker, a Shiite member, also was killed. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
"We are aware of reports of an explosion in the Green Zone. We are investigating the nature and source of the explosion," spokesman Lou Fintor said. "No Embassy employees or U.S. citizens were affected." Mobile telephones and landlines in central Baghdad around the Green Zone, which is home to the parliament complex, did not appear to be in service after the blast.
The US military said it was tracking media reports of a blast inside the sprawling Green Zone compound, also home to the Iraqi government and foreign embassies. Militants have rarely managed to penetrate the various checkpoints and carry out attacks. Recently, the U.S. military said two suicide vests had been found inside the zone, a sprawling area that comprises many government buildings and the U.S. embassy. Attempts to reach dozens of lawmakers by telephone were unsuccessful.
Labels: explosion, Green Zone, Iraq's parliament, Iraqi Accord Front, Muhammad Awadh, National Dialogue Block
Iraqi Accord Front may withdraw from political process
Politics
(al-Melaf) - The largest Sunni bloc in Parliament may intend to withdraw from the political process, al-Melaf reports in Arabic. The news agency cites an "informed source" inside the Tawafuq Front who reportedly said that the outstanding arrest warrants for Tawafuq MPs have led the bloc to plan its withdrawal announcement.
Arrest warrants have previously been issued against a number of Tawafuq deputies. Members of parliament cannot be prosecuted unless the chamber lifts the status of immunity.
A number of members of the bloc left Iraq weeks ago without filing requests for official travel or leave with the office of the president of the Parliament, according to al-Melaf. During raids by US and Iraqi forces on homes of Tawafuq parliamentarians, weapons and documents were found linking Front members with elements of militant groups, and also to the prior regime, according to US claims. Tawafuq MPs have denied these allegations.
The Tawafuq Front has refused to discuss the lifting of the diplomatic immunity of a number of parliamentarians. Adnan al-Dulaimi, the president of the bloc has said that the arrest of parliamentarians is a threat to the political process, al-Melaf writes. The Tawafuq Front, a coalition of Sunni parties, is under intense pressure, both from the Iraqi government and US forces, but also from many Iraqi Sunni Arabs who view their participation in the political process under the aegis of the US occupation as illegitimate.
Tawafuq is the largest Sunni-based political bloc in the Parliament, representing 44 seats in the legislature. A Tawafuq withdrawal from the political process could deliver a serious blow to the Iraqi regime. Tawafuq has remained in the opposition in Parliament, but its participation in the body has provided lent legitimation to the Iraqi regime by providing Sunni representation in the process. Absent the Tawafuq presence in Parliament, this claim of Iraqi Sunni Arab representation in the political process would be harder to sustain.
"Tawafuq" is an Arabic word that has been translated different ways: It has appeared in media reports glossed as "Accord," "Concordance," "Accordance" or even "Consensus."
Arrest warrants have previously been issued against a number of Tawafuq deputies. Members of parliament cannot be prosecuted unless the chamber lifts the status of immunity.
A number of members of the bloc left Iraq weeks ago without filing requests for official travel or leave with the office of the president of the Parliament, according to al-Melaf. During raids by US and Iraqi forces on homes of Tawafuq parliamentarians, weapons and documents were found linking Front members with elements of militant groups, and also to the prior regime, according to US claims. Tawafuq MPs have denied these allegations.
The Tawafuq Front has refused to discuss the lifting of the diplomatic immunity of a number of parliamentarians. Adnan al-Dulaimi, the president of the bloc has said that the arrest of parliamentarians is a threat to the political process, al-Melaf writes. The Tawafuq Front, a coalition of Sunni parties, is under intense pressure, both from the Iraqi government and US forces, but also from many Iraqi Sunni Arabs who view their participation in the political process under the aegis of the US occupation as illegitimate.
Tawafuq is the largest Sunni-based political bloc in the Parliament, representing 44 seats in the legislature. A Tawafuq withdrawal from the political process could deliver a serious blow to the Iraqi regime. Tawafuq has remained in the opposition in Parliament, but its participation in the body has provided lent legitimation to the Iraqi regime by providing Sunni representation in the process. Absent the Tawafuq presence in Parliament, this claim of Iraqi Sunni Arab representation in the political process would be harder to sustain.
"Tawafuq" is an Arabic word that has been translated different ways: It has appeared in media reports glossed as "Accord," "Concordance," "Accordance" or even "Consensus."
Labels: Adnan Dulaimi, Iraqi Accord Front, Tawafuq Front
Korea and Japan invited to dialogue with South Oil Company
Oil, Business
(Iraq Directory) - The Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein Shahrastani invited Korean and Japanese companies to engage in a dialogue with the South Oil Company to develop the currently discovered fields in the southern region within the ministry's plan to develop and increase production rates in these fields. Assim Jihad, the media spokesman of the Ministry, reported on Shahrastani, before leaving last Saturday with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki along with a high-level delegation to Japan and Korea, saying: "We encourage Korean and Japanese companies to begin talks immediately with the South Oil Company to enter into contracts to develop oilfields in the southern region”.
Shahrastani pointed out that Iraq possesses many giant fields, but the quantities produced do not commensurate with the existing reserve in these fields, and that is why we are developing these fields through the National Oil Company in cooperation with foreign companies, noting: we are pleased that Japanese and Korean companies are showing great interest in developing the fields, especially in certain areas, including the field of oil in Nasiriyah and a giant field in the east of Baghdad.
Labels: Hussain al-Shahrastani, investment, Japan, Korea, South Oil Company
Shell will only invest in Iraq if there is a strong legal framework in place
Oil, Business
(Iraq Directory) - Chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell Company said on Thursday that the oil company will invest in Iraq only if they are fully confident of the legal framework that governs the oil and gas projects. Iraqi government had adopted last February a draft law on Iraq's oil, which would facilitate investment to foreign companies and it is important for the organization of dividing the huge oil wealth among the sects and ethnic groups.
However, Jeron van der Veir, the Head of Shell said that his company is still studying the law and it needs to make sure that it would not be facing a different legal framework before it ventures with its funds. He told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Paris, "You must not only think in the legal system existing now, but you must be confident that it will continue in order to invest there". He also prefers to negotiate with Baghdad and not with local governments on oil contracts, saying that it would be "perfectly logical" to conduct negotiations with the central government. He went on to say that the security situation in Iraq must be stabilized well before the flow of investments.
Labels: draft oil law, Jeron van der Veir, oil, Royal Dutch Shell
Changes to draft oil law discussed
Oil
(BI-ME) - Experts specialised in the oil sector and academics confirmed, at a symposium held in the city of Amarah in Southern Iraq, that the bill of oil and gas which is currently being discussed by the Parliament for approval “needs a review and adjustments” that are considered “essential”. They pointed out that there is a need “to ensure that the controversial draft law, will include compensations to the governorates producing oil and gas, with Missan Governate (bordering Iran) at the top, for the environmental damage caused by oil and gas exploration, and for agricultural land use in oil production”.
The symposium came out with other recommendations demanding not to work by the sharing-production contracts and stick to the risk and service contracts only on condition that any contract cannot be carried out only after gaining the consent of the oil and gas Federal Council. The seminar also proposed adding supplement 3 to supplement 2, and make it from the jurisdictions of the National Oil Company exclusively. Also, the contracts with oil companies must ensure the implementation of oil investment projects and give priority to extraction and production from the border fields, especially the ones common with the neighboring countries, giving priority to contracts that ensure marketing. Oil expert, Jassim Raheem Al-Ithari, said that “the law should be presented for broad discussion before it is approved”, noting that “articles 111 and 112 of the Constitution did not refer to the other national wealth other than oil and gas. Also the constitutional articles especially article 112, did not refer to the exploited fields that require resolving the controversy about them”.
The symposium recommended the adoption of the Amman symposium recommendations held recently on the new law. The legal expert in the Iraqi Oil Ministry, Jabbar Alsaidi, pointed out to “the importance of enhancing an Iraqi oil law, re-establishing the National Oil Company and to amend articles 111 and 112 of the Constitution, to pave the way for some of the parties to sign contracts without referring to Baghdad.”
He explained that the Cabinet “authorised” some bodies described by “regional” to negotiate and sign contracts just like the Ministry of Oil and the National Oil Company. The symposium stressed “the need for the parliament to ratify all contracts and the nomination of a supreme body to resolve the arising disputes“, suggesting “their settlement through the Federal Court”.
The symposium came out with other recommendations demanding not to work by the sharing-production contracts and stick to the risk and service contracts only on condition that any contract cannot be carried out only after gaining the consent of the oil and gas Federal Council. The seminar also proposed adding supplement 3 to supplement 2, and make it from the jurisdictions of the National Oil Company exclusively. Also, the contracts with oil companies must ensure the implementation of oil investment projects and give priority to extraction and production from the border fields, especially the ones common with the neighboring countries, giving priority to contracts that ensure marketing. Oil expert, Jassim Raheem Al-Ithari, said that “the law should be presented for broad discussion before it is approved”, noting that “articles 111 and 112 of the Constitution did not refer to the other national wealth other than oil and gas. Also the constitutional articles especially article 112, did not refer to the exploited fields that require resolving the controversy about them”.
The symposium recommended the adoption of the Amman symposium recommendations held recently on the new law. The legal expert in the Iraqi Oil Ministry, Jabbar Alsaidi, pointed out to “the importance of enhancing an Iraqi oil law, re-establishing the National Oil Company and to amend articles 111 and 112 of the Constitution, to pave the way for some of the parties to sign contracts without referring to Baghdad.”
He explained that the Cabinet “authorised” some bodies described by “regional” to negotiate and sign contracts just like the Ministry of Oil and the National Oil Company. The symposium stressed “the need for the parliament to ratify all contracts and the nomination of a supreme body to resolve the arising disputes“, suggesting “their settlement through the Federal Court”.
Labels: Amarah, draft oil law, Iraq National Oil Co., Jabbar Alsaidi, Jassim Raheem Al-Ithari, Ministry of Oil, Missan
British military launch operation against militias in Basra
Security
(Daily Telegraph) - British forces have hit back at Iraqi insurgents who killed six colleagues last week, by launching an operation in which they shot dead more than 20 gunmen of Basra's rogue militias. 'There are no "no-go" areas', said a spokesman. Details of the assault emerged last night as the bodies of four soldiers killed by a roadside bomb on Thursday were put on flights back to the UK.
An armoured force of 400 troops from the 2Bn The Rifles and 2Bn The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, both of which suffered fatalities last week, entered the Shia Flats area on the western outskirts of Basra to search for hidden weapons. The district is notorious as one of the most dangerous in southern Iraq. "We wanted to make quite clear there's nowhere in Basra we cannot go," a British commander told The Daily Telegraph yesterday. "We are prepared to be there in daylight and take whatever comes our way. We are not being bombed out or intimidated."
As the troops took up defensive positions around their Warrior and Bulldog armoured vehicles, Iraqi gunmen carrying AK47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades could be seen scurrying along rooftops and down streets. It is believed ammunition and hundreds of weapons are hidden in the area and brought into the open at short notice when the British appear.
Intelligence sources also informed the troops on the ground that Shia terrorists were heading towards them from other parts of the city. The battle began on Tuesday afternoon with numerous rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire hitting the British positions. The soldiers from the Rifles and Duke of Lancaster's held off the attacks for more than two hours and shot a number of gunmen. There were no British casualties as they gradually fought their way back to their base at Basra Palace.
Coalition jets also made low flying passes to intimidate the enemy although they did not drop any bombs. During one skirmish two attackers, who fired grenades at a British position, were chased down and arrested. Both are likely to face charges. No civilians are believed to have been killed in the fight, the military reported, although it could not rule out innocent casualties caught in the crossfire. "While we may regret that such incidents have to take place, we will not allow militia gunmen to control parts of Basra," said Lt Col Kevin Stratford-Wright, the British military spokesman in southern Iraq.
"There are no 'no-go' areas for multi-national forces in Basra. Security is our responsibility and, in conjunction with the Iraqi security forces, we seek to provide as secure an environment as possible. This will inevitably involve taking on the rogue militia who blight the lives of people in Basra." Official estimates put the number of Iraqis hit by British gunfire at 10 but other defence sources said that double that figure had been shot.
Intelligence sources also informed the troops on the ground that Shia terrorists were heading towards them from other parts of the city. The battle began on Tuesday afternoon with numerous rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire hitting the British positions. The soldiers from the Rifles and Duke of Lancaster's held off the attacks for more than two hours and shot a number of gunmen. There were no British casualties as they gradually fought their way back to their base at Basra Palace.
Coalition jets also made low flying passes to intimidate the enemy although they did not drop any bombs. During one skirmish two attackers, who fired grenades at a British position, were chased down and arrested. Both are likely to face charges. No civilians are believed to have been killed in the fight, the military reported, although it could not rule out innocent casualties caught in the crossfire. "While we may regret that such incidents have to take place, we will not allow militia gunmen to control parts of Basra," said Lt Col Kevin Stratford-Wright, the British military spokesman in southern Iraq.
"There are no 'no-go' areas for multi-national forces in Basra. Security is our responsibility and, in conjunction with the Iraqi security forces, we seek to provide as secure an environment as possible. This will inevitably involve taking on the rogue militia who blight the lives of people in Basra." Official estimates put the number of Iraqis hit by British gunfire at 10 but other defence sources said that double that figure had been shot.
Labels: 2Bn The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, 2Bn The Rifles, Basra, Lt Col Kevin Stratford-Wright, militias, Shia Flats
Islamic State of Iraq imposes extremist laws in parts of Baghdad
(Gul News) - The Islamic State of Iraq led by Abu Omar Al Baghdadi, backed by Abu Hamza Al Masri, the present leader of Al Qaida in Iraq, announced the establishment of the Islamic State of Iraq in some Sunni neighbourhoods in Baghdad late last March. This move was considered to be a defiant and explicit challenge to the Iraqi government.
Ragheed, an Iraqi citizen residing in Al Jamia, a Sunni neighbourhood, told Gulf News, "Readers may think I am talking about a district in Afghanistan under the rule of Taliban, not about the Al Jamia neighbourhood in western Baghdad." He added, "It is taboo for men to wear jeans, shave their beards and use perfume. As for women, the list of prohibitions is endless ... it is forbidden to drive a car, go to university, put on make-up. It is also not permissable religiously to use the internet or download songs or cell phone rings."
It is also prohibited among extremist groups to install satellite dishes, which are considered sources of moral and intellectual corruption. Elham Mahmoud, an Iraqi university student, told Gulf News, "Some district warlords began forcing families to marry off their daughters to men from Al Qaida and the Islamic State fighters. Some girls left their fiances because they are not followers of these two groups." She added, "Frankly, I left the district I live in a few weeks ago because it is under their control, the situation has become critical."
In Dora, a district south of Baghdad, Al Qaida and Islamic State Fighters pervade the streets. Armed men have two missions. The first is to confront Iraqi and American forces and the second is to ensure the application of the Taliban model of laws and family abidance.
Ragheed, an Iraqi citizen residing in Al Jamia, a Sunni neighbourhood, told Gulf News, "Readers may think I am talking about a district in Afghanistan under the rule of Taliban, not about the Al Jamia neighbourhood in western Baghdad." He added, "It is taboo for men to wear jeans, shave their beards and use perfume. As for women, the list of prohibitions is endless ... it is forbidden to drive a car, go to university, put on make-up. It is also not permissable religiously to use the internet or download songs or cell phone rings."
It is also prohibited among extremist groups to install satellite dishes, which are considered sources of moral and intellectual corruption. Elham Mahmoud, an Iraqi university student, told Gulf News, "Some district warlords began forcing families to marry off their daughters to men from Al Qaida and the Islamic State fighters. Some girls left their fiances because they are not followers of these two groups." She added, "Frankly, I left the district I live in a few weeks ago because it is under their control, the situation has become critical."
In Dora, a district south of Baghdad, Al Qaida and Islamic State Fighters pervade the streets. Armed men have two missions. The first is to confront Iraqi and American forces and the second is to ensure the application of the Taliban model of laws and family abidance.
Labels: Al Jamia, Al Qaeda in Iraq, Dora, Islamic State of Iraq
Families flee violence in Diwaniyah as Mahdi Army and security forces clash
Security
(Azzaman) - Fighting in the southern city of Diwaniya has forced hundreds of families to flee their homes. Fighting between U.S. forces and the militia group known as Mahdi Army has been raging in the city for four days. The troops are searching houses and mounting raids on residential areas where Mahdi Army fighters are reported to be hiding. The troops, aided by Iraqi police and forces, say they have ‘purged’ the northern sectors of the city and were heading towards the southern parts where they are meeting stiff resistance.
As the troops move into residential areas, hundreds of families are fleeing in disarray, fearing for their lives. The city has been under curfew for the past few days and without electricity and basic amenities. Hameed Jaati of the Health Department in Diwaniya said nine civilians have been killed and 25 others wounded in the fighting.
The Mahdi Army is the military wing of the movement led by the Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr who opposes the presence of U.S. occupation troops in the country. Sadr has six ministers in the cabinet and 30 deputies in parliament but his alliance with the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is unstable. He staged massive demonstration against U.S. occupation to mark the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad to U.S. troops and has threatened to leave the government.
Diwaniya, 180 kilometers south of Baghdad, is the administrative capital of the Province of Qadissiya. Located on a branch of the Euphrates River and on the Baghdad-Basra railroad, it is a marketplace for dates and grains.
As the troops move into residential areas, hundreds of families are fleeing in disarray, fearing for their lives. The city has been under curfew for the past few days and without electricity and basic amenities. Hameed Jaati of the Health Department in Diwaniya said nine civilians have been killed and 25 others wounded in the fighting.
The Mahdi Army is the military wing of the movement led by the Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr who opposes the presence of U.S. occupation troops in the country. Sadr has six ministers in the cabinet and 30 deputies in parliament but his alliance with the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is unstable. He staged massive demonstration against U.S. occupation to mark the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad to U.S. troops and has threatened to leave the government.
Diwaniya, 180 kilometers south of Baghdad, is the administrative capital of the Province of Qadissiya. Located on a branch of the Euphrates River and on the Baghdad-Basra railroad, it is a marketplace for dates and grains.
Labels: Diwaniya, Mahdi Army, Moqtada Al-Sadr, U.S. military
ICRC official says Shafari tortured during detention
Iran, U.S., Iraq
(Al Jazeera, Agencies) - Iranian state television has shown officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross examining an Iranian diplomat who has accused the CIA of torturing him while he was detained in Iraq. Jalal Sharafi was shown in a hospital bed being examined by Peter Stocker from the ICRC and the Iraqi ambassador in footage broadcast on Wednesday.
During the examination, the voice of a doctor could be heard describing how Sharafi - formerly the second-most senior official in Iran's embassy in Baghdad - had been beaten with a cable during his detention. After his visit to the diplomat, Stocker told The Associated Press that he saw wounds on Sharafi's body that "were several weeks old", but said he did not know how the injuries occurred. "I cannot say who did it and where it happened," the ICRC official said. "I can only say that it happened during his detention."
Stocker was accompanied to the hospital by Majid Sheikh, the Iraqi ambassador to Iran. Earlier in the week, Sharafi's Iranian doctors had reported that holes had been drilled into his foot, but the TV images were not clear enough to indicate whether the small, red marks on his foot were indeed holes. Doctors also reported earlier that he had suffered a broken nose, serious injuries to his back, bleeding in his digestive system, and damage to his ears.
None of these injuries has been independently verified, nor were they discernible from the TV footage. Footage released by Iranian TV showed Jalal Sharafi in hospital being examined by doctors. A spokeswoman for the ICRC in Tehran, Katayoun Hosseinnejad, confirmed the visit to Sharafi had taken place and said it had been initiated by the Iranians.
Sharafi was released from Iraq last week and later said that the CIA had questioned him about Iran's relations with Iraq and its assistance to various Iraqi groups. US officials have repeatedly said that Iran provides money and weapons to Shia militias in Iraq. Iran has denied this. On Wednesday the US military put more weapons on display in Baghdad that it said were made in Iran. An army spokesmen said that Iran had trained Iraqi insurgents in the use of roadside bombs as recently as last month.
During the examination, the voice of a doctor could be heard describing how Sharafi - formerly the second-most senior official in Iran's embassy in Baghdad - had been beaten with a cable during his detention. After his visit to the diplomat, Stocker told The Associated Press that he saw wounds on Sharafi's body that "were several weeks old", but said he did not know how the injuries occurred. "I cannot say who did it and where it happened," the ICRC official said. "I can only say that it happened during his detention."
Stocker was accompanied to the hospital by Majid Sheikh, the Iraqi ambassador to Iran. Earlier in the week, Sharafi's Iranian doctors had reported that holes had been drilled into his foot, but the TV images were not clear enough to indicate whether the small, red marks on his foot were indeed holes. Doctors also reported earlier that he had suffered a broken nose, serious injuries to his back, bleeding in his digestive system, and damage to his ears.
None of these injuries has been independently verified, nor were they discernible from the TV footage. Footage released by Iranian TV showed Jalal Sharafi in hospital being examined by doctors. A spokeswoman for the ICRC in Tehran, Katayoun Hosseinnejad, confirmed the visit to Sharafi had taken place and said it had been initiated by the Iranians.
Sharafi was released from Iraq last week and later said that the CIA had questioned him about Iran's relations with Iraq and its assistance to various Iraqi groups. US officials have repeatedly said that Iran provides money and weapons to Shia militias in Iraq. Iran has denied this. On Wednesday the US military put more weapons on display in Baghdad that it said were made in Iran. An army spokesmen said that Iran had trained Iraqi insurgents in the use of roadside bombs as recently as last month.
Labels: CIA, ICRC, International Committee of the Red Cross, Iran, Jalal Sharafi, Peter Stocker, torture
Overstretched U.S. military to send more troops to Iraq for longer deployments
Security, U.S.
(Al Jazeera) - The Pentagon has said that US soldiers will serve up to 15 months in Iraq and Afghanistan instead of one year, showing more signs of the strain the wars have taken on the military. "Our forces are stretched, there's no question about that," Robert Gates, the defence secretary, said on Wednesday.
He said the move would allow the military to sustain for a year the increased troop level in Iraq ordered by the president in January. Critics say the decision was a blow to the military, the troops and their families. Ike Skelton, a Democrat who chairs the Armed Services Committee in the House of Representatives, said: "This new policy will be an additional burden to an already overstretched army. "I think this will have a chilling effect on recruiting, retention and readiness. We also must not underestimate the enormous negative impact this will have on army families."
He said the move would allow the military to sustain for a year the increased troop level in Iraq ordered by the president in January. Critics say the decision was a blow to the military, the troops and their families. Ike Skelton, a Democrat who chairs the Armed Services Committee in the House of Representatives, said: "This new policy will be an additional burden to an already overstretched army. "I think this will have a chilling effect on recruiting, retention and readiness. We also must not underestimate the enormous negative impact this will have on army families."
Gates admitted that "this decision will ask a lot of our army troops and their families". The policy is effective immediately and also applies to units already in the region, he said. There are about 145,000 US troops in Iraq and 25,000 in Afghanistan. As part of George Bush's plan, the military is the midst of boosting its Iraq force by 28,000 combat and support troops.
The Pentagon's goal for active duty army troops is that they spend two years at home for every year deployed, but it has not been able to meet that target in recent years. At the moment, army units average about a year at home for every year deployed, Pentagon officials say. In an effort to tackle the strains on the military, Gates has ordered an increase in the size of both the army and the Marine Corps.
The Pentagon's goal for active duty army troops is that they spend two years at home for every year deployed, but it has not been able to meet that target in recent years. At the moment, army units average about a year at home for every year deployed, Pentagon officials say. In an effort to tackle the strains on the military, Gates has ordered an increase in the size of both the army and the Marine Corps.
Labels: Robert Gates, U.S. military
Suicide bomber blows up Baghdad bridge
Security
(Al Jazeera, Agencies) - A suicide bomber driving a truck has blown himself up on a bridge in Baghdad, killing at least 10 people and injuring 26 others according to hospital officials. Iraqi security officials on the scene said the truck was parked in the middle of the bridge when it exploded. Thursday's blast partially destroyed the bridge, plunging several cars into the Tigris river below, police in the Iraqi capital said. Police said the blast occurred just before the morning rush hour, around 07.15.
The attack happened during the morning rush hour on al-Sarafiya Bridge which connects the al-Atafiyah neighbourhood, a Shiite area, on the western bank of the Tigris, to the Sunni neighbourhood of Waziriya on the eastern bank. The explosion blew a hole in the steel structure of the bridge spanning the Tigris river in northern Baghdad, police and witnesses told agencies. Reports said two parts of the bridge had collapsed into the river. Police were trying to rescue as many as 20 people whose cars plummeted into the river.
The attack happened during the morning rush hour on al-Sarafiya Bridge which connects the al-Atafiyah neighbourhood, a Shiite area, on the western bank of the Tigris, to the Sunni neighbourhood of Waziriya on the eastern bank. The explosion blew a hole in the steel structure of the bridge spanning the Tigris river in northern Baghdad, police and witnesses told agencies. Reports said two parts of the bridge had collapsed into the river. Police were trying to rescue as many as 20 people whose cars plummeted into the river.
Al-Sarafiya Bridge is one of the oldest and highest in the Iraqi capital. The Tigris River cuts Baghdad in half and the Al-Sarafiyah Bridge is a key artery in the northern part of the city. It is often used by minibuses and commercial vehicles travelling from central Baghdad to markets in the city's northern areas. Locals said the al-Sarafiya bridge is believed to be at least 75 years old, built by the British in the early part of the 20th century.
Labels: al-Atafiyah, al-Sarafiya Bridge, suicide bomber, Waziriya
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
INM daily summary – 11 April 2007
Scroll down for full articles.
- In a report issued today in Geneva, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) expresses alarm about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Iraq and calls for urgent action to better protect civilians against the continuing violence.
- A fierce battle in the Sunni-dominated Fadhil and Sheikh Omar neighbourhoods in central Baghdad on Tuesday left four Iraqi soldiers dead, 16 US soldiers wounded and a US helicopter damaged by ground fire.
- Iraqi Cabinet ministers allied to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr threatened Wednesday to quit the government to protest the prime minister's lack of support for a timetable for U.S. withdrawal.
- The Turkish army crossed 20 kilometers into Iraq in an effort to destroy camps located to the east of Zaho.
- The Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani has again warned Turkey not to interfere in northern Iraq, saying Iraqi Kurds would retaliate by interfering in Kurdish areas in Turkey if that happened.
- The adviser of the Minister of Transport in the southern region, Thamir Alftlawi, has pointed out that what he called mafias are smuggling oil and receiving ships loaded with cars not allowed to be imported.
- Iraqi banking industry leaders and international banking experts gathered in Amman, Jordan April 4 to 5 for the first Iraqi Banking and Finance Conference, Banking in Iraq: The 21st Century Challenge.
- MPRI, Alexandria, Va., was awarded on March 27, 2007, a $15,313,655 firm-fixed-price contract for instructors for the Counterinsurgency Center for Excellence.
- Iran may not attend a multilateral conference on Iraq next month that includes the United States if U.S. forces do not release five Iranians it is holding there.
- Iran has been training Iraqi fighters in the assembly of deadly roadside bombs known as EFPs, the U.S. military spokesman said Wednesday.
- Round-up of violence
Round-up of violence across Iraq
Security
(Reuters) - Security developments in Iraq as of 0830 GMT on Wednesday. Follow the link for further information.
BAGHDAD - Police said they found the bodies of nine people shot on Tuesday in different districts of Baghdad.
BAGHDAD - Gunmen killed Abdul Abbas Hashim, a general director in the Electricity Ministry, along with his driver in a drive-by shooting in northern Baghdad, police and the Electricity Ministry said.
HILLA - A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol killed a policeman and wounded three others in the Shi'ite city of Hilla, 100 km (60 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.
BAGHDAD - U.S. forces killed an insurgent, detained 13 others and destroyed several weapons caches during a five-day operation in the Arab Jibour area of southern Baghdad, the U.S. military said.
Labels: Baghdad, Hilla, roadside bombs, weapons cache
U.S. - military - Iran has been training Iraqi fighters in the use of EFPs
Iran, Security
(AP) - Iran has been training Iraqi fighters in the assembly of deadly roadside bombs known as EFPs, the U.S. military spokesman said Wednesday. EFPs, or explosively formed penetrators, hurl a molten, fist-sized lump of molten copper capable of piercing armored vehicles.
"We know that they are being in fact manufactured and smuggled into this country, and we know that training does go on in Iran for people to learn how to assemble them and how to employ them," Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said at a weekly briefing. "We know that training has gone on as recently as this past month from detainees' debriefs." In January, U.S. officials said at least 170 U.S. soldiers had been killed by EFPs. Caldwell also said the U.S. military had evidence that Iranian intelligence agents were active in Iraq in funding, training and arming Shiite militia fighters.
"We also know that training still is being conducted in Iran for insurgent elements from Iraq. We know that as recent as last week from debriefing personnel," he said. "The do receive training on how to assemble and employ EFPs," Caldwell said, adding that fighters also were trained in how to carry out complex attacks that used explosives followed by assaults with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms.
"There has been training on specialized weapons that are used here in Iraq. And then we do know they receive also training on general tactics in terms of how to take and employ and work what we call a more complex kind of attack where we see multiple types of engagements being used from an explosion to small arms fire to being done in multiple places," Caldwell said.
The general would not say specifically which arm of the Iranian government was doing the training but called the trainers "surrogates" of Iran's intelligence agency. Caldwell opened the briefing by showing photographs of what he said were Iranian-made mortar rounds, RPG rounds and rockets that were found in Iraq.
"We know that they are being in fact manufactured and smuggled into this country, and we know that training does go on in Iran for people to learn how to assemble them and how to employ them," Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said at a weekly briefing. "We know that training has gone on as recently as this past month from detainees' debriefs." In January, U.S. officials said at least 170 U.S. soldiers had been killed by EFPs. Caldwell also said the U.S. military had evidence that Iranian intelligence agents were active in Iraq in funding, training and arming Shiite militia fighters.
"We also know that training still is being conducted in Iran for insurgent elements from Iraq. We know that as recent as last week from debriefing personnel," he said. "The do receive training on how to assemble and employ EFPs," Caldwell said, adding that fighters also were trained in how to carry out complex attacks that used explosives followed by assaults with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms.
"There has been training on specialized weapons that are used here in Iraq. And then we do know they receive also training on general tactics in terms of how to take and employ and work what we call a more complex kind of attack where we see multiple types of engagements being used from an explosion to small arms fire to being done in multiple places," Caldwell said.
The general would not say specifically which arm of the Iranian government was doing the training but called the trainers "surrogates" of Iran's intelligence agency. Caldwell opened the briefing by showing photographs of what he said were Iranian-made mortar rounds, RPG rounds and rockets that were found in Iraq.
Labels: complex attack, EFPs, explosively formed projectiles, Iran, Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, Shia militias, training
Iran may not attend Cairo conference on Iraq due to detainees
Security, International, Iran
(Reuters) - Iran may not attend a multilateral conference on Iraq next month that includes the United States if U.S. forces do not release five Iranians it is holding there, a newspaper reported on Wednesday. In January, U.S. forces detained five Iranians linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards by Washington, which said they were backing Iraqi militants. Iran denies the charges, says they are diplomats and has demanded their release.
"We have reminded Iraqi officials that as long as the Iranian diplomats are not freed, Iran's participation at any conference about Iraq with the presence of America will face a serious problem and obstacle," Abbas Araghchi, a senior Foreign Ministry official, told Iran's hardline Kayhan daily. Araghchi represented Iran at a meeting of the United States, other world powers and Iraq's neighbors in Baghdad in March. During that meeting, he spoke with the U.S. representative, Zalmay Khalilzad, Washington's ambassador to Baghdad.
The meeting expected next month will be at ministerial level. U.S. officials have said U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice was open to talks with Iran over its role in Iraq but Tehran has said it has no plans for such a meeting. Iran said this month it had warned Iraq in a letter that its failure to secure the release of the five detained Iranians could impair Tehran's cooperation with Baghdad. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said he had not received any letter.
The U.S. military has said it is considering an Iranian request to visit the men. An International Committee of the Red Cross team has visited the detained Iranians. Araghchi said the Red Cross confirmed they were in "good health."
"We have reminded Iraqi officials that as long as the Iranian diplomats are not freed, Iran's participation at any conference about Iraq with the presence of America will face a serious problem and obstacle," Abbas Araghchi, a senior Foreign Ministry official, told Iran's hardline Kayhan daily. Araghchi represented Iran at a meeting of the United States, other world powers and Iraq's neighbors in Baghdad in March. During that meeting, he spoke with the U.S. representative, Zalmay Khalilzad, Washington's ambassador to Baghdad.
The meeting expected next month will be at ministerial level. U.S. officials have said U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice was open to talks with Iran over its role in Iraq but Tehran has said it has no plans for such a meeting. Iran said this month it had warned Iraq in a letter that its failure to secure the release of the five detained Iranians could impair Tehran's cooperation with Baghdad. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said he had not received any letter.
The U.S. military has said it is considering an Iranian request to visit the men. An International Committee of the Red Cross team has visited the detained Iranians. Araghchi said the Red Cross confirmed they were in "good health."
Labels: Abbas Araghchi, international security conference, Iran, Iranian detainees, Iraq, U.S.
MPRI wins $15 mn CFE contract
Contracts
(InfoProd Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) MPRI, Alexandria, Va., was awarded on March 27, 2007, a $15,313,655 firm-fixed-price contract for instructors for the Counterinsurgency Center for Excellence. Work will be performed in Baghdad, Iraq, and is expected to be completed by June 15, 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There were an unknown number of bids solicited via the World Wide Web on Jan. 19, 2007, and four bids were received.The Joint Contracting Command-Iraq/Afghanistan, Baghdad, Iraq, is the contracting activity (W91GER-07-C-0007).
COMMENT: MPRI was started in 1987 by retired Army General Vernon Lewis anticipating downsizing reforms following the end of the Cold War. They entered the military service marketplace as post-Cold War conflicts flared up with hundreds of generals and resources a call away. In 2000, they were acquired by L-3 Communications, owned partly by the Lehman Brothers investment firm, for $40 million, and putting them into the New York Stock Exchange under L-3's ticker: LLL.
By 2002, they had grown to 40 administrators, 800 field agents, over 12,500 personnel on call and $100 million worth of contracts. They operate on a training and advisory level. The company was joined in 1993 by the current president, General Carl Vuono, who as the US Army Chief of Staff from 1987-1993, oversaw operations in the first Gulf War. The current executive vice-president, General Ronald H. Griffith, was vice chief of staff for the US Army until retiring in 1997. [2] Retired Lt. General Ed Soyster, vice-president of operations, is a former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency. MPRI is a member of International Peace Operations Association. In April, 2003, MPRI was awarded two contracts by the Defense Department for work in Iraq worth a total of $2.5 million. MPRI will provide plans to put ex-soldiers to work on public works programs. They will also provide interperters and linguistics for the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance. COMMENT ENDS.
By 2002, they had grown to 40 administrators, 800 field agents, over 12,500 personnel on call and $100 million worth of contracts. They operate on a training and advisory level. The company was joined in 1993 by the current president, General Carl Vuono, who as the US Army Chief of Staff from 1987-1993, oversaw operations in the first Gulf War. The current executive vice-president, General Ronald H. Griffith, was vice chief of staff for the US Army until retiring in 1997. [2] Retired Lt. General Ed Soyster, vice-president of operations, is a former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency. MPRI is a member of International Peace Operations Association. In April, 2003, MPRI was awarded two contracts by the Defense Department for work in Iraq worth a total of $2.5 million. MPRI will provide plans to put ex-soldiers to work on public works programs. They will also provide interperters and linguistics for the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance. COMMENT ENDS.
Labels: Camp Taji, Counterinsurgency Center for Excellence, MPRI
Iraqi banking industry conference held in Iraq
Finance
(USAID) - Iraqi banking industry leaders and international banking experts gathered in Amman, Jordan April 4 to 5 for the first Iraqi Banking and Finance Conference, Banking in Iraq: The 21st Century Challenge. More than 200 delegates attended the two-day conference, organized by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) through its Izdihar Private Sector Growth and Employment Generation and Economic Governance II projects.
Conference participants included representatives from the Central Bank of Iraq, Government of Iraq agencies, regulators, Iraq private and state owned banks, regional and international banking groups, non-bank financial institutions, bank training and certification organizations, banking experts and international donors.
Conference participants included representatives from the Central Bank of Iraq, Government of Iraq agencies, regulators, Iraq private and state owned banks, regional and international banking groups, non-bank financial institutions, bank training and certification organizations, banking experts and international donors.
Labels: Amman, Iraqi banking industry, USAID
Cartels control oil and vehicle smuggling in the south
Security
(Iraq Directory) - Adviser of the Minister of Transport in the southern region, Thamir Alftlawi, drew the attention to the aggravated smuggling operations through a region on the Gulf at the entrance of Shatt al-Arab. He said that: the area which is about four kilometers wide is located near Al-Awama Five, pointing out that what he called mafias are smuggling oil and receiving ships loaded with cars not allowed to be imported.
It seems that the American forces which exert influence on this spot to protect oil tankers do not bother the coming and departure of the smuggling ships. Al-Fatlawi said: this encouraged smugglers to carry out massive mutual smuggling operations, explaining that the Iraqi security authorities are banned from interfering because the region is under the influence of foreign forces.
The depth of Iraqi territorial waters is 12 miles where smugglers use boats with cranes to unload cargo from the coming ships which are loaded with prohibited cars several miles away while the smuggling of oil products particularly kerosine, or the so-called diesel, are carried out from the coast that the smuggling groups are called diesel mafia.
The ports of Basrah are under the control of Iraqi forces which form more than a department. Brigadier Hakeem Al-Jassam, Director prescriptive of the Coast Guard, said: his brigade which is sharing security with naval force is prepared to impose its control over the region and prevent smuggling operations on condition it is provide with boats and vehicles like those used by smugglers. According to Al-Jassam, smuggling groups possess the technical and military supplies to keep its operations safe and confidential as evidenced by their ownership of armored boats.
According to information, the smuggled cars come to Iraq from the ports of Dubai, Ajman, Umm al-Qaiwain and Al-Hamriyah, but the Advisor to the Minister of Transport in the southern region did not clarify whether the quantities of smuggled kerosine go to those ports or not. Iraqi ports are suffering of many problems and challenges and this pattern of smuggling represents the most severe one; observers kept accusing parties and officials to stand behind these operations, but the Advisor said that: specialized gangs stand behind those operations and that the local government in the province, is making a great effort to pursue them.
It seems that the American forces which exert influence on this spot to protect oil tankers do not bother the coming and departure of the smuggling ships. Al-Fatlawi said: this encouraged smugglers to carry out massive mutual smuggling operations, explaining that the Iraqi security authorities are banned from interfering because the region is under the influence of foreign forces.
The depth of Iraqi territorial waters is 12 miles where smugglers use boats with cranes to unload cargo from the coming ships which are loaded with prohibited cars several miles away while the smuggling of oil products particularly kerosine, or the so-called diesel, are carried out from the coast that the smuggling groups are called diesel mafia.
The ports of Basrah are under the control of Iraqi forces which form more than a department. Brigadier Hakeem Al-Jassam, Director prescriptive of the Coast Guard, said: his brigade which is sharing security with naval force is prepared to impose its control over the region and prevent smuggling operations on condition it is provide with boats and vehicles like those used by smugglers. According to Al-Jassam, smuggling groups possess the technical and military supplies to keep its operations safe and confidential as evidenced by their ownership of armored boats.
According to information, the smuggled cars come to Iraq from the ports of Dubai, Ajman, Umm al-Qaiwain and Al-Hamriyah, but the Advisor to the Minister of Transport in the southern region did not clarify whether the quantities of smuggled kerosine go to those ports or not. Iraqi ports are suffering of many problems and challenges and this pattern of smuggling represents the most severe one; observers kept accusing parties and officials to stand behind these operations, but the Advisor said that: specialized gangs stand behind those operations and that the local government in the province, is making a great effort to pursue them.
Labels: Al-Awama Five, cars, Ministry of Transport, oil, Shatt al-Arab, smuggling, Thamir Alftlawi
Barzani - Kurds will retaliate if Turkey interferes in Kurdistan
Turkey, Kurdistan, Security
(VOA) - The Iraqi Kurdish leader has again warned Turkey not to interfere in northern Iraq, saying Iraqi Kurds would retaliate by interfering in Kurdish areas in Turkey if that happened. Massoud Barzani spoke Tuesday in Arbil, the capital of Iraq's largely autonomous northern Kurdish region. He said Iraqi Kurds would interfere only if Turkey did the same in mainly Kurdish northern Iraq.
Barzani also said his initial warning broadcast last Saturday by Al-Arabiya television was taken out of context. He said the remarks were originally recorded on February 26, and that he made them in response to Turkish threats. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan responded to Barzani's initial warning on Monday. He said Iraqi Kurds will - in his words - pay a heavy price if they interfere in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast.
Mr. Erdogan said Barzani "overstepped the line" and said Iraqi Kurds could be "crushed" under their own words. Turkey sent a diplomatic note to Iraq's government over the incident. U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack also criticized Barzani's remarks, saying they were not helpful and did not further the goal of greater Iraqi -Turkish cooperation.
Turkey is battling a Kurdish insurgency in its southeastern region. More than 37,000 people have been killed in the fighting since 1984. Turkey is concerned that Kurdish rebels are using northern Iraq to launch attacks in southeastern Turkey. Ankara is also worried that any move toward independence by Iraqi Kurds will spark similar sentiments in Kurds in Turkey.
Barzani also said his initial warning broadcast last Saturday by Al-Arabiya television was taken out of context. He said the remarks were originally recorded on February 26, and that he made them in response to Turkish threats. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan responded to Barzani's initial warning on Monday. He said Iraqi Kurds will - in his words - pay a heavy price if they interfere in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast.
Mr. Erdogan said Barzani "overstepped the line" and said Iraqi Kurds could be "crushed" under their own words. Turkey sent a diplomatic note to Iraq's government over the incident. U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack also criticized Barzani's remarks, saying they were not helpful and did not further the goal of greater Iraqi -Turkish cooperation.
Turkey is battling a Kurdish insurgency in its southeastern region. More than 37,000 people have been killed in the fighting since 1984. Turkey is concerned that Kurdish rebels are using northern Iraq to launch attacks in southeastern Turkey. Ankara is also worried that any move toward independence by Iraqi Kurds will spark similar sentiments in Kurds in Turkey.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Wednesday sought to appease Ankara. His office issued a statement on his behalf, saying it was his government that decides on regional issues and not any single leader. "The foreign policy of Iraq is planned and executed by the Iraqi government," said the statement quoting Maliki, who is currently on a trip to Tokyo and Seoul.
"This policy reflects our intention to maintain best relations with neighbours and does not aim to intervene in their affairs. At the same time we will not allow neighbours to intervene in our affairs." Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has already telephoned his Turkish counterpart to express his regret over Barzani's remarks.
"This policy reflects our intention to maintain best relations with neighbours and does not aim to intervene in their affairs. At the same time we will not allow neighbours to intervene in our affairs." Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has already telephoned his Turkish counterpart to express his regret over Barzani's remarks.
Labels: Kurdistan, Massoud Barzani, Nouri Al-Maliki, PKK, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Sean McCormack, Turkey
