Friday, August 24, 2007
DNO rejects unsolicited $700 mn. bid
Oil
(AFX News Limited) - DNO ASA said it has rejected an unsolicited 700 mln US$ bid by 'a large international oil company' for its licenses in Kurdistan region (northern Iraq). The Norwegian oil minnow said it has 'reviewed the interest and decided not to pursue the matter further'. The suggested price, it said, was based on information available in the market as of early July 2007. 'No further comments can be given due to confidentiality requirements,' DNO added.
DNO ASA said it is expecting the first export of oil from its Tawke field in Kurdistan region (northern Iraq) in November this year, assuming it secures the relevant permission from authorities in the region. Speaking after the release of its second quarter results, DNO said it is aiming to begin the export of oil into Turkey via pipeline from November.
The Kurdistan Petroleum Law was ratified by the region's parliament in August, and DNO said it expects the federal law to be approved in September. According to this schedule, he said, exports could begin the following month. Due to the political situation in Iraq, DNO is currently being forced to sell its oil in the local market.
DNO ASA said it is expecting the first export of oil from its Tawke field in Kurdistan region (northern Iraq) in November this year, assuming it secures the relevant permission from authorities in the region. Speaking after the release of its second quarter results, DNO said it is aiming to begin the export of oil into Turkey via pipeline from November.
The Kurdistan Petroleum Law was ratified by the region's parliament in August, and DNO said it expects the federal law to be approved in September. According to this schedule, he said, exports could begin the following month. Due to the political situation in Iraq, DNO is currently being forced to sell its oil in the local market.
Labels: DNO, Kurdistan, oil, Tawke field, Turkey
Car bomb explodes in Mosul
Security
(Voices of Iraq) - At least two people were killed and 12 others were wounded as a car bomb exploded on Thursday afternoon in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, a police source said. "A car bomb detonated, this afternoon, in al-Farouq neighborhood, central Mosul, killing two persons, including a policeman, and wounding 12 more," Brigadier Abdul Karim al-Juburi, Ninewa police operations' chief, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
The source added "among the wounded were four policemen and four children. The explosion occurred when al-Hadba police patrols tried to recover two bodies left inside a car parked in al-Farouq neighborhood," al-Juburi explained. The blast also caused damage to nearby houses and commercial shops, the source added. Mosul, capital city of Ninewa province, is 405 km north of Baghdad.
The source added "among the wounded were four policemen and four children. The explosion occurred when al-Hadba police patrols tried to recover two bodies left inside a car parked in al-Farouq neighborhood," al-Juburi explained. The blast also caused damage to nearby houses and commercial shops, the source added. Mosul, capital city of Ninewa province, is 405 km north of Baghdad.
COMMENT: This may be a new tactic. It has not been reported before that dead bodies in a car have been used to trigger bombs. COMMENT ENDS.
Labels: al-Farouq neighborhood, Brigadier Abdul Karim al-Juburi, car bomb, Mosul
Accordance Front accuses Iraqi Army of threats
Security, Politics
(Voices of Iraq) - The Sunni Accordance Front said on Thursday that an Iraqi army force raided the office of the front's head Dr. Adnan al-Dulaimi, threatening to kill him along with bodyguards. "A force from the governmental Guards, 6th Division, 5th Brigade, 3rd battalion, raided the office of Dr. Adnan al-Dulaimi on Wednesday evening and threatened to kill the office guards," the Accordance Front said in a statement received by the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
The statement added "the force commander threatened to kill the office guards, blow up the building, and behead Adnan al-Dulaimi." Adnan al-Dulaimi is the head of the Sunni Accordance Front which holds 44 parliamentary seats out of 275. Dulaimi's office is located in al-Adl neighborhood in western Baghdad.
"It is not the first time the force commander along with his troops commits acts of such a kind for they tried some time ago to assassinate al-Dulaimi when they shot at his motorcade," the statement claimed. The statement held the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki responsible for the safety of al-Dulaimi and his office, house and bodyguards. No comment was so far made by the Iraqi army on the Front's claims.
The statement added "the force commander threatened to kill the office guards, blow up the building, and behead Adnan al-Dulaimi." Adnan al-Dulaimi is the head of the Sunni Accordance Front which holds 44 parliamentary seats out of 275. Dulaimi's office is located in al-Adl neighborhood in western Baghdad.
"It is not the first time the force commander along with his troops commits acts of such a kind for they tried some time ago to assassinate al-Dulaimi when they shot at his motorcade," the statement claimed. The statement held the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki responsible for the safety of al-Dulaimi and his office, house and bodyguards. No comment was so far made by the Iraqi army on the Front's claims.
Labels: al-Adl, Dr. Adnan al-Dulaimi, governmental Guards, Iraqi Accordance Front
Basra to receive $30 mn. from U.S.
Reconstruction
(Azzaman) - The southern city of Basra has received $30 million from U.S. Congress to upgrade its public utilities, a senior official of Basra Reconstruction and Development council said. Tuama al-Nouri, the council’s deputy head, said the grant will be wholly dedicated to service projects a list of which is being prepared.
He did not specify the kind of projects the grant will be used to implement but a previous offer of $34 million was utilized to execute “six schemes”. The U.S. has poured billions of dollars into Iraqi reconstruction but the impact has been negligible due to rampant corruption and the contracting process in which up to a dozen contractors pass the project to one another with each skimming a sizeable portion.
The contracts normally land in the hands of local entrepreneurs who use their connections to centers of power in their areas to make even further financial gains from the meager allocations left for the project.
Meantime, the Danish Foreign Ministry has agreed to finance the reconstruction of a 44-km highway linking Umm Qasr port with Basra. The current road, built in 2002, has been damage by heavy trucks transporting goods from the port to the city.
He did not specify the kind of projects the grant will be used to implement but a previous offer of $34 million was utilized to execute “six schemes”. The U.S. has poured billions of dollars into Iraqi reconstruction but the impact has been negligible due to rampant corruption and the contracting process in which up to a dozen contractors pass the project to one another with each skimming a sizeable portion.
The contracts normally land in the hands of local entrepreneurs who use their connections to centers of power in their areas to make even further financial gains from the meager allocations left for the project.
Meantime, the Danish Foreign Ministry has agreed to finance the reconstruction of a 44-km highway linking Umm Qasr port with Basra. The current road, built in 2002, has been damage by heavy trucks transporting goods from the port to the city.
Labels: Basra, reconstruction, Umm Qasr
Electricity minister announces $2.5 bn. plan to upgrde national grid
Electricity
(RFE/RL) - Iraqi Minister of Electricity Karim Wahid Hasan told reporters that the ministry has released the first plan in 30 years to modernize Iraq's power grid. "This plan focuses on [how] to add 1,000-1,500 megawatts to the national grid," Hasan said, adding that the four-year program will cost an estimated $2.5 billion.
"In the next four years, the Ministry of Planning agreed to allocate $40 million a year and the additional grants will be allocated by the DARS [not further identified]. Also we are working to provide investments according to a certain principal which many countries now work on," Hasan said, noting that the ministry plans to boost the capacity of provincial power plants. Saying Iraq "needs approximately 9,500 megawatts," Hasan told reporters the country will reach 5,400 megawatts "in the next few months."
Commenting on how the security situation is affecting electricity supplies, he said: "I can confirm that the Ministry of Electricity work 24 hours a day but we have many problems especially the security problems. We cannot rehabilitate or repair the problems and we cannot ask our employees to work in certain parts of Iraq due to the insecurity. Thus, there is no technical problem in the Ministry of Electricity. There [are] only security problems."
Labels: Iraq's power grid, Karim Wahid Hasan, Ministry of Electricity
Iraqi Kurds warn Iran about shelling
Region
(RFE/RL) - Responding to reports that the Iranian military is shelling Iraqi Kurdish villages, Jabbar Yawir, the undersecretary of the autonomous Kurdistan region's Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs, said, "I cannot believe that the Islamic Republic of Iran would lead its forces to commit such a mistake, since shelling the territories of another state is a violation of international conventions," the Peyamner news agency reported on August 22.
Referring to media reports that Iranian helicopters dropped leaflets warning Iraqi Kurds to abandon their villages ahead of a planned bombing campaign against Kurdish separatists, Yawir said: "If these leaflets were really distributed by an official Iranian Army source, then Iran is accusing itself of bombarding the territories of the [Iraqi] Kurdistan region".
Al-Sharqiyah television reported on August 22 that the political bureaus of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party held an emergency meeting in Baghdad to discuss the shelling, among other issues. They called on the Iraqi government to send a letter of protest to Iran, the news channel reported.
Spokesman Jamal Abdallah said the Kurdistan regional government has sent a letter of protest to Iran, "Awene" reported on August 22. Meanwhile, "Kurdistan Nuwe" quoted a source as saying that tanks, armored vehicles, and long-range artillery have been deployed along the Iranian border. The source contended that Turkish soldiers were also seen in the area, prompting fears of a joint Turkish-Iranian operation.
Labels: Iran, KDP, Kurdistan, Major General Jabbar Yawir, PUK, Turkey
60 AQI fighters carry out coordinated attacks against police in Samarra
Security
Sixty suspected al-Qaida in Iraq fighters hit national police facilities in a coordinated attack in Samarra, sparking two hours of fighting that saw three people killed and more than a dozen insurgents captured, police said Friday. The masked attackers drove into the city at dusk Thursday in about 20 vehicles, including pickups with machine-guns, then split into small groups and assaulted four police checkpoints and a headquarters building, a Samarra police official said.
One policeman and two civilians - a woman and an 11-year-old girl - were killed in the fighting in the city 60 miles north of Baghdad, and nine others were injured including a police commando and three children. There were no details on insurgent casualties, but police arrested 14 suspects, the spokesman said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.
The brazen attack came after early morning assaults by suspected al-Qaida fighters on two villages to the southeast of Samarra near Baqouba, where fighters bombed the house of a local Sunni sheik and kidnapped a group of mostly women. Residents were finally able to drive off the attackers and end the deadly rampage, but not before 17 villagers, including seven women, were killed. Ten al-Qaida gunmen also died.
The twin attacks near the Diyala provincial capital of Baquoba - a city 35 miles northeast of Baghdad that has been the focus of recent major U.S.-Iraqi military operations against alleged al-Qaida fighters and Shiite militiamen - hit a Shiite village and a Sunni village with the same ferocity but apparently different motives.
The attack on the Sunni village, Ibrahim al-Yahya, began when about 25 gunmen exploded a bomb at the house of Sheik Younis al-Shimari, destroying his home and killing him and one member of his family. Ten people were wounded, including four other members of the family and passers-by. Some of the wounded were hit by gunfire.
"They were shouting 'Allah Akbar and a curse be upon the renegades,'" said Umm Ahmed, a woman who was wounded in the attack. She refused to give her full name fearing retribution. "This attack will cause the uprising against them to spread to other villages." Seven people were kidnapped. Two of the abducted men were later found shot in the head on a road leading out of town. The rest of the captives were women, and their fate was unknown.
Al-Shimari and his village apparently came under attack after he called on the men there to rise up against al-Qaida. While the Sunni village was under attack, another band of alleged al-Qaida fighters stormed Timim, the nearby Shiite village and an obvious sectarian target, according to Baqouba police Brig. Ali Dlaiyan, who reported both assaults and gave the casualty tolls. He said the villagers were able to fight off the attack in a 30-minute gunbattle.
It was unclear how many of the 17 residents who died were in each village. A police vehicle rushing to the attack scene crashed and two policemen were killed, according to officials in the Diyala provincial police force who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
The Sunni uprising against al-Qaida began spontaneously early this year in Anbar province, once a bastion of the Sunni insurgency in the west of Iraq, and has spread to Diyala province and some Baghdad neighborhoods. The U.S. military has encouraged disaffected Sunnis, many of them former insurgents, and has begun working side by side with the Sunni auxiliary units. Many of the Sunni militants disagree with Al Qaeda's brand of Islam and their mass casualty attacks on civilians.
One policeman and two civilians - a woman and an 11-year-old girl - were killed in the fighting in the city 60 miles north of Baghdad, and nine others were injured including a police commando and three children. There were no details on insurgent casualties, but police arrested 14 suspects, the spokesman said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.
The brazen attack came after early morning assaults by suspected al-Qaida fighters on two villages to the southeast of Samarra near Baqouba, where fighters bombed the house of a local Sunni sheik and kidnapped a group of mostly women. Residents were finally able to drive off the attackers and end the deadly rampage, but not before 17 villagers, including seven women, were killed. Ten al-Qaida gunmen also died.
The twin attacks near the Diyala provincial capital of Baquoba - a city 35 miles northeast of Baghdad that has been the focus of recent major U.S.-Iraqi military operations against alleged al-Qaida fighters and Shiite militiamen - hit a Shiite village and a Sunni village with the same ferocity but apparently different motives.
The attack on the Sunni village, Ibrahim al-Yahya, began when about 25 gunmen exploded a bomb at the house of Sheik Younis al-Shimari, destroying his home and killing him and one member of his family. Ten people were wounded, including four other members of the family and passers-by. Some of the wounded were hit by gunfire.
"They were shouting 'Allah Akbar and a curse be upon the renegades,'" said Umm Ahmed, a woman who was wounded in the attack. She refused to give her full name fearing retribution. "This attack will cause the uprising against them to spread to other villages." Seven people were kidnapped. Two of the abducted men were later found shot in the head on a road leading out of town. The rest of the captives were women, and their fate was unknown.
Al-Shimari and his village apparently came under attack after he called on the men there to rise up against al-Qaida. While the Sunni village was under attack, another band of alleged al-Qaida fighters stormed Timim, the nearby Shiite village and an obvious sectarian target, according to Baqouba police Brig. Ali Dlaiyan, who reported both assaults and gave the casualty tolls. He said the villagers were able to fight off the attack in a 30-minute gunbattle.
It was unclear how many of the 17 residents who died were in each village. A police vehicle rushing to the attack scene crashed and two policemen were killed, according to officials in the Diyala provincial police force who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
The Sunni uprising against al-Qaida began spontaneously early this year in Anbar province, once a bastion of the Sunni insurgency in the west of Iraq, and has spread to Diyala province and some Baghdad neighborhoods. The U.S. military has encouraged disaffected Sunnis, many of them former insurgents, and has begun working side by side with the Sunni auxiliary units. Many of the Sunni militants disagree with Al Qaeda's brand of Islam and their mass casualty attacks on civilians.
Labels: Al Qaeda in Iraq, Brig. Ali Dlaiyan, Diyala, Ibrahim al-Yahya, Samarra, Sheik Younis al-Shimari, Timim
Excerpts from intel report on Iraq
Report
(AP) - Excerpts from the declassified summary of a National Intelligence Estimate released Thursday on the prospects for stability in Iraq. The report represents the collaborative judgment of all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies.
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"The level of overall violence, including attacks on and casualties among civilians, remains high; Iraq's sectarian groups remain unreconciled; AQI (al-Qaida in Iraq) retains the ability to conduct high-profile attacks; and to date, Iraqi political leaders remain unable to govern effectively. There have been modest improvements in economic output, budget execution, and government finances but fundamental structural problems continue to prevent sustained progress in economic growth and living conditions."
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"We assess, to the extent that Coalition forces continue to conduct robust counterinsurgency operations and mentor and support the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), that Iraq's security will continue to improve modestly during the next six to 12 months but that levels of insurgent and sectarian violence will remain high and the Iraqi Government will continue to struggle to achieve national-level political reconciliation and improved governance."
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"Sunni Arab resistance to AQI has expanded in the last six to nine months but has not yet translated into broad Sunni Arab support for the Iraqi Government or widespread willingness to work with the Shia. The Iraqi Government's Shia leaders fear these groups will ultimately side with armed opponents of the government, but the Iraqi Government has supported some initiatives to incorporate those rejecting AQI into Interior Ministry and Defense Ministry elements."
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"Iraqi Security Forces involved in combined operations with Coalition forces have performed adequately, and some units have demonstrated increasing professional competence. However, we judge that the ISF have not improved enough to conduct major operations independent of the Coalition on a sustained basis in multiple locations and that the ISF remain reliant on the Coalition for important aspects of logistics and combat support."
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"The IC (Intelligence Community) assesses that the Iraqi Government will become more precarious over the next six to 12 months because of criticism by other members of the major Shia coalition (the Unified Iraqi Alliance, UIA), Grand Ayatollah Sistani, and other Sunni and Kurdish parties."
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"Assistance to armed groups, especially from Iran, exacerbates the violence inside Iraq, and the reluctance of the Sunni states that are generally supportive of US regional goals to offer support to the Iraqi Government probably bolsters Iraqi Sunni Arabs' rejection of the government's legitimacy."
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"Recent security improvements in Iraq, including success against AQI, have depended significantly on the close synchronization of conventional counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations. A change of mission that interrupts that synchronization would place security improvements at risk."
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"The level of overall violence, including attacks on and casualties among civilians, remains high; Iraq's sectarian groups remain unreconciled; AQI (al-Qaida in Iraq) retains the ability to conduct high-profile attacks; and to date, Iraqi political leaders remain unable to govern effectively. There have been modest improvements in economic output, budget execution, and government finances but fundamental structural problems continue to prevent sustained progress in economic growth and living conditions."
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"We assess, to the extent that Coalition forces continue to conduct robust counterinsurgency operations and mentor and support the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), that Iraq's security will continue to improve modestly during the next six to 12 months but that levels of insurgent and sectarian violence will remain high and the Iraqi Government will continue to struggle to achieve national-level political reconciliation and improved governance."
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"Sunni Arab resistance to AQI has expanded in the last six to nine months but has not yet translated into broad Sunni Arab support for the Iraqi Government or widespread willingness to work with the Shia. The Iraqi Government's Shia leaders fear these groups will ultimately side with armed opponents of the government, but the Iraqi Government has supported some initiatives to incorporate those rejecting AQI into Interior Ministry and Defense Ministry elements."
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"Iraqi Security Forces involved in combined operations with Coalition forces have performed adequately, and some units have demonstrated increasing professional competence. However, we judge that the ISF have not improved enough to conduct major operations independent of the Coalition on a sustained basis in multiple locations and that the ISF remain reliant on the Coalition for important aspects of logistics and combat support."
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"The IC (Intelligence Community) assesses that the Iraqi Government will become more precarious over the next six to 12 months because of criticism by other members of the major Shia coalition (the Unified Iraqi Alliance, UIA), Grand Ayatollah Sistani, and other Sunni and Kurdish parties."
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"Assistance to armed groups, especially from Iran, exacerbates the violence inside Iraq, and the reluctance of the Sunni states that are generally supportive of US regional goals to offer support to the Iraqi Government probably bolsters Iraqi Sunni Arabs' rejection of the government's legitimacy."
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"Recent security improvements in Iraq, including success against AQI, have depended significantly on the close synchronization of conventional counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations. A change of mission that interrupts that synchronization would place security improvements at risk."
Labels: Iraq, National Intelligence Estimate
Jordan to resume importation of Iraqi oil
Region
(AP) -- Jordan's energy minister said Thursday his country expects to resume Iraqi oil imports in the coming days, ending a four-year hiatus sparked by the U.S.-led war that toppled Saddam Hussein, the official Petra news agency reported. Khaled al-Shraydeh said the supply would eventually cover Jordan's daily need of 100,000 barrels and would be trucked across Jordan's desert border from northern oil fields in Kirkuk accompanied by Iraqi security.
"The Iraqi government said it was ready to start supplying us with oil, which we expect will happen within the next few days," al-Shraydeh was quoted by Petra as saying. Iraqi officials said the deal was in the works for a long time and awaited only the hiring of a security force to guard the trucks. Apparently until now they could find no one who would take the job.
Al-Shraydeh did not reveal the price Jordan would pay for the oil, but Jordanian Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit said in October that his country would receive preferential rates. Jordan and Iraq signed the deal last August when al-Bakhit made a surprise visit to Baghdad - the first by a top Arab government official.
Al-Shraydeh said Jordan would begin by importing 10,000 barrels per day and would eventually increase the amount to cover the required 100,000. Before the war started in 2003, Iraq covered all of Jordan's oil needs, delivering a portion for free and the rest at about one-third the world market price.
When the supply was halted at the outset of the war, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates stepped in for a year to provide the cash-strapped kingdom with oil at prices believed to have been below market levels. Saudi Arabia now provides Jordan with funding to help the country pay for its oil need.
"The Iraqi government said it was ready to start supplying us with oil, which we expect will happen within the next few days," al-Shraydeh was quoted by Petra as saying. Iraqi officials said the deal was in the works for a long time and awaited only the hiring of a security force to guard the trucks. Apparently until now they could find no one who would take the job.
Al-Shraydeh did not reveal the price Jordan would pay for the oil, but Jordanian Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit said in October that his country would receive preferential rates. Jordan and Iraq signed the deal last August when al-Bakhit made a surprise visit to Baghdad - the first by a top Arab government official.
Al-Shraydeh said Jordan would begin by importing 10,000 barrels per day and would eventually increase the amount to cover the required 100,000. Before the war started in 2003, Iraq covered all of Jordan's oil needs, delivering a portion for free and the rest at about one-third the world market price.
When the supply was halted at the outset of the war, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates stepped in for a year to provide the cash-strapped kingdom with oil at prices believed to have been below market levels. Saudi Arabia now provides Jordan with funding to help the country pay for its oil need.
Labels: Iraq, Jordan, Khaled al-Shraydeh, oil
British troops on verge of pullout from Basra
Security
(The Guardian) - Britain's long-awaited and much-postponed pull-out from the Basra palace, its last remaining base in the Iraqi city, is imminent, sources have told the Guardian. The move, which is symbolically significant and will improve the safety of British troops, is expected to take place within the next two weeks and may come within days, officials say. An announcement will be made by the Iraqis.
The decision to hand over the palace to Iraqi forces comes at a time of growing criticism by elements in the US military of Britain's role in southern Iraq. The criticism is dismissed by British military commanders. "All indications are it shouldn't be far away," Major Mike Shearer, the army's spokesman in Basra, said when asked about the handover of the Basra palace. Privately, defence officials go further, saying a decision in principle has been taken and the 500 British troops based there are on the verge of leaving.
British troops have made it clear they believe their presence at the palace carries huge risks but serves no useful purpose. Kevan Jones, a Labour member of the Commons defence committee recently returned from a visit to Basra, described the delivery of supplies to the British garrison at the Basra palace as "nightly suicide missions". He added: "We have a force surrounded like cowboys and Indians in the Basra palace." Other MPs said British troops told them the only reason they were staying in southern Iraq was "because of our relations with the US" and "American domestic sensibilities".
Jack Keane, a former US general and Pentagon envoy just back from Iraq, told the BBC on Wednesday that the British were more focused on training Iraqi troops than controlling "deteriorating" security. He described the situation in Basra as "almost gangland warfare". Defence officials suggest American criticism is partly the result of deep-seated resentment at previous British criticism of the US in Iraq. A Foreign Office memo leaked in 2004 referred to "heavy-handed US military tactics" fuelling "both Sunni and Shia opposition to the coalition" which had "lost us much public support inside Iraq".
Major Shearer implicitly rejected US critics of British tactics. "We are absolutely moving in the right direction", he said. Britain was "giving space" to the Iraqis so they could take the lead in policing their city. "It makes absolute sense we reduce our operational footprint", he added.
"We would not hand over [to the Iraqis] believing we were going to create a security vacuum. That would be madness in the extreme," one official insisted. However, military commanders have long been frustrated by the time it is taking to train an effective Iraqi army in the south and by the problems forming a police force, many of whom have links with Shia militia.
The decision to hand over the palace to Iraqi forces comes at a time of growing criticism by elements in the US military of Britain's role in southern Iraq. The criticism is dismissed by British military commanders. "All indications are it shouldn't be far away," Major Mike Shearer, the army's spokesman in Basra, said when asked about the handover of the Basra palace. Privately, defence officials go further, saying a decision in principle has been taken and the 500 British troops based there are on the verge of leaving.
British troops have made it clear they believe their presence at the palace carries huge risks but serves no useful purpose. Kevan Jones, a Labour member of the Commons defence committee recently returned from a visit to Basra, described the delivery of supplies to the British garrison at the Basra palace as "nightly suicide missions". He added: "We have a force surrounded like cowboys and Indians in the Basra palace." Other MPs said British troops told them the only reason they were staying in southern Iraq was "because of our relations with the US" and "American domestic sensibilities".
Jack Keane, a former US general and Pentagon envoy just back from Iraq, told the BBC on Wednesday that the British were more focused on training Iraqi troops than controlling "deteriorating" security. He described the situation in Basra as "almost gangland warfare". Defence officials suggest American criticism is partly the result of deep-seated resentment at previous British criticism of the US in Iraq. A Foreign Office memo leaked in 2004 referred to "heavy-handed US military tactics" fuelling "both Sunni and Shia opposition to the coalition" which had "lost us much public support inside Iraq".
Major Shearer implicitly rejected US critics of British tactics. "We are absolutely moving in the right direction", he said. Britain was "giving space" to the Iraqis so they could take the lead in policing their city. "It makes absolute sense we reduce our operational footprint", he added.
"We would not hand over [to the Iraqis] believing we were going to create a security vacuum. That would be madness in the extreme," one official insisted. However, military commanders have long been frustrated by the time it is taking to train an effective Iraqi army in the south and by the problems forming a police force, many of whom have links with Shia militia.
Labels: Basra, British troop withdrawal, Major Mike Shearer, militias
Regional dam building deprives Iraq of adequate water
Water
(Gulf News) - Iraq yesterday called for a water treaty with neighbours that share the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, saying a deal was needed to avoid a crisis. The two great rivers converge in Iraq and are its main water resource. Both flow south from Turkey, the Euphrates first winding through Syria while the Tigris passes straight into northern Iraq.
"The problem is growing and we need an agreement. There is speculation that the next regional war will be about water, but more conflict does not achieve anything," Water Resources Minister Abdul Latif Rasheed told Reuters in the Syrian capital. "Iraq could fall into crisis, especially if we don't have more information from our neighbours and an idea of the state of their projects and if we end up without a fair share of the water," he said.
Rasheed said the looming danger came from Turkey, which has been damming the Euphrates and is expected to add the most land under cultivation, further worsening water quality downstream. "I hope that the water issue does not fall prey to politics.
"Our river levels have plummeted and Iraq needs guarantees that projects Turkey is building won't hit us further," Rasheed said after talks with Syrian officials. Euphrates volumes through Iraq have fallen to 30 billion cubic metres a year, half the flow of a few decades ago before Syria and Turkey increased dam building, Rasheed said.
"The problem is growing and we need an agreement. There is speculation that the next regional war will be about water, but more conflict does not achieve anything," Water Resources Minister Abdul Latif Rasheed told Reuters in the Syrian capital. "Iraq could fall into crisis, especially if we don't have more information from our neighbours and an idea of the state of their projects and if we end up without a fair share of the water," he said.
Rasheed said the looming danger came from Turkey, which has been damming the Euphrates and is expected to add the most land under cultivation, further worsening water quality downstream. "I hope that the water issue does not fall prey to politics.
"Our river levels have plummeted and Iraq needs guarantees that projects Turkey is building won't hit us further," Rasheed said after talks with Syrian officials. Euphrates volumes through Iraq have fallen to 30 billion cubic metres a year, half the flow of a few decades ago before Syria and Turkey increased dam building, Rasheed said.
Labels: Euphrates river, Tigris river, water treaty
Al Qaeda kidnaps women and children in attack on villages
Security
(Gulf News) - Al Qaida fighters kidnapped 15 Iraqi women and children after rival Sunni militants repelled their attack on two villages in a fierce battle yesterday in which 32 people were killed, police said. The fighting, rare on such a large scale, underscored the growing split between Sunni militant groups and Al Qaida that US forces have sought to exploit as they try to quell sectarian violence that has killed tens of thousands.
About 200 Al Qaida fighters raided the villages of Shaikh Tamim and Ebrahim Yehia in restive Diyala province, north of Baghdad, early yesterday after launching a mortar attack on the area, police said. The attack came despite a US offensive in Diyala targeting Al Qaida. The US troops launched an operation in June to oust fighters who had taken over large parts of the provincial capital, Baquba. Many escaped to fight on.
Brigadier-General Ali Delayan, police chief of Baquba, told Reuters that 22 residents had been killed in the fighting along with 10 Al Qaida fighters. Several wounded residents said villagers were loyal to the Sunni insurgent group, the 1920 Revolution Brigade. Delayan said the attackers had escaped with eight women and seven children as hostages.
A mosque that served the two villages was destroyed in the fighting and its imam was among those killed, he added. Delayan said Al Qaida attackers mortared the villages before storming into them. Rocket-propelled grenades were used in the fighting, in which three houses were destroyed. He said the gun battle with fighters loyal to the 1920 Revolution Brigade, which has recently distanced itself from Al Qaida, was triggered by the execution of four men, including the mosque imam.
Police said they arrested 22 of the attackers. The Shiite-led government and the US military still view Al Qaida as the main threat to peace in Iraq, despite the fact that is fighters make up only a small percentage of Sunni militants and many of its leaders have been killed or captured.
About 200 Al Qaida fighters raided the villages of Shaikh Tamim and Ebrahim Yehia in restive Diyala province, north of Baghdad, early yesterday after launching a mortar attack on the area, police said. The attack came despite a US offensive in Diyala targeting Al Qaida. The US troops launched an operation in June to oust fighters who had taken over large parts of the provincial capital, Baquba. Many escaped to fight on.
Brigadier-General Ali Delayan, police chief of Baquba, told Reuters that 22 residents had been killed in the fighting along with 10 Al Qaida fighters. Several wounded residents said villagers were loyal to the Sunni insurgent group, the 1920 Revolution Brigade. Delayan said the attackers had escaped with eight women and seven children as hostages.
A mosque that served the two villages was destroyed in the fighting and its imam was among those killed, he added. Delayan said Al Qaida attackers mortared the villages before storming into them. Rocket-propelled grenades were used in the fighting, in which three houses were destroyed. He said the gun battle with fighters loyal to the 1920 Revolution Brigade, which has recently distanced itself from Al Qaida, was triggered by the execution of four men, including the mosque imam.
Police said they arrested 22 of the attackers. The Shiite-led government and the US military still view Al Qaida as the main threat to peace in Iraq, despite the fact that is fighters make up only a small percentage of Sunni militants and many of its leaders have been killed or captured.
COMMENT: This act will only heighten violence between Sunni militants, tribes and Al Qaeda and is likely to turn more people against them. Al Qaeda have nor previously kidnapped such a large number of women and children only. The fate of the kidnapped women and children will also affect the outcome. COMMENT ENDS.
Labels: abduction, Al Qaeda, Brigadier-General Ali Delayan, Diyala, Ebrahim Yehia, RPGs, Shaikh Tamim, Sunni militants, the 1920 Revolution Brigades
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
20 dead in suicide bombing in Baiji
Security
(Reuters) - A suicide bomber rammed a fuel tanker into a police station in the northern Iraqi oil city of Baiji on Wednesday, killing at least 20 people and wounding 40, police said. Police said the bomber struck the front gates of the police directorate in Baiji, 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad. Dr. Thamir Kawan, the head of Baiji hospital, said 11 people, police and civilians, had been killed in the blast. The police directorate had just moved into a new headquarters in the past few days, after an identical attack on their original station in June killed 27 people, including 13 policemen.
Labels: Baiji, fuel tanker, police station, suicide bomber
Sacked Iraqi police in Basra turn to terrorism
Security, Politics
(The Times) - A British police chief in Basra has given a warning that Iraqi officers sacked for corruption have turned to terrorism in revenge. Mike Colbourne, Assistant Chief Constable of Bedfordshire but currently the senior police adviser in southern Iraq, said many of those who had been dismissed or had retired were involved in violence.
The bleak assessment after four years of British attempts to convert the Iraqi police into an effective force comes within weeks of the expected handover of the city of Basra to Iraqi security control. The 500 British soldiers based at Basra Palace in the heart of the city who patrol the districts in armoured vehicles and work alongside the Iraqi Army and police force, are to be withdrawn and relocated to the main airport base along with all the other military units.
Although the pullout date remains an operational secret the Ministry of Defence in London has stated that the handover should go ahead within the next few weeks. Mr Colbourne said on BBC Radio’s The World at One that the British troops would not withdraw until the Iraqis were ready to take on responsibility for security in the city themselves. However, he admitted that a significant number of Iraqi police officers were still engaged in corruption and violence, including murder and kidnappings.
“There are a number of Iraqi police service officers who are clearly aligned to militias,” he said. He added: “I think that there is violence being committed by police officers and other Iraqi security forces’ officers. We know there are significant numbers of both serving officers [and] those who have been sacked and retired who continue to be involved in violence.”
The infiltration of militia-loyal police officers into the Basra force has been a threat to the stability of the city since the British military occupation of southern Iraq formally came to an end in June 2004.
The bleak assessment after four years of British attempts to convert the Iraqi police into an effective force comes within weeks of the expected handover of the city of Basra to Iraqi security control. The 500 British soldiers based at Basra Palace in the heart of the city who patrol the districts in armoured vehicles and work alongside the Iraqi Army and police force, are to be withdrawn and relocated to the main airport base along with all the other military units.
Although the pullout date remains an operational secret the Ministry of Defence in London has stated that the handover should go ahead within the next few weeks. Mr Colbourne said on BBC Radio’s The World at One that the British troops would not withdraw until the Iraqis were ready to take on responsibility for security in the city themselves. However, he admitted that a significant number of Iraqi police officers were still engaged in corruption and violence, including murder and kidnappings.
“There are a number of Iraqi police service officers who are clearly aligned to militias,” he said. He added: “I think that there is violence being committed by police officers and other Iraqi security forces’ officers. We know there are significant numbers of both serving officers [and] those who have been sacked and retired who continue to be involved in violence.”
The infiltration of militia-loyal police officers into the Basra force has been a threat to the stability of the city since the British military occupation of southern Iraq formally came to an end in June 2004.
Labels: Basra, corruption, Iraqi police officers, Mike Colbourne, militias
Quds press - Mahdi Army threatened Governor of Muthanna
Security
(Quds Press) - Following the assassination of Governor al-Hassani, a curfew was imposed on al-Muthanna Province. Muhammad ‘Ali al-Hassani had served the American occupation as “Governor” of al-Muthanna Province since October 2003. He was a leader of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC).
In a dispatch posted on its website Monday, Quds Press reported that al-Hassani took a strong stand against the rival Shi‘i sectarian Jaysh al-Mahdi militia, helping US forces to crack down on the followers of sectarian cleric Muqtada as-Sadr a little over two months ago. With the help of al-Hassani dozens of Jaysh al-Mahdi gunmen were arrested as were numerous employees of the Muqtada as-Sadr office in the city.
Sources in as-Samawah told Quds Press that members of the puppet security forces (many of whom are simultaneously members of either the Jaysh al-Mahdi or the Badr Brigades) were believed to have been involved in the assassination.
Quds Press reported that the Jaysh al-Mahdi had been circulating leaflets in al-Muthanna Province threatening the puppet governor and members of the city council, blaming them for the arrests of the Jaysh al-Mahdi members earlier in the year.
Observers quoted by Quds Press said that the whole of southern Iraq was likely to ignite in a large scale turf war between rival Shi‘i fundamentalist sectarian militias as they battle for control of that part of the country as Britain and the US reduce their presence in the area.
Sources in as-Samawah told Quds Press that members of the puppet security forces (many of whom are simultaneously members of either the Jaysh al-Mahdi or the Badr Brigades) were believed to have been involved in the assassination.
Quds Press reported that the Jaysh al-Mahdi had been circulating leaflets in al-Muthanna Province threatening the puppet governor and members of the city council, blaming them for the arrests of the Jaysh al-Mahdi members earlier in the year.
Observers quoted by Quds Press said that the whole of southern Iraq was likely to ignite in a large scale turf war between rival Shi‘i fundamentalist sectarian militias as they battle for control of that part of the country as Britain and the US reduce their presence in the area.
As-Samawah and ad-Diwaniyah have witnessed intermittent clashes between the Jaysh al-Mahdi and Badr Brigades in recent days following the assassination of the puppet governor of ad-Diwaniyah. Jalil Hamzah, the puppet regime’s chief administrator in ad-Diwaniyah died in the explosion of a device identical to that which killed al-Hassani on Monday – a type of explosive device that is said to be made in Iran.
Labels: Badr Organisation, Jaysh al-Mahdi, Mahdi Army, Muhammad ‘Ali al-Hassani, Muthanna province, Samawa, SIIC
Power supply worsens
Electricity
(IRIN) - The power supply situation has been getting worse and in the past three months millions of people have been getting less than three hours of mains power a day, according to the Iraq Aid Association. The Ministry of Electricity has acknowledged its inability to meet the needs of the population, blaming the chronic power cuts on lack of fuel and violence.
Emad Rafid, a senior official in the Ministry of Electricity, said the available supply of electricity was sufficient to meet half the demand. "Violence is preventing our workers from doing repair work in many dangerous areas and those districts are the ones with severe power shortages," he said, adding that the situation today was worse than at any time since the UN sanctions in the 1990s.
"The problem is worse in the capital, especially in the outskirts, but a solution is far from being found because of the violence," he said. The Ministry of Oil said there was a severe fuel shortage because the country's refineries were operating below capacity and also because of terrorist attacks on refineries. To compound the problem, a number of employees were abandoning their jobs because they feared being attacked.
Long queues in the severe heat can be seen at petrol stations, which operate for a few hours a day only. They sell to drivers only. You are not allowed to buy petrol in jerry cans. "I don't have a car to fill up. If I did I could siphon off the petrol into jerry cans at home. Black marketeers are selling petrol at 10 to 15 times more than at the pumps," Abdel-Rahman said.
The police said they have seen many cases of people getting injured through keeping petrol in their backyards and sometimes even in their homes. Over the past two weeks, at least one child and three men died as a result of this, according to the police. Power cuts have been one factor aggravating people's health. Many come to hospital suffering dehydration owing to the intense heat, which in the past would have been mitigated by air-conditioning, Youssera Abdallah, a senior official in the Ministry of Health, said.
"Hospitals are seriously affected by power cuts. We have installed an additional small generator in case the big ones stop working, as most generators don't work properly," Dr Ahmed Samaraie, a doctor at Yarmouk Hospital in Baghdad, said.The problem also affects maternity units and clinics, which have reduced their workload as the power cuts have increased.
Labels: electricity, Iraq, Iraq Aid Association, Ministry of Electricity, Ministry of Oil, power
Syria, Iraq agree to rehabilitate oil pipelines
Region
(SANA) - Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Sufian al-Alaw on Tuesday said Syria and Iraq agreed to take necessary procedures to rehabilitate a crude petroleum transport pipelines between Iraqi city of Kirkuk and Syrian coastal city of Banyas. "The two states agreed to develop the exchange of oil products to a maximum degree in the interest of both countries," Alaw said during a visit to a Gas station south Damascus along with Iraqi counterpart Hussein Shahrstani.
The Iraqi Minister expressed his country's readiness to cooperate with Syria and develop available capabilities in the interest to both peoples, pointing out to new opportunities and horizons of cooperation in the oil and gas fields. The two ministers listened to an explanation to the Arab Gas Pipelines project which stretches from north Egypt to the Syrian-Turkish borders through Jordan with 1231 KM length.
The Iraqi Minister expressed his country's readiness to cooperate with Syria and develop available capabilities in the interest to both peoples, pointing out to new opportunities and horizons of cooperation in the oil and gas fields. The two ministers listened to an explanation to the Arab Gas Pipelines project which stretches from north Egypt to the Syrian-Turkish borders through Jordan with 1231 KM length.
Labels: Arab Gas Pipelines project, Banyas, Iraq, Kirkuk, oil pipelines, Sufian al-Alaw, Syria
Iran denies Revolutionary Guards working in Iraq
Region
(AFP) - Iran denied yesterday US accusations that a unit of its Revolutionary Guards, the Quds Force, was working inside Iraq to foment more unrest in its conflict-torn neighbour."Their statements are unreal and unwise," national security chief Ali Larijani was quoted as saying by the ISNA student news agency. A top US general on Sunday charged that around 50 members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards are inside Iraq and training Shiite extremists to launch attacks on US and Iraqi security forces.
Major General Rick Lynch, commander of US forces in central Iraq, said that members of the Quds Force have set up base in Babil, Karbala and Najaf provinces and the southern outskirts of the capital. "If there are 50 members of the Quds force in Iraq, give the names of five of them," challenged Larijani. "Some people say arms with 'made in Iran' written onto them have entered Iraq from Iran. It is obvious that these statements are wrong," he added.
The US military has regularly accused the Quds Force of training Iraqi militants in the use of rockets and explosively formed penetrators (EFPs) -- fist-sized bombs capable of slicing through heavy armour -- but Lynch's comments were first claims that they are operating inside Iraq. The Quds Force is the covert operations unit of the Guards -- which the White House is seeking to blacklist as terrorist group. The United States accuses Shiite-majority Iran of inciting sectarian violence in Iraq. Iran denies the allegation and blames the US-led occupation for Iraq's insecurity.
Major General Rick Lynch, commander of US forces in central Iraq, said that members of the Quds Force have set up base in Babil, Karbala and Najaf provinces and the southern outskirts of the capital. "If there are 50 members of the Quds force in Iraq, give the names of five of them," challenged Larijani. "Some people say arms with 'made in Iran' written onto them have entered Iraq from Iran. It is obvious that these statements are wrong," he added.
The US military has regularly accused the Quds Force of training Iraqi militants in the use of rockets and explosively formed penetrators (EFPs) -- fist-sized bombs capable of slicing through heavy armour -- but Lynch's comments were first claims that they are operating inside Iraq. The Quds Force is the covert operations unit of the Guards -- which the White House is seeking to blacklist as terrorist group. The United States accuses Shiite-majority Iran of inciting sectarian violence in Iraq. Iran denies the allegation and blames the US-led occupation for Iraq's insecurity.
Labels: Ali Larijani, EFPs, Iran, Iraq, Major General Rick Lynch, Quds Force, Revolutionary Guards, Shiite militias, southern Iraq
Gunmen arrested for murder of Governor of Muthanna
Security
(Voices of Iraq) - A number of those who allegedly killed the Governor of Muthanna province Muhammad Ali al-Hassani were arrested on Tuesday, the chief of the Muthanna police department said. "Security forces managed to arrest some of the armed group that gunned down the governor of Muthanna on Monday," Brigadier Kadhem al-Jayashi said, noting that the forces still hunting down the rest of the perpetrators.
The policeman refused to unveil the number of the arrested gunmen or their names, asserting that the "details would be announced in the next two days." A police source told VOI earlier that security forces arrested one of those who allegedly took part in the assassination of the governor near to the scene. "The man confessed of perpetrating the attack with other gunmen," the source also said.
Muthanna Governor Muhammad al-Hassani was killed when an explosive device went off near his motorcade while exiting the city of al-Rumeitha on Monday morning. Hassani, who occupied the post of Muthanna governor after the fall of the former regime in 2003, was a member in Badr Organization, once the military wing of Shiite leader Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim's Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC).
The assassination comes 10 days after another targeted the Diwaniyah governor, Khalil Jalil Hamza, who was also an SIIC member, in a similar explosive device attack on his motorcade that killed him instantly. Samawa, the capital of Muthanna province, lies 280 km south of Baghdad.
The policeman refused to unveil the number of the arrested gunmen or their names, asserting that the "details would be announced in the next two days." A police source told VOI earlier that security forces arrested one of those who allegedly took part in the assassination of the governor near to the scene. "The man confessed of perpetrating the attack with other gunmen," the source also said.
Muthanna Governor Muhammad al-Hassani was killed when an explosive device went off near his motorcade while exiting the city of al-Rumeitha on Monday morning. Hassani, who occupied the post of Muthanna governor after the fall of the former regime in 2003, was a member in Badr Organization, once the military wing of Shiite leader Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim's Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC).
The assassination comes 10 days after another targeted the Diwaniyah governor, Khalil Jalil Hamza, who was also an SIIC member, in a similar explosive device attack on his motorcade that killed him instantly. Samawa, the capital of Muthanna province, lies 280 km south of Baghdad.
Labels: assassination, Muhammad Ali al-Hassani, Samawa
Government urged to stop U.S. violations in Sadr City
Security
(Azzaman) - The Sadr City in Baghdad has been the scene of ongoing raids by U.S. occupation troops in the past weeks and its inhabitants have stage a huge sit-in in protest. The city is the largest suburban area of Baghdad and home to more than 2 million people, predominantly Shiite Muslims. The low-income neighborhood is one of the major strongholds of Shiite Cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his military wing, the Mahdi Army. The U.S. says the raids are to force Sadr to disband his militias.
Mahdi Army militias have all but vanished from the city currently under the control of pro-Sadr civil servants who administer the city’s public services, schools and hospitals. Angry inhabitants have staged sit-ins and demonstrations, building a human shield that makes it difficult for the invaders to enter the city and practically cuts it off from the rest of Baghdad.
Nassar Rubaie, a Sadr deputy in parliament, has acknowledged that the protests were organized by his group and urged the government not to remain silent in the face of ‘U.S. violations.’ The impoverished city is divided into tribal blocks where tribal chiefs hold tremendous sway. The tribes have traditionally been strong supporters of Sadr and his clerical family.
Rubaie said the government was under obligation to “stop raids and bombings by U.S. troops of the sons of Sadr City and other areas in Iraq and release Iraqi detainees.” He said his group was aware of thousands of detainees held for more than two years without trial. Their families, he said, still have no idea whether they are still alive or dead. “Iraq constitution stresses that judges must be alerted within 24 hours of any arrests but what we are seeing is that U.S. troops incarcerate people for years without trial. “This is unconstitutional,” he said.
Mahdi Army militias have all but vanished from the city currently under the control of pro-Sadr civil servants who administer the city’s public services, schools and hospitals. Angry inhabitants have staged sit-ins and demonstrations, building a human shield that makes it difficult for the invaders to enter the city and practically cuts it off from the rest of Baghdad.
Nassar Rubaie, a Sadr deputy in parliament, has acknowledged that the protests were organized by his group and urged the government not to remain silent in the face of ‘U.S. violations.’ The impoverished city is divided into tribal blocks where tribal chiefs hold tremendous sway. The tribes have traditionally been strong supporters of Sadr and his clerical family.
Rubaie said the government was under obligation to “stop raids and bombings by U.S. troops of the sons of Sadr City and other areas in Iraq and release Iraqi detainees.” He said his group was aware of thousands of detainees held for more than two years without trial. Their families, he said, still have no idea whether they are still alive or dead. “Iraq constitution stresses that judges must be alerted within 24 hours of any arrests but what we are seeing is that U.S. troops incarcerate people for years without trial. “This is unconstitutional,” he said.
Labels: demonstration, Nassar Rubaie, Sadr City
14 U.S. soldiers killed in helicopter crash
Security
(AP) - A helicopter crashed in northern Iraq on Wednesday, killing all 14 U.S. soldiers aboard, the military said. The UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter was carrying four crew members and 10 passengers when it went down during a nighttime operation, according to a statement. The military said initial indications showed the aircraft experienced a mechanical problem and there were no indications of hostile fire, but the cause was still under investigation. The 14 soldiers killed were assigned to Task Force Lightning, the military said.
Labels: helicopter, northern Iraq, Task Force Lightning, U.S. soldiers, UH-60 Black Hawk
Ministry of Interior to carry out population census
Government
(Azzaman) - The Ministry of Interior is to carry out a count of the population in violence-stricken areas including the capital Baghdad. The aim, according to the ministry, is to have a reliable register of those permanently residing in these areas and those staying for short periods of time. “It is important to draw a line between permanent inhabitants and the newcomers,” Brigadier Qassem Atta said.
He said each citizen in Baghdad and other restive areas will be given an identity card indicating the area they permanently reside in. In Baghdad, home to more than 6 million people, 50 police stations as well as the city’s municipal councils will be involved in the count, Atta added. The term, ‘restive areas’, normally refers to towns and villages in central and northern parts of the country – a region where Sunni Muslims are the majority.
Atta said the count was part of the U.S.-led campaign to pacify Baghdad. However, he did not say whether such large-scale count will be without risks in some places including certain quarters of Baghdad where the government practically has no authority. Atta said the government will slap curfews in areas and districts that will be covered by the census. He did not say when the count will start in earnest and which cities or areas will be the first to cover.
He said each citizen in Baghdad and other restive areas will be given an identity card indicating the area they permanently reside in. In Baghdad, home to more than 6 million people, 50 police stations as well as the city’s municipal councils will be involved in the count, Atta added. The term, ‘restive areas’, normally refers to towns and villages in central and northern parts of the country – a region where Sunni Muslims are the majority.
Atta said the count was part of the U.S.-led campaign to pacify Baghdad. However, he did not say whether such large-scale count will be without risks in some places including certain quarters of Baghdad where the government practically has no authority. Atta said the government will slap curfews in areas and districts that will be covered by the census. He did not say when the count will start in earnest and which cities or areas will be the first to cover.
Labels: Brigaier Qassem Atta, census, ID cards, Iraq, Ministry of Interior
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Al-Sadr's office denies responsibility for governors assassinations
Security, Politics
(AP) - Muqtada al-Sadr's office on Tuesday condemned the assassinations of two southern provincial governors in an apparent bid by the radical Shiite cleric to distance himself from a brutal contest among rival Shiite militias for control of some of Iraq's main oil regions.
Iraqi police had blamed Monday's roadside bombing that killed the governor of the vast Muthanna province on the powerful Mahdi Army, which is nominally loyal to al-Sadr but has seen factions splinter away over frustration with U.S. raids targeting the militia that has been blamed for much of the sectarian violence in recent months.
The attacks that killed Gov. Mohammed Ali al-Hassani and his colleague Gov. Khalil Jalil Hamza in neighboring Qadasiyah province nine days earlier raised fears that showdowns in southern Iraq — pitting Mahdi groups against the mainstream Shiite group in parliament — could intensify as the British forces overseeing the south gradually withdraw in the coming months.
Both governors were members of a powerhouse among Shiite political organizations, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, or SIIC, led by Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim. His loyalists, who dominate the police in the south of Iraq, have been fighting Mahdi Army militiamen for dominance in the south — which may hold 70 percent or more of Iraq's oil reserves, according to various estimates.
The reclusive cleric issued a statement late Monday praising efforts against the foreign forces but condemning the attacks against the Shiite governors, which he said were aimed at creating a rift among Iraq's majority Islamic sect. "The cruel deeds that have been done in Diwaniyah and Samawah are part of occupation plots that aim to create a climate of pretexts for them to stay in Iraq," al-Sadr said, using the term occupation to refer to U.S.-led forces.
He also called for committees comprising political and social authorities to be established under religious supervision in each of Iraq's 18 provinces "so that these events would not repeated in the south or in any part of Iraq." Al-Sadr also renewed his demand for a timetable to be set for the withdrawal of the U.S.-led troops. His office in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad, was more direct in its denial.
"We don't have any relation with these acts or have any involvement, we condemn such acts that aim at destabilizing the situation in the center and southern Iraq," al-Sadr's spokesman Ahmed al-Shibani said Tueday.
Just a few months ago, the Mahdi Army and its leader, firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, were seen as reluctant — but critical — partners with Iraq's leadership. Al-Sadr agreed to government appeals to lessen his anti-American fervor and not directly challenge the waves of U.S. soldiers trying to regain control of Baghdad and surrounding areas.
But now, the once-cohesive ranks of the Mahdi Army are splintering into rival factions with widely varying priorities.
Iraqi police had blamed Monday's roadside bombing that killed the governor of the vast Muthanna province on the powerful Mahdi Army, which is nominally loyal to al-Sadr but has seen factions splinter away over frustration with U.S. raids targeting the militia that has been blamed for much of the sectarian violence in recent months.
The attacks that killed Gov. Mohammed Ali al-Hassani and his colleague Gov. Khalil Jalil Hamza in neighboring Qadasiyah province nine days earlier raised fears that showdowns in southern Iraq — pitting Mahdi groups against the mainstream Shiite group in parliament — could intensify as the British forces overseeing the south gradually withdraw in the coming months.
Both governors were members of a powerhouse among Shiite political organizations, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, or SIIC, led by Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim. His loyalists, who dominate the police in the south of Iraq, have been fighting Mahdi Army militiamen for dominance in the south — which may hold 70 percent or more of Iraq's oil reserves, according to various estimates.
The reclusive cleric issued a statement late Monday praising efforts against the foreign forces but condemning the attacks against the Shiite governors, which he said were aimed at creating a rift among Iraq's majority Islamic sect. "The cruel deeds that have been done in Diwaniyah and Samawah are part of occupation plots that aim to create a climate of pretexts for them to stay in Iraq," al-Sadr said, using the term occupation to refer to U.S.-led forces.
He also called for committees comprising political and social authorities to be established under religious supervision in each of Iraq's 18 provinces "so that these events would not repeated in the south or in any part of Iraq." Al-Sadr also renewed his demand for a timetable to be set for the withdrawal of the U.S.-led troops. His office in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad, was more direct in its denial.
"We don't have any relation with these acts or have any involvement, we condemn such acts that aim at destabilizing the situation in the center and southern Iraq," al-Sadr's spokesman Ahmed al-Shibani said Tueday.
Just a few months ago, the Mahdi Army and its leader, firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, were seen as reluctant — but critical — partners with Iraq's leadership. Al-Sadr agreed to government appeals to lessen his anti-American fervor and not directly challenge the waves of U.S. soldiers trying to regain control of Baghdad and surrounding areas.
But now, the once-cohesive ranks of the Mahdi Army are splintering into rival factions with widely varying priorities.
Labels: Mahdi Army, Mohammed Ali al-Hassani, Moqtada Al-Sadr, Muthanna province, SIIC
leaflets warn villagers of Iranian offensive against Kurdish rebels
Region
(Reuters) - Kurdish authorities in northeastern Iraq said on Tuesday they were investigating the authenticity of leaflets warning villagers to evacuate ahead of an Iranian military offensive against Kurdish rebels. Hundreds of villagers have fled their homes in Iraq's mountainous northeast while others hid in caves after what local authorities said was days of intermittent shelling by Iran across the border.
So far there has been no official comment from either Tehran or Baghdad about the shelling. Cross-border skirmishes occasionally occur as Iraq's neighbours Turkey and Iran combat Kurdish separatist rebels operating from bases in Iraq's mountainous and remote north and northeast. The government of Iraq's largely autonomous region of Kurdistan said it was investigating after villagers said they had seen the leaflets thrown from helicopters on Monday.
Residents said there were no identifying marks on the leaflets, written in Kurdish, apart from the words "The Islamic Republic of Iran" across the top and bottom. The leaflets said villagers had 48 hours to evacuate before an Iranian offensive began. "They do not carry an official stamp of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards or the Iranian Defence Ministry," said Jamal Abdullah, a spokesman for the Kurdish government.
"These leaflets made many people leave their homes."
The leaflets said the offensive would be around the villages of Qandoul, Haj Omran and Isaw and the town of Qal'at Dizah, 325 km (200 miles) north of Baghdad. Two women have been wounded, livestock killed, farms and orchards set ablaze and homes damaged in the shelling near small villages across a front of about 50 km (30 miles), local officials have said in the past three days.
On Saturday, the Iranian news agency Mehr said an Iranian army helicopter which crashed near the border of northern Iraq had been engaged in an operation against the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan, an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Turkey blames the PKK for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since 1984, when it launched its struggle for an ethnic homeland in Turkey's southeast.
So far there has been no official comment from either Tehran or Baghdad about the shelling. Cross-border skirmishes occasionally occur as Iraq's neighbours Turkey and Iran combat Kurdish separatist rebels operating from bases in Iraq's mountainous and remote north and northeast. The government of Iraq's largely autonomous region of Kurdistan said it was investigating after villagers said they had seen the leaflets thrown from helicopters on Monday.
Residents said there were no identifying marks on the leaflets, written in Kurdish, apart from the words "The Islamic Republic of Iran" across the top and bottom. The leaflets said villagers had 48 hours to evacuate before an Iranian offensive began. "They do not carry an official stamp of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards or the Iranian Defence Ministry," said Jamal Abdullah, a spokesman for the Kurdish government.
"These leaflets made many people leave their homes."
The leaflets said the offensive would be around the villages of Qandoul, Haj Omran and Isaw and the town of Qal'at Dizah, 325 km (200 miles) north of Baghdad. Two women have been wounded, livestock killed, farms and orchards set ablaze and homes damaged in the shelling near small villages across a front of about 50 km (30 miles), local officials have said in the past three days.
On Saturday, the Iranian news agency Mehr said an Iranian army helicopter which crashed near the border of northern Iraq had been engaged in an operation against the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan, an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Turkey blames the PKK for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since 1984, when it launched its struggle for an ethnic homeland in Turkey's southeast.
Labels: Haj Omran, Iran, Isaw, KRG, PJAK, PKK, Qandoul, Revolutionary Guards
CRS report - Private Security Contractors in Iraq: Background, Legal Status, and Other Issues
Report
The United States is relying heavily on private firms to supply a wide variety of services in Iraq, including security. From the information available in published sources, this apparently is the first time that the United States has depended on contractors to provide such extensive security in a hostile environment. In Iraq, private firms known as Private Security Companies (PSC) are currently providing security services such as the protection of individuals, nonmilitary transport convoys, buildings and other economic infrastructure, as well as the training of Iraqi police and military personnel.
The use of armed contractors raises several concerns for many Members, including transparency and accountability. Transparency issues include the lack of public information on the terms of their contracts, including their costs and the standards governing their hiring and performance, as well as the background and training of those hired under contract. The apparent lack of a practical means to hold contractors accountable under U.S. law for abuses and other transgressions, and the possibility that they could be prosecuted by foreign courts, is also a source of concern.
This report summarizes what is currently known about companies that provide personnel for security missions in Iraq and some sources of controversy surrounding them. A treatment of legal status and authorities follows, including an overview of relevant international law as well as Iraqi law, which currently consists primarily of Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) orders that remain in effect until superceded. The various possible means for prosecuting contractors under U.S. law in civilian or military courts are detailed, followed by a discussion of possible issues for Congress. This report will be updated as events warrant.
FULL REPORT: Congressional Research Service - "Private Security Contractors in Iraq: Background, Legal Status, and Other Issues,"
Labels: 10th Iraqi Army division, accountability, Congressional Research Service, contractors, federal law, international law, Iraqi war, Military law, private security companies, PSCs, security
Cement giant planning $450 mn. projects in Kerbala
Reconstruction
(Reuters) - Cement producer Lafarge is planning two projects worth about US$450 million in the Iraqi city of Kerbala, according to an investment bank working with the French company on both deals. The world's largest cement maker by market value is bidding for US$150 million contract to rehabilitate a cement plant in Kerbala with a capacity of 2 million tonnes a year, said Basil al-Rahim, managing partner of Merchant Bridge said.
Lafarge and Merchant Bridge have a licence to build another 2 million tonne-a-year plant in the city, Rahim said in Dubai, estimating that project was worth about US$300 million. "We are working on the cement plant licences in a joint venture with Lafarge and all the permits are in place," he said. A Lafarge spokeswoman declined to comment in Paris on Monday.
The Iraqi government has opened up the cement sector to foreign firms, hoping they will be keen to join in the reconstruction under way. The ministry of industry and minerals sold 19 licences for greenfield cement plants in 2005 as part of plans to raise Iraq's capacity to 25 million tonnes a year from about 17 million.
"Only three or four of those licensees have made progress like us," Rahim said. Egypt's Orascom Construction Industries operates one cement plant in Iraq and is due to complete a second by the end of 2007. Rahim said the Lafarge venture would find out next week whether it had been shortlisted to negotiate the rehabilitation of the second Kerbala plant.
Lafarge and Merchant Bridge have a licence to build another 2 million tonne-a-year plant in the city, Rahim said in Dubai, estimating that project was worth about US$300 million. "We are working on the cement plant licences in a joint venture with Lafarge and all the permits are in place," he said. A Lafarge spokeswoman declined to comment in Paris on Monday.
The Iraqi government has opened up the cement sector to foreign firms, hoping they will be keen to join in the reconstruction under way. The ministry of industry and minerals sold 19 licences for greenfield cement plants in 2005 as part of plans to raise Iraq's capacity to 25 million tonnes a year from about 17 million.
"Only three or four of those licensees have made progress like us," Rahim said. Egypt's Orascom Construction Industries operates one cement plant in Iraq and is due to complete a second by the end of 2007. Rahim said the Lafarge venture would find out next week whether it had been shortlisted to negotiate the rehabilitation of the second Kerbala plant.
Labels: cement plant, Kerbala, Lafarge, Merchant Bridge, Orascom Construction Industries
Karbala’s Tribal Sheikhs Hold Security Meeting
Security, Tribal
(Badr Newspaper) - 20 AUG - The Sayid Al Shuhadda Movement held a security meeting in Karbala. Many Karbala tribal sheikhs participated in this meeting. The goal of this meeting was to discuss the security preparations for the Shabbaniya visit.
Major General Salih Khazal, the Karbala Operations Room Chief, attended this meeting. The Major General spoke about the security plan that was created by the Army and the police. He also mentioned that a commando battalion has been deployed to the areas of Ma’amil Al Cement [the cement factory area] and the Sayid Ahmed Bin Hashim area, 80 KM west of Karbala. The tribal sheikhs expressed their full cooperation with the security organizations to protect the visitors of Imam Al Hussein during the Shabbaniya visit. A number of sheikhs have submitted notes to the Karbala operation room chief to increase the security cooperation of the tribes during the visit.
Labels: Imam Al Hussein shrine, Karbala, Sayid Al Shuhadda Movement, Shabbaniya, tribal leaders
Asiacell plans $300mn Iraq expansion
Telecommunications
(Reuters) - Asiacell Communications Co., an affiliate of Qatar Telecommunications Co. (Qtel), could spend as much as $300 million a year to expand its Iraq network, a shareholder said on Sunday. Asiacell paid $1.25 billion for one of three mobile licences sold last week and could consider a bid for the Iraq assets of Egypt's Orascom Telecom, which dropped out of the auction at the eleventh hour.
Orascom and two Kuwaiti operators, Mobile Telecommunications Co (MTC) and National Mobile Telecommunications Co., set up networks in Iraq after the U.S-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. Qtel bought a majority stake this year in National Mobile Telecommunications, which set up its Iraq operations through a separate affiliate, Asiacell Cayman Islands.
MTC and Kurdish operator Korek won the other two licences.
Asiacell Communications is looking to raise conventional or Islamic debt to fund expansion in Iraq, said Basil al-Rahim, managing partner of UK-based investment bank Merchant Bridge, which holds a 19 percent stake in Asiacell Communications. "The rough ratios of what you spend per subscriber per year is anywhere between $120 to $127 per subscriber. Then you have the upgrade of old equipment and security, so it could be $200 to $300 million a year."
Orascom and two Kuwaiti operators, Mobile Telecommunications Co (MTC) and National Mobile Telecommunications Co., set up networks in Iraq after the U.S-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. Qtel bought a majority stake this year in National Mobile Telecommunications, which set up its Iraq operations through a separate affiliate, Asiacell Cayman Islands.
MTC and Kurdish operator Korek won the other two licences.
Asiacell Communications is looking to raise conventional or Islamic debt to fund expansion in Iraq, said Basil al-Rahim, managing partner of UK-based investment bank Merchant Bridge, which holds a 19 percent stake in Asiacell Communications. "The rough ratios of what you spend per subscriber per year is anywhere between $120 to $127 per subscriber. Then you have the upgrade of old equipment and security, so it could be $200 to $300 million a year."
Labels: Asiacell, Korek, Merchant Bridge, MTC, Orascom, Qtel
Deputy sciences and technology minister kidnapped
Security
(Voices of Iraq) - Unknown gunmen kidnapped the undersecretary of the sciences and technology ministry on Sunday night while on his way back home in central Baghdad, a source from the ministry said. "Unidentified gunmen kidnapped Dr. Sameer Saleem al-Attar, undersecretary of sciences and technology ministry, and his driver while on his way back home in Arasat al-Hindiya region in central Baghdad and took him to an unknown place," the Director of the ministry's information department Abdul Amir Finjan told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
"The kidnappers phoned his family later and told them about the incident without demanding any ransom," he added. Al-Attar has a Ph.D. in Physics from the Baghdad University and he has been in his current post for more than two years. The man is married and has two children. No word was available from security authorities or the Iraqi government on the incident.
"The kidnappers phoned his family later and told them about the incident without demanding any ransom," he added. Al-Attar has a Ph.D. in Physics from the Baghdad University and he has been in his current post for more than two years. The man is married and has two children. No word was available from security authorities or the Iraqi government on the incident.
Labels: 10th Iraqi Army division, abduction, Arasat al-Hindiya, Baghdad, gunmen, r. Sameer Saleem al-Attar, sciences and technology ministry
Al-Hashimi - Sunnis fear Shiite control over security
Politics
(RFE/RL) - The Iraqi Islamic Party apologized in a statement posted to its website on August 16 for being unable to join the moderates' front. The party said it is convinced that the way out of the current political crisis will not be found through the forging of new alliances or agreements, but rather through reaching a national accord on key issues that continue to divide Iraqis. The party said it wishes the four parties success in their efforts to salvage Iraq from the current crisis.
Sunni Arab Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, who heads the Islamic Party reiterated the main points of the party's statement in an August 16 interview with Al-Jazeera television. "We believe the difficult situation which Iraq is going through now does not need polarization and new alliances," he said. "Our view of resolving the existing crisis lies in a national agreement on the basic general issues over which the Iraqis are sharply divided." He added that deep mistrust between Sunni and Shi'ite Arabs continues to affect political relations. Sunnis are fearful of Shi'ite control over security, he said, implying an Iranian influence over the security organizations. Shi'a, he said, fear that Sunnis want to return to a dictatorial state.
Labels: Iraqi Islamic Party, Moderates Front, Tariq al-Hashimi
Tribal leaders of Baghdad district agree to support ISF
Security, Tribal
(Al-Iraqiyah television) - Staff Lieutenant General Abbud Qanbar, commander of operations for the Baghdad security plan, announced on August 16 that tribal leaders in the Al-Saidiyah district of Baghdad have agreed to support Iraqi security forces in the fight against terrorism, Al-Iraqiyah television reported. Qanbar said the willingness of the tribesmen to cooperate is a concrete step toward bringing security to the area. "When we agree with our kinfolk and brothers, we will isolate terrorism and outlaws," Qanbar told reporters. "Our success lies in the support of our brothers, citizens, and the residents of Baghdad for the [Iraqi] armed forces."
Labels: Al-Saidiyah, Iraqi security forces, Staff Lieutenant General Abbud Qanbar, tribal leaders
Trial opens for 15 of Saddam's aides
Crime
(BBC) - The trial has opened in Baghdad of 15 aides of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein for the suppression of a Shia uprising after the 1991 Gulf War. It is the third trial held by the Iraq High Tribunal. Among those in the dock is Saddam Hussein's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali". It is widely estimated that tens of thousands of people were killed when the short-lived uprising was crushed. In recent years, many mass graves have been uncovered.
The uprising started days after the US-led alliance had driven Saddam's forces out of Kuwait. Across the predominantly Shia provinces of southern Iraq there were apparently spontaneous rebellions. The trial will deal with crimes against humanity allegedly committed by Iraqi military leaders and leaders of the ruling Baath Party in putting down these rebellions and in the punishment of suspected supporters of the uprising. Majid has already been sentenced to death in an earlier trial for crimes against the Kurdish population, as have two more of the defendants.
US President George Bush Senior's decision not to press on to Baghdad after defeating Saddam Hussein's forces in Kuwait long remained contentious among Shia who believed they had a green light to stage an uprising. The fact that Saddam Hussein's forces were able to use helicopters as gunships against those who took part also caused concern. The trial could revive these controversies.
The uprising started days after the US-led alliance had driven Saddam's forces out of Kuwait. Across the predominantly Shia provinces of southern Iraq there were apparently spontaneous rebellions. The trial will deal with crimes against humanity allegedly committed by Iraqi military leaders and leaders of the ruling Baath Party in putting down these rebellions and in the punishment of suspected supporters of the uprising. Majid has already been sentenced to death in an earlier trial for crimes against the Kurdish population, as have two more of the defendants.
US President George Bush Senior's decision not to press on to Baghdad after defeating Saddam Hussein's forces in Kuwait long remained contentious among Shia who believed they had a green light to stage an uprising. The fact that Saddam Hussein's forces were able to use helicopters as gunships against those who took part also caused concern. The trial could revive these controversies.
Labels: Ali Hassan al-Majid, Chemical Ali, Iraq High Tribunal, Saddam Hussein, Shia uprising
Jordan won't hand over Saddam's daughter to Iraq
Region
(AP) -- Jordan indicated Monday it is not ready to surrender Saddam Hussein's eldest daughter to Iraq, despite a new push from authorities in Baghdad for her to face charges of funneling money to Sunni insurgents. A visiting Iraqi delegation last week handed Jordanian authorities a list of wanted fugitives, including Raghad Saddam Hussein, the independent newspaper Al Arab Al Yawm reported Monday. Interpol has posted a "red notice" on its Web site, advising that Saddam's daughter is wanted by the Iraqi government for "crimes against life and health" and for inciting terrorism.
Jordanian government spokesman Nasser Judeh said Monday that Jordan was "not dealing with that situation right now. We will deal with this issue when it happens, but it isn't on the agenda," he said. "It's only a warning from Interpol and not an arrest warrant." Red notices from Interpol are not international arrest warrants, but are intended to advise police forces that an individual is sought by a member government, according to Interpol's Web site.
The issue of what to do with Saddam's daughters is complicated by Sunni Arab hostility, including in Jordan, toward the Shiite-dominated government of Iraq. An estimated 750,000 Iraqis, many of them Sunnis, have fled to Jordan to escape the chaos back home. Raghad, 38, and her sister, Rana, were granted refuge in Jordan by King Abdullah II after their father's regime collapsed in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Since then, the Jordanian government has turned down repeated requests by Iraq to hand over Raghad, insisting that to do so would violate Arab traditions of hospitality."We have always said that she is here on purely humanitarian grounds," Judeh told reporters. "It was agreed with her that she would never practice any political or media activities." Last year, Iraqi authorities included Raghad on a list of most wanted fugitives accused of supporting Sunni insurgents. Many of those on the list are believed to be in Jordan.
According to Al Arab Al Yawm, the Iraqis also asked for other Iraqi Sunnis, including Raghad's cousins, Ahmed Watban and Mohammed Sabawi; Harith al-Dhari, a hard-line cleric believed linked to Sunni insurgents; and Ziad Aziz, son of Saddam's deputy, Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, who is now in U.S. custody. Iraqi authorities have not released detailed information to support the allegations against Raghad or the others.
In the absence of such public evidence, Jordan is unlikely to risk a Sunni backlash by handing over Sunnis to Iraq. "If Raghad Saddam Hussein was responsible for all that is happening in Iraq with the chaos, massacres, car bombs, al-Qaida, the Mahdi Army ... then the Americans shouldn't be in dialogue with the Iranians, but with her," a former information minister, Saleh Qallab, wrote Monday in the pro-government daily Al Rai.
"It's about time that Iraq, instead of creating the 'Interpol hurricane,' proves its courage and says loudly and clearly that the one responsible for all that is happening in Iraq is Iran," he said. Raghad has been known to speak publicly in support of the anti-American insurgency in Iraq - most recently in Yemen in February, when she joined hundreds of Baath party supporters commemorating the 40-day period since Saddam's death.
At the gathering, Raghad - who supervised Saddam's defense before his conviction and subsequent hanging - said that "as long as the resistance and the mujahedeen are fulfilling their duties in Iraq, the Iraqi people, without any doubt, will achieve victory."
Jordanian government spokesman Nasser Judeh said Monday that Jordan was "not dealing with that situation right now. We will deal with this issue when it happens, but it isn't on the agenda," he said. "It's only a warning from Interpol and not an arrest warrant." Red notices from Interpol are not international arrest warrants, but are intended to advise police forces that an individual is sought by a member government, according to Interpol's Web site.
The issue of what to do with Saddam's daughters is complicated by Sunni Arab hostility, including in Jordan, toward the Shiite-dominated government of Iraq. An estimated 750,000 Iraqis, many of them Sunnis, have fled to Jordan to escape the chaos back home. Raghad, 38, and her sister, Rana, were granted refuge in Jordan by King Abdullah II after their father's regime collapsed in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Since then, the Jordanian government has turned down repeated requests by Iraq to hand over Raghad, insisting that to do so would violate Arab traditions of hospitality."We have always said that she is here on purely humanitarian grounds," Judeh told reporters. "It was agreed with her that she would never practice any political or media activities." Last year, Iraqi authorities included Raghad on a list of most wanted fugitives accused of supporting Sunni insurgents. Many of those on the list are believed to be in Jordan.
According to Al Arab Al Yawm, the Iraqis also asked for other Iraqi Sunnis, including Raghad's cousins, Ahmed Watban and Mohammed Sabawi; Harith al-Dhari, a hard-line cleric believed linked to Sunni insurgents; and Ziad Aziz, son of Saddam's deputy, Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, who is now in U.S. custody. Iraqi authorities have not released detailed information to support the allegations against Raghad or the others.
In the absence of such public evidence, Jordan is unlikely to risk a Sunni backlash by handing over Sunnis to Iraq. "If Raghad Saddam Hussein was responsible for all that is happening in Iraq with the chaos, massacres, car bombs, al-Qaida, the Mahdi Army ... then the Americans shouldn't be in dialogue with the Iranians, but with her," a former information minister, Saleh Qallab, wrote Monday in the pro-government daily Al Rai.
"It's about time that Iraq, instead of creating the 'Interpol hurricane,' proves its courage and says loudly and clearly that the one responsible for all that is happening in Iraq is Iran," he said. Raghad has been known to speak publicly in support of the anti-American insurgency in Iraq - most recently in Yemen in February, when she joined hundreds of Baath party supporters commemorating the 40-day period since Saddam's death.
At the gathering, Raghad - who supervised Saddam's defense before his conviction and subsequent hanging - said that "as long as the resistance and the mujahedeen are fulfilling their duties in Iraq, the Iraqi people, without any doubt, will achieve victory."
Labels: Jordan, Raghad Saddam Hussein, Saddam Hussein, Sunni insurgents
Yezidi leaders meet to plot a response after the bombings
Security
(The Guardian) - Aside from the physical damage it wrought, the coordinated bombing attack by suspected al-Qaida operatives revived fears among the Yezidi community, one of the region's oldest ethno-religious groups, of annihilation at the hands of their religious enemies - in this case, Sunni extremists. Along with other religious minorities in Iraq who initially rejoiced at the toppling of the Ba'athist regime, Yezidi Kurds say the subsequent chaos and political paralysis has left them as vulne0rable as before.
"The attack came as no surprise to us," Prince Tahseen Sayid Ali, the temporal leader of the Yezidis, told the Guardian in his headquarters in Sheikhan, about 40 miles north-east of Mosul. Last April, the community came under the international spotlight when a Yezidi girl married a Muslim boy and was reported to have converted to Islam. She was promptly stoned to death by a mob in her hometown of Bazan. The murder was caught on a mobile phone camera and distributed on the internet. Yezidi leaders condemned the killing, but the damage was done.
"The attack came as no surprise to us," Prince Tahseen Sayid Ali, the temporal leader of the Yezidis, told the Guardian in his headquarters in Sheikhan, about 40 miles north-east of Mosul. Last April, the community came under the international spotlight when a Yezidi girl married a Muslim boy and was reported to have converted to Islam. She was promptly stoned to death by a mob in her hometown of Bazan. The murder was caught on a mobile phone camera and distributed on the internet. Yezidi leaders condemned the killing, but the damage was done.
In response, gunmen pulled 23 Yezidi workers off a bus near Mosul and shot them dead. Hundreds of Yezidi students at Mosul university have since either fled or moved to universities inside the Kurdish autonomous area. For the past month, said Prince Tahseen, Yezidi leaders in Sinjar had been complaining of threats by Islamists. They said the militants, holed up among local Sunni Arab settlements along the Syrian border, had effectively blockaded Yezidi towns, preventing delivery of foodstuffs and fuel.
"The Islamic terrorists had made it very clear that they wanted to see rivers of Yezidi blood," said Prince Tahseen. But no one, least of all the US army, which is nominally in control of the region, was listening. "I'm sure it will happen again unless we take steps to protect ourselves," he said. "We are a peaceful people. We don't have force of arms. The only protection is for all the Yezidis is to be part of the Kurdish self-rule zone. But whether the Arabs allow us to vote on it as the constitution says we should, is another question."
In past centuries, the Yezidi tribes had been very powerful, covering large areas of Kurdistan. But waves of persecution, particularly under the Ottomans, has meant there are only isolated groups left in Iraq: in the foothills of Kurdish mountains and further south-west in the vicinity of Jebel Sinjar. Their numbers, thought to be only a few hundred thousand, had already dwindled by the 2003 US invasion. As part of his Arabi-sation campaign, Saddam uprooted Yezidis from their ancestral lands in Sinjar, herding many of them into new "collective towns" which were little more than large concentration camps.
But the Yezidis who live to the east of Mosul have fared better. There lies the town of Sheikhan, where the prince holds court, and their main religious centre at Lalish, in a steep, wooded valley punctuated with ribbed white conical towers that mark the positions of Yezidi shrines and tombs.
"The Islamic terrorists had made it very clear that they wanted to see rivers of Yezidi blood," said Prince Tahseen. But no one, least of all the US army, which is nominally in control of the region, was listening. "I'm sure it will happen again unless we take steps to protect ourselves," he said. "We are a peaceful people. We don't have force of arms. The only protection is for all the Yezidis is to be part of the Kurdish self-rule zone. But whether the Arabs allow us to vote on it as the constitution says we should, is another question."
In past centuries, the Yezidi tribes had been very powerful, covering large areas of Kurdistan. But waves of persecution, particularly under the Ottomans, has meant there are only isolated groups left in Iraq: in the foothills of Kurdish mountains and further south-west in the vicinity of Jebel Sinjar. Their numbers, thought to be only a few hundred thousand, had already dwindled by the 2003 US invasion. As part of his Arabi-sation campaign, Saddam uprooted Yezidis from their ancestral lands in Sinjar, herding many of them into new "collective towns" which were little more than large concentration camps.
But the Yezidis who live to the east of Mosul have fared better. There lies the town of Sheikhan, where the prince holds court, and their main religious centre at Lalish, in a steep, wooded valley punctuated with ribbed white conical towers that mark the positions of Yezidi shrines and tombs.
These areas abut the Kurd's autonomous region, the most tranquil part of Iraq. Several Yezidis hold positions in the Kurdish administration and sit in the regional parliament. They are trying to convince their brethren in the Sinjar area to join them, by voting in a referendum planned for the end of the year. A recent survey suggested that 80% of Yezidis may opt to join the Kurdistan regional government if given guarantees of religious and communal freedom.
"If we are all united inside the Kurdistan federal region, then we can have better protection and also have a better chance of asking for our rights," said Prince Tahseen. That may be one main reason why they were attacked, he says.
There was no doubting the galvanising effects that the attack has had. Prince Tahseen, whose royal line is said to date back some 500 years, and his spiritual counterpart - the Yezidi's equivalent of the Pope -Baba Sheikh Khorto Haji Ismael, convened a gathering of tribal leaders in Sheikhan yesterday to plot a response. It included money and political support and a determination to bring Yezidis inside the Kurdish ruled areas for safety. After the meeting the men and their entourage left in a long convoy for Sinjar.
"If we are all united inside the Kurdistan federal region, then we can have better protection and also have a better chance of asking for our rights," said Prince Tahseen. That may be one main reason why they were attacked, he says.
There was no doubting the galvanising effects that the attack has had. Prince Tahseen, whose royal line is said to date back some 500 years, and his spiritual counterpart - the Yezidi's equivalent of the Pope -Baba Sheikh Khorto Haji Ismael, convened a gathering of tribal leaders in Sheikhan yesterday to plot a response. It included money and political support and a determination to bring Yezidis inside the Kurdish ruled areas for safety. After the meeting the men and their entourage left in a long convoy for Sinjar.
Labels: Baba Sheikh Khorto Haji Ismael, KRG, Prince Tahseen Sayid Ali, Sheikhan, Sinjar, tribal, Yezidis
Al-Sadr - Maliki's government is on the brink of collapse
Politics
(AP) - A top Iraqi Shiite militia leader predicted Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki's government was nearing its end because it has been tainted by its close work with American forces, a British newspaper reported on Monday. Cleric Moqtada Al Sadr told The Independent newspaper that Al Maliki's government was on the brink of collapse, despite efforts to bolster its base of support.
"Al Maliki's government will not survive because he has proven that he will not work with important elements of the Iraqi people," the cleric was quoted by the newspaper as saying. "The prime minister is a tool for the Americans, and people see that clearly. It will probably be the Americans who decide to change him when they realise he has failed. We don't have a democracy here, we have a foreign occupation."
Al Sadr had been among Al Maliki's strongest supporters. Early this year, Al Sadr agreed to government appeals to tone down his anti-American rhetoric and not directly challenge the waves of US soldiers trying to regain control of Baghdad.
However, he broke with Al Maliki, a fellow Shiite, in April and withdrew his five supporters from the Iraqi Cabinet to protest the prime minister's refusal to demand a timetable for the pullout of US forces from Iraq. During the interview, conducted in the southern Iraqi city of Kufa, Al Sadr also declared that British forces had been defeated in Iraq and would be forced to pull out sooner than they planned.
He said resistance and a rising death toll among troops had forced a withdrawal. "The British have given up and they know they will be leaving Iraq soon," Al Sadr was quoted as saying. "They are retreating because of the resistance they have faced. Without that, they would have stayed for much longer, there is no doubt."
"Al Maliki's government will not survive because he has proven that he will not work with important elements of the Iraqi people," the cleric was quoted by the newspaper as saying. "The prime minister is a tool for the Americans, and people see that clearly. It will probably be the Americans who decide to change him when they realise he has failed. We don't have a democracy here, we have a foreign occupation."
Al Sadr had been among Al Maliki's strongest supporters. Early this year, Al Sadr agreed to government appeals to tone down his anti-American rhetoric and not directly challenge the waves of US soldiers trying to regain control of Baghdad.
However, he broke with Al Maliki, a fellow Shiite, in April and withdrew his five supporters from the Iraqi Cabinet to protest the prime minister's refusal to demand a timetable for the pullout of US forces from Iraq. During the interview, conducted in the southern Iraqi city of Kufa, Al Sadr also declared that British forces had been defeated in Iraq and would be forced to pull out sooner than they planned.
He said resistance and a rising death toll among troops had forced a withdrawal. "The British have given up and they know they will be leaving Iraq soon," Al Sadr was quoted as saying. "They are retreating because of the resistance they have faced. Without that, they would have stayed for much longer, there is no doubt."
Labels: government, Moqtada Al-Sadr, Nouri Al-Maliki
Maliki in Syria for security discussions
Region
(Gulf News) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki started on Monday an important visit to Damascus which aims to discuss several important issues between the two countries, Iraqi officials said. The move came days after the formation of a new political coalition in Iraq which included senior Shiite and Kurdish parties. This alliance declared support for Al Maliki as a strong government leader.
Mahmoud Othman, a leading figure in the Kurdish Alliance, who strongly stands by Al Maliki, told Gulf News: "Syria is a significant country that can play a role to sustain Iraq's security and stability. This can be achieved in two ways : The first is by controlling joint borders and halting infiltration networks and operations that are used by terrorist elements to sneak into Iraq. Secondly, many opposition figures of the new political process in Iraq are based in Damascus. Consequently Syrians support the Iraqi national reconciliation process."
The Iraqi-Syrian relations are facing sensitive issues like Iraqi security, frozen funds and immigrants. Dhahir Abdullah, professor of international relations at Al Nahrain University in Baghdad, told Gulf News: "The Syrian move of hosting the security committee meeting has relieved Iraqi officials and information indicated that the Syrian army has taken concrete measures to control borders with Iraq."
He said, "Some files like the frozen money and funds belong to former regime officials in Syrian banks, besides the presence of some Baathist leaders accused of financing terrorism in Syrian capital, remain provocative factors that could damage the Syrian-Iraqi relationship. I think Al Maliki will vigorously discuss these files with Syrian officials."
It is noteworthy that US's strongly-worded statements against Syria's involvement in supporting terrorism in Iraq have decreased significantly compared with last year. Recently the military officials shifted their security accusations against Iran. Babakir Zebari, the Iraqi Army Chief of Staff, told Gulf News: "There is a retreat of terrorists infiltration across Syrian borders by more than 60 per cent and this is an encouraging issue".
In addition, officials close to the Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain Al Shahrastani revealed that one of the important economic issues to be discussed during Al Maliki's special visit to Syria is rehabilitating and opening the oil pipeline across Iraqi-Syrian territories to transport oil to the Syrian port on the Mediterranean. It is apparent that the Syrians are very interested in this file.
Salim Al Hashimi, an Iraqi economic researcher, told Gulf News: "If the security and reconciliation files are very important for Al Maliki, Syrian government's major preoccupations are trade and oil transportation."
Mahmoud Othman, a leading figure in the Kurdish Alliance, who strongly stands by Al Maliki, told Gulf News: "Syria is a significant country that can play a role to sustain Iraq's security and stability. This can be achieved in two ways : The first is by controlling joint borders and halting infiltration networks and operations that are used by terrorist elements to sneak into Iraq. Secondly, many opposition figures of the new political process in Iraq are based in Damascus. Consequently Syrians support the Iraqi national reconciliation process."
The Iraqi-Syrian relations are facing sensitive issues like Iraqi security, frozen funds and immigrants. Dhahir Abdullah, professor of international relations at Al Nahrain University in Baghdad, told Gulf News: "The Syrian move of hosting the security committee meeting has relieved Iraqi officials and information indicated that the Syrian army has taken concrete measures to control borders with Iraq."
He said, "Some files like the frozen money and funds belong to former regime officials in Syrian banks, besides the presence of some Baathist leaders accused of financing terrorism in Syrian capital, remain provocative factors that could damage the Syrian-Iraqi relationship. I think Al Maliki will vigorously discuss these files with Syrian officials."
It is noteworthy that US's strongly-worded statements against Syria's involvement in supporting terrorism in Iraq have decreased significantly compared with last year. Recently the military officials shifted their security accusations against Iran. Babakir Zebari, the Iraqi Army Chief of Staff, told Gulf News: "There is a retreat of terrorists infiltration across Syrian borders by more than 60 per cent and this is an encouraging issue".
In addition, officials close to the Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain Al Shahrastani revealed that one of the important economic issues to be discussed during Al Maliki's special visit to Syria is rehabilitating and opening the oil pipeline across Iraqi-Syrian territories to transport oil to the Syrian port on the Mediterranean. It is apparent that the Syrians are very interested in this file.
Salim Al Hashimi, an Iraqi economic researcher, told Gulf News: "If the security and reconciliation files are very important for Al Maliki, Syrian government's major preoccupations are trade and oil transportation."
Labels: Nouri Al-Maliki, Syria
Monday, August 20, 2007
Clampdown on sectarain gunmen in guardforce
Security
(The Times) - Nearly 500 guards were removed from their posts at the Ministry of Culture in Iraq yesterday as the Government tried to curb the influence of sectarian gunmen. The men will be moved out of the frontline as they await a place at a police college to be retrained. They were replaced with 80 policemen. The move is the lastest effort of Nouri al-Maliki, the Prime Minister, to clean up the unregulated ranks of civilian gunmen who guard the country’s ministries and whose loyalties are to a mishmash of different parties rather than the state.
“This is the best long-term plan for the future,” said Lieutenant-General Aboud Qanbar, the top Iraqi commander in Baghdad who is in charge of implementing the new policy. Armed with a gun and a glare, many of the guards hired to protect Government buildings, hospitals and mosques play a part in the sectarian divisions that fuel the violence in Iraq, with members of Shia and Sunni militias infiltrating their ranks. Another big problem is a lack of training and exper-tise because no central authority has been vetting the 170,000 gunmen, who have guarded official structures since the March 2003 invasion.
Last week scores of gunmen in commando uniform kidnapped six senior officials from an Oil Ministry compound in Baghdad, almost three months after five Britons were seized in an equally bold raid on a Finance Ministry building in the city. In both cases the Iraqi security guards on duty were unwilling or unable to put up a fight, raising questions about their legitimacy and effectiveness.
The Ministry of Health, a Shia Sadrist ministry accused of allowing members of the al-Mahdi Army militia on to its payroll, was the first to be targeted in June. It was followed by the Ministry of Culture, which until recently had been under the control of a Sunni minister and was suspected of allowing Sunni insurgent groups to infiltrate its security guards. “We want to be sure of balance, so nobody feels that we are acting towards a certain [group],” said General Qanbar, a military man with a reputation for getting things done.
Cleaning up the Culture Ministry is just a small step in the right direction. Initially charged with sorting out security at a handful of ministry headquarters, General Qanbar ultimately hopes to tackle the wider problem of corruption among guards at facilities such as railway lines, oil installations and colleges from Basra in the south to Mosul in the north.
“This is a very bad, corrupted situation. I think the Iraqi Government has to make a strong decision,” he said, adding that such personnel were unqualified civilians who should be retrained as policemen or shifted into other jobs. A draft law for the protection of Iraq’s infrastructure is passing through Parliament. Once on the statute book it would make all security guards answerable to the Ministry of the Interior. “With that law we will be able to get rid of all these problems,” General Qanbar said. He has already made headway at a large medical compound in Baghdad, which houses the Health Ministry, five hospitals and Baghdad University’s Dental College.
“This is the best long-term plan for the future,” said Lieutenant-General Aboud Qanbar, the top Iraqi commander in Baghdad who is in charge of implementing the new policy. Armed with a gun and a glare, many of the guards hired to protect Government buildings, hospitals and mosques play a part in the sectarian divisions that fuel the violence in Iraq, with members of Shia and Sunni militias infiltrating their ranks. Another big problem is a lack of training and exper-tise because no central authority has been vetting the 170,000 gunmen, who have guarded official structures since the March 2003 invasion.
Last week scores of gunmen in commando uniform kidnapped six senior officials from an Oil Ministry compound in Baghdad, almost three months after five Britons were seized in an equally bold raid on a Finance Ministry building in the city. In both cases the Iraqi security guards on duty were unwilling or unable to put up a fight, raising questions about their legitimacy and effectiveness.
The Ministry of Health, a Shia Sadrist ministry accused of allowing members of the al-Mahdi Army militia on to its payroll, was the first to be targeted in June. It was followed by the Ministry of Culture, which until recently had been under the control of a Sunni minister and was suspected of allowing Sunni insurgent groups to infiltrate its security guards. “We want to be sure of balance, so nobody feels that we are acting towards a certain [group],” said General Qanbar, a military man with a reputation for getting things done.
Cleaning up the Culture Ministry is just a small step in the right direction. Initially charged with sorting out security at a handful of ministry headquarters, General Qanbar ultimately hopes to tackle the wider problem of corruption among guards at facilities such as railway lines, oil installations and colleges from Basra in the south to Mosul in the north.
“This is a very bad, corrupted situation. I think the Iraqi Government has to make a strong decision,” he said, adding that such personnel were unqualified civilians who should be retrained as policemen or shifted into other jobs. A draft law for the protection of Iraq’s infrastructure is passing through Parliament. Once on the statute book it would make all security guards answerable to the Ministry of the Interior. “With that law we will be able to get rid of all these problems,” General Qanbar said. He has already made headway at a large medical compound in Baghdad, which houses the Health Ministry, five hospitals and Baghdad University’s Dental College.
Labels: Lieutenant-General Aboud Qanbar, Ministry of Culture, Nouri Al-Maliki
Al Khudhiri Is Diwaniya’s New Governor
Politics
(Al Adala Newspaper) - 18 AUG - Yesterday morning, Sheikh Hamid Al Khudhiri won the position of Diwaniya Governor (was selected to replace the recently assassinated governor). There were three others nominated for this Governorship; those three were: Haider Naji Abu Isbah, Shakr Nihma Abid Awn, and Ali Fakhri. However, these three nominees did not receive any votes. Sheikh Hamid Al Khudhiri had previously held the position of Deputy Chief of Diwaniya’s Governorate Council.
On Thursday evening, Dhiyaa Abd Al Karim Shubbr - Diwaniya’s Deputy Governor, told Iraq Voices News Agency, “It has been decided that curfew will be in effect from 7 PM Thursday until further notice; this curfew is due to the election that will be held on Friday… in order to select a new Governor.” Diwaniya’s Governorate Council had opened the nomination process after last week’s assassination of: Governor Khalil Jalil Hamza and (Diwaniya’s) Police Chief (Major General) Khalid Hussein. The two men were killed by an IED explosion while their convoy was returning from a funeral.
Labels: Diwaniyah, Khalil Jalil Hamza, Sheikh Hamid Al Khudhiri
Al-Sadr pledges to work with the U.N.
Politics
(AFP) - Radical Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has pledged to commit his forces and followers to help the United Nations were it to replace American and British troops in Iraq, in an interview published on Monday. Speaking to The Independent newspaper from his movement's headquarters in Kufa, south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, Sadr said that he would "support the UN if it comes and replaces the American and British occupiers."
"If the UN comes here to truly help the Iraqi people, they will receive our help in their work. I would ask my followers to support the UN as long as it is here to help us rebuild our country. "They must not just be another face of the American occupation." Sadr, who enjoys popular grassroot support among Iraqi Shiites, is a powerful political player in Iraq's embattled government led by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
His anti-American views have frequently seen his Mahdi Army militia clashing with US soldiers since the US-led March 2003 invasion to topple Saddam Hussein. Sadr told the daily that the British army's downscaling in Iraq was a sign that it had given up and was defeated, saying: "They are retreating because of the resistance they have faced. Without that, they would have stayed for much longer, there is no doubt."
He also warned that Britain's involvement in Iraq had endangered its citizens at home: "The British put their soldiers in a dangerous position by sending them here but they also put the people in their own country in danger. They have made enemies among all Muslims and they now face attacks at home because of their war. That was their mistake." Britain has about 5,500 troops in Iraq, most of whom are based in the southern city of Basra. Sadr said that Basra would become a safer place after the British military left.
On domestic Iraqi politics, Sadr said that Maliki's days as Iraqi leader were coming to a close: "Al-Maliki's government will not survive because he has proven that he will not work with important elements of the Iraqi people ... The prime minister is a tool for the Americans and people see that clearly. It will probably be the Americans who decide to change him when they realise he has failed. We don't have a democracy here, we have a foreign occupation." Sadr also denied American claims that he was being armed by Iran.
"If the UN comes here to truly help the Iraqi people, they will receive our help in their work. I would ask my followers to support the UN as long as it is here to help us rebuild our country. "They must not just be another face of the American occupation." Sadr, who enjoys popular grassroot support among Iraqi Shiites, is a powerful political player in Iraq's embattled government led by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
His anti-American views have frequently seen his Mahdi Army militia clashing with US soldiers since the US-led March 2003 invasion to topple Saddam Hussein. Sadr told the daily that the British army's downscaling in Iraq was a sign that it had given up and was defeated, saying: "They are retreating because of the resistance they have faced. Without that, they would have stayed for much longer, there is no doubt."
He also warned that Britain's involvement in Iraq had endangered its citizens at home: "The British put their soldiers in a dangerous position by sending them here but they also put the people in their own country in danger. They have made enemies among all Muslims and they now face attacks at home because of their war. That was their mistake." Britain has about 5,500 troops in Iraq, most of whom are based in the southern city of Basra. Sadr said that Basra would become a safer place after the British military left.
On domestic Iraqi politics, Sadr said that Maliki's days as Iraqi leader were coming to a close: "Al-Maliki's government will not survive because he has proven that he will not work with important elements of the Iraqi people ... The prime minister is a tool for the Americans and people see that clearly. It will probably be the Americans who decide to change him when they realise he has failed. We don't have a democracy here, we have a foreign occupation." Sadr also denied American claims that he was being armed by Iran.
Labels: Kufa, Moqtada Al-Sadr, Nouri Al-Maliki, U.N.
Muthanna governor assassinated
Security
(AP) - A roadside bomb killed the governor of the southern Muthanna province on Monday, police said, the second assassination of a top provincial official in just over a week. The blast struck the convoy carrying Mohammed Ali al-Hassani at about 9 a.m., killing him and seriously wounding his office manager and two guards, a police officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.
On Aug. 11, the governor and police chief of another southern province, Qadasiyah, also were killed in a roadside bombing attack. Both governors were members of the influential Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, a group led by Shiite politician Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim whose loyalists have been fighting the Mahdi Army militia for control of the oil-rich south. Muthanna was the first province that was transferred to Iraqi control last year.
On Aug. 11, the governor and police chief of another southern province, Qadasiyah, also were killed in a roadside bombing attack. Both governors were members of the influential Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, a group led by Shiite politician Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim whose loyalists have been fighting the Mahdi Army militia for control of the oil-rich south. Muthanna was the first province that was transferred to Iraqi control last year.
COMMENT: The SICI and the Badr Organisation are mainly blaming the Mahdi Army for the assassinations of their officials. The Shia parties are locked in a power struggle for domination of the south and as a result this latest assassination could lead to violent clashes between the two rival factions. COMMENT ENDS.
Labels: assassination, Mohammed Ali al-Hassani, Muthanna, SICI, Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council
U.S. Army clashes with Mahdi Army in Kut
Security
(Voices of Iraq) - Kut local council goes on open-ended strike in protest against a raid by an Iraqi security force working with U.S. forces, the council chief said. Hamid Khuzaim an Iraqi security force "acting upon orders from the U.S. forces unjustifiably raided the municipal council building and the Kut mayorship on Thursday." "There was no search warrant issued by a government body, which makes us protest such an act and demand a probe into this raid that provoked members of the council and caused panic," said Khuzaim.
Clashes broke out between fighters of Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militias and U.S. forces in Kut during the early hours of Saturday, eyewitnesses from the city said. "A U.S. force backed by warplanes tried to enter the neighborhood of al-Jihad but was resisted by Mahdi Army militiamen's light arms fire and forced the attacking troops back," an eyewitness told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
The witness could not specify whether there were casualties on either side and security sources could not be reached for information. Jihad neighborhood, located in the suburb of southwestern Kut near the U.S. Delta base, is constantly raided by U.S. forces that conduct random detention of residents who mostly belong to the Sadrist current, or Iraqis loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr.
In July 2007 the neighborhood was pounded by fighter planes and helicopters, resulting in the destruction of a number of houses and killing and wounding of scores of residents. Kut, capital of Wassit, is 180 km southeast of Baghdad.
On Friday the U.S. army said in a statement that a joint Iraqi-U.S. force arrested a leading member of Mahdi Army on Tuesday. "Soldiers from the 8th Iraqi Army, with U.S. Special Forces as advisers, conducted a raid in eastern Najaf Aug. 14 and detained a former battalion commander of the rogue Jaysh al-Mahdi (Mahdi Army) militia who is currently suspected of leading an independent Shi’a extremist group," read the U.S. army statement received by VOI. The statement added that the cell is "also believed to have taken part in the August 2006 battle in Diwaniyah, fighting against Coalition Forces."
No Iraqi or Coalition members were harmed during the operation, according to the statement which did not name the arrested Mahdi Army member. The U.S. army has been launching a campaign targeting Mahdi members and leaders allegedly involved in acts of violence in several areas in Iraq.
The witness could not specify whether there were casualties on either side and security sources could not be reached for information. Jihad neighborhood, located in the suburb of southwestern Kut near the U.S. Delta base, is constantly raided by U.S. forces that conduct random detention of residents who mostly belong to the Sadrist current, or Iraqis loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr.
In July 2007 the neighborhood was pounded by fighter planes and helicopters, resulting in the destruction of a number of houses and killing and wounding of scores of residents. Kut, capital of Wassit, is 180 km southeast of Baghdad.
On Friday the U.S. army said in a statement that a joint Iraqi-U.S. force arrested a leading member of Mahdi Army on Tuesday. "Soldiers from the 8th Iraqi Army, with U.S. Special Forces as advisers, conducted a raid in eastern Najaf Aug. 14 and detained a former battalion commander of the rogue Jaysh al-Mahdi (Mahdi Army) militia who is currently suspected of leading an independent Shi’a extremist group," read the U.S. army statement received by VOI. The statement added that the cell is "also believed to have taken part in the August 2006 battle in Diwaniyah, fighting against Coalition Forces."
No Iraqi or Coalition members were harmed during the operation, according to the statement which did not name the arrested Mahdi Army member. The U.S. army has been launching a campaign targeting Mahdi members and leaders allegedly involved in acts of violence in several areas in Iraq.
Labels: al-Jihad, clashes, Diwaniyah, Kut, Mahdi Army, U.S. forces
Orascom considers sale of or joint venture for Iraqna
Telecommunications
(Reuters) - Egypt's Orascom Telecom said on Sunday it may sell its Iraqi subsidiary after it dropped out of a race for a long-term mobile licence in the war-torn country. Orascom also said it would not submit another bid to acquire Egyptian communications and technology firm Raya after the firm rejected Orascom's first offer.
Orascom, which had operated the subsidiary, called Iraqna, under a short-term licence after the invasion in 2003, said the $1.25 billion price and 18 percent revenue sharing for a longer-term licence in Iraq were too high. Iraq sold three 15-year mobile licences for $3.75 billion to Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Co., Asiacell, and Korek last week.
"(Orascom) is currently evaluating alternatives to monetize the assets of Iraqna including sale or joint venture," the firm said in a statement. Company officials declined to give more details. Iraqna, the first company to provide a full mobile phone service in Baghdad after the 2003 invasion, had around 3 million subscribers, it said on its Web site.
Orascom had invested almost $300 million in Iraqna, which accounted for about 11 percent of its revenues, said Walaa Hazem, telecom analyst at HC Securities in Cairo. Potential buyers could be Asiacell or Korek, who are likely to prefer buying an existing operator rather than set up new infrastructure, Hazem said. Asiacell began operating in the Kurdish north of Iraq in 1999. Korek Telecom is based in the city of Irbil in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Iraqi mobile use rose to 8 million out of a population of 26 million at the end of 2006, from virtually nothing three years earlier, according to officials. Orascom also said it would not raise its bid for Raya, an information technology provider, from 12 Egyptian pounds ($2.12) per share. An independent valuer found the offer undervalues Raya, Egypt's Capital Market Authority said last week. Raya Chairman Medhat Khalil told Reuters on Sunday that OT withdrawal was expected. "It was obvious they were not serious giving the offer at this low price," he said.
Orascom, which had operated the subsidiary, called Iraqna, under a short-term licence after the invasion in 2003, said the $1.25 billion price and 18 percent revenue sharing for a longer-term licence in Iraq were too high. Iraq sold three 15-year mobile licences for $3.75 billion to Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Co., Asiacell, and Korek last week.
"(Orascom) is currently evaluating alternatives to monetize the assets of Iraqna including sale or joint venture," the firm said in a statement. Company officials declined to give more details. Iraqna, the first company to provide a full mobile phone service in Baghdad after the 2003 invasion, had around 3 million subscribers, it said on its Web site.
Orascom had invested almost $300 million in Iraqna, which accounted for about 11 percent of its revenues, said Walaa Hazem, telecom analyst at HC Securities in Cairo. Potential buyers could be Asiacell or Korek, who are likely to prefer buying an existing operator rather than set up new infrastructure, Hazem said. Asiacell began operating in the Kurdish north of Iraq in 1999. Korek Telecom is based in the city of Irbil in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Iraqi mobile use rose to 8 million out of a population of 26 million at the end of 2006, from virtually nothing three years earlier, according to officials. Orascom also said it would not raise its bid for Raya, an information technology provider, from 12 Egyptian pounds ($2.12) per share. An independent valuer found the offer undervalues Raya, Egypt's Capital Market Authority said last week. Raya Chairman Medhat Khalil told Reuters on Sunday that OT withdrawal was expected. "It was obvious they were not serious giving the offer at this low price," he said.
Labels: Asiacell, Iraqna, Korek, Orascom, Raya
Najaf tribes announce new front to fight Al Qaeda
Security, Tribal
(Azzaman) - Members of al-Ghazalat tribe inhabiting areas south of Baghdad and close to the religious city of Najaf have vowed to battle al-Qaeda fighters in their areas. The promise came after the kidnapping of four shepherds from the same tribe of whom no trace has been found for weeks. Al Qaeda is active south of Baghdad and routinely attacks highways and convoys and abduction is one of its strategic tactics to punish opponents and collect money through ransom to finance its operations.
The Al Ghazalat have raised a force of 300 armed men but other tribes are said to have promised more men and have asked the government for supplies and weapons. Sheikh Jawad al-Ghazali, the tribe’s chief, joined by other tribal elders, attended a rally in Najaf announcing the formation of “a new tribal front to fight Qaeda in southern Iraq.”
Reports say more tribes have come together in central Iraq to drive Qaeda from their areas. U.S. troops furnish these tribes with weapons. But Qaeda’s influence and popularity, particularly among Sunni Iraqis, is reported to be growing and the group has recently intensified its attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces, mounting more deadly car bombings than ever before.
The apparently intrepid Qaeda in Iraq has even dared to assassinate powerful Sunni tribal leaders for coordinating with the U.S. against it – the thing which even former leader Saddam Hussein would have thought twice before doing. And as pressure on the group mounts in Baghdad and adjacent areas, Qaeda has begun regrouping in northern Iraq, using Mosul as one of its main garrisons.
The Al Ghazalat have raised a force of 300 armed men but other tribes are said to have promised more men and have asked the government for supplies and weapons. Sheikh Jawad al-Ghazali, the tribe’s chief, joined by other tribal elders, attended a rally in Najaf announcing the formation of “a new tribal front to fight Qaeda in southern Iraq.”
Reports say more tribes have come together in central Iraq to drive Qaeda from their areas. U.S. troops furnish these tribes with weapons. But Qaeda’s influence and popularity, particularly among Sunni Iraqis, is reported to be growing and the group has recently intensified its attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces, mounting more deadly car bombings than ever before.
The apparently intrepid Qaeda in Iraq has even dared to assassinate powerful Sunni tribal leaders for coordinating with the U.S. against it – the thing which even former leader Saddam Hussein would have thought twice before doing. And as pressure on the group mounts in Baghdad and adjacent areas, Qaeda has begun regrouping in northern Iraq, using Mosul as one of its main garrisons.
Labels: Al Qaeda, Al-Ghazalat tribe, Najaf, Sheikh Jawad al-Ghazali
Mosul curfew extended
Security
(Azzaman) - Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul, has been placed under a tight curfew covering most of the day and the whole night. The decision to slap the curfew was taken by Governor Duraid Kashmoullah following the devastating car bombings on Wednesday in which 400 people were killed and 600 wounded. The villages targeted were inhabited by Yazidis, a little know sect to the world whose members in the eyes of Qaeda organization are infidels who must either convert to Islam or die.
The devastated villages though under Kurdish militia control are still within the provincial borders of Nineveh of which Mosul is the capital. The bombings have sent yet another signal that Mosul is turning into a major Qaeda garrison. Many parts of the city itself are no-go areas for both Iraqi and U.S. troops and Qaeda militants impose their way of life relying on a strict interpretation of Islam on most of the province.
Kashmoullah in announcing the extension of the curfew to 6 a.m. from 3 p.m. said his decision was driven by “the necessity to take new security measures.” He did reveal the measures but acknowledge that operations by insurgents have increased recently and he was keen to have them contained.
The devastated villages though under Kurdish militia control are still within the provincial borders of Nineveh of which Mosul is the capital. The bombings have sent yet another signal that Mosul is turning into a major Qaeda garrison. Many parts of the city itself are no-go areas for both Iraqi and U.S. troops and Qaeda militants impose their way of life relying on a strict interpretation of Islam on most of the province.
Kashmoullah in announcing the extension of the curfew to 6 a.m. from 3 p.m. said his decision was driven by “the necessity to take new security measures.” He did reveal the measures but acknowledge that operations by insurgents have increased recently and he was keen to have them contained.
Labels: Al Qaeda, curfew, Governor Duraid Kashmoullah, Mosul, Yezidis
Food prices soar as rationing program crumbles
Economy
(Azzaman) - The rationing system under which Iraqis get free basic foodstuffs is no longer functioning well and as a result food prices have skyrocketed recently. The system was introduced by former leader Saddam Hussein to offset the impact of sweeping U.N. trade sanctions imposed for his 1991 invasion of Kuwait. In the years until his downfall in 2003, the system worked properly and is accredited of saving millions of Iraqis from starvation.
But since the arrival of U.S. invaders, the rationing program, as is the case with almost everything in Iraq, crumbled. The quality of food deteriorated and often Iraqis have had to go without certain items. Under the system, each Iraqi is entitled to a certain amount of basic foods like rice, sugar, cooking oil, legumes, tea and flour.
But in the past two months many areas received almost nothing and others only got a portion of allocations. And as a result food prices have soared due to increasing demand of food stuffs on the spot market. Not every Iraqi currently receives the rations. More than two million Iraqis have fled the country to neighboring and the government is practically doing nothing to help them.
Baby formula which is part of the rations is now dearer than ever. A one-kilogram tin has shot to 11,000 dinars ($9 - 1 USD = 1,235.40 IQD) from about 2500. Vietnamese rice surged to 1,000 dinars from 500 and a kilogram of vegetable ghee to 2000 dinars from 750. The local press has lashed out at Iraqi traders blaming them for the price hikes but traders say the government is to blame for failing to honor basic commitments.
“Markets move up in case of scarcity and when the government delays rations or reduces their quantity demand rises and prices follow suit,” one trader, refusing to be named, said. Hassoun Allawi relies almost exclusively on rations to feed his family. But in the past two months, he had not received his share of rice, cooking oil and milk. “Food is more challenging to us than security. And I hope the authorities realize that,” he said.
But since the arrival of U.S. invaders, the rationing program, as is the case with almost everything in Iraq, crumbled. The quality of food deteriorated and often Iraqis have had to go without certain items. Under the system, each Iraqi is entitled to a certain amount of basic foods like rice, sugar, cooking oil, legumes, tea and flour.
But in the past two months many areas received almost nothing and others only got a portion of allocations. And as a result food prices have soared due to increasing demand of food stuffs on the spot market. Not every Iraqi currently receives the rations. More than two million Iraqis have fled the country to neighboring and the government is practically doing nothing to help them.
Baby formula which is part of the rations is now dearer than ever. A one-kilogram tin has shot to 11,000 dinars ($9 - 1 USD = 1,235.40 IQD) from about 2500. Vietnamese rice surged to 1,000 dinars from 500 and a kilogram of vegetable ghee to 2000 dinars from 750. The local press has lashed out at Iraqi traders blaming them for the price hikes but traders say the government is to blame for failing to honor basic commitments.
“Markets move up in case of scarcity and when the government delays rations or reduces their quantity demand rises and prices follow suit,” one trader, refusing to be named, said. Hassoun Allawi relies almost exclusively on rations to feed his family. But in the past two months, he had not received his share of rice, cooking oil and milk. “Food is more challenging to us than security. And I hope the authorities realize that,” he said.
Labels: food prices, ration cards
Kurdish-Shia political alliance meet with Sunni leader
Politics
(CNN) -- The leaders of a new Shiite and Kurdish political alliance met with a top Sunni Arab leader Saturday, raising hope for a breakthrough to curb factional violence in Iraq. Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni and one of Iraq's two vice presidents, met with the other leaders ahead of a political summit that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has been planning.
The meeting started in the late afternoon and lasted for a few hours, and it may resume on Sunday, al-Maliki's office said. Al-Hashimi's office said they agreed on the summit's agenda and who will attend, as well as some similar issues. Al-Maliki's fractious government has been beset by walkouts and the parliament has been unable to agree on major legislation.
Lawmakers were alarmed when six members of the Iraq Accord Front, the Sunni bloc, walked out several weeks ago. Backroom negotiations have been going on ever since. The Bush administration is concerned about the central government's political problems. "Unfortunately, political progress at the national level has not matched the pace of progress at the local level," President Bush said in his weekly radio address.
Al-Maliki signed a political agreement Thursday with three other leaders -- President Jalal Talabani of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Kurdish regional government leader Massoud Barzani of the Kurdish Democratic Party, and Shiite Vice President Adel Abdul Mehdi of the Supreme Islamic Council of Iraq. The purpose was to create an alliance of moderates, particularly ahead of next month's report to the U.S. Congress on the state of affairs in Iraq. Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker will deliver the report.
Al-Hashimi did not show up at Thursday's meeting. His party, the Iraqi Islamic Party, is the largest in the government coalition and his presence in the new alliance is regarded as a major step in forging a national consensus. But on Saturday, Al-Hashimi and the four leaders who signed the agreement on Thursday discussed the political crisis and ways to resolve their differences.
Al-Maliki will travel to Syria on Monday for a three-day official visit to the Arab neighbor, his first. His delegation will include the ministers of trade and oil. Earlier this month, he visited Iran. Both Iran and Syria have been criticized by the Bush administration. The U.S. administration says that Iranian Revolutionary Guard agents are supporting Iraqi insurgents -- a claim Iran denies -- and accuses Syria of not doing enough to stop militants from crossing the Syrian border into Iraq to stage attacks. Nevertheless, Iraq has signed agreements with Iran on building oil pipelines and maintaining border security and has sought to establish ties with Syria.
The meeting started in the late afternoon and lasted for a few hours, and it may resume on Sunday, al-Maliki's office said. Al-Hashimi's office said they agreed on the summit's agenda and who will attend, as well as some similar issues. Al-Maliki's fractious government has been beset by walkouts and the parliament has been unable to agree on major legislation.
Lawmakers were alarmed when six members of the Iraq Accord Front, the Sunni bloc, walked out several weeks ago. Backroom negotiations have been going on ever since. The Bush administration is concerned about the central government's political problems. "Unfortunately, political progress at the national level has not matched the pace of progress at the local level," President Bush said in his weekly radio address.
Al-Maliki signed a political agreement Thursday with three other leaders -- President Jalal Talabani of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Kurdish regional government leader Massoud Barzani of the Kurdish Democratic Party, and Shiite Vice President Adel Abdul Mehdi of the Supreme Islamic Council of Iraq. The purpose was to create an alliance of moderates, particularly ahead of next month's report to the U.S. Congress on the state of affairs in Iraq. Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker will deliver the report.
Al-Hashimi did not show up at Thursday's meeting. His party, the Iraqi Islamic Party, is the largest in the government coalition and his presence in the new alliance is regarded as a major step in forging a national consensus. But on Saturday, Al-Hashimi and the four leaders who signed the agreement on Thursday discussed the political crisis and ways to resolve their differences.
Al-Maliki will travel to Syria on Monday for a three-day official visit to the Arab neighbor, his first. His delegation will include the ministers of trade and oil. Earlier this month, he visited Iran. Both Iran and Syria have been criticized by the Bush administration. The U.S. administration says that Iranian Revolutionary Guard agents are supporting Iraqi insurgents -- a claim Iran denies -- and accuses Syria of not doing enough to stop militants from crossing the Syrian border into Iraq to stage attacks. Nevertheless, Iraq has signed agreements with Iran on building oil pipelines and maintaining border security and has sought to establish ties with Syria.
Labels: Iraqi Accordance Front, Iraqi Islamic Party, Nouri Al-Maliki, Syria, Tariq al-Hashimi
Warrant issued for Saddam's daughter's arrest
Crime
(CNN) - The Iraqi government has issued an arrest warrant for Raghad Hussein, 38, the daughter of executed dictator Saddam Hussein. She is charged with inciting terrorism and crimes against life and health. The international police organization Interpol has issued an alert to authorities across the world seeking help in tracking her down and extraditing her to Iraq. She had been living in Jordan.
Labels: arrest warrant, Raghad Hussein
Kurdish officials concerned as fierce clashes escalate between Kurdish guerrillas and Iranian forces
Security
(The Guardian) - Iraqi Kurdish officials expressed deepening concern yesterday at an upsurge in fierce clashes between Kurdish guerrillas and Iranian forces in the remote border area of north-east Iraq, where Tehran has recently deployed thousands of Revolutionary Guards.
Jabar Yawar, a deputy minister in the Kurdistan regional government, said four days of intermittent shelling by Iranian forces had hit mountain villages high up on the Iraqi side of the border, wounding two women, destroying livestock and property, and displacing about 1,000 people from their homes. Mr Yawer said there had also been intense fighting on the Iraqi border between Iranian forces and guerrillas of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), an armed Iranian Kurdish group that is stepping up its campaign for Kurdish rights against the theocratic regime in Tehran.
On Saturday the Iranian news agency Mehr said an Iranian army helicopter which crashed killing six Republican Guard members had been engaged in a military operation against PJAK. Iranian officials said the helicopter had crashed into the side of a mountain during bad weather in northern Iraq. PJAK sources said the helicopter had been destroyed after it attempted to land in a clearing mined by guerrillas. The PJAK sources claimed its guerrillas had also killed at least five other Iranian soldiers, and a local pro-regime chief, Hussein Bapir.
"If this escalates it could pose a real threat to the Kurdistan region, which is Iraq's most stable area," said Mr Yawar, who said he expected the Iraqi government and US officials in Iraq to make a formal protest to Tehran about the "blatant violation of Iraqi sovereignty".
Analysts believe PJAK is the fastest growing armed resistance group in Iran. As well as the 3,000 or so members under arms in the mountains, it also claims tens of thousands of followers in secret cells in Iranian Kurdistan. Its campaigning on women's rights has struck a chord with young Iranian Kurdish women. The group says 45% of its fighters are female. Iranian authorities regard the group as a terrorist outfit being sponsored and armed by the US to increase pressure on Iran.
On a recent visit to PJAK camps in the Qandil mountains the Guardian saw no evidence of American weaponry. The majority of its fighters toted Soviet-era Kalashnikovs. In an interview Biryar Gabar, a member of the leadership committee, said the group had no relations with the Americans, but was "open to any group that shares our ideals of a free federal democratic and secular Iran."
Jabar Yawar, a deputy minister in the Kurdistan regional government, said four days of intermittent shelling by Iranian forces had hit mountain villages high up on the Iraqi side of the border, wounding two women, destroying livestock and property, and displacing about 1,000 people from their homes. Mr Yawer said there had also been intense fighting on the Iraqi border between Iranian forces and guerrillas of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), an armed Iranian Kurdish group that is stepping up its campaign for Kurdish rights against the theocratic regime in Tehran.
On Saturday the Iranian news agency Mehr said an Iranian army helicopter which crashed killing six Republican Guard members had been engaged in a military operation against PJAK. Iranian officials said the helicopter had crashed into the side of a mountain during bad weather in northern Iraq. PJAK sources said the helicopter had been destroyed after it attempted to land in a clearing mined by guerrillas. The PJAK sources claimed its guerrillas had also killed at least five other Iranian soldiers, and a local pro-regime chief, Hussein Bapir.
"If this escalates it could pose a real threat to the Kurdistan region, which is Iraq's most stable area," said Mr Yawar, who said he expected the Iraqi government and US officials in Iraq to make a formal protest to Tehran about the "blatant violation of Iraqi sovereignty".
Analysts believe PJAK is the fastest growing armed resistance group in Iran. As well as the 3,000 or so members under arms in the mountains, it also claims tens of thousands of followers in secret cells in Iranian Kurdistan. Its campaigning on women's rights has struck a chord with young Iranian Kurdish women. The group says 45% of its fighters are female. Iranian authorities regard the group as a terrorist outfit being sponsored and armed by the US to increase pressure on Iran.
On a recent visit to PJAK camps in the Qandil mountains the Guardian saw no evidence of American weaponry. The majority of its fighters toted Soviet-era Kalashnikovs. In an interview Biryar Gabar, a member of the leadership committee, said the group had no relations with the Americans, but was "open to any group that shares our ideals of a free federal democratic and secular Iran."
Labels: Biryar Gabar, IDPs, Iran, Jabar Yawar, KRG, Kurdistan, Kurdistan Free Life Party, PJAK, Qandil mountains, Revolutionary Guards
British officers urging U.K. PM to withdraw forces from Basra
Security
(Telegraph) - British forces will face an "embarrassing and ugly retreat" if they pull out of Iraq too quickly, an adviser to the American president was reported as saying. But it was also reported that senior British officers are urging the Prime Minister to pull out the 5,500 troops without delay because there was "nothing more" they could achieve in Basra.
Stephen Biddle, an American academic and military adviser to President George W Bush, said when British troops pull out from their last barracks in Basra in the coming months it will be "a hard withdrawal". Rogue Shia militias, backed by Iran, were using multiple ambushes and bombings to create the impression that they were forcing Britain out of Basra.
"They want the image of a British defeat - it will be ugly and embarrassing," Mr Biddle, a senior fellow at the Council for Foreign Relations, told the Sunday Times. While Gordon Brown is thought to have wanted a rapid withdrawal he will now wait until at least after the American commander in Iraq, Gen David Petraeus, has reported to Congress on the success of the US "surge" on Sept 15.
At the Camp David meeting with President Bush, Gordon Brown said "we have duties to discharge and responsibilities to keep". But Army generals have advised the Prime Minister that "we have done what we can" in Basra and it was time to hand over control to the Iraqis, the Independent on Sunday reported. While commanders estimate that an orderly British withdrawal could cost between 10 and 15 dead, it was necessary for the Army's capability to remain "reasonably intact".
However, there are deep concerns among American commanders that a hasty British retreat would leave southern Iraq open to domination from Iranian-backed Shia militias who would also control its vast oil wealth. The CIA is also keen to keep a foothold in Basra where they can monitor the insurgents and Iran. Mr Brown said he would make a full statement on the Iraq situation when Parliament sits again in October. In the coming weeks the British mission will drop by 500 troops to 5,500 but could fall significantly next year.
Stephen Biddle, an American academic and military adviser to President George W Bush, said when British troops pull out from their last barracks in Basra in the coming months it will be "a hard withdrawal". Rogue Shia militias, backed by Iran, were using multiple ambushes and bombings to create the impression that they were forcing Britain out of Basra.
"They want the image of a British defeat - it will be ugly and embarrassing," Mr Biddle, a senior fellow at the Council for Foreign Relations, told the Sunday Times. While Gordon Brown is thought to have wanted a rapid withdrawal he will now wait until at least after the American commander in Iraq, Gen David Petraeus, has reported to Congress on the success of the US "surge" on Sept 15.
At the Camp David meeting with President Bush, Gordon Brown said "we have duties to discharge and responsibilities to keep". But Army generals have advised the Prime Minister that "we have done what we can" in Basra and it was time to hand over control to the Iraqis, the Independent on Sunday reported. While commanders estimate that an orderly British withdrawal could cost between 10 and 15 dead, it was necessary for the Army's capability to remain "reasonably intact".
However, there are deep concerns among American commanders that a hasty British retreat would leave southern Iraq open to domination from Iranian-backed Shia militias who would also control its vast oil wealth. The CIA is also keen to keep a foothold in Basra where they can monitor the insurgents and Iran. Mr Brown said he would make a full statement on the Iraq situation when Parliament sits again in October. In the coming weeks the British mission will drop by 500 troops to 5,500 but could fall significantly next year.
Labels: Basra, British troop withdrawal, Shiite militants, southern Iraq, Stephen Biddle
Revolutionary Guards believed to be training Shiite militias in s. Iraq
Security
(Gulf News) - About 50 members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards are believed to be training Shiite militias in the use of mortars and rockets in southern Iraq, the general commanding US troops in the area said on Sunday. "We are concerned primarily about the training of Shiite extremists. We think there are about 50 members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards," Major-General Rick Lynch, commander of US forces south of Baghdad, told reporters.
Lynch said there had been an increase in "indirect fire attacks" on US forces in his area of command and that rocket attacks were becoming "more accurate and more effective". Washington has accused Shiite Muslim Iran of fomenting violence in Iraq through its support for Shiite militias, especially in southern Iraq.
The US military also accuses Iran of supplying deadly roadside bombs, the biggest killers of US troops in Iraq, to Iraqi militias and has displayed caches of weapons it says are from Iran. Iran denies the charges and blames the 2003 US-led invasion for the sectarian violence between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs that has killed tens of thousands.
The US military believes the Revolutionary Guards' Quds force is behind the shipping of weapons into Iraq, including armour-piercing "explosively formed penetrators". At a second round of landmark US-Iran talks on Iraqi security in July, US ambassador Ryan Crocker accused Iran of stepping up its support for militias in Iraq. Crocker also warned Tehran that its Quds operatives would not be safe in Iraq.
Lynch said there had been an increase in "indirect fire attacks" on US forces in his area of command and that rocket attacks were becoming "more accurate and more effective". Washington has accused Shiite Muslim Iran of fomenting violence in Iraq through its support for Shiite militias, especially in southern Iraq.
The US military also accuses Iran of supplying deadly roadside bombs, the biggest killers of US troops in Iraq, to Iraqi militias and has displayed caches of weapons it says are from Iran. Iran denies the charges and blames the 2003 US-led invasion for the sectarian violence between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs that has killed tens of thousands.
The US military believes the Revolutionary Guards' Quds force is behind the shipping of weapons into Iraq, including armour-piercing "explosively formed penetrators". At a second round of landmark US-Iran talks on Iraqi security in July, US ambassador Ryan Crocker accused Iran of stepping up its support for militias in Iraq. Crocker also warned Tehran that its Quds operatives would not be safe in Iraq.
COMMENT: The U.S. has been threatening to label the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Force (RGF) a specially designated global terrorist group. This is not only likely to enrage Iran but will also give the U.S. more scope to pursue members of the RGF for illicit activites. COMMENT ENDS.
Labels: Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, EFPs, indirect fire attacks, Quds Force, Revolutionary Guards, Ryan Crocker, Shiite militias, southern Iraq
