Iraq News Monitor

Concerns and doubts over collapse of Mosul dam

2007-11-11T10:11:00.000Z

(VOI) – The controversial issue of the Mosul Dam has come up to the surface again after reports warned of a possible imminent collapse threatening to flood about half a million Iraqis amidst arguments among government and political circles in this regard. Some believe that reports about this dam was sheer media hype that rests on no authentic geological data while others think the stakes were high about the dam collapse now that there were no accurate scientific measures adopted to provide maintenance services. The Washington Post's last week report said that the Iraqi government rejected the findings of a U.S. oversight panel that the dam, near the northern city of Mosul, was on the verge of a collapse that could cause flooding along the Tigris River "all the way to Baghdad. "The possible collapse, the U.S. paper said, could unleash four billion cubic meters of water at one shot, which might kill thousands and submerge two of Iraq's largest cities by nearly 20 meters.

Riad al-Mufti, the former director for planning and follow-up of the Mosul Dam, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) that he believed there was no clear danger as far as a collapse of the dam was concerned. "The body of the dam can never tumble down except if struck with an atomic bomb or a powerful tremor. The dam body and foundations have no problem," Mufti affirmed. He pointed out that the continuous cement stuffing being applied at present in the dam base was part of its designing since it was first built on January 25, 1981 until its completion in 1986. "There was a tunnel designed inside the dam especially for stuffing works," he said. However, Mufti added, there was a problem regarding stuffing works, which were neglected during the 1990s, due to lack of state assistance and inefficiency of technical staff then. An executive engineer working in Mosul Dam told VOI on condition of anonymity that there were special drills inside the dam used to reach the spaces and pump a special kind of cement inside them. Experts, however, said the geological nature of the terrain where the dam was built was unsuitable, being composed of salty rocks that melt under pressure. They believe that if the gaps formed in the rocks are not filled with a special kind of cement, there would be more threats posed to the dam. A geologist who had worked on the Mosul Dam project told VOI the amount of water that would flood from the dam if it collapsed is estimated by 660,000 cubic meters per second while the Tigris River water course can not stand discharging more than 3,500 cubic meters per second. "No one can predict when the dam might fall down. It could be today, tomorrow or in 30 years," he said. Built between 1980 and 1984 by a joint German-Italian corporation, the 113 meter high dam's life span was estimated to reach 80 years.

Replying to the Washington Post report on the dam, Dr. Ali al-Dabbagh, the official spokesman for the Iraqi government, said in a statement that his government has placed the dam under constant monitoring with all precautions and maintenance works provided. "Iraqi teams have been working round the clock to inject the dam base with concrete and fill in the gaps that resulted from the erosion of some rocks," Dabbagh said. Ninewa Governor Dreid Kashmoula said the filling works stopped for a "short while" after the U.S. invaded Iraq. "The danger in the Mosul dam has been present since day one of its construction, due to the non-solidness of the terrain on which the dam stands," Kashmoula said during a press conference in Mosul, 405 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

KRG to announce two more oil deals

2007-11-11T10:00:00.000Z

Oil, Kurdistan

(UPI) -- Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government will announce two more oil deals in coming days as it develops its oil sector with state-owned and private oil firms. There has been no response yet from Baghdad after the KRG’s announcement last Tuesday of another six production-sharing contracts it has signed. The KRG’s semiautonomous region in Iraq’s north has the geological makeup for major oil and natural gas deposits but has 0.5 percent of Iraq’s proven oil reserves.

Baghdad has called the KRG’s oil deals illegal, saying it needs to wait for a national oil law to be approved. That law is being held up for lack of agreement as to whether the federal government or regions and provinces have the authority to sign deals, among other reasons. KRG Natural Resources Minister Ashti Hawrami told United Press International in a telephone interview two additional oil deals, including at least one with “a Western company,” will be announced “in just a few days, maybe a week.” According to a KRG map of exploration blocks, it has 28 either open or pending contracts.

The KRG has signed deals with a number of smaller, more risk-taking firms, including Hunt Oil of Dallas. Larger firms fear blacklisting from Baghdad, which will likely have the say-so on the majority of Iraq’s oil deals. But Tuesday’s announcement of deals by the KRG shows the applicants for its deals are getting weightier. A subsidiary of MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas was part of two production-sharing contracts. India’s largest private oil company, Reliance Energy, and Central Europe powerhouse OMV, an Austrian firm, each signed two production-sharing contracts.

The KRG also awarded four “strategic blocks” to the Kurdistan Exploration and Production Co. and gave the discovered but not developed Khurmala oil field to the Kurdistan National Oil Co. Both KEPCO -- which will concentrate on exploration and production -- and KNOC -- an operator of discovered fields -- were newly formed under the KRG’s oil law but would send revenues to Baghdad to redistribute. Hawrami said the companies “answer to the Council of Ministers in Kurdistan and is monitored and regulated by the Ministry of Natural Resources in Kurdistan, and is recognized by the Parliament in Kurdistan.” KNOC will also build a 50,000 barrels per day refinery.

Iraq - Iran pipeline may be built

2007-11-11T09:54:00.000Z

Oil

(UPI) -- Iraq and Iran may be moving ahead on a cross-river oil pipeline, a move the Iraq ministry has talked about but was further down the road. Media reports are carrying the word of a source in Iraq’s South Oil Co. that the pipeline construction has started. The South Oil Co. is a state-owned entity producing and transporting oil from Basra and surrounding areas, where 80 percent of Iraq’s oil reserves are located.

The Kuwait News Agency reports the construction of the pipeline between ports in Basra and the Abaadan port in Iran, crossing the Shatt al-Arab river. The pipeline capacity would be 200,000 barrels per day, and provide another route for Iraq exports and allowing an increase in production, the Al Mashriq newspaper reports.

Iraq produces just over 2 million barrels per day right now, but with 115 billion barrels of proven reserves, it could handle much more. Iraq and Iran had apparently signed a deal on the pipeline, though details are not known. Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani has confirmed it as one of many options to increase production and exports of the oil.

Iraq, the Surge, Partition, and the War: Public Opinion by City and Region

2007-11-11T09:16:00.000Z

Center for Strategic & International Studies

The attached report was prepared with the aid of Gary Langer and the ABC polling unit. It provides a detailed analysis of a recent poll of Iraqi public opinion on the war, sectarian cleansing, the Iraqi government, US forces and the surge, and many of the other issues that show the state of Iraq hearts and minds. It also shows the differences in such public opinion by sect, ethnicity, governorate, and major city where the sample of public opinion was large enough to provide a valid picture that could be broken out into such detail.
The results should be reviewed in detail. Polls do not provide some simply punch line insights, they rather provide a mosaic of the various attitudes Iraqis have towards key issues. Unless they are reviewed in detail, picking out one trend or result can be more misleading than helpful. This is particularly true of the results in this analysis. Some are consistent with the results of previous polls over a period of several years. Some reflect the initial impact of changes in US strategy and the surge at a time when the degree of added security in Baghdad and the impact of the tribal awakening in Anbar was less apparent to most Iraqis than it is today.The reader should also remember that the results in this report do reflect “hearts and minds” on a broad level. Decision makers often act on their own, very different perceptions. Violence and extremism are also generally driven by the views and actions of small minorities. Broad popular support for violence is rare, but this can have limited impact in a nation where minorities are willing to kill and use extreme violence with or without popular support.
That said, the results do provide important insights in several areas. They make it clear that Iraqis do not support breaking up the country, or separation and strong federalism at the expensive of national unity. They show that perceptions of violence are not eased by sectarian and ethnic divisions and are high in most areas with a dominant Arab Sunni or Arab Shi’ite population and leadership. They also indicate that Iraqis will tolerate a US and Coalition presence only as long as it is necessary to put an end to violence and until Iraqi forces are ready to take over the job. At the same time, they show a sharp decline in popular confidence in both the national and local governments, and the perception that violence and sectarian cleansing continue to rise. This is a warning that Iraq patience in the central government’s failures to move forward in accommodation and providing effective services is wearing thin, and that the Iraqi “clock” in demanding much more rapid progress may not be all that different from the American one.

Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction From SIGIR Observations

2007-11-11T09:03:00.000Z

October 30, 2007 Quarterly Report to Congress

Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction From SIGIR Observations
Although the overall security environment has improved recently, contractors, journalists, and Iraq’s citizens continue to live and work in an environment that is, in many places, still quite dangerous:
+ The Department of Labor (DoL) reported 72 new death claims this quarter for civilian contractors working on U.S.-funded projects in Iraq. Since Iraq reconstruction began, 1,073 death claims have been filed with the DoL. Reported deaths in this category were about 22% above the quarterly average.
+ DoS reported that three U.S. civilians died in Iraq this quarter. Since the beginning of the U.S. reconstruction effort, 235 U.S. civilian workers have died in Iraq. Non-military U.S. citizen deaths reported this quarter were 78% below the quarterly average.
+ This quarter, 2 journalists were killed in Iraq; 119 Iraqi and other journalists have been killed since March 2003, and 41 media support workers have been killed in Iraq since hostilities began, including 2 this quarter.
+ Violence continued to force Iraqis to migrate. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that one of every seven Iraqis has been displaced by the conflict in Iraq. The UNHCR noted that large numbers of Iraqis continue to flee the country, and admission into Syria and Jordan became subject to visa approval this quarter. Internal migration is also limited by provincial restrictions on admission of internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Islamic Army of Iraq attacks Al-Qaeda base

2007-11-11T08:56:00.000Z

Security, Insurgency, Tribal

(BBC) - A Sunni faction has killed 18 al-Qaeda militants in an attack on a compound near the Iraqi city of Samarra, police have said. Another 16 al-Qaeda members were said to have been captured in the attack. The Sunni Islamic Army of Iraq - once part of the insurgency against US-led forces - said its fighters attacked the compound east of the city.
The faction is one of several Sunni former insurgent groups that have now turned against al-Qaeda. On Friday, five Sunni Arab tribal leaders had been killed in a suicide attack in Diyala province, north-east of Baghdad. The BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says the Islamic Army of Iraq is apparently planning to use those captured in an exchange of prisoners.
A total of 15 fighters from the Islamic Army were also killed in the attack, police sources told Reuters news agency. Analysts say that while the Islamic Army shares with the US military a common enemy in al-Qaeda, it does not support the coalition forces or their continued presence in Iraq. No US or Iraqi security forces are thought to have been involved in the fighting.
Our correspondent says many of the Sunni tribes that used to provide safe havens for the militants are actively combating al-Qaeda. Much of the violence in the troubled areas north of Baghdad reflect that struggle within the Sunni community, he says. On Friday, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives belt in the house of Sunni anti-al-Qaeda tribal leader Sheikh Faez al-Obeidi, killing him and four of his relatives. Those killed were members of the Diyala Salvation Council.
Sheikh Abu Risha, a key US ally in Anbar, was killed in September. Ten others were wounded in the blast, which happened near the town of Khalis. Diyala province, home to a mixture of Sunnis and Shias, has become a key battleground in the struggle to drive al-Qaeda from Iraq. The battle has spread there from Anbar province, once a stronghold of the Sunni insurgency. Many in the Sunni community say they dislike the austere form of Islam that al-Qaeda practises.

Iraqi Minister Council removes legal immunity from foreign private security firms

2007-11-11T08:49:00.000Z

Republic of Iraq, Ministry of Interior, Ministry Agency of information and National Investigations
General Dept of the Technical Affairs, Headquarters of Registration and Assessment of Private Security Companies
Letter No: 937, Date: Nov 1, 2007
To: All PSC
Sub: Removing the legal immunity
According to the directions of the Minister Council regarding moving the legal immunity
from all the foreign private security companies and deal with it according to Iraqi law.
Please notify that in all your future missions and give the direction to all your staff. For
your information all the Iraqi security departments were informed about it .The MNF
confirming taking the legal actions against any violator in the future. Including signing
your passports from the traveling and Jinsseya directorate to make your residence in Iraq
legal .And the violator will face legal punishment from the Iraqi law.
Col
The Director of Registration and Assessment of PSC office
Copy to: To be informed and to take the appropriate actions …..With
respect PSCAI, PSC.

In the Name of the People - The Presidency Council
Based on what was submitted by the Council of Ministers and ratified by the Council of
Representatives and in accordance with the provisions of Article 138 (Fifth) of the
Constitution, the Presidency Council has decided in its session held on / / / to promulgate
the following law.
No. ( ) of 2007

The Law of subjecting Non-Iraqi Security Companies and its Contractors to the
Provisions of the Iraqi law
Article 1:
Non-Iraqi security companies and its non-Iraqi employees and contractors shall be
subject to the Iraqi legislations and the jurisdiction of the Iraqi judiciary in all civil and
criminal cases. All immunities granted to them in accordance with any valid legislation
shall be canceled.
Article 2:
The categories mentioned in Article 1 of this law shall be subject to the Iraqi legislations
including those related to the residency, granting visas, possessing and carrying weapons,
paying taxes, fees and customs, registering companies and granting them license to work
in the Iraqi territories.
Article 3:
The vehicles, ships, airplanes belonging to the categories mentioned in Article 1 of this
law shall be subject to the procedures of registration, licensing, checking and inspection
stipulated in the Iraqi legislations.
Article 4:
This law shall be deemed as an amendment for the Dissolved CPA Order No17 of 2004.
Article 5:
This Law shall enter into force on the date of its publishing in the Official Gazette.

Our apologies for intermittent posts. Posts will resume on the 24th of October.

2007-10-20T17:48:00.001Z

U.S. commanders to begin drawdown of troops in Diyala

2007-10-17T08:45:00.000Z

Security

(AP) -- Commanders in Iraq have decided to begin the drawdown of U.S. forces in volatile Diyala province, marking a turning point in the U.S. military mission, The Associated Press has learned. Instead of replacing the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division, which is returning to its home base at Fort Hood, Texas, in December, soldiers from another brigade in Salahuddin province next door will expand into Diyala, thereby broadening its area of responsibility, several officials said Tuesday.
In this way, the number of Army ground combat brigades in Iraq will fall from 20 to 19. This reflects President Bush's bid to begin reducing the American military force and shifting its role away from fighting the insurgency toward more support functions like training and advising Iraqi security forces.
The December move, which has not yet been announced by the Pentagon, was described to the AP by Col. Stephen Twitty, commander of the 4th Brigade, 1st Cavalry, in a telephone interview Tuesday. It was confirmed by three other officials in Iraq, including Lt. Col. Michael Donnelly, chief spokesman for the commanding general of U.S. forces in northern Iraq, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon.
The idea is to avoid vacating a contested area, like Diyala, which is northeast of Baghdad, while beginning Bush's announced reduction of at least 21,500 troops, of which 17,000 were sent to the Baghdad area last spring. The shift in Diyala in December could be a model for follow-on reductions next year, with a redrawing of the U.S. lines of responsibility so that a departing brigade has its battle space consumed by a remaining brigade. At the same time, Iraqi security forces would assume greater responsibility.
Diyala province is a battered landscape of warring tribes, fertile valleys and pockets of al-Qaida fighters. The sectarian and tribal chasms are wide. Commanders cited signs of substantial progress in the months since thousands of U.S. and Iraqi forces stormed the provincial capital of Baqouba in June.
The unit leaving in December, the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Cavalry, has been in Iraq since October 2006. When it leaves, the 4th Stryker Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division, now in Salahuddin province, will add Diyala to its area of responsibility.Donnelly said that even though the number of combat brigades in Iraq will drop by one with the departure of the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Cavalry, the total number of soldiers in northern Iraq will remain almost constant. That is because later in December a unit arriving from Fort Hood - the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment - has substantially more soldiers than the unit it will replace.

PKK leader says the group will defend itself from Turkey

2007-10-17T08:26:00.000Z

Region

(Al Jazeera) - The head of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) military operations in northern Iraq has told Al Jazeera that the group will confront Turkish forces if they are attacked. Murat Karayilan gave his statement a day before Turkey's parliament was to meet to decide whether to sanction military operations against PKK bases inside Iraq.
"If Turkey is going to use violence against our movement, our leader and our people, then we will respond," Karayilan said on Tuesday. Iraq's government said on Wednesday that it will send a delegation to Turkey to show that it is committed to stopping PKK fighters operating in Iraq. Karayilan said Turkey was using the threat of military action against the PKK to put pressure on Iraqi Kurdistan. Ankara has been angered by a series of recent attacks by the PKK inside Turkey in which dozens of soldiers and civilians have been killed. He was speaking from his camp in the Qandil mountains straddling the Iraq-Turkey border.
On Tuesday, Tareq al-Hashemi, Iraq's deputy president, arrived in Ankara for talks with Turkish leaders. Al-Hashemi appealed to Turkey for more time to tackle Kurdish separatist fighters rebels based in northern Iraq, Anatolia news agency reported on Wednesday. "Give us time to join forces with Turkey to tackle this problem, which harms the national security of both countries," Anatolia quoted Hashemi as saying. "If the Iraqi government fails to meet its responsibilities, Turkey will be justified in doing what is necessary to protect its security interests."
James Bays, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Baghdad, said that whatever Baghdad says, the final decision rests with Kurdish political leaders as the embattled central Iraqi government has little authority in the Kurdish north of the country.

Karayilan said PKK fighters were not crossing the border to carry out attacks on Turkish territory. "It is not true that we are crossing the border. We have fighters everywhere. It is not necessary to send them from here. "Their [Turkey's] aim is to attack Iraqi Kurds."
The PKK leader in Iraq said Turkey was also hoping to put pressure on the US after a congressional panel said last week that mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War I was genocide - a charge Turkey denies. Turkey blames the PKK for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since the group launched its armed struggle for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984.

Shiite tribal leaders say Islamism on the rise in southern Iraq

2007-10-17T08:18:00.000Z

Religion ,Politics, Tribal

(Reuters) - Shi'ite Islamist political parties are imposing strict Islamic rules in the oil-producing southern provinces of Iraq and using their armed wings to create a state of fear, a group of tribal Shi'ite leaders said. The four tribal leaders approached Reuters on condition of anonymity, fearing assassination if their names or even their home provinces were made public.
"Fear rules the streets now," said one of the sheikhs. "We cannot speak our minds, people are not allowed to oppose them. They would immediately disappear or get killed. The evidence of that is I am talking about it but cannot use my name." The fear is not unfounded -- two provincial governors and a police chief were blown up by roadside bombs in August, apparent victims of infighting between the Shi'ite parties for political dominance in the region, source of most of Iraq's oil wealth.
Aides to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the reclusive religious leader of Iraq's Shi'ites, have also been killed. The sheikhs said the conservative religious attitudes meant only religious music was now allowed to be played in public places and dancing was forbidden, as was drinking alcohol. Women were also harassed for wearing clothing deemed inappropriate.
Photographs of secular political leaders like former interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi could not be displayed in shops and other public areas. Street committees that were set up to protect neighbourhoods from al Qaeda attacks were being misused to spy on residents and report infractions to the militias and the police, they said.
"The people of the south are religious, we are believers, but at the same time we like to live our lives and we like freedom," said one sheikh.
The Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) and the movement of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr are the dominant political forces in the Shi'ite provinces. Both have links to neighbouring Iran and believe Iraq should be governed according to Islamic principles. SIIC controls most of the governors in the south, and its armed wing, the Badr Organisation, has many members in the police force. Sadr's powerful Mehdi Army militia has fought fierce battles with police loyal to the Badr Organisation.
SIIC and the Sadrists saw their rise to power cemented by the December 2005 elections which brought the Islamist Shi'ite Alliance to power. The Sadrists have since pulled out of the Alliance and the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, leader of the smaller Islamist Dawa party. The growing strength of the parties in the south has weakened some secular tribal leaders and excluded them from power structures, a source of patronage and revenues.
"Some say the Shi'ites are lucky because they are now ruling Iraq, but that is wrong. It is the Islamist Shi'ites who are ruling Iraq. Their victory was a curse for us," said one sheikh. The sheikhs blamed Washington for giving Shi'ite Islamists a free hand in the south. U.S. forces are concentrated to the north, focused mainly on Sunni Islamist al Qaeda and other Sunni Arab militants and so-called rogue Mehdi Army groups.
Washington has thrown its weight behind Baghdad's Islamist- led government despite misgivings about its failure to push ahead with national reconciliation and the close ties between some parties and Iran, the United States' long-time foe. SIIC and the Sadrists are seen by the sheikhs as importing a conservative brand of Shi'ism from neighbouring Iran, which U.S. officials accuse of arming Shi'ite militias to use as proxies to enforce their influence in the south.
"We are suffering from two occupations -- America and Iran. We have told American officials this and we have met some of them, but they are not listening to us," one sheikh complained. Some tribes were talking about taking up arms against the Islamist parties, but the tribal leaders said they feared this would unleash a bloodbath that would destabilise the south. "The tribes do not want violence ... but at the same time we want to see a change that preserves the rights of all Iraqis, so that we are really free," said one sheikh.

Turkey to give troops go-ahead to enter northern Iraq

2007-10-17T08:13:00.000Z

Region

(Reuters) - Turkey will defy international pressure on Wednesday and grant its troops permission to enter northern Iraq to crush Kurdish separatist rebels based there. Turkey's prime minister has sought to play down expectations of an imminent attack, but the parliamentary vote will effectively give the army a free hand to act as and when it sees fit.
Washington, Ankara's NATO ally, says it understands Turkey's desire to tackle rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), but fears a major incursion would wreck stability in the most peaceful part of Iraq and potentially in the wider region. Turkey's stance has helped drive global oil prices to $88 a barrel, a new record, and has hit its lira currency as investors weigh the economic risks of any major military operation.
Parliamentary approval would create the legal basis for military action. By law, Turkey's parliament must approve the deployment of Turkish troops abroad. Parliament is expected to approve the request from Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's cabinet by a large majority after an open debate, starting at 1200 GMT. "Passage of this motion does not mean an immediate incursion will follow, but we will act at the right time and under the right conditions," Erdogan told his ruling AK Party on Tuesday.
"This is about self-defense," he said in televised remarks.
Iraqi Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi lobbied Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul in Ankara on Tuesday to refrain from military action and to seek a diplomatic solution. Erdogan is under public pressure to hit PKK camps in northern Iraq after a series of deadly rebel attacks on Turkish troops. Markets are closely following the incursion debate.
Turkish opposition parties strongly back the plan for military action, with only the small pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) expressing concern about the implications. Ankara blames the PKK, considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since the group launched its armed struggle for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984.
Turkey conducted large military operations in northern Iraq against the PKK in the 1990s but failed to wipe out the rebels. Some analysts say that despite its tough rhetoric Turkey may limit itself to aerial bombardment of rebel targets and small forays across the border while avoiding a major incursion.

Erbil suggests talks with Turkey, turns down Iraqi Army in place of Peshmerga

2007-10-17T08:08:00.000Z

Region

(Gulf News) - An Iraqi Kurdish minister has rejected Turkey's demands to send Iraqi troops from Baghdad to the north of the country over rebel activities. Amid increasing tension between Ankara and Baghdad over Kurdish rebel activities, Mohammad Ehsan told Gulf News: "The government of Kurdistan firmly opposes sending Iraqi forces from Baghdad to borders with Turkey as the Turkish government wants."
Ankara accuses Kurd held northern province of Iraq of offering refuge to Turkish Kurd rebels. "This is an internal issue and concerning the sovereignty of Iraq, and only the Iraqi government and its Kurdish regional counterpart will handle it," he added.
Sources in the Iraqi army told Gulf News that recent meeting between Iraqi Defence Minister Abdul Qader Mohammad Jasem and the Turkish ambassador in Baghdad focused on the Turkish government's request of sending Iraqi troops to the border to take the place of Kurdish Peshmerga elements which are accused by Ankara of sympathising with Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) elements.
Mohammad Ehsan said the government in Arbil supports talks between Turkey and the PKK leadership. PKK is listed as a terrorist group. "Dialogue is the right way to solve the PKK problem and not by using excessive military power," the Kurdish minister said.
The minister said that Ankara had informed the United States and the Iraqi government that it would not entertain any representatives of Kurdistan government to attend the Turkish-Iraqi talks. The talks are aimed at resolving the military escalation along common borders between the two countries. "Arbil is more than excited to talk directly with Turkey to find a vital solution to the PKK crisis," the minister said.
"I believe the goal of Turkish government is to escalate the situation on the Iraqi border under the pretext of eliminating the hostile activities by PKK elements," Aaron Kamiran, an Iraqi political analyst, told Gulf News.
"The goal is political because launching a Turkish military operation in the region would not achieve any results because of the difficult and mountainous terrain. Hence the Turks want to send Iraqi and non-Kurdish troops to the border and they will raise problems between Arbil and Baghdad, especially with Arbil's insistence on rejecting the Turkish proposal."
He added: "What is important for Turks is to make sure that Iraq Kurdistan region will not be an independent entity or a confederate state in the future. Besides the non-Kurdish forces in the region may pose a guarantee for Turkey in this region, especially since normalisation situations in Kirkuk is implemented hastily".

Sadrists reject SIIC suggestion of soft partition

2007-10-16T08:01:00.000Z

Politics

(Al Jazeera) - The Muqtada al-Sadr bloc has rejected a suggestion made by another Iraqi Shia politician that the country should be split into regions based on sect and ethnicity. Ammar Hakim, son of Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the leader of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC), said that dividing the country is "an Iraqi interest, wish and decision". Responding to his comments, Sadr's spokesman in Najaf said on Sunday that his group’s opposition to federalism "is firm and has not been changed".
Sheikh Saleh al-Obeidi, Sadr's spokesman, said: "After the US Congress voted to divide Iraq, it is clear that insisting on applying federalism in the current tragic Iraqi situation is a flirtation with the [non-binding] US Congress resolution [calling for a transfer of power to three self-governing regions - or Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds]. "The SIIC is one of the largest parties in the Iraqi parliament and a key supporter of Nuri al-Maliki, the prime minister.
On October 6, Sadr and al-Hakim agreed their respective militias stop attacking each other. Meanwhile, political differences still remain and al-Hakim has argued in the past for uniting the nine Shia-majority provinces in southern Iraq. The US Congress resolution, sponsored by Senator Joseph Biden, was dismissed by Maliki, who called it an infringement on Iraqi sovereignty even though it was backed by the government in the northern Kurdish region.

However, the principle of federalism is included in the Iraqi constitution. But Sunni Arabs, who form an estimated 20 per cent of the population and are largely located in central, resource-poor parts of the country, are also against federalism, fearing it would deprive them of oil wealth.

Turkish parliament may approve sending troops into n. Iraq

2007-10-16T07:43:00.000Z

Region

(Al Jazeera) - Turkish government has agreed to ask parliament to approve sending troops into northern Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish separatist fighters. The motion, which is expected to be approved by MPs on Wednesday, would provide the legal basis for cross-border military action against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) during the next year. "Our wish is that we will not have to use this motion ... but the most painful reality of our country, our region, is the reality of terror," Cemil Cicek, government spokesman, said after a cabinet meeting on Monday.
He stressed that Turkey's sole target, if its troops entered northern Iraq, would be the estimated 3,000 PKK fighters believed to be in the region. The government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, twice acquired similar authorisations from parliament in 2003, but did not act on them. In response, Baghdad urged Turkey to be "patient" and not to resort to military action. "The Iraqi government calls on the Turkish government to pursue a diplomatic solution and not a military solution to solve the [problem] of terrorist attacks which our dear neighbour Turkey has witnessed from the PKK," Ali al-Dabbagh, Iraqi government spokesman, said.

Ahead of the cabinet's decision, a senior Turkish general said that it was too early to discuss the timing or size of a possible incursion."If this duty is assigned to us, we will look at the scale on which it will be carried out. It is not possible to say this right now," General Ergin Saygun, deputy chief of the general staff, said. Ankara says the PKK uses bases in northern Iraq to launch attacks inside Turkey, the latest of which killed 15 soldiers last week. Saygun dismissed suggestions that Nato's second-biggest army had only a limited window of opportunity to attack before winter conditions made such a move impossible.
"The season would be taken into consideration, and other needs as well .... But we cannot say that we'll go to Iraq if it doesn't snow or we won't go if it does," he said. Duran Kalkan, a senior commander in the PKK, said that the Turkish military would suffer a serious blow if it launched such an offensive. According to the pro-Kurdish Firat news agency, he said that Turkey would "be bogged down in a quagmire" in northern Iraq. Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid in northern Iraq said on Monday that the situation along the border was quite calm. "There was a night of intense shelling along the border on Saturday but for the last 24 hours it has been calm," she said.
"We all have an interest in a stable Iraq and a desire to see the PKK brought to justice" Gordon Johndroe, White House spokesman"We have been travelling backwards and forwards along the border and we have seen some minimal troops movements on the other side. "US officials said last week that there are about 60,000 Turkish troops along the country's southern border with Iraq, but the US military has not seen activity to suggest an imminent offensive.

On Monday, the US repeated its call for the Turkish military to refrain from crossing the border. "We all have an interest in a stable Iraq and a desire to see the PKK brought to justice," Gordon Johndroe, White House spokesman, said. "But we urge the Turks to continue their discussions with us and the Iraqis and to show restraint from any potentially destabilising actions."'

However, Erdogan had already said that international pressure would not deter Ankara. "The cost has already been calculated," he said. Ankara has also long complained that Washington has not done enough on its own or through the Iraqi government to crack down on the Kurdish separatists. The PKK, which is labelled as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, began an independence struggle in Turkey in 1984 that has left more than 37,000 people dead. Turkey and Iraq last month signed an accord pledging to combat the group, but failed to agree on a clause allowing Turkish troops to carry out "hot pursuit" operations against rebels fleeing into Iraqi territory, as they did regularly in the 1990s.

Oil prices hit new high as fears grow over Kurdish-Turkish conflict

2007-10-16T07:38:00.000Z

Oil, Region

(The Guardian) - Oil prices burst through $86 a barrel to reach new highs yesterday on the back of growing energy demand forecasts and fears that escalating conflict between Turkey and Kurds in northern Iraq could hit supplies in the Mediterranean. Crude ended at a record level on Friday but has since gone on to hit even greater peaks of $86.13 as the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) said demand for its products would average 31.43m barrels a day in the fourth quarter of 2007, up 100,000 barrels a day on previous estimates.
"It now appears more likely that the US economy could weather the financial crisis without a sharp downturn in economic activity," said a report by Opec economists at the group's Vienna headquarters. Soaring oil prices helped push gold to a 28-year high yesterday as investors were attracted to precious metals because of global uncertainty and the falling dollar. Platinum also swept to record highs on concerns about supply as demand remains strong.
Expectations of higher oil demand have also fed into Opec's first quarter estimates with the organisation predicting there would be 120,000 more barrels needed a day than had been anticipated.
The new forecasts come amid rising fears that Turkey will take unilateral action against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq. "The main risk to supplies is currently on an escalation of the Turkish army, Kurdish militia conflict, where we believe the risk for disruptions to the Mediterranean supplies would be real," said Olivier Jakob of Petromix in Switzerland.
The market is already jumpy because last week the International Energy Agency, adviser to 26 industrialised nations such as Britain and the US, predicted that demand would surge by 2.1m barrels a day during 2008. Opec insists "the current supply and demand forecasts predict that the market will be fundamentally balanced over the coming quarters".

U.S., Iraqi officials debate Blackwater's expulsion from Iraq

2007-10-16T07:34:00.000Z

US and Iraqi officials are negotiating Baghdad's demand that security company Blackwater USA be expelled from the country within six months, and American diplomats appear to be working on how to fill the security gap if the company is phased out. The talks about Blackwater's future in Iraq flow from recommendations in an Iraqi government report on the incident Sept. 16 when, Iraqi officials determined, Blackwater guards opened fire without provocation in Baghdad's Nisoor Square and killed 17 Iraqi citizens.
The Iraqi investigators issued five recommendations to the government of Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, which has since sent them to the US Embassy as demands for action. Point No. 2 in the report says: "The Iraqi government should demand that the United States stops using the services of Blackwater in Iraq within six months and replace it with a new, more disciplined organization that would be answerable to Iraqi laws." Sami Al Askari, a top aide to Al Maliki, said that point in the Iraqi list of demands was nonnegotiable.
"I believe the government has been clear. There have been attacks on the lives of Iraqi citizens on the part of that company (Blackwater). It must be expelled. The governmenthas given six months for its expulsion and it's left to the US Embassy to determine with Blackwater when to terminate the contract. The American administration must find another company," he told AP.
In talks between American diplomats and the Al Maliki government, Al Askari said, the US side was not "insisting on Blackwater staying." He was the only Iraqi or American official who would allow use of his name, others said information they gave was too sensitive. In an interview to be broadcast Monday on PBS, television presenter Charlie Rose asked Blackwater chief Erik Prince about the issue."We'll do what we're told and, you know, make the transition as smooth as possible," Prince said.

Shiite leader in visit to Al Anbar

2007-10-16T07:16:00.000Z

Politics

(Gulf News) - In a major reconciliatory gesture, a leader from Iraq's largest Shiite party has paid a rare visit to the Sunni Anbar province, delivering a message of unity to tribal shaikhs who have staged a US-backed revolt against Al Qaida militants. The leader of parliament's largest Sunni Arab bloc, Adnan Al Dulaimi, welcomed Ammar Al Hakim's visit to Anbar on Sunday as a "good initiative", saying Shiite-Sunni reconciliation was a goal cherished by his once-dominant Sunni Arab minority.
"This is what we hope, and we pray to Allah for," Al Dulaimi, whose three-party alliance has 44 of parliament's 275 seats, said yesterday. "We pray to God to make our Shiite brothers ... give us our due rights and not monopolise power." Al Hakim's visit to Anbar was the latest sign that key Iraqi politicians may be working toward reconciliation independently of Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki's government, which has faced criticism for doing little to bring together Iraq's Shiites, Kurds and Sunnis.
Sunni Arab Vice-President Tariq Al Hashemi visited Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, Iraq's top Shiite cleric, last month at Najaf south of Baghdad. The visit amounted to an unprecedented Sunni Arab endorsement of Al Sistani's role as the nation's guardian. Al Hashemi's Iraqi Islamic Party also has been distancing itself from militant Sunni Arab groups and has in recent months forged closer ties with Al Hakim's Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, the country's largest Shiite party, and the two major Kurdish parties.
Al Hakim, son and heir apparent of Iraq's top Shiite politician, struck a note of national unity in Anbar. "Iraq does not belong to the Sunnis or the Shiites alone; nor does it belong to the Arabs or the Kurds and Turkomen," Al Hakim told his hosts in the provincial capital Ramadi, about 115km west of Baghdad. "Today, we must stand up and declare that Iraq is for all Iraqis." He stood next to the leader of the Anbar movement, Ahmad Abu Risha.

Petraeus concerned over tension with Turkey

2007-10-12T12:38:00.000Z

Region

(AP) -- The top U.S. commander in Iraq warned Thursday that Turkey's threatened incursion into Kurdish regions in the north of the country could harm the flow of supplies for U.S. troops and damage the Kurdish economy. Iraqi Kurdistan, a haven of relative calm, could suddenly become another fault line if Turkey makes good on threats to cross the northern border in pursuit of Turkish Kurdish militants.
"We are concerned about that," Gen. David Petraeus told two U.S. reporters in a dusty courtyard in Jadidah, a Shiite town about 25 miles north of Baghdad. The Turkish government is preparing to ask parliament to authorize a cross-border operation. Approval would allow the military to launch an operation immediately or wait to see if the United States and its Iraqi allies decide to crack down on the rebels.
"A lot our supplies come through Turkey. ... To maintain that commercial exchange is hugely important through the border crossing at Habur Gate. And we hope that will continue," Petraeus said. A Turkish incursion could open an delicate new front in Iraq just as U.S. forces were seeing major gains against both Shiite and Sunni extremists in the largely Arab sections of the county south of the Kurdish region.
Beyond that, about 70 percent of U.S. air cargo headed for Iraq transits Turkey, as does about one-third of the fuel used by the U.S. military in Iraq. U.S. bases also get water and other supplies by land from Turkish truckers who cross into the northern region of Iraqi Kurdistan. Iraq's Kurdish region also is heavily dependent on trade with Turkey, which provides the region with electricity and oil products. Annual trade at Habur gate, the main border crossing, is more than $10 billion.
Petraeus said the United States, which lists the PKK as a terrorist organization, understood Ankara's concerns about the activities of the militant group. "The violence that has been undertaken by the PKK is an enormous challenge. It's really a strategic issue. So we are again very understanding of the concern they (the Turks) have over these terrorists who are up in the very, very high mountains that straddle the border there," Petraeus said
On Thursday, Turkey ordered its ambassador in Washington to return to Turkey for consultations, an extreme sign of diplomatic displeasure.

U.N. says PSC shootings could amount to war crimes

2007-10-12T12:33:00.000Z

U.N.

(AP) -- U.N. officials in Iraq stepped up pressure on the United States on Thursday to prosecute any unjustified killings of Iraqi civilians by private security contractors, saying such killings could amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity if "done in cold blood." While Americans are unlikely to face such charges, the words served as a harsh rebuke as outrage spreads over what many Iraqis perceive as overly aggressive behavior of the heavily armed foreigners protecting U.S. government-funded work.
"For us, it's a human rights issue," said Ivana Vuco, a human rights officer with the U.N. Assistance Mission to Iraq, or UNAMI. "We will monitor the allegations of killings by security contractors and look into whether or not crimes against humanity and war crimes have been committed." The warnings followed two high-profile cases of shooting incidents involving private contractors on the streets of Baghdad.
Arikat spoke as UNAMI released its quarterly human rights report, which warns that increasing reliance on heavily armed teams in Iraq risks eroding the distinction between civilians and combatants. It notes several reports of "killings carried out by privately hired contractors with security-related functions in support of U.S. government authorities."

It is unclear how far the United Nations could go in pressing the issue of war crimes or even calls for prosecution under U.S. law. The U.N.'s influence in Iraq plummeted after it was forced to withdraw most of its staff from the country following two bombings in 2003, including one that struck its Baghdad headquarters and killed a top U.N. envoy and 21 other workers. The mission returned in 2004 with a limited staff, but its role here remains highly sensitive.
But the world body is still viewed by most Iraqis as a more neutral party, and Thursday's warnings likely were meant to invoke that position of moral authority. Vuco said international humanitarian rights law applies equally to contractors who work for the mostly Western firms providing security to diplomats and aid groups as it does to other parties in a conflict.

Major insurgent groups announce formation of political council

2007-10-12T12:30:00.000Z

Insurgency, Politics

(AP) -- Six main Iraqi insurgent groups announced the formation of a "political council" aimed at "liberating" Iraq from U.S. occupation in a video aired Thursday on Al-Jazeera television. The council appeared to be a new attempt to assert the leadership of the groups, which have moved to distance themselves from another coalition of insurgent factions led by al-Qaida in Iraq. In the video aired on Al-Jazeera, a man identified as the council's spokesman - wearing traditional Iraqi garb, with his face blacked out - announced the council's formation and a "political program to liberate Iraq."
He said the program was based on two principles. "First, the occupation is an oppression and aggression, rejected by Islamic Sharia law and tradition. Resistance of occupation is a right guaranteed by all religions and laws," he said. "Second, the armed resistance ... is the legitimate representative of Iraq. It is the one that bears responsibility for the leadership of the people to achieve its legitimate hope."
The groups forming the council include the Islamic Army of Iraq, the Mujahideen Army, Ansar al-Sunna, the Fatiheen Army, the Islamic Front for the Iraqi Resistance (Jami) and the Islamic Movement of Hamas-Iraq. The step could be a bid by the insurgents for a more cohesive political voice at a time of considerable rearrangement among Sunni insurgent groups and Iraq's Sunni Arab minority.
Splinter factions of two insurgent groups, the 1920 Revolution Brigades and the Mujahideen Army, have cooperated with U.S. forces in fighting insurgents allied to al-Qaida in Iraq. Earlier this year, other groups - the Islamic Army of Iraq, the main faction of the Mujahideen Army, a branch of Ansar al-Sunna and the Fatiheen Army - formed a coalition called the Jihad and Reform Front opposed to al-Qaida in Iraq, though they have continued attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces.

State Dept. may limit or phase out use of private security guards in Iraq

2007-10-12T12:22:00.000Z

(AP) -- The State Department may phase out or limit the use of private security guards in Iraq, which could mean canceling Blackwater USA's contract or awarding it to another company in line with an Iraqi government demand, The Associated Press has learned. Such steps would be difficult given U.S. reliance on Blackwater and other contractors, but they are among options being studied during a comprehensive review of security in Iraq, two senior officials said.
Condoleezza Rice to order the top-to-bottom review from a commission headed by Patrick Kennedy, one of the State Department's most experienced management officials. Kennedy has been told to concentrate on several key issues, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the review is still under way. Among them:
-Changes to the rules of engagement under which State Department security contractors operate, particularly for approaching suspicious vehicles, which is at the crux of the Sept. 16 incident. Blackwater insists its guards were fired upon, although Iraqi witnesses and the Iraqi government maintain the guards opened fire with no provocation when a vehicle got too close.
-Whether Blackwater's secretive corporate culture, reputed to have encouraged a "cowboy-like mentality," has led to its employees being more likely to violate or stretch the existing rules than those of the two other private security firms, Dyncorp and Triple Canopy, the State Department uses in Iraq.
-Whether it's feasible to eliminate or drastically curtail the use of private foreign contractors to protect U.S. diplomats in Iraq. And, if so, how to replace them.
Rice is eager for changes and has already accepted and implemented initial steps Kennedy urged in a preliminary report last week. They included improving government oversight of Blackwater by having federal agents accompany convoys and installing video cameras in their vehicles. Officials in the tight-knit world of security operatives in Baghdad said Blackwater was preparing a reorganization and possible downsizing. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity. The company, based in Moyock, N.C., does not speak publicly about its operations or plans. Calls and e-mail messages left with Blackwater on Wednesday were not returned.
A top aide to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told the AP that Washington was considering the findings of the Iraqi government's report into the incident and calls for reform. "But so far there has been no concrete answer from the U.S. Embassy showing it was definitely going to drop Blackwater," the aide said. The aide said the al-Maliki government told the U.S. Embassy, "We will draft and pass laws that would lift the immunity on these security companies to stop their reckless behavior."
Kennedy has been in Iraq for nearly two weeks with one of three outside experts Rice named to the commission, Eric Boswell, a former diplomat and intelligence official. The other two, retired Army Gen. George Joulwan and former Ambassador Stapleton Roy, were being briefed on the mission at the State Department on Wednesday before heading to Baghdad.
The officials said Kennedy's team was not expected to recommend eliminating all private contractors because it would have a profound impact on how U.S. diplomats work in Iraq. The State Department's own Bureau of Diplomatic Security lacks both the manpower and equipment, notably helicopters, to do the job, they said.
Blackwater is now the biggest of the three firms working for the department in Iraq with about 1,000 employees and handles protection in and around Baghdad, the most dangerous areas of the country. It has been paid as much as $1 billion for its work in Iraq. Dyncorp and Triple Canopy, which work in the north and south, are far smaller and face resource constraints.
Under the terms of the department's Worldwide Personal Protective Security contract, which covers privately contracted guards for diplomats in Iraq, Blackwater, Dyncorp and Triple Canopy are the only three companies eligible to bid on specific task orders there. If Blackwater goes, the slack would almost certainly have to be picked up by one or more other companies, which may require certifying other firms to bid, including non-U.S. ones, the officials said.
Of interest to the department is the possibility of forming Iraqi companies with Iraqi employees to protect U.S. diplomats as local guards do for embassy staff in other countries, they said. That would bring the guards fully under the jurisdiction of Iraqi law but is not a short-term option given inadequate training facilities. The Pentagon has been reluctant to provide security for diplomats but another alternative might be joint State-Defense department patrols. Yet another would be hiring Blackwater and other private guards as temporary U.S. government employees, the officials said.

U.S. pledges to release 50 detainees a day

2007-10-12T12:17:00.000Z

Security

(AP) -- Sixty prisoners, 10 of them youths, raised their hands Wednesday and swore to live a peaceful life. In return, U.S. authorities set them free. As a gesture of good will, the U.S. military has pledged to release more than 50 detainees a day - about 10 more than average - during Ramadan, which ends this week. It is traditional in Muslim countries to pardon some prisoners or shorten their terms during the holy month.
More than 25,000 Iraqis still in American custody haven't been so lucky. The security crackdown in Baghdad has raised the rolls in U.S.-run detention centers to 10,000 more detainees compared to this time last year, worsening already serious backlogs in the court system. Several men being released Wednesday interrupted the judge's speech to complain that they had been held for months, even years, without cause.
According to U.S. military figures, the average age of inmates is 35 to 37 for adults and 15 to 17 for youths. About 85 percent are Sunni, 14 percent are Shiite and 1 percent are neither. Most remain in custody for about a year.
Maj. Gen. Douglas M. Stone, deputy commander of detainee operations, said prisoners in U.S. custody include some 860 youths, meaning they are under 17 years old, and 280 foreigners, including Egyptians, Syrians, Iranians and Saudi Arabians. "Ultimately, we want all detainees who are no longer a peril to Iraqi and coalition forces to be released," Stone said, adding that about 60 people are detained each day across Iraq.
Most detainees are held in limbo where few are ever charged with a specific crime or given a chance before any court or tribunal to argue for their freedom. Of those who receive a proper trial, about 50 percent will be acquitted, the military says.
All prisoners get their cases evaluated within the first three months they are in custody. Then, each case is reviewed every six months. At those proceedings, the review board can release someone for hardship reasons, at the request of the Iraqi or U.S. government or when it determines the detainee is no longer a security threat, Bill said.
The so-called pledge program, which began in July, requires the detainees to take an oath to renounce violence, then they are fingerprinted and they face a fine if they are against accused of wrongdoing, Bill said. About 1,500 detainees have been released under the program. The judge told the new program is a test "we don't want to fail. This is going to prove you were not criminals, not terrorists."

Turkish parliament may approve govt request on Iraq campaign

2007-10-12T12:13:00.000Z

Region

(AP) - Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that Turkey would not be deterred by the possible consequences of invading Iraq if it decides to stage a cross-border offensive against Kurdish rebels.
"If such an option is chosen, whatever its price, it will be paid," Erdogan told reporters in response to a question about international repercussions of such a decision, which would strain ties with the United States and Iraq. "There could be pros and cons of such a decision, but what is important is our country's interests."
A Turkish soldier was killed by a mine Thursday night on Mt. Gabar in southeastern Sirnak province, where 13 soldiers have been ambushed and killed over the past week, local authorities said. "We are making necessary preparations to be ready in case we decide on a cross-border operations since we don't have patience to lose more time," Erdogan said, adding that Turkey lost 30 people in rebel attacks over the past two weeks.
Erdogan said Turkey has long been seeking the cooperation of Iraq and the United States but there has been no crackdown on the rebel group of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, in Iraq. "If there are terrorists sheltering and attacking Turkey from Iraqi soil and if they don't do anything then we should do something," Erdogan said.
The Turkish parliament was expected to approve a government request to authorize an Iraq campaign as early as next week, after a holiday ending the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. But that does not mean a risky incursion will follow at once. Turkey might give diplomacy, and perhaps economic pressure, more time to work even as public enthusiasm for a military mission mounts.

SIIC leader returns from Tehran

2007-10-12T12:12:00.000Z

Politics

(RFE/RL) - Abd al-Aziz al-Hakim, the head of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC), met with leading members of his party on October 10, following his return from cancer treatment in Tehran, the party's website reported on October 11. Al-Hakim reportedly addressed a number of issues at the meeting, including the latest political and security developments and the need to consolidate national unity. The report said those in attendance expressed their happiness over their leader's return after making a "full recovery" from cancer.

Turkish companies pull out of Iraqi Kurdistan

2007-10-12T12:08:00.000Z

Kurdistan

(Al-Zaman) - Turkish companies doing business in northern Iraq have begun to pull out of the Kurdistan region in anticipation of a Turkish military incursion, the Iraqi newspaper "Al-Zaman" reported on October 10. Ahmad Ajar, head of an association of Turkish businessmen based in Irbil, said many Turkish companies have ended their contracts and are pulling Turkish staff from the region. "Al-Zaman" reports that Turkish investments in Iraqi Kurdistan are valued at $5 billion. Meanwhile, the Kurdistan regional government has said that it is mobilizing its peshmerga forces to confront any military incursion, which they view as a violation of Iraq's sovereignty. If the Turkish military launches a wide-scale incursion into northern Iraq, it would likely do so after the three-day Eid Al-Fitr holiday, which runs from October 14-16, marking the end of Ramadan.

Political, Military, and Economic Dynamics in Iraq: A Graphic Overview

2007-10-10T12:18:00.000Z

Resource

(Center for Strategic and International Studies) - The attached briefing provides an overview of some of the key charts and maps reporting on the Iraq War. It will be steadily updated over time.

This link will also be stored under 'Links' - 'Documents' (on the left-hand side of the page) for future reference.

UNHCR head warns of disaster as Iraqi governorates refuse entry to internal refugees

2007-10-10T12:01:00.000Z

Humanitarian

(BBC) - A growing number of Iraqi provinces are refusing entry to internal refugees, the UN refugee agency has warned. The head of the UNHCR Iraq Support Unit told the BBC up to 11 governors were restricting access because they lacked resources to look after the refugees. Andrew Harper warned that, with no imminent end to the displacement, Iraq was becoming a "pressure cooker".
The UNHCR says there are 2.2m internal refugees in Iraq, though the Iraqi government says there are half that. In addition, the UNHCR estimates that 2.2m Iraqis have fled to neighbouring states, particularly Syria and Jordan, since the US-led invasion in 2003. Mr Harper told the BBC that Iraqi authorities were increasingly overwhelmed by the internal refugee problem - caused not only by violence, but also by social and health problems such as cholera outbreaks. The possibility for Iraqis to find safety and find is becoming increasingly restricted
He said local authorities did not have the resources to cope, and that the governors of at least 11 provinces - out of 18 in the country - had reacted by blocking internal migrants from entering their territory, or denying them food and education if they do get in. "We are seeing an increasing number of governorates closing their borders or restricting entry to new arrivals," he said.
"And so we have a pressure cooker building up inside Iraq - there is no imminent end to the displacement," he added. "The possibility for Iraqis to find safety is becoming increasingly restricted. So, where they can move is becoming over-populated and intense."
WHERE IRAQIS HAVE FLED TO
Syria: 1,400,000
Jordan: 750,000
Gulf states: 200,000
Egypt: 100,000
Iran: 54,000
Lebanon: 40,000
Turkey: 10,000
Internally displaced: 2,250,000
Source: UNHCR
Alarming humanitarian crisis
Mr Harper said the UNHCR had raised the problem with the Iraqi central government, but was told that local authorities had been urged not to turn away Iraqis fleeing other parts of the country. The millions of refugees fleeing the violence and turmoil in the country, Mr Harper said, were the biggest challenge facing the UNHCR and the international community. He said the figures were increasing on average by up to 100,000 every month.
In Diyala province, aid workers have said they have been unable to reach thousands of families, including displaced refugees, because of the security situation. The huge displacement of people is cementing the fragmentation of the country, says the BBC's Arab affairs analyst Magdi Abdelhadi, with local authorities ignoring Baghdad by refusing to shelter refugees. That will make national reconciliation even more difficult to achieve, he says.
There are also fears that the ramshackle refugee camps that today dot the Iraqi landscape are a breeding ground for violence, our correspondent adds. Mr Harper's warning comes at a time when Iraq's neighbours have more or less closed their borders to refugees, saying they can no longer cope with the strain.

Iraqi Defense Minister meets with KRG to discuss creation of Peshmerga platoons

2007-10-10T11:57:00.000Z

Security

(Stratfor) - Iraqi Defense Minister Abd al-Qadir al-Ubaydi met with the Kurdistan Regional Government on Oct. 9 to discuss the creation of two new peshmerga platoons to increase security in the country, Peyamner News Agency reported, citing the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan's Web site.

Polish embassy in Baghdad to relocate

2007-10-10T11:49:00.000Z

Security

(Stratfor) - The Polish Embassy in Iraq has temporarily moved to a building in Baghdad's Green Zone due to safety considerations, the Polish Foreign Ministry said Oct. 9. The embassy will officially move to its new location in the Green Zone in approximately a month. A car bomb killed two people and wounded five near Poland's embassy in Baghdad on Monday. A bomb targeted the convoy of the Polish ambassador to Iraq in Baghdad last Wednesday, killing an Iraqi civilian and injuring the diplomat and at least three others. The ambassador, Gen. Edward Pietrzyk, was rushed to the US military hospital in Baghdad in stable condition. Poland has had a strong presence in the US-led coalition, and its military commands the Multi-National Division-Central South region.

Cash payment or a life in Britain for Iraqi interpreters

2007-10-10T11:38:00.000Z

(The Times) - Hundreds of Iraqis who risked their lives working for the British will be given a choice of a cash payment or the chance to live in Britain, David Miliband said yesterday. In a written ministerial statement, the Foreign Secretary fleshed out details of the assistance announced by Gordon Brown on Monday to help Iraqis who have served as interpreters and in other sensitive jobs since the invasion of Iraq.
The policy U-turn followed a two-month campaign by The Times to highlight the plight of Iraqi interpreters, who have been persecuted by insurgents for “collaborating” with Britain. Although details have not been finalised, the plan will probably cost millions of pounds and aid several hundred Iraqis and their families. The offer falls short of a comprehensive deal for all the estimated 20,000 Iraqis who have worked for the British since the invasion of Iraq in 2003. This summer the Danes airlifted all their former Iraqi employees and their families for resettlement in Denmark.
The main beneficiaries of the British scheme will be existing Iraqi staff who have worked for the Ministry of Defence, the British diplomatic missions in Iraq, the Department for International Development or the British Council for at least 12 months up to August 8, when the review was ordered. They will be offered a one-off cash payment worth between six and twelve months’ salary, depending on length of service.
There are currently 500 Iraqis employed by the British in Iraq, mostly working for the Army in Basra. Of those, 280 have worked for 12 months. Their salaries range from £130 to £600 a month. The top payment would be in the order of £7,000. The money would be used to help an employee and his dependants if he were made redundant or forced to resign under pressure. It is intended to help a family relocate to a safer area of Iraq or elsewhere in the region.
Iraqis will also be offered the option of applying to move to Britain. Ministers have created an entirely new “exceptional leave to remain” category for those still in Iraq wishing to come to the UK. They will be allowed to settle in Britain, though it has not yet been agreed for how long. In reality, once they are in the country they will be allowed to remain for good.
The second route is for those already outside Iraq who meet the criteria of having worked for the Government. They will register with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and apply for the Gateway programme that brings a few hundred refugees into the UK each year. They will have to satisfy the Commissioner that there is little prospect of their being resettled in Iraq and may then join the scheme, which has 300 places in 2008 and a further 300 in 2009. On arrival in the UK they will be granted asylum.
The same choice of cash or resettlement is also open for interpreters, translators and other professionals formerly employed by the British in Iraq. To qualify they need to have been employed for one year after January 1, 2005. Before then, it is considered to have been safe to have worked for the British in southern Iraq. Mr Miliband also made provision to help a “limited number of contracted staff”, who worked in sensitive roles such as advisers. He said: “Locally engaged Iraqi staff working for our Armed Forces and civilian missions in Iraq have made an invaluable contribution.”The offer is weighted deliberately in favour of Iraqis taking the cash rather than choosing to resettle in Britain. To do that a former employee would first have to flee the country, as millions of Iraqis have done to Jordan or Syria. They would then need to register with the UNHCR as refugees, a process that can take months to complete.

U.S. lands Iraq 700,000 ton wheat deal

2007-10-10T11:26:00.000Z

(ABC News) - The United States has cemented its position as Iraq's biggest wheat supplier, after locking in an export deal for 700,000 tonnes. Australia used to dominate the Iraq trade, but has struggled to sell any wheat there since the Oil-for-Food scandal involving AWB. Grain trader Brett Stevenson says it will be hard for Australia to regain any of the market."We would have every right to put our hand up as a government level and say we want to participate, the only problem with that is, is that the organisation that cause a major disfunction over there is still operating and still has a single desk over the 2007 crop," he says."And we're still entertaining a single desk for ongoing crops, and I just think while that's the case we're going to struggle."

Anbar Tribal Sheikhs Will Announce Political Front; Abu Risha Contacts Insurgent Groups To Strengthen His Power

2007-10-10T11:08:00.000Z

Politics

(Mashriq Newspaper) - 9 OCT - Anbar’s tribal sheikhs are ready to announce a political front. Meanwhile, a leader from an insurgent group has confirmed that Ahmed Abu Risha has contacted insurgent groups to support his power. Sheikh Ali Al Hatim, Anbar’s Tribal Council Chief, said that he will meet with the Anbar Awakening Council Chief, Ahmed Abu Risha and Sheikh Hamid Al Hayis, who was ousted from the council during Sheikh Abd Al Sattar Abu Risha’s regime. The goal of this meeting is to form a political front that has one opinion which all can agree on. Al Hatim said, “We will not allow anyone to make any decision alone or to say he represents the council which is led by Abu Risha.”
Some people close to Abu Risha have said that relations between Abu Risha and Al Hayis are bad because Al Hayis met with the Iraqi government in Baghdad, but Al Hatim said, “The relations between Al Hayis and Abu Risha are good and there is no disagreement between them.” Al Hatim added, “We do not accept Al Hayis to represent our positions in his meetings with the government or with other sides.” He confirmed, “We have our opinion about the meeting between Jalal Al Din Saghier and Al Hayis.” Al Hatim continued, “We do not have problems with SICI, but everyone knows that the relationships between the Sunni and Shiite sides are tense. Meetings such as these will increase the tension between these groups. The reports that claim Sheikh Al Hayis and I are working against Sheikh Ahmed Abu Risha are incorrect. There is no tension between Abu Risha and Al Hayis.”
Al Hayis met with Sheikh Jalal Al Din Al Saghier, the Shiite Alliance and SICI member to discuss the problem of Anbar. During this meeting Al Hayis said, “Sheikh Abd Al Sattar Abu Risha played a large role in improving the opinion of Sunnis in Iraq.”
An anonymous leader from an insurgent group in Anbar said, “Al Hayis is not working for Anbar’s interest.” He confirmed, “Sheikh Ahmed Abu Risha is a good politician, but sometimes he flatters people. Some Sunni politicians are trying to take credit for our achievements.” He added, “We demand that Sheikh Ahmed Abu Risha follow the style of his brother Sheikh Abd Al Sattar Abu Risha.” He added “Al Hayis has visited Iran many times; therefore he must want to support any Iranian project in Iraq. Abu Risha has contacted the resistance leaders and that is important to us.”
In related news, Sunni Accord Front, Omar Abd Al Sattar said, “The Accord Front, Awakening Council, and the Tribal Council are working together with the Abu Risha family to serve Anbar Province.”

Iraqi govt wants Blackwater to pay $136 mn. compensation to families

2007-10-10T11:04:00.000Z

(Reuters) - The Iraqi government wants US security firm Blackwater to pay $8 million in compensation to each of the families of 17 people killed in a shooting, a senior government source said yesterday. The source said the figure was roughly in line with compensation paid by the Libyan government to the families of the 270 people killed in the 1988 Lockerbie airline bombing over Scotland.
"We want them to pay $8 million [about Dh29.3m] for each family," the source said. "The same level as the compensation for the Lockerbie victims." Blackwater had been told of the demand, the source said. It was unclear what the private American firm's response was. Iraqi government spokesman Ali Al Dabbagh said on Sunday an investigation set up by Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki had found Blackwater "deliberately killed" the 17 people in the September 16 shooting in western Baghdad.
Blackwater has said its guards responded lawfully to a hostile threat against a US State Department convoy it was guarding, but Dabbagh said the investigation had also found there was no evidence they had come under fire.
The incident caused outrage among Iraqis who see security contractors like Blackwater as private armies which act with impunity. Blackwater employs about 1,000 people in Iraq. Its founder, former US Navy SEAL Erik Prince, told a Congressional hearing last week that his men had come under small-arms fire and "returned fire at threatening targets."

Rotana Hotels to develop $55 mn. property in Erbil

2007-10-10T11:00:00.000Z

Kurdistan

(PUKmedia news) - Abu Dhabi-based Rotana Hotels said on Tuesday it would develop a $55 million five-star property in Erbil in Iraq’s Kurdish region, which has largely been spared the violence affecting the rest of the country. Rotana, which has 25 hotels across the Middle East, will compete for a growing hospitality business with the Erbil International Hotel; the city's only other five-star property, where a standard twin room costs around $300 a night.
"This is part of our strategic aim to have a property located in every key city in the Middle East," Selim el-Zyr, president of Rotana, said in a statement. The semi-autonomous Kurdish Regional Government is trying to encourage investors to develop Erbil's hotel infrastructure and turn the city into an entry point to Iraq for foreign businesses.
The ministry of tourism last month said three or four times the current numbers of hotels were needed. The city's international airport handled about 170,000 passengers in 2006 and the regional government is building a new airport to handle 1.5 million, according to the London-based Kurdistan Development Corporation.
Austrian Airlines became the first European carrier to resume scheduled flights to Iraq last year when it began twice-weekly services to Erbil from Vienna. Rotana's 205 room Erbil property, scheduled to open in 2009, is owned by Lebanese holding company Malia although potential investors are ‘still welcome’ according to president Jacques Sarraf.

Head of Shiite Endowment gunned down in Baghdad

2007-10-10T10:52:00.000Z

Security

(Voices of Iraq) - Unknown gunmen assassinated the head of the Shiite Endowment in Baghdad's eastern part of Rasafa, Ibrahim Abdul Kareem, at a late hour on Monday night, an Iraqi police source said. The Shiite Endowment is a government agency that cares for Shiite mosques in Iraq. "Unidentified gunmen driving a civilian vehicle shot down Abdul Kareem while he was driving his car in al-Mashtal neighborhood in Baghdad al-Jadida," the source, who requested his name not be mentioned, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). No further information was given by the source.

Iraqi women languish in jail without trial

2007-10-10T10:46:00.000Z

(Azzaman) - A visit to a women prison in a Baghdad neighborhood has revealed that Iraqi authorities are paying lip service to human rights and rule of law. The visit by Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi found the jail over crowded with many women afflicted with contagious diseases due to lack of medicine and medical care.
“The tour has exposed a difficult and tragic situation in the whole process, starting with detention and ending with the horrific conditions of the prison,” a statement by Hashemi’s office said. The prison is in the neighborhood of Kadhimiya and is believed to hold mainly Sunni Muslim women. Many of the prisoners, the statement said, were detained because their husbands or sons were suspected of having links to forces resisting U.S. occupation.
“This means if anything that the women are taken hostages to exert pressure on their husbands who are wanted by the authorities,” the statement said. There were teenage women among the prisoners some of whom had spent several years behind bars, the statement added.
One women prisoner, Suaad Aziz, had told Hashemi that she was arrested while looking for her son who had disappeared for more than one year. “I was a principal of a school in the Amiriya district of Baghdad. They have sentenced me to death and no one has ever asked me a single question why I was here,” the statement reported Aziz as saying.
Thousands of Iraqis languish in scores of prisons in Iraq. U.S. troops have their own jails which they have constructed specifically to detain suspects. Iraqi authorities run their own prisons. There are more than 30,000 Iraqis in jails run by the U.S. and Iraqi government and most of them have been incarcerated merely on suspicion and held without trial.

U.S., Iraqis probe civilian killings by private security company

2007-10-10T10:38:00.000Z

Security

(AP) - U.S. and Iraqi officials Wednesday were investigating yet another shooting of Iraqi civilians by a heavily armed security firm linked to U.S. government-financed work in Iraq. The bodies of Marou Awanis and Geneva Jalal, the Christian women killed in the Tuesday shooting, were taken, meanwhile, to Baghdad's Armenian Orthodox Virgin Mary Church for funeral services. Iraqi authorities blamed the women's deaths on guards working for Unity Resources Group, a security company owned by Australian partners but with headquarters in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
Unity provides security services to RTI International, a group based in Research Triangle Park, N.C., that promotes governance projects in Iraq for the U.S. Agency for International Development. Both Unity and RTI acknowledged a security contract between them and both entities said RTI staffers were not present when the shooting occurred in Baghdad's Karradah district. A U.S. Embassy spokeswoman said RTI was under contract by USAID but was responsible for its own security.
Michael Priddin, chief operating officer of Unity, told The Associated Press on Wednesday the firm was working with Iraqi authorities "to find out the results of the shooting incident. ...we are trying to work out a true picture of what happened." In a statement issued Tuesday night, Priddin said, "We deeply regret this incident."
Iraqi government officials, police and witnesses said guards working for Unity fired on a white Oldsmobile as it approached their convoy Tuesday afternoon, killing the two women before speeding away from the latest bloodshed blamed on the deadly mix of heavily armed protection details on Baghdad's crowded streets.
The deaths of the women — including one who used the white sedan as an unofficial taxi to raise money for her family — came a day after the Iraqi government handed U.S. officials a report demanding hefty payments and the ouster from Iraq of embattled Blackwater USA for a chaotic shooting last month that left at least 17 civilians dead.
The Tuesday killings were certain to sharpen Iraqi government demands to curb the expanding array of security firms in Iraq watching over diplomats, aid groups and others. Accounts of the incident — from company statements, witnesses and others — suggested the Unity guards opened fire as the car failed to heed warnings to stop and drifted closer to the convoy near a Unity facility in Karrahah.
Four armored SUVs — three white and one gray — were about 100 yards from a main intersection in the Shiite-controlled district at about 1:40 p.m. As the car moved into the crossroads, the Unity guards threw a smoke bomb in an apparent bid to warn the driver not to come closer, said Riyadh Majid, an Iraqi policeman who saw the shooting. Two of the Unity guards then opened fire. The woman driving the car tried to stop, but was killed along with her passenger. Two of three people in the back seat were wounded.
Priddin's Tuesday statement offered a similar account: "The first information that we have is that our security team was approached at speed by a vehicle which failed to stop despite an escalation of warnings which included hand signals and a signal flare. Finally shots were fired at the vehicle and it stopped."
Iraqi police investigators said they collected 19 spent 5.56 mm shell casings, ammunition commonly used by U.S. and NATO forces and most Western security organizations. The pavement was stained with blood and covered with shattered glass from the car windows. Majid said the convoy raced away after the shooting. Iraqi police came to collect the bodies and tow the car to the local station.
A second policeman, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared retribution, said the guards were masked and wearing khaki uniforms. He said one of them left the vehicle and started to shoot at the car while another opened fire from the open back door of a separate SUV.
Iraqi anger has grown against the private security companies — nearly all based in the United States, Britian and other Western countries — as symbols of the lawlessness that has ravaged their country for more than four years.
Ali al-Dabbagh, Iraq's government spokesman, said: "Today's incident is part of a series of reckless actions by some security companies." Unity also has come under scrutiny before. In March 2006, the company issued an statement of sympathy after one of its guards was blamed for shooting a 72-year-old Iraqi-born Australian, Kays Juma, at a security checkpoint in Baghdad. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Juma was killed because he was in a car that failed to stop. Unity said multi-national forces and Iraqi police also were present at the checkpoint at the time.
Unity provides armed guards and security training throughout Iraq. Its heavily armed teams are Special Forces veterans from Australia, the United States, New Zealand and Britain — as well as former law enforcement officers from those countries.

Turkey prepares for possible incursion into northern Iraq

2007-10-10T10:33:00.000Z

Region

(Al Jazeera) - Turkey is preparing for a possible incursion into northern Iraq as the government says it is willing to take all necessary measures against Kurdish separatists it suspects of hiding there. The decision by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, follows a series of deadly attacks by the rebel PKK group on Turkish security forces.
"To put an end to the terrorist organisation operating in the neighbouring country [Iraq], the order has been given to take every kind of measure, legal, economic, political, including also a cross-border operation if necessary," Erdogan's office said in a statement on Tuesday.
Kurdish rebels have killed 15 soldiers in separate attacks in the past two days. There is increasing anger in the country over the rebels' ability to find refuge in neighbouring Iraq. The military said on Sunday it had shelled an area near Iraq to try to stop PKK members from escaping across the border after an attack in the southeast province of Sirnak that killed 13 soldiers. However, residents in northern Iraq claim the Turkish shelling is landing well within their territory. Kurdish farmers displayed craters on Tuesday they said were left by artillery shells that hit close to the border.
Ankara has not confirmed any shelling of Iraqi territory. Local officials in the Iraqi Kurdish-run northern region, feared the shelling was a sign of more to come. In the city of Arbil, 350km north of Baghdad, the Kurdish governor warned Turkey on Tuesday that its troops would sustain heavy losses if they began operations in the region.

Nozad Hadi, the region's governor, said: "If the Turkish troops decided to enter into the Iraq's Kurdistan territories, their decision would be wrong and they would sustain heavy casualties and material losses." Turkey's parliament would have to authorise any large-scale military operation into Iraq, but troops could pursue rebels over the border in smaller, so-called "hot pursuit" operations without such authorisation.

The US said it supported Turkey and Iraq in their efforts to combat the PKK but warned against military incursions from Ankara. Al Jazeera's Yusuf Sharif in Ankara says Turkey is unlikely to send troops into its neighbour in the near future given that it is due to host a regional conference next month with Iraqi representatives among the attendees. Sharif also said that the government in Baghdad wants time for a recent security agreement signed with Turkey to take effect.

Yusuf Kanli from the Turkish Daily News said while there was public pressure on the Erdogan government to show it was able to deal effectively with PKK rebels it needed to differentiate between the group and the wider Kurdish issue. "You can not end this kind of terrorism through military action, there are other factors to consider such as political, and social elements that intermingle," he told Al Jazeera. "But Turkey can not in any way ignore the need to provide security for its country. They have to differentiate between PKK and the Kurdish problem."

Police chief and tribal leader targeted in suicide bombing

2007-10-10T10:20:00.000Z

Security

(Al Jazeera) - Two suicide lorry bombs, separately targeting a police chief and a tribal leader, have killed at least 22 people in Baiji, about 200km north of Baghdad, police said. At least 30 people were injured when the lorries, loaded with barrels of petrol, exploded within minutes of each other at about 6am (0300 GMT) on Tuesday, police officials said.
In Baghdad, the capital, at least 12 more people were killed and 58 wounded in four separate explosions, including one which ripped through crowds in a central square, Iraqi officials and police said.Women and children were among the dead, the official said.
Many victims of Tuesday's twin attacks in Baiji were also women and children, police officials said. The first bomb went off outside the home of Colonel Saad al-Nuffous, an Iraqi police chief. The officer escaped unharmed, but his house was partially damaged, Ali al-Bijwari, a police commander, said.
Minutes later, a second bomber detonated his explosives outside the home of Thamer Ibrahim Atallah, a leader of the Salaheddin Awakening Council, a coalition of tribes established to fight al-Qaeda in the Tikrit area. Atallah escaped the attack, but the identities of the other casualties were not immediately known. US forces were deployed in the area after the blasts, al-Bijwari said.

Last Thursday, a roadside bomb near Samarra killed Sheikh Maawia Naji Jebara, the leader of the Salaheddin Awakening Council. The Islamic State of Iraq claimed responsibility for the killing in a statement posted on the internet.

Census to be carried out in Kirkuk in November

2007-10-10T10:17:00.000Z

(RFE/RL) - A full census will be carried out in the contested oil-rich governorate of Kirkuk in mid-November, said Narmin Uthman, the deputy head of the Higher Commission for the Implementation of Article 140 of the constitution, Kurdish media reported on October 4. Article 140 concerns repatriation of those displaced under Saddam Hussein's regime to their original homes. As it applies to Kirkuk, the article paves the way for thousands of Kurds displaced from their homes to return to the governorate. It also requires that tens of thousands of Arab families resettled in Kirkuk under Hussein must return to their homes and villages in the south of the country.

The census, called for in the constitution, will be followed by a referendum by residents in Kirkuk to decide whether to join the Kurdistan region or remain outside it. International media reported this week that the commission has begun to compensate Arab families for leaving their homes in Kirkuk. The government is offering 20 million dinars (around $16,000) to each family that leaves Kirkuk and relocates to their original homes. The number of Arab families living in Kirkuk is not known, but estimates run between 70,000 and 135,000 families.

Bombs explode near Polish embassy in Baghdad

2007-10-08T20:04:00.000Z

Security

A car bomb killed two people near Poland's embassy in Baghdad on Monday, five days after the Polish envoy was wounded in an attack, international agencies reported. Acting ambassador Waldemar Figaj told Reuters that four explosions hit near the embassy on Monday and described the first blast as "very, very powerful". No major damages were reported. Iraqi police said a car bomb near the embassy killed two people and wounded five. A bomb targeted the convoy of the Polish ambassador to Iraq in Baghdad last Wednesday, killing an Iraqi civilian and injuring the diplomat and at least three others. The ambassador, Gen. Edward Pietrzyk, was rushed to the US military hospital in Baghdad in stable condition. Poland has had a strong presence in the US-led coalition, and its military commands the Multi-National Division-Central South region.

Iraqi govt releases video confessions from Shiite cult after Najaf battle in January

2007-10-08T19:50:00.000Z

Security

(Reuters) - The Iraqi government on Monday released video confessions from followers of a Shi'ite cult arrested after a major battle with U.S. and Iraqi forces in January near the holy city of Najaf. One of the confessions said the cult leader slain in the battle had met critics of the Iraqi government, including the country's first post-war prime minister Iyad Allawi.
The fierce battle in the area of Zarga, north of Najaf, left 220 militants dead, including spiritual leader Dhia al-Garrawi. Iraq said the heavily-armed group planned to assassinate top Shi'ite scholars to destabilise the country. Riyadh al-Garrawi, who was captured after the fighting, said on the video confession that his brother, Dhia, had met both Allawi and Sunni cleric Harith al-Dari outside Iraq.
Dhia al-Garrawi had proclaimed himself the Mahdi, a messiah-like figure in Islam, and had a cult following. Allawi and Dari, both of whom spend most of their time abroad, are very critical of the Iraqi government and Dari has often accused it of forcing confessions from detainees for political ends. "(Dhia) requested me to arrange an interview with Allawi and (an intermediary) arranged a meeting with Allawi in Jordan," Riyadh al-Garrawi said on the video, shown at an Interior Ministry news conference.
He said Dhia also met Sunni cleric Dari at least twice to discuss political issues, in Syria's capital Damascus and the Gulf emirate of Dubai. "He told me they debated politics and agreed they were against federalism and favoured a secular state," he said.
Usama al-Nujeyfi, a lawmaker from Allawi's bloc, called the investigation results a sham. "It's not a proper investigation, it's all politicised. Dr. Allawi is a national leader who rejects violence in all its forms," he told Reuters. Dari was not immediately available for comment on the video confession.

U.S. military says it has detained 3 Iran-linked suspects in kidnapping of Brits

2007-10-08T19:44:00.000Z

Security

(Voices of Iraq) - The U.S. military in Iraq said on Monday it has detained three Iran-backed Shiite militia fighters believed responsible for the kidnapping of five British security contractors last May. "Coalition Forces from the 2nd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division detained three terrorists associated with the Iranian-backed Special Groups Militia during a pre-dawn raid in Sadr City on Oct 6," the U.S. army said in a statement received by the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
"The individuals detained during the raid are believed to be members of the Special Groups Militia network known for kidnapping, facilitating the transport of weapons and explosively-formed penetrators from Iran to Iraq, as well as bringing militants from Iraq into Iran for military training," it added.
"The three insurgents captured are believed to be responsible for the kidnapping of five British contractors in Baghdad on May 29," the statement noted. A group of armed men in police uniforms abducted the five Britons from the Iraqi Finance Ministry in May. Their fate is not known.

Footballer sworn in by Iraqi Accordance Front

2007-10-08T19:41:00.000Z

Politics

(Gulf News) - One of Iraq's most famous football stars was sworn in on Monday to replace a lawmaker-turned-insurgent in the largest Sunni parliament block. Ahmed Radhi, the only Iraqi player to have scored in World Cup finals, officially took the Sunni Accordance Front seat vacated by Abdul Nasser Al Janabi. Janabi had declared in June that he would leave politics to join the insurgency in Iraq.
The bloc had nominated 43-year-old Radhi last week, to "support the youth and sport in Iraq," said the Sunni bloc's spokesman, Muhanad Al Issawi. "I will join the Sport and Youth Committee in parliament, beside my political activities as lawmaker," Radhi said after his swearing-in.
Radhi was Iraq's most famous forward in mid 1980s and scored the only World Cup goal for Iraq ever in a game against Belgium in the 1986 tournament in Mexico. After the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussain, he became the manager of Al Zawra soccer club in the Iraqi premiere league. He left the job and moved to Amman, Jordan, after receiving threats and after the kidnapping of Ahmed Al Hijiya, the chairman of Iraq's National Olympic committee.

Basra police chief steps up to militia challenge

2007-10-08T19:36:00.000Z

Security

The Iraqi government, along with political forces, are following with concern the situation in Basra province, with the withdrawal of the British military continuing in the forthcoming months until a full withdrawal is implemented. General Abdul Jalil Khalaf, Basra police chief, told Gulf News: "The task is very difficult and conditions are extremely dangerous because each party believes that it represents the law, and each element thinks of himself as a state hero. The city includes tens or even hundreds of militias and I am ready for the task."
Statistics at the University of Basra indicates that there are about 250,000 individuals involved in the armed militias and around 144 militia groups.
There are the militias of the Dawa party headed by Nouri Al Maliki, the Badr Brigades headed by Hadi Al Ameri affiliated to Abdul Aziz Al Hakim, the Mahdi Army of Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr, the Hezbollah movement militia led by Hassan Sari, Hezbollah affiliated to Abdul Kareem Al Muhamadawi, the Fadhila party militias belong to Mohammad Al Yacoubi and other small resistance militias in the south as Imam Ali rebels, Hassan and Hussain rebels and Al Ridha followers.
The oil-rich city consists of 40 to 55 private militia who specialise in oil smuggling to Iran and stealing copper wires from electric grids. Abdul Hadi, an Iraqi army officer in Basra, told Gulf News: "The most dangerous militia is the police and security forces' militias because they have weapons and work in the name of the law. These are groups that consist of between 40 to 90 members who agree to implement kidnapping and blackmail operations or condone gang activities for major financial commissions."
Basra, especially Faw and Majnoon Islands, includes the richest oil fields in the region as well as bunches of palm orchards which yield the best types of dates in the world.
Fadhil Al Jamaly, an economic researcher, told Gulf News: "The issue of oil is the essence of conflict between armed militias, whether these are affiliated to political parties or smuggling gangs. I believe fighting will break out between the outlaw armed groups because of the weakness of state security forces and also the penetration of these militias in these forces, besides seizing land and dates palms is no less important than oil for the armed groups."
Recently, the dispute settlement body in Basra reported that armed militias affiliated to political parties, gangs and powerful individuals seized thousands of houses and real estate.

Gordon Brown to make cuts in troop numbers

2007-10-08T19:28:00.000Z

(The Guardian) - Gordon Brown will today offer the prospect of deep cuts early next year in the number of British troops in Iraq as well as asylum to some Iraqis, including interpreters, who have helped the army there over the last four years. He is also expected to outline an aid and investment package to boost the economy and quality of life of those who live in a region which has the potential of being one of the richest in the Middle East.
The prime minister said in his BBC interview yesterday that his statement on Iraq to MPs was "not simply about what's happening by Christmas" - a reference to his hotly disputed announcement in Baghdad last week that the number of British troops in southern Iraq would be cut by 1,000 by then. His Commons statement, he said, would be "far more comprehensive". It would cover "security, political reconciliation, economic reconstruction". He added: "And there are other aspects of what we can do to improve the security of our military forces and those who help us on the ground."
The prime minister is expected to say that Britain will hand over responsibility for security throughout Basra province to Iraqi forces within the next two months. In that time, the total number of British troops will fall to 4,500. Though this is 1,000 less than the existing official full complement, a 500 cut in that figure had already been announced and 250 of those had already flown home. The number is likely to be reduced by at least a further 1,500 next May, leaving a force of 3,000. But Mr Brown is expected to hold out the option of basing most of those in Kuwait, leaving a much smaller garrison at Basra airport, Britain's last remaining base in Iraq.
British troops have already ended their combat role in southern Iraq. In future, they will take on what is called an "overwatch" role - helping Iraqi security forces in the event of a crisis. They will also continue to train Iraqi forces, carry out patrols along the border with Iran in an attempt to hinder weapons smuggling, and help protect convoys delivering supplies from Kuwait to US forces in northern and central Iraq.
The number of attacks on British forces has fallen dramatically since the army handed over to Iraqi forces the Basra Palace, the last British base in the city, last month. British military commanders have recently been holding talks with Shia militia, including the radical cleric Moqtada al Sadr's Mahdi Army, and released militia members suspected of being involved in attacks on British troops, in what they call a new reconciliation process.
British commanders appear to have squared the US, who, despite allegations of indisciplined, trigger-happy employees of the Blackwater private security company, is expected to hire more private contractors to protect supply convoys. However, British defence officials remain concerned about the prospect of US forces having to "fill in" for absent British soldiers in the event of renewed heavy fighting in the area. That is one risk British military chiefs want to avoid.

New tender for Kirkuk crude to be announced

2007-10-08T19:20:00.000Z

Oil

(Reuters) - Iraq has sold nearly 5 million barrels of Kirkuk crude to buyers in Europe and the United States and plans to issue a new sales tender in the coming days, an Iraqi oil ministry source said on Monday. Shell, BP, Cepsa, Tupras, Erg, and Exxon Mobil had been awarded a total of 5 million barrels, he said. A new tender for 5 million barrels of Kirkuk crude -- the fourth such sale in six weeks -- will be announced in the next few days, the source said.
Through the three previous sales, Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organisation has sold about 12.5 million barrels of Kirkuk crude that is pumped from its northern oilfields and piped to Turkey for export. Repeated sabotage attacks along Iraq's northern pipeline to the Turkish terminal of Ceyhan have kept the export route mostly idle since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.
But intermittent flows through the line over the past month have allowed Baghdad once again to ship crude to world markets. "We're moving volume to Ceyhan at a steadier rate," said the source. "So we're studying the possibility of term contracts." The Iraq-Turkey pipeline is Iraq's secondary export route. It relies on its main terminal in the south at Basra for exports of about 1.5 million barrels per day.

Iraqi government calls for Blackwater to hand over security agents

2007-10-08T19:12:00.000Z

(AP) -- Iraqi authorities want the U.S. government to sever all contracts in Iraq with Blackwater USA within six months and pay $8 million in compensation to each of the families of 17 people killed when the firm's guards sprayed a traffic circle with heavy machine gun fire last month. The demands - part of an Iraqi government report examined by The Associated Press - also called on U.S. authorities to hand over the Blackwater security agents involved in the Sept. 16 shootings to face possible trial in Iraqi courts.
The tone of the Iraqi report appears to signal further strains between the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the White House over the deaths in Nisoor Square - which have prompted a series of U.S. and Iraqi probes and raised questions over the use of private security contractors to guard U.S. diplomats and other officials.
Al-Maliki ordered the investigation by his defense minister and other top security and police officials on Sept. 22. The findings - which were translated from Arabic by AP - mark the most definitive Iraqi positions and contentions about the shootings last month.
The report also highlights the differences in death tolls and accounts that have complicated efforts to piece together the chain of events as one Blackwater-protected convoy raced back toward Baghdad's Green Zone after a nearby bombing, while a second back-up team in four gun trucks sped into the square as a back-up team.
The Iraqi investigation - first outlined Thursday by The Associated Press - charges the four Blackwater vehicles called to the square began shooting without provocation. Blackwater contends its employees came under fire first. The government, at the conclusion of its investigation, said 17 Iraqis died. Initial reports put the toll at 11.
The United States has not made conclusive findings about the shooting, though there are multiple investigations under way and Congress has opened inquiries into the role of private security contractors. Last week, the FBI took over a State Department investigation, raising the prospect that it could be referred to the Justice Department for prosecution.
The Iraqi government report said its courts were to proper venue in which to bring charges. It said Blackwater's license to operate in Iraq expired on June 2, 2006, meaning it had no immunity from prosecution under Iraqi laws set down after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. The government report also challenged the claim that a decree in June 2004 by then-Iraqi administrator L. Paul Bremer granted Blackwater immunity from legal action in incidents such as the one in Nisoor Square. The report said the Blackwater guards could be charged under a criminal code from 1969.
U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo said the diplomatic mission would have no comment on the report. Iraq's Interior Ministry spokesman, Abdul-Karim Khalaf, said the document was in American hands.
The report found that Blackwater guards also had killed 21 Iraqi civilians and wounded 27 in previous shootings since it took over security for U.S. diplomats in Baghdad after the U.S. invasion. The Iraqi government did not say whether it would try to prosecute in those cases.
The State Department has counted 56 shooting incidents involving Blackwater guards in Iraq this year. All were being reviewed as part of the comprehensive inquiry ordered by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Barzani defends Kurdistan's oil deals

2007-10-08T19:06:00.000Z

Oil, Kurdistan

(AP) -- The leader of Kurdistan on Sunday defended his self-governing region's oil deals with international companies, saying the agreements were not an attempt to usurp the nation's oil resources but a way to make them work for all the people of Iraq. Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, who wrote an opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal, said eight contracts already had been signed and two more were expected soon.
The central government in Baghdad is upset about the deals, saying the Kurds should wait until the passage of a national oil law before signing any new contracts. But Barzani countered that the agreements are allowed under the Iraqi constitution, "which gives the regions of Iraq substantial control over natural resources."
"Many in the Iraqi Oil Ministry are locked in a time warp dating back to the regime of Saddam Hussein, in which Baghdad holds tight control of all the resources of Iraq and uses these resources to create obeisance and loyalty to the center," Barzani said.
If exploration leads to oil production, 85 percent of the profits would go to the government and the remainder would go to the companies. The profits would then be split -- giving 83 percent to the central government in Baghdad and 17 percent to the Kurds, Barzani sad. "We want peace and prosperity for the rest of Iraq as well," Barzani said. "We will contribute our fair share and more to that goal."
The Iraqi Cabinet approved a draft oil law last February and forwarded it to parliament, but parliament, citing legal technicalities, kicked it back to the Cabinet. The measure has been bogged down in negotiations ever since. Last August, the Kurds enacted their own oil law to regulate the oil sector in the region, further angering the central government in Baghdad.
"We waited five months for the Iraqi Assembly to pass the agreed draft. They have not acted and there is no sign that they will act anytime soon. We decided to lead from the front," Barzani said in Sunday's letter. "We are not a rogue province seeking an early escape from the chaos that has become Iraq."

Talabani supports U.S. Senate proposal to decentralise Iraq

2007-10-08T19:03:00.000Z

Government

(VOA) -- Iraqi President Jalal Talabani says he supports a U.S. Senate resolution that calls for the decentralization of Iraq into autonomous regions for Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurds. The non-binding Senate resolution adopted last month is opposed by the Bush administration and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
But, Mr. Talabani said in an interview with CNN Sunday that the Senate proposal deserves consideration and does not undermine Iraq's unity. The resolution urges the creation of a federal government in Baghdad that would protect Iraq's borders and share oil revenues among the regions. Mr. Talabani, who is a Kurd, says there is "no possibility" of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region becoming independent. He says such a state would face hostility from neighbors with Kurdish minorities.
The Iraqi president also says he believes the United States can withdraw at least 100,000 troops from Iraq by the end of next year. Mr. Talabani did not explain why he thinks the U.S. military can carry out a faster pullout than U.S. commanders have discussed in public. Mr. Talabani also says the U.S. military should keep three bases in northern, central and southern Iraq to train Iraqi forces and prevent neighboring countries from interfering.

128,000 Iraqi refugees register with UNHCR in Syria

2007-10-08T19:00:00.000Z

Humanitarian

(DPA) -- More than 128,000 Iraqi refugees were registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) by the start of the UN refugee agency's mobile registration programme in the northeast of the country on Monday.
The UNHCR said in a statement that the registration team started the programme in Al Hassakeh Governorate where it estimates that over 6,000 Iraqi refugees will be registered during a two month period. The agency said so far its office in Damascus has recorded more than 128,000 Iraqis, of whom 87,432 were registered in 2007.
The registration highlighted the 'vulnerability of many of these refugees with one in five registered this year having a serious medical condition, and one in five being classified as survivors of violence or torture in Iraq,' UNHCR statement said.
'It is a priority for UNHCR to reach vulnerable Iraqi refugees throughout the country. This mobile registration will help us to identify the refugees that need our help the most. In parallel we plan to expand our assistance rapidly throughout the country,' UNHCR Syria Representative Laurens Jolles said. The Syrian government estimates there are around 1.6 million Iraqi refugees in Syria, most of them living in Damascus and its surrounds.

Al-Sadr and al-Hakim sign truce

2007-10-08T18:55:00.000Z

Politics

(Al Jazeera) - Moqtada al-Sadr and Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, two of Iraq's most influential Shia leaders, have agreed a deal aimed at ending years of rivalry. Al-Sadr's movement, which enjoyed a surge in popularity after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, is backed by several thousand fighters known as the Mahdi Army and is the country's most powerful Shia group.
Al-Hakim leads the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC), another significant Shia faction and a pillar of the ruling coalition. The two groups have clashed repeatedly in the past in their competition for control of Iraq's majority Shia community.
A statement from al-Hakim's office said Saturday's accord mentioned three points aimed at "enhancing relations between the two groups and maintaining the Islamic and national interest." The first point outlined "the necessity to maintain and respect the Iraqi blood under whatever circumstances or by any party. Bloodletting is contrary to all legislations and morals."

The remaining two points talked of uniting media and cultural efforts and setting up a joint committee with provincial branches to keep order between their respective supporters. Liwa Sumaysim, head of the political committee of the Sadr group, said: "The agreement is essentially a commitment of honour. The most important aspect is that it forbids both sides to engage in bloodletting against each other and against Iraqis in general."

Hamid al-Saadi, head of the SIIC media office, said the deal was agreed in a "friendly spirit" and came at an "important time for the country". "Iraq needs deals between factions in Iraq to enhance and preserve Iraqi unity," al-Saadi said in a statement.

Iran reopens border crossings with Iraqi Kurdistan

2007-10-08T18:50:00.000Z

Region

(AP) - Iran reopened five border crossing points with Kurdish-run northern Iraq on Monday, closed last month by Tehran to protest the U.S. detention of an Iranian official. The Iranian border points were closed Sept. 24 to protest the U.S. detention of an Iranian official. The U.S. military has said the official was a member of the paramilitary Quds Force, a branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards that is accused of providing arms and training to Shiite extremists.
The border points were reopened after a Kurdish delegation traveled to Iran to complain the region should not be punished for something the Americans did. Iraqi and Iranian authorities have claimed that the detained Iranian, Mahmoud Farhadi, was in Iraq on official business and demanded his release. A spokesman for the Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq, Jamal Abdullah, said he hoped the resumed flow of traffic and goods would help rising prices plaguing the region since the closures.
The reopening is in the "economic interests of both countries," Abdullah said, adding that Tehran and Baghdad share the responsibility to "prevent gunmen from having access to either side of the border." U.S. commander Gen. David Petraeus claimed this weekend that the Iranian ambassador to Baghdad, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, was a member of the Quds Force.
"The Quds Force controls the policy for Iraq; there should be no confusion about that either," Petraeus told CNN and other reporters during a trip to a military base on the Iranian border. "The ambassador is a Quds Force member. Now he has diplomatic immunity and therefore he is obviously not subject (to an investigation) and he is acting as a diplomat."
Petraeus did not provide details on how he knew that Qomi, who has held talks in Baghdad with U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, belonged to the Quds Force. The Iranian Foreign Ministry rejected the allegations. "These are not new comments. Similar accusations were raised, formerly. It is baseless and not right," ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters in Tehran.
The Iraqis have found themselves caught between two allies as they struggle to balance the interests of the U.S. military, their main sponsor, and Iran, a major regional ally. Iran holds considerable sway in Iraq: Both countries have majority Shiite populations, and many members of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's ruling Shiite bloc have close ties with Tehran.

Kurdish rebels kill Turkish soldiers

2007-10-08T18:45:00.000Z

Region

(AP) - Kurdish rebels killed 13 Turkish soldiers Sunday in a clash in the country's southeast, and troops responded by shelling an area near Iraq to try to stop the rebels from escaping across the border, the military said. Turkey has been pressing Iraq and the United States to hit the bases of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, in northern Iraq, and has considered a unilateral military operation across the border to root out the rebels.
The soldiers were killed in the southeastern province of Sirnak, not far from where troops and rebels clashed two days earlier, according to a statement on the military's Web site. An operation to track down the rebels was under way, and troops shelled areas near the border to try to prevent rebels from reaching their bases in northern Iraq, the statement said.
The clash "boosted our determination and strength" to fight terrorism, the military said. Abdul-Rahman al-Chadarchi, a spokesman for the Kurdish rebel group, confirmed the attack and said the rebel fighters sustained no casualties. Kurdish rebels have been staging attacks on Turkey from their bases in northern Iraq. But the U.S. opposes any military move into Iraq by Turkey.
Turkey's military on Sunday designated 27 "security zones" off limits to civilians in eastern and southeastern regions where the borders with Iraq and Iran converge. Starting Tuesday, the zones will be in place until Dec. 10. The military imposed similar zones earlier in June in three southeastern provinces to keep civilians away from the fighting with the PKK. Some experts have speculated that the zones are part of preparations for a possible Iraq campaign.

Iraqis prevented from entering Syria without visas

2007-10-05T11:37:00.000Z

Travel

(DPA) -- For the first time under a new visa regime to stem the flow of Iraqi refugees into the country, 10 Iraqis were prevented Wednesday from entering Syria without visas, an Iraqi party leader living in Syria said Thursday. The Iraqi politician, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the 10 Iraqis tried to get visas from Syrian embassies abroad but they were told that there were no instructions as to the new visa system applied two weeks ago by the Syrian government only on Iraqis.
The Iraqi official further added that the Syrian-Iraqi borders seemed the past two days almost deserted after previously receiving between 1,500 and 2,000 Iraqis every day. Any Arab is allowed to enter Syria without a visa. However, after the massive flow of Iraqi refugees from the ongoing conflict in that country into Syria, the Syrian government decided to impose visas on any visiting Iraqi.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Antonio Guterres, about 2 million Iraqis have taken refuge in neighbouring countries, particularly in Jordan and Syria, placing a heavy burden on their hosts. In Syria, which sees the arrival of an estimated 40,000 Iraqis a month, refugees are seen to be contributing to a rise in the cost of housing and goods and the overcrowding of schools.
About 1.5 million Iraqi refugees currently live in Syria. The Syrian government provides the Iraqi refugees with free education and health care, but can no longer cope with the influx of Iraqis.

Women in Basra targeted by religious extremists

2007-10-05T11:22:00.000Z

Security

(McClatchy Newspapers) - Women in Basra have become the targets of a violent campaign by religious extremists, who leave more than 15 female bodies scattered around the city each month, police officers say. Maj. Gen. Abdel Jalil Khalaf, the commander of Basra's police, said Thursday that self-styled enforcers of religious law threatened, beat and sometimes shot women who they believed weren't sufficiently Muslim.
"This is a new type of terror that Basra is not familiar with," he said. "These gangs represent only themselves, and they are far outside religious, forgiving instructions of Islam." Often, he said, the "crime" is no more than wearing Western clothes or not wearing a head scarf.
Before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, Iraqi women had had rights enshrined in the country's constitution since 1959 that were among the broadest of any Arab or Islamic nation. However, while the new constitution says that women are equal under the law, critics have condemned a provision that says no law can contradict the "established rulings" of Islam as weakening women's rights.
The vigilantes patrol the streets of Basra on motorbikes or in cars with dark-tinted windows and no license plates. They accost women who aren't wearing the traditional robe and head scarf known as hijab. Religious extremists in the city also have been known to attack men for clothes or even haircuts deemed too Western.
Like all of southern Iraq, Basra is populated mostly by Shiite Muslims, so sectarian violence isn't a major problem, but security has deteriorated as Shiite militias fight each other for power. British troops in the area pulled out last month.
Khalaf, who has a reputation for outspokenness in a city where that can get you killed, scoffed at the groups, calling them no better than criminal gangs. He said he didn't care if some were affiliated with the militias, he planned to crack down on them. "If there is a red line related to the insurgents and militias, we will pass it over, because it's one of the factors that destroy the society," he said.
The violence is displacing the few members of religious minorities in the area. Fuad Na'im, one of a handful of Christians left in the city, said Thursday that the way his wife dressed made the whole family a target. "I was with my wife few days ago when two young men driving a motorbike stopped me and asked her about her clothes and why she doesn't wear hijab," he said. "When I told them that we are Christians, they beat us badly, and I would be dead if some people nearby hadn't intervened."
That was enough, he said. "I'm about to leave the city where I was born and where my father and grandfather were buried, because I can't live in a place where we're asked about our clothes, food and drink."

Corruption has cost Iraqi govt $18 bn.

2007-10-05T11:16:00.000Z

Corruption

(Reuters) - Widespread corruption in Iraq stretches into the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, an Iraqi investigating judge told U.S. lawmakers on Thursday, and an American official said U.S. efforts to combat the problem are inadequate. Judge Radhi Hamza al-Radhi, who was named by the United States in 2004 to head the Iraqi Commission on Public Integrity, said his agency estimated corruption had cost the Iraqi government up to $18 billion.
Maliki has shielded relatives from investigation and allowed government ministers to protect implicated employees, said the judge, who left Iraq in August after threats against him. He told a Capitol Hill hearing that 31 employees of his agency had been killed. Radhi said he did not have evidence against Maliki personally, but the prime minister had "protected some of his relatives that were involved in corruption."
One of these was a former minister of transportation, Radhi told the House of Representatives' Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The U.S. official who testified, Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, Stuart Bowen, said he also saw a "rising tide of corruption in Iraq." He said U.S. efforts to combat it were "disappointing," lacking funding and focus.
Rep. Henry Waxman, the California Democrat who chairs the panel, questioned whether the Maliki government was "too corrupt to succeed" and charged that U.S. efforts to address the problem were in "complete disarray." He criticized what he said was State Department resistance to the panel's investigation, saying the U.S. government apparently was afraid the corruption revelations "might embarrass or hurt our relations with the Maliki government."
Larry Butler, the deputy assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs, declined to publicly answer questions about whether Maliki had obstructed corruption investigations, saying he could only respond in a closed session. Waxman called the request "absurd," but the State Department defended Butler's position. Spokesman Sean McCormack said in corruption investigations it was best to handle matters privately at first to protect the rights of those under suspicion.
Radhi said he did not return to Iraq because of threats to his security, but he also suggested Maliki was behind efforts to prosecute him if he went back. In his statement, he said 31 of his co-workers and 12 of their relatives had been killed because of their work. "This includes my staff member Mohammed Abd Salif who was gunned down with his seven-month pregnant wife," he said. The body of the father of another worker was found on a meat hook, he said. Radhi also said it had been impossible for the commission to adequately investigate oil corruption because Sunni and Shi'ite militias had control of the distribution of Iraqi oil.

U.S. military reports find Blackwater at fault

2007-10-05T11:13:00.000Z

(Reuters) - U.S. military reports from the scene of a shooting incident in Baghdad involving security contractor Blackwater indicates its guards opened fire without provocation and used excessive force, The Washington Post reported on Friday. At least 11 Iraqis were killed in the Sept. 16 incident, which has outraged Iraqis who see the firm as a private army which acts with impunity.
Citing a senior U.S. military official, the Post said the military reports appear to corroborate the Iraqi government's contention that Blackwater was at fault. "It was obviously excessive. It was obviously wrong," a U.S. military official speaking on condition of anonymity told the newspaper. "The civilians that were fired upon, they didn't have any weapons to fire back at them. And none of the IP (Iraqi police) or any of the local security forces fired back at them," the official was quoted as saying.
The Blackwater guards appeared to have fired grenade launchers in addition to machine guns, the official told the Post. He said U.S. soldiers had reviewed statements from eyewitnesses and video footage recorded at the scene. An Iraqi Interior Ministry official and five eyewitnesses described a second deadly shooting involving the same Blackwater guards minutes after the incident in Nisoor Square, the Post reported.
The FBI is leading a State Department investigation of the incident, which occurred as Blackwater escorted a diplomatic convoy in western Baghdad. The Pentagon and a joint U.S.-Iraqi team are also looking into the incident. North Carolina-based Blackwater has said its guards reacted lawfully to an attack on the convoy they were protecting.
In previously unpublished remarks prepared for delivery at a congressional hearing, Blackwater Chairman Erik Prince said the Blackwater guards "came under small-arms fire" and "returned fire at threatening targets," the Post reported.
Portions of the remarks dealing with the incident were left out of his testimony after the Justice Department warned Blackwater the incident was under investigation, it reported. The Post did not say how they obtained these remarks. Blackwater is also under scrutiny over other shooting incidents involving Iraqis.

Parliament sacks MP for joining resistance

2007-10-05T10:39:00.000Z

Politics

(Voices of Iraq) - Iraqi parliament on Thursday decided after marathonic debate to sack the Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front legislator Abdul Nasser al-Jenabi for he "joined the armed resistance and expressed regret to take part in the political process." The House of the Representatives decided in Thursday's session to sack MP Abdul Nasser al-Jenabi, and ordered that the Sunni Accordance Front, to which Janabi was a member, shall nominate a replacement.
Earlier, Accordance Front demanded to agree to consider al-Janabi as resigned, leading parliament's session to witness a controversy on the legal position of MP Abdul Nasser al-Jenabi following his decision to join the armed resistance. "Member of Parliament Abdul Nasser al-Jenabi did not present his resignation, and his bloc presented a demand, in which it urged to consider him as a resigned member. This demand is illegal and parliament cannot approve it," Sheikh Khaled al-Attiya said.
"Al-Jenabi had to present an official demand with his resignation," he explained. Following a lengthy and hot debate over al-Jenabi's statement and his legal position as a legislator, al-Attiya said, "it seems there are differences on that subject, but al-Jenabi told media that he regretted having participated in the political process and he will join armed resistance, but did not present an official demand to resign from parliament."
The first deputy speaker decided to postpone the whole matter, but the Shiite Unified Iraqi Coalition members rejected to put off the issue and pressed to take a decision against al-Jenabi. The session chairman then decided to sack al-Jenabi and asked IAF to nominate a replacement. Al-Jenabi is a member of the National Dialogue Council, one of the three Sunni components that form the IAF. The council is headed by Sheikh Khalaf al-Eliyan.

Kuwait will not accept partition of Iraq

2007-10-05T10:24:00.000Z

Region

(Reuters) - Kuwait will not accept any plan to divide Iraq into federal regions and wants the United States to remain there until the country is stable, the Kuwaiti Emir said in remarks aired yesterday. "We will not accept the partition of Iraq, we consider this to be dangerous to us. It will be dangerous for the whole region," Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah told Al Arabiya television, commenting on a US Senate resolution advocating the division of Iraq into federal regions. "We are against this division and I think that even the Iraqis will not accept this." The non-binding Senate amendment, which was passed last week, says the United States should actively support a political settlement among Iraqis based on a federal system of government.
The amendment has been widely interpreted as a proposal to divide Iraq along sectarian and ethnic lines into Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish regions. Shaikh Sabah also called on the United States to keep its troops in Iraq until stability is seen on the ground. "I say it frankly, I would like the United States to withdraw its troops from tomorrow, but do you think that if they pull out there will be stability in Iraq? I think not," he said.
"We will hold the United States responsible for the fighting in Iraq, therefore, I wish that they will not leave now before they maintain a strong army in Iraq that can protect Iraq and its people." Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said on Monday that the resolution was well-meaning but failed to recognise the ethnic complexity of Iraqi cities and regions. The Arab League criticised the resolution and described the idea as "hostile to Arab interests."

PUK says Turkey has banned Iraqi airlines from its airspace

2007-10-05T10:21:00.000Z

Region

(RFE/RL) - The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan's website reported on October 3 that Turkey has banned Iraqi airlines from using its airspace. It said that Turkey previously prevented flights between Germany and Iraqi Kurdistan, apparently through a similar ban, but later agreed to permit the flights. "As passengers prepared to [fly on October 2] from Frankfurt and Munich to Irbil and Al-Sulaymaniyah, Hamburg International Company informed Zozik Airline Company in Kurdistan that Turkey decided to stop all the journeys [after] 6:30 p.m. Berlin time using Turkish airspace," the website reported. Zozik Airline Director Nawzad Dizay'i confirmed the ban.

Civilians killed in U.S. air raid near Baqouba

2007-10-05T10:06:00.000Z

Security

(Al Jazeera) - At least 17 Iraqi civilians, including women and children, have been killed in a US air raid, Iraqi officials and witnesses say. US military officials have yet to respond to the claim, but issued a statement that it had killed 25 Shia fighters in clashes near the city of Baquba, in the same area as the alleged attack on the civilians.
US helicopters attacked the Shia village of al-Jaysani, close to the town of Khalis, at about 2am local time (2300 GMT), witnesses said on Friday. "Seventeen people were killed, 27 were wounded and eight are missing including women and children," an Iraqi defence ministry official, said.
However, Ahmed Mohammed, a witness, said the death toll was higher. "There are 24 bodies on the ground in the village and 25 others wounded in Al-Khalis hospital," he said. At least four houses in the village, which lies 80km north of Baghdad, were destroyed in the US air raid, witnesses said. An Iraqi army official who spoke on condition of anonymity said civilians were killed when they rushed out to help those hurt in the initial bombing.
Oday al-Khadran, Khalis' mayor, said the US military targeted areas built up by local people to protect their neighbourhood against attacks by al-Qaeda fighters. "These places came under attack by American air strikes," he said.
The US military could not be reached for comment on allegations that it had killed civilians during combat operations, but a US military statement said 25 fighters had been killed near Baquba. The statement said US forces came under fire from opposition fighters who were then killed in an ensuing gun battle, adding that two houses were destroyed in the fighting.
The target of the operation was a "commander believed to be associated with members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard-Quds Force", the statement said. The statement said that one of the oppostion fighters was carrying what appeared to be an anti-aircraft weapon. The US military said at the weekend it had seized Iranian-made surface-to-air missiles that were being used by opposition fighters in Iraq.
Friday's incident comes amid heightened tension between the US and Iran after US forces detained Mahmudi Farhadi, an Iranian national, in northern Iraq a fortnight ago. Farhadi’s detention led Tehran to close its border with the Kurdish semi-autonomous region. The US military says that Farhadi is an officer in the covert operations arm of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards. The secret operations wing has been accused by American commanders of supporting Shia fighters involved in Iraq's continuing sectarian conflict.

Iraqi investigation recommends Blackwater security guards face trial in Iraqi court

2007-10-05T09:53:00.000Z

(AP) - The official Iraqi investigation into the Blackwater shooting last month recommends that the security guards face trial in Iraqi courts and that the company compensate the victims, an Iraqi government minister told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The three-member panel, led by Defense Minister Abdul-Qader al-Obeidi, determined that Blackwater guards sprayed western Baghdad's Nisoor Square with gunfire Sept. 16 without provocation, Minister of State for National Security Sherwan al-Waili told AP. The panel also found that 13 Iraqis were killed, not 11 as earlier disclosed, according to al-Waili told AP.
A parallel but unofficial investigation by seven members of the Interior Ministry found that 17 Iraqis were killed and 24 wounded, a member of the Interior Ministry panel said on condition that he not be identified because the findings were not public. He said its recommendations were nearly identical to those issued by the al-Obeidi investigative team.
Both reports were to go to the larger joint U.S.-Iraqi panel studying the shooting. The Sept. 16 incident was one of at least six involving deaths allegedly caused by Blackwater that authorities here have brought to the attention of the Americans.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has also dispatched a team to Baghdad, and retired veteran diplomat Stapleton Roy is leading a diplomatic review, along with a former State Department and intelligence official, Eric Boswell. The panel, led by Patrick Kennedy, one of the most senior management experts in the U.S. foreign service, was to present an interim report early this month.
Security officials in Baghdad said the State Department report was expected to include information that two Blackwater guards involved in the incident suffered gunshot wounds. The officials would not be further identified because the report had not yet been made public. Blackwater has said its guards used their weapons only after they came under fire. But the official Iraqi investigation found that the Blackwater guards had not been fired on when they unleashed the fusillade. It said no shots were fired at Blackwater personnel throughout.
The report said that the Blackwater guards had violated accepted rules of engagement, should face trial in the Iraqi justice system and that the company should compensate the victims families. The guards currently are immune from prosecution in Iraq under a 2004 decree by L. Paul Bremer, a U.S. administrator in Iraq after the war. He issued the decree shortly before leaving Baghdad when political sovereignty was turned over to a provisional government.
In Washington on Thursday, the House passed a bill that would make all private contractors working in Iraq and other combat zones subject to prosecution by U.S. courts. Al-Obeidi's panel finished its work this week and submitted the report and recommendations to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Tuesday, according to al-Waili. Al-Waili said the report was issued under the signatures of al-Obeidi, Maj. Gen. Tariq al-Baldawi, the deputy minister of national security; and Maj. Gen. Hussein Ali Kamal, the deputy interior minister for intelligence and security affairs.
Blackwater is paid millions to protect State Department employees in Baghdad's dangerous environment and is widely known among Iraqis as a group to stay away from as convoys roar through the city, heavy guns at the ready on speeding armored vehicles.

Calls grow for partition of Iraq

2007-10-05T09:48:00.000Z

Politics

(The Guardian) - After months of gruelling work, including major counter-insurgency operations in June, US commanders in Iraq have growing reason to believe the controversial "surge" policy is working. But as the military gets a grip, the effectiveness and cohesion of the civilian-led, Shia-dominated government in Baghdad slips by the day. That is renewing talk of partition.
US officials say the number of Iraqi civilians and American soldiers killed in September was lower than at any time since January 2006. The overall trend has been downwards for four months. Lieutenant-general Raymond Odierno, the US deputy commander, said this week that al-Qaida bases and safe havens had been reduced by 60-70% since the surge began. Other contributory factors include increased cooperation from Sunni Arab tribesmen across central Iraq. Up to 30,000 Sunnis have reportedly volunteered to help US and Iraqi-government forces secure their neighbourhoods.
After months of bitter US complaints that Iran's Revolutionary Guard was aiding Shia militias and arming renegade Sunnis linked to al-Qaida, Tehran may be backing off. Gen Odierno said the supply of weapons from Iran grew dramatically from April to July, in support of a summer offensive by insurgents.
But after a deal made with Tehran last month by Iraq's Shia prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, the flow is slowing. Sadly for the overall US strategy, political progress is not keeping pace. Mr Maliki's coalition government looks weaker than ever, unable to command a working parliamentary majority, or to pass key reconciliation measures. Seventeen ministries are without a minister and much central government funding remains frozen in the ruins of a collapsed bureaucracy.
Sensing division among Shias and reduced commitment from the Kurds, Sunni Arab and secular parties are threatening a no-confidence vote. US congressional criticism is mounting too. "There was just no sense of urgency on the part of the prime minister to drive the overarching goal that will help cement and solidify Iraq as a united country," said Republican senator Olympia Snowe after visiting Baghdad.
US officials, including President Bush, are leaning hard on Mr Maliki. But ironically, their success in thwarting Democrat attempts to impose a withdrawal timetable, plus the surge's recent advances, may have eased the immediate pressure on him. And if Mr Maliki were to fall, neither Washington nor Iraq's squabbling factions would easily find a viable alternative.
The impotence of the Baghdad government, and the willingness of tribal chiefs and provincial and municipal-level leaders to take charge of their security, budgets and social programmes, is encouraging talk of partition - or at least devolution of power beyond that envisaged in Iraq's federal constitution.
Independence-minded Kurdistan, in northern Iraq, is already going its own way. The Kurdish regional government recently signed five unilateral oil exploration deals, to fury in both Baghdad and Washington.
In the south, Mr Maliki's key Shia backer, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, wants the nine majority-Shia southern provinces to join what could effectively become a state within a state. Its existential power struggle with Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi army, sworn opponent of Mr Maliki and the Americans, is increasingly distracting its attention from "national" priorities.
This has not gone unnoticed among US legislators and policymakers such as Democrat senator Joe Biden, who have long argued for Bosnia style, ethnically based partition. Mr Biden won Senate approval last week for a non-binding measure urging Iraq's division into Sunni, Shia and Kurd regions.
"Attempts to partition or divide Iraq by intimidation, force or other means would produce extraordinary suffering and bloodshed," the US government said. But many reply that, despite the surge's recent successes, extraordinary suffering is what Iraq has already got; and the illusion of central control cannot be sustained much longer.

Arabs paid compensation to leave Kirkuk

2007-10-05T09:42:00.000Z

(Gulf News) - The process of paying compensation for Arabs to leave Kirkuk and settle in other places has started, the governor of the troubled Iraqi province said. Abdul Rahman Mustafa, Governor of Kirkuk, told Gulf News: "The compensation process has already begun and every Arab who wishes to leave Kirkuk is being paid about 20 million Iraqi dinars ($16,000, Dh58,848). The compensation has been approved by the Committee for Normalising Situation in Kirkuk.
"The process is transparent and without any external pressure, and this first phase to implement Article 140 it will be followed by the census and referendum processes to determine Kirkuk's fate," he said. According to Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution, compensations will be paid to Shiite and Sunni Arab residents of the province to facilitate their return to native provinces. Kirkuk is facing a struggle for its identity between Kurds on one side and Arabs and Turkmen from the other. Thousands of Kurds were displaced from the province during Saddam Hussain's regime.
Mohammad Arslan, a member of the Turkmen Front in Kirkuk, told Gulf News: "The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdish Democratic Party are trying to change the province's demography by forcing Arabs and Turkmen to leave Kirkuk. I think people are being forced to accept compensations ... this will lead to confrontation."

Leader of Sunni Arab tribal council killed

2007-10-05T09:40:00.000Z

Security, Tribal

(BBC) - A leader of a Sunni Arab tribal council which opposed al-Qaeda in Iraq has been killed in a roadside bomb attack north of Baghdad, Iraqi officials have said. Sheikh Muawiya Jebara, a senior member of the Salahuddin Awakening Council, and three of his bodyguards were killed as his convoy travelled near Samarra.
His death comes less than a month after the killing of the head of a similar group in neighbouring Anbar province.
Meanwhile, the Shia mayor of Iskandariya died in a separate bombing. Abbas al-Khafaji, a member of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC), and four of his bodyguards were killed when a roadside bomb exploded near their car at a checkpoint, police said. A mixed Sunni-Shia town 40km (25 miles) south of the capital, Iskandariya lies in a centre of the Sunni insurgency known as the "triangle of death".
The attack on Sheikh Muawiya Jebara occurred in mid-afternoon as he travelled to an area south-west of Samarra to support other members of the Salahuddin Awakening Council who were currently fighting al-Qaeda in Iraq. The sheikh survived the initial blast, but died from head injuries shortly after arriving in hospital, his brother said.
The head of the Tikrit-based Salahuddin Awakening Council, Sheikh Sabah Mutashar al-Shammari, recently said the tribal alliance had conducted more than 100 operations against Sunni extremist militants. "Our forces are working in co-ordination with the ministers of defence and interior," he told the AFP news agency.
"Our troops consist of 3,000 fighters distributed across seven headquarters in the province."
Last month, the leader of the Anbar Awakening, Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, was killed in a bomb attack near his home in Ramadi. US officials have pointed to the formation of the tribal alliances as one of the most positive developments in their efforts to reduce violence in Iraq.

UIA condemns recruitment of Sunni tribesmen into Iraqi police force

2007-10-04T09:31:00.000Z

Security, Tribal, Politics

(Washington Post) - The largest Shiite political coalition in Iraq demanded Tuesday that the U.S. military abandon its recruitment of Sunni tribesmen into the Iraqi police, saying some are members of "armed terrorist groups" and are engaged in killing, kidnapping and extortion under the guise of fighting the insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq.
The statement by the United Iraqi Alliance, the Shiite bloc of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, is the most direct rebuke to a policy that U.S. military officers hold up as one of their most important achievements over the past year.
U.S. forces have given wide support to thousands of Sunni tribesmen across the country who have pledged to fight al-Qaeda in Iraq. U.S. officials describe the effort as promoting grass-roots reconciliation that brings disenfranchised Sunnis into the government and provides protection for their neighborhoods. U.S. officials acknowledge that many of the recruits have been involved with various Sunni insurgent groups; expressions of antipathy toward the Iraqi security forces and government are common among them.
"We condemn and reject embracing those terrorist elements which committed the most hideous crimes against our people," the United Iraqi Alliance statement said. It also condemned "authorizing the groups to conduct security acts away from the jurisdiction of the government and without its knowledge." The statement went on: "We demand that the American administration stop this adventure, which is rejected by all the sons of the people and its national political powers."
The U.S. military credits the partnerships with local Sunnis, a concept developed in Anbar province and replicated in many Sunni areas in and around Baghdad, as a primary factor in the declining violence over the past several months. In Washington on Tuesday, Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the No. 2 commander in Iraq, described these partnerships as a "success story" and said 1,700 volunteers from the town of Abu Ghraib graduated last week after a month of police academy training. "Anbar now stands as an inspiring example to the rest of the country for what is possible, as citizens come together to reject extremist behavior," Odierno said.
But some Iraqi and U.S. officials have long expressed reservations about whether the experience in Anbar province, which is largely Sunni, could be repeated in areas with mixed populations, such as Baghdad. "Now the problem is that the American Army has started to arm some Sunni groups . . . and give them salaries, and they've enabled them to control some mixed areas," Humam Hamoudi, a senior Shiite leader in the coalition, said in a recent interview. "This has provoked astonishment, rejection and rage."
Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni, said there are insufficient U.S. and Iraqi troops to defeat the extremists, so the local tribes provide an important supplement. He said the recruits should be accountable to the Iraqi security forces. "At this particular moment, we need these tribes. It might be for a short period," he said in an interview. "I can't understand the fears. Frankly, it's people talking nonsense, that these tribes might turn into militiamen the next day and be a threat to the Shias and attack whomever."

Iraq orders $100 mn. worth of light military equipment from China

2007-10-04T09:20:00.000Z

(Reuters) - Iraq has ordered light military equipment from China worth $100 million because the United States is unable to meet Baghdad's requirements, the Washington Post reported President Jalal Talabani as saying. The weapons are intended for Iraq's police where only one in five officers are armed, it quoted Talabani as saying in an article published on its Web site on Thursday.
The Iraqi president also called for faster U.S. weapons deliveries to strengthen Iraq's army. "The capacity of the factories here are not enough to provide us quickly with all that we need, even for the army," the newspaper quoted Talabani, who is visiting the United States, as saying. "One of our demands is to accelerate the delivery of the arms to the Iraqi army".
Last week the Pentagon said it was ready to sell Iraq weapons worth up to $2.3 billion to help its army expand and take over missions now carried out by U.S. and other foreign forces. It said the sale would include vehicles, small arms ammunition, explosives and communications equipment, as well as upgrades to 32 additional UH-1 helicopters.
The newspaper said U.S. officials conceded Washington faced problems delivering everything Baghdad needed. "We're working hard just to supply our own troops," an administration official told the newspaper. "Our factories are working for our own troops. So it's true we don't have the ability to provide these rifles and other equipment they're looking for."

Chemical Ali's execution delayed till after Ramadan

2007-10-04T09:13:00.000Z

(Reuters) - Iraq will put off carrying out the death sentence against Saddam Hussein’s cousin, widely known as ‘Chemical Ali’, until the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in 10 days time, the prime minister said on Wednesday. An Iraqi appeals court upheld Ali Hassan Al Majeed’s death sentence at a hearing on Sept. 4, with the sentence to be carried out within 30 days of that decision. That deadline was to expire on Thursday.
‘We seek a legal path for postponement because we do not want the execution this time to be carried out during Ramadan,’ Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki told a news conference. The Muslim fasting month of Ramadan will end in about 10 days. Majeed, former Defence Minister Sultan Hashim and Saddam’s former army chief of staff Hussein Rashid were sentenced to death in June for planning and directing a military campaign in 1988 that prosecutors said killed up to 180,000 Kurds.
Rumours had swirled soon after the appeal court decision that Maliki’s Shia -led government would move to hang Majeed before the start of Ramadan last month but he remains in custody in a US detention facility. Sunni Arabs, dominant under Saddam, accused the government of acting with unseemly haste in carrying out Saddam’s death sentence on Dec. 30, four days after a court rejected his appeal in a separate case.
Sunni Arab governments, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia, also criticised the timing of the execution, which took place at the start of the Eid Al Adha religious feast. Majeed has also gone on trial for his role in crushing a Shia rebellion in southern Iraq in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War. Prosecutors in that case had warned he could be executed before the trial was completed.

Iraq Defence, Security and Communications Summit announced

2007-10-04T09:07:00.000Z

(AME Info FZ LLC) - The Iraq Development Program (IDP) is proud to announce confirmation of the Iraq Defence, Security & Communications Summit for 16-17 February 2008, Dubai, UAE. H.E. Shirwan Al-Waili, Iraqi Minister for National Security Affairs has confirmed he will lead the government delegation that will also include ministers, deputies and director generals from: the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Communications, the Ministry of Science & Technology, the KRG Ministry of Interior and the KRG Ministry for Peshmerga Affairs
The two-day summit will include detailed presentations of all ministerial requirements plus dedicated roundtables to allow for private one-to-one meetings between delegates and ministers. Quite simply, the summit will allow for best in breed contractors to meet over 40 decision-making government officials under one roof, providing incomparable reach and return on investment. A substantial part of the summit will be devoted to US Department of Defence procurement for Iraq and accordingly will include the most appropriate and senior officials.
IDP now has an exemplary track record in organising high-level meetings-based events in partnership with the Iraqi Government. The first Iraq Security was held in September 2006 and led to outstanding testimonials from companies who achieved tangible commercial returns:
'The Summit allowed us to personally meet various Government and Military Officials in one venue which would have taken countless hours had we not attended. We have been pleased with the responses so far and we are looking forward to the next Summit,' according to Streit Manufacturing.
"It allows all delegates to understand and to be understood, as well as offer the foundation for lasting and trusted friendships and partnerships," said Raytheon.

U.S. Army says list found of 500 Al-Qaeda members

2007-10-04T09:04:00.000Z

Security

(AFP) - The US military said on Wednesday it had seized a list of some 500 Al-Qaeda members recruited to fight in Iraq from the Middle East and Europe during a raid in northwest Iraq that killed eight militants. Major General Kevin Bergner said the September 11 raid near Sinjar targetted a senior Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader, known as Muthanna, who was killed along with seven colleagues.
"Muthanna was the emir of Iraq and Syrian border area and he was a key facilitator of the movement of foreign terrorists once they crossed into Iraq from Syria," Bergner told a news conference in Baghdad. "He worked closely with Syrian-based Al-Qaeda foreign terrorist facilitators," he added. "During the operation, we captured multiple documents and electronic files that gave an insight into Al-Qaeda's foreign terrorist operations not only in Iraq but throughout the region," he said.
The files revealed "a list of some 500 foreign terrorists being recruited by Al-Qaeda, biographies on 143 foreign terrorists en route to Iraq or who have already arrived, including personal data, photographs, recruiters' names, route and date of entry into Iraq." Bergner said they came from a range of countries including Libya, Morocco, Syria, Algeria, Oman, Yemen, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, France and the United Kingdom.
The Iraqi and US governments have accused neighbouring countries such as Syria and Iran of not doing enough to check the flow of foreign fighters across their borders into Iraq. Among the documents were pledges by foreign recruits who were committed to suicide operations, Bergner added.

Key SIIC leader in Diwaniyah killed

2007-10-04T09:01:00.000Z

Security

(Voices of Iraq) - A key leader from the Shiite Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) was killed in the predominantly Shiite province of Diwaniya, a local official said on Wednesday. "Unknown gunmen attacked, on Tuesday evening, Ali Husssein al-Zamli outside his house in Efak district, 30 km southeast of Diwaniya, killing him instantly," Hussein al-Budairi, head of the provincial council's security committee, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
Al-Budairi added that al-Zamli is a key leader of SIIC in Diwaniya and a member of Efak district local council. "Police forces were sent to Efak district following the incident and laid a cordon on a nearby orchard in search for the perpetuators," the local official said. Diwaniya, 180 km south of Baghdad, have been a scene of assassinations that targeted political and religious leaders in the province.

Gunmen in uniform kidnap civilians in Diyala

2007-10-04T08:58:00.000Z

Security

(Voices of Iraq) - Gunmen wearing Iraqi army uniform kidnapped 13 civilians on Wednesday afternoon at a fake checkpoint in Diala, central Iraq, a police source said. "Unknown gunmen wearing Iraqi army uniforms positioned a fake checkpoint on the main road linking Baaquba and Khalis, and forced 13 civilians at gunpoint to an unknown location," the source, who requested anonymity, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). The source, who provided no further details, said "among the captives were women and children." Diala is 57 km northeast of Baghdad.

MNFI - Iranian detainee is key leader in Quds Corps

2007-10-04T08:50:00.000Z

(Voices of Iraq) - The Spokesman for the Multi-National Forces in Iraq Brigadier General Kevin Bergner said on Wednesday the Iranian national detained two weeks ago in Sulaimaniya was "a key leader" in the Iranian Quds Corps, and was involved in transferring armor-piercing explosively formed penetrators.
"The Iranian national who was detained by the U.S. forces in Sulaimaniya is involved in transferring armor-piercing explosively formed penetrators from Iran into Iraq and he is currently under questioning," Brig. Gen. Bergner told a news conference in Baghdad today.
The spokesman added "the detainee is a key leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds corps if compared to the Iranian persons detained in last January in Arbil."U.S. forces arrested an Iranian trade delegation member upon arrival in Sulaimaniya in Iraq's Kurdistan region two weeks ago. Mahmoud Farhadi, the Iranian detainee, was accused by U.S. forces of transferring weapons and infiltrators into Iraq. Tehran claimed that Farhadi is a civil-servant at Karminshah province.
The spokesman also said that Farhadi is "a commander of Zafar Battelion within Ramadan Brigade which is responsible for most Quds corps activities in Iraq. "With Farhadi, U.S. army in Iraq held five more Iranians who were detained from the Iranian Consulate in Arbil on 11th January 2007.

Iraq reconciliation drive offers bonuses for mixed marriages

2007-10-04T08:43:00.000Z

(Reuters) -- Iraq is offering a cash bonus to married Iraqi couples from different sectarian groups in a drive to heal rifts between communities and foster reconciliation. At a ceremony in Baghdad to launch the new initiative on Tuesday, 250 recently married couples from across Iraq accepted awards from Sunni Arab vice President Tareq al-Hashemi. Those in mixed marriages received $1,500. Hashemi did not specify whether all couples getting married in the future would qualify for the bonuses but said there would be a programme of ceremonies to celebrate mixed marriages.
Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed in sectarian violence since the U.S. invasion of 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein, a minority Sunni who suppressed the majority Shi'ites and Kurds in the north. Feuding between politicians from the sectarian groups has all but paralysed the government of Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and stymied progress on reconciliation reforms Washington wants. "Today we have a new programme in which we want to break the sectarian strife," Hashemi said. "We will allocate a special bonus to those who break this hateful sectarian yoke and get married on the basis that his wife is an Iraqi, not because she is a Sunni or a Shi'ite."
Shi'ite Ali al-Kilabi, 29, married a Sunni woman two months ago and was happy with the $1,500 he received to pay off his marriage debts. "There are people who are so fanatical. We are neutral, we do not pay attention to these matters. We do not differentiate between Shi'ites or Sunnis," he told Reuters. "My wife and I do not argue because we are from a different sect. We condemn people who are sensitive about these matters."
The sectarian violence in Iraq has forced hundreds of thousands of people to move out of neighbourhoods dominated by one sect or another, leading to huge displacement of Iraqis. According to an Iraqi Red Crescent report for August 2007, nearly two million Iraqis have left from their homes since the bombing of a Shi'ite shrine in Samarra in February 2006 sparked a wave of sectarian violence.
Um Fuad's son, a Kurd, married a Sunni Arab a year ago. The couple was keen to get the money to pay hospital bills as his wife is about to have a baby. Um Fuad's other son married a Shi'ite and needs the cash to pay off wedding debts. "We do not differentiate between sects," she said.
But for some at the ceremony, the money was scant compensation for the loss and suffering they have endured since Saddam was toppled. Um Ubaida, a 25-year-old Sunni civil servant, looked pale and expressionless as she went to receive the wedded couples bonus to help with her debts. She married last year and had a baby two months ago, but has not seen her husband for seven months. "My husband is missing, he went to visit his brother in prison and he never came back," she said.

WHO - cholera outbreak in Iraq spreads

2007-10-04T08:39:00.000Z

Health

(AP) -- The toll of people in Iraq infected with cholera has risen to 3,315, the World Health Organization said Wednesday. The number of confirmed infections compares with 2,758 cases reported Sunday by the U.N. health agency. The death toll of 14 has been unchanged in recent days, WHO said. The outbreak first detected Aug. 14 in Kirkuk in northern Iraq has now spread to half of the country's 18 provinces. "The case-fatality rate has remained low throughout the outbreak indicating that those who have become sick have been able to access adequate treatment on time," WHO said.
Cholera is a gastrointestinal disease that is typically spread by drinking contaminated water and can cause severe diarrhea that, in extreme cases, can lead to fatal dehydration. It can be prevented by treating drinking water with chlorine and improving hygiene conditions. The global health body estimates that more than 30,000 people have come down with acute watery diarrhea, which may later be confirmed as cholera.
Kirkuk with 2,309 cases and Sulaimaniyah with 870 are the hardest-hit provinces, with numbers still rising. Both are in northern Iraq. But the disease is continuing to spread and it is "highly possible" it will reach as yet unaffected areas, WHO said. "The numbers of cases are remaining stable in Basra, Baghdad, Dahuk, Mosul and Tikrit," it said. "However, a case has now been confirmed in Wasit, a province that has previously been unaffected by the outbreak."
Diyala, a province neighboring Baghdad, has reported an increasing number of cases of acute watery diarrhea. Although the province has no confirmed cases of cholera, the symptoms indicate the presence of the disease, it said.
The agency said the Iraqi government has taken steps to curb the disease, but that the overall quality of water and sanitation is very poor, which greatly facilitates cholera contamination. "WHO is in the process of procuring 5 million water-treatment tablets, and two international WHO epidemiologists are being deployed to support the Ministry of Health in Iraq," it said.

Iraqi insurgent groups announce new coalition

2007-10-04T08:35:00.000Z

Insurgency

(AP) -- Nearly two dozen previously unknown Iraqi insurgent groups announced a new coalition to fight foreign occupation but it also set conditions for talks with the U.S. in a statement on a Web site affiliated with the country's deposed Baath party. The 22 groups said their leader is Izzat al-Douri, the highest ranking member of Saddam Hussein's former ruling party still at large.
In the nearly half hour video message, an unidentified man, face blurred, was shown sitting behind a table with an Iraqi flag on his right side reading a statement announcing the formation of the new alliance called "The Jihad and Liberation."
The new alliance laid down a series of conditions for talks with the U.S. It demanded an unconditional withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq, immediately or within a short timetable, the release of all detainees, return of the security forces to their status before the occupation and a halt to all operations against the people.
"If the enemy wants to withdraw and save face, they should sit down and speak directly with the resistance to discuss implementing these sacred principles. Otherwise, the only alternative is their collapse and flight," the statement said. Ayad Allawi, Iraq's first post-Saddam prime minister, has recently said he held talks with members of the Baath party loyal to al-Douri, for which he was severely criticized by Iraq's current prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki.
The statement made no mention of al-Qaida in Iraq, but it contained slogans praising Arab nationalism and the Arab nation's great past. Al-Qaida's extremist ideology does not recognize nationalism, but calls for an Islamic state. There have been reports of clashes in Iraq between the more nationalist and secular elements of the insurgency with groups following al-Qaida.
The coalition is led by a group linked to al-Douri, who in his later years ascribed to a moderate, mystic Sufi form of Islam. An Islamic Web site linked to extremist groups such as al-Qaida also carried the announcement, but ridiculed al-Douri and the new group.

Kurdistan signs four more oil deals

2007-10-04T08:25:00.000Z

Oil, Kurdistan

AFP) - Iraq's Kurdistan regional government announced four more oil deals on Wednesday, ignoring criticism from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government and Washington of its unilateral sell-off of the country's national resources. The regional government said in a statement posted on its website that it had approved four contracts for exploration and production, and had sanctioned two new refinery projects in the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq.
Two production sharing contracts (PSCs) had already been signed, with Heritage Energy Middle East Limited, a subsidiary of the Canadian firm Heritage Oil and Gas, and Perenco S.A., an affiliate of a French company of the same name. "The signing of the other two PSCs with experienced international companies will follow shortly," the statement said.
"The combined initial exploration investments on the upstream projects will be approximately 500 million dollars," it said. "Estimated investment on the two new refinery projects will be around 300 million dollars."
The Iraqi oil ministry did not immediately comment on the new deals, but Amira al-Baldawi, an MP from the Shiite coalition that leads the Baghdad government and a member of parliament's economic, investment and reconstruction committee, said the contracts were "illegal". "They shall be revised and put in accordance to the Iraqi law and the new oil law to be issued," Baldawi told AFP.
Last month, the Kurdish regional government inked a deal with Texas-based Hunt Oil Company, the first major oil contract awarded by any Iraqi authority to a foreign company since UN sanctions were imposed on Iraq when it invaded Kuwait in 1990. No details of the contract have been released but the Dallas company, which has links with the White House, has said it would begin its geological survey work in Dohuk province, near the border with Turkey, by the end of this year and would begin drilling in 2008.
The Hunt contract was declared "illegal" by Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani, sparking a war of words with the regional government, which told him to stop meddling in its affairs and said he should be sacked. A senior US embassy official speaking on condition of anonymity told reporters in Baghdad last week that the Hunt deal had "needlessly elevated tensions" in Iraq. He said the US State Department had advised Hunt to wait for the Iraqi parliament to pass a much-anticipated oil and gas law that will establish a new framework for the industry but that it went ahead anyway.
The bill opens up the long state-dominated oil and gas sector to foreign investment and provides assurances that receipts will be shared equally between Iraq's 18 provinces, a measure Washington regards as key to efforts to reconcile the country's divided communities. The draft law was approved by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's national unity cabinet in July but faces a tough passage in the 275-seat parliament, where the Kurdish bloc has 53 seats. The bill is expected to come before MPs this month.
The regional government said the PSC awarded to Energy Middle East Limited covered the 1,015 square kilometre (406 square mile) Miran Block in Sulaimaniyah Governorate, "a low to medium exploration risk area." Perenco S.A. has been awarded the "high exploration risk" 2,358 square kilometre (943 square mile) Sindi/Amedi Block along the Turkish border.
Regional natural resources minister Ashti Hawrami defended the deals. "The projects will spearhead international investment for the whole of Iraq," he said. "New oil discoveries under these contracts will bring large amounts of new revenues for sharing throughout Iraq."

Blackwater denies charges

2007-10-04T08:20:00.000Z

(The Guardian) - The US company at the centre of the scandal over the role of private security guards in Iraq brushed aside accusations that it was a cowboy outfit yesterday, even as details emerged about a incident in which an allegedly drunken member was involved in a fatal shooting. Testifying before a congressional hearing Erik Prince, the normally secretive head of Blackwater, denied his company was overly aggressive.
The company is in the middle of a tug of war between the Iraqi government and the US state department following the alleged killing of 11 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad on September 16. Blackwater has been blamed.
The Iraqi government has called for the company to be expelled but the state department, which relies on Blackwater for protection of its diplomats, wants it to stay. The hearing offered the first opportunity to hear Blackwater's side of the story in detail. But the US justice department unexpectedly stepped in at the last minute and asked that the congressional committee and Mr Prince avoid specific questions about the September incident.
In an opening statement before the House oversight committee, Mr Prince, 38, defended his company in relation to the killings. "There has been a rush to judgment based on inaccurate information, and many public reports have wrongly pronounced Blackwater's guilt for the deaths of varying numbers of civilians," he said. "Congress should not accept these allegations as truth until it has the facts. Based on everything we currently know, the Blackwater team acted appropriately while operating in a very complex war zone on September 16."

But a memo by congressional staff said Blackwater has been involved in an average of 1.4 shootings a week. The memo detailed various incidents, including one on December 24 when a 26-year-old Blackwater staffer killed a 32-year-old guard to Adil Abd al-Mahdi, the Iraqi vice-president, provoking an angry response from the Iraqi government.

U.S. contractors in Iraq may be liable under U.S. law

2007-10-04T08:05:00.000Z

(Gulf News) - The House of Representatives is expected to vote on legislation that could see US government contractors who commit felonies in Iraq and Afghanistan being prosecuted in US federal courts, a human rights activist said yesterday. "It's time to close the legal loopholes that allow contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan to commit crimes with impunity," Jennifer Daskal, senior counterterrorism counsel at Human Rights Watch told Gulf News.
Under regulations originally imposed by the US government an estimated 180,000 private contractors working in Iraq are immune from local criminal prosecution. A US-Afghanistan agreement means thousands more have immunity in Afghanistan.
The legislation, if passed, will extend the reach of a federal law, called the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA), to cover all US contractors overseas. Currently, only Department of Defence (DOD) contractors and other contractors supporting US forces are explicitly covered by the law.
Under Iraqi law, initially imposed by US occupation authorities in 2004, all non-Iraqi contractors are immune from prosecution in Iraqi courts. Because the Blackwater employees were contracted by the State Department - not DOD - prosecutors must first establish that they are acting in support of DOD in order to bring a case under MEJA.

Poland to keep troops in Iraq despite attack on envoy

2007-10-04T07:44:00.001Z

Security

(Gulf News) - Poland's ambassador to Iraq was wounded in a triple bomb attack on his diplomatic convoy in central Baghdad yesterday, which killed a Polish bodyguard and an Iraqi passer-by, officials said. A determined Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski said following the attack that Poland would not withdraw the 900 troops it has stationed southwest of Baghdad. Iraqi police initially said one passer-by was killed in the blasts and five people were wounded, including three embassy officials. A Polish Interior Ministry spokesman later said a Polish bodyguard died in hospital. "Our ambassador, General Edward Pietrzyk scrambled out [of the wreckage] on his own," a Polish statement said.
The attack came as Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki said amid mounting anger yesterday that Blackwater should leave the country because of the mountain of evidence against the under-fire US security firm. The House of Representatives is expected to vote on legislation that could see US contractors who commit felonies in Iraq and Afghanistan being prosecuted in US federal courts, a human rights activist said yesterday.

Our apologies for the lack of postings, Iraq News Monitor will resume on Monday 1 October 2007, please return then.

2007-09-25T19:45:00.000Z

In the meantime, please look through our excellent library of links and resources to the left.

Report: An Outline of Kurdish Islamist Groups in Iraq

2007-09-20T13:50:00.000Z

Report

(Jamestown Foundation)
Abstract: This article outlines the history and genesis of Kurdish Islamist groups in Iraq. Based on fieldwork and personal interviews conducted in Iraq in 2003 and 2004, this study presents a significant amount of never-before published details about these movements. Particular attention is paid to the links between various groups, their transformation or splintering into new organizations, and the role of the non-Kurdish Iraqi Muslim Brotherhood in spawning these movements. The conclusion to this study addresses possible strategies for containing radical Islamist movements, and the dilemmas inherent in constructing such strategies.

Executive Summary:
A great number of Iraqi Kurdish Islamist groups, including militant Islamist movements, have emerged in the last 20 years. Despite the fact that politicized Islam never seemed to enjoy as much broad popularity in Iraqi Kurdistan as it has amongst some neighboring Arab populations, a number of small Kurdish Islamist groups keep multiplying, splintering and occasionally reuniting.

This study pays particular attention to links between various Iraqi Kurdish Islamist movements, their history, their transformation or splintering into new organizations, and the role of the non-Kurdish Iraqi Muslim Brotherhood in spawning these movements in the first place. A historical "map-tree" of the movements is presented in order to better understand various groups’ roots and their relationships with other Islamist movements in Iraq. In some cases, the support of outside states and foreign Islamist organizations appears crucial to explaining what success political Islam in Iraqi Kurdistan has enjoyed.

Bin Laden threatens Iraq's Shiites in new video

2007-09-20T13:08:00.000Z

(AFP) - Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden branded Iraq's Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki a "traitorous apostate" in new video that threatens the Shiite Muslim majority in the violence-ravaged country. The 81-minute documentary-style video was made public on Thursday by the US-based SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors Islamist websites.
In it, bin Laden talks of a succession of US-backed government in Iraq since Saddam Hussein was overthrown in 2003 and taunts them for failing to end the US-led occupation of the country. His remarks were made in a documentary style video with English subtitles called "The Power of Truth" in which bin Laden appears in still photographs and video footage.
"We've seen (Iyad) Allawi's government come and go, yet the occupier did not leave; and the (Ibrahim) Jaafari government as well, yet the occupier did not leave. "And there is the traitorous apostate Maliki government taking the same line as the Jaafari government because it is just another face of it." The Al-Qaeda leader, a radical Sunni Muslim, makes a reference to Iraq's majority Shiite Muslims, to which he is virulently opposed, and threatens them with violence.
"It is not possible for such a large number of southerners to participate with American and its allies in violating Fallujah, Ramadi, Baquba, Mosul, Samarra, Qaim and other cities and villages and then in exchange have their region enjoy safety from harm and reaction." Those cities have predominantly Sunni Arab populations.

LUKoil to have advatage in West Qurna-2 tender

2007-09-20T13:05:00.000Z

Oil

(Bloomberg, AP) - LUKoil will have an advantage in a new tender for the West Qurna-2 field in Iraq, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said, Interfax reported Wednesday. LUKoil's investments and work at the field will be taken into consideration should the oil producer bid, Zebari said, Interfax reported. The minister invited LUKoil chief executive Vagit Alekperov to Iraq, Interfax said.
LUKoil has been lobbying Iraq to recognize the West Qurna-2 contract that it signed with former dictator Saddam Hussein's government. LUKoil wants to develop the field with shareholder ConocoPhillips. LUKoil's 1997 contract to drill at West Qurna-2, which has an estimated reserve capacity of 4 billion barrels, has been hamstrung under the new authorities in Iraq. The Iraqi parliament is expected to pass a new law that will review previous oil contracts and open the way to a wave of tenders to tap Iraq's enormous oil wealth.

U.S. congress considers legislation for private security companies

2007-09-20T12:59:00.000Z

(McClatchy Newspapers) - The deaths of 11 Iraqis during a shooting involving Blackwater security guards pose the kind of quandary that congressional investigators have been worrying about for years: how to oversee and prosecute contractors accused of crimes in a war-torn country. The shooting also renews focus on congressional efforts to bring more oversight to security contractors, including legislation sponsored by Rep. David Price, D-N.C., one of Congress' most vocal critics of the lack of oversight of private security companies.
Price has sponsored two bills that would bring all U.S. security contractors under federal criminal codes and require that the U.S. government provide more information about the cost and duties of private contractors.
Iraqi officials said Monday that they would revoke Blackwater's license to operate in Iraq and would insist that its employees responsible for the deaths, which Iraqi officials say resulted from an unprovoked shooting spree by the guards, face Iraqi courts.

On Wednesday, Iraqi officials also accused Blackwater of involvement in a number of questionable actions, including engineering the jailbreak of an official accused of corruption. Blackwater, based in Moyock, N.C., provides bodyguards for U.S. diplomats in Iraq, including Ambassador Ryan Crocker. On Tuesday, the U.S. Embassy banned civilian travel outside the fortified Green Zone because of Sunday's shooting.
"This is the first time the Iraq government has taken such strong actions against U.S. contract personnel," Price said. "The question of what we're going to do ... is a very crucial question in establishing credibility for dealing with this." Should Iraq follow through, its crackdown could have implications for tens of thousands of armed employees working in Iraq in various jobs. Price and others say it's unclear exactly what rules private security contractors fall under when operating in war zones.
Price's proposed legislation would clarify that private security contractors working for a U.S. government agency are subject to U.S. law. It would set up FBI units in Iraq to investigate suspected misconduct. The Department of State has begun an investigation into Sunday's shooting, but Price said it's unclear what authority the agency has to prosecute any suspects. He has asked Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for her interpretation.
Bringing the contractors formally under U.S. laws would help the U.S. argument that suspected crimes need not be prosecuted in Iraqi courts. Blackwater is among the most prominent of the private security companies operating in Iraq, in part because of its State Department contract and in part because its employees have been involved in several high-profile incidents.
But the exact number of contractors in Iraq and what their jobs are aren't well known. Price and House Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., have asked the Government Accountability Office to issue a report on the subject, and GAO investigators have visited Iraq. The report, however, isn't expected for several months.
"There seems to be a potential conflict brewing about the applicability of Iraqi law," Price said in an interview. "So assuming that there is something here that deserves ... prosecution, then how willing and able the United States is to deal with it is a very important issue and will have a lot to do with the credibility of any case we make against Iraqi prosecution."
Price also has inserted rules in the defense authorization bill, now being debated in the Senate, to set standards for the rules of engagement and hiring of private security contractors, along with improved communication between contractors and the military. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., has included many of the same provisions in an amendment he filed in the Senate to the defense authorization bill.
Republicans in Congress also have made efforts to bring security contractors under U.S. law. Last year, Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, inserted a clause in the defense authorization bill that made contractors working with the U.S. military subject to courts-martial. But the Pentagon hasn't yet drawn up specific guidelines on the clause, according to Peter Singer, a security expert with the Brookings Institution in Washington.

Turkish artillery shells Duhuk

2007-09-20T12:56:00.000Z

Region

(Voices of Iraq) - Turkish artillery shelled border regions in Duhuk province, a source from the border guard forces said on Wednesday. "The border villages of Zakho and al-Emadiyah cities in Duhuk province were pounded late Tuesday by Turkish artillery," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) on condition of anonymity, noting that the shelling lasted until 8:00 am on Wednesday.
"More than 82 rounds hit different border regions in Duhuk," he explained. No word was available on the damage caused by the shelling. A local resident said that the Turkish shelling caused panic among civilians. Duhuk is the third province within Iraq's Kurdistan region It is in the far north of Iraq with borders with Turkey. It is located 460 km north of Baghdad.

Malia Holding and Rotana Hotels announce $55 mn. hotel deal in Erbil

2007-09-20T12:54:00.000Z

Business

(PortAl Iraq) - Malia Holding and Rotana Hotels have announced the signing of a partnership agreement for the management of a five-star hotel with 205 rooms in Erbil. The more than $55 million hotel will be among a series of projects to be launched by Malia Holding through its tourism investment-affiliated company, Hotel Line. Malia's plans to invest in Erbil stem from the city's economic, social and political climate which make it an ideal destination for investments - particularly in tourism, according to the company announcement.
The Kurdistan area of Iraq - where Erbil is located - has gained an international reputation of being a gateway to Iraqi business, a stable and thriving area with an increasingly prosperous population of five million, according to Rotana. The region has two new international airports and a liberal investment law that attracts foreign investors.
Erbil's Rotana Hotel will be built in front of Sami Rahman park and between the convention center and Erbil Exhibition Fair. The property will feature restaurants and complete recreational areas including a health and fitness club and a swimming pool.
Malia President Jacques Jean Sarraf said: "The prospects of the Erbil project will also benefit the people of Iraq through the creation of hundreds of jobs. Malia is enthusiastic about developments in the Kurdistan and keen on taking an active role in shaping the outlook of tourism and helping rebuild a strong and solid economy in Iraq." Rotana Hotels President and CEO Selim El Zyr said: "We are confident that we will introduce a new dimension of hospitality in the country."

Smuggling rife over Kurdistan - Iran border

2007-09-20T12:49:00.000Z

Crime

(Kurdish Globe) - Near Haji Omeran town near the Iranian border, northeast of Erbil province, smugglers market alcohol on a spot of ground they call Barzari Mashrubfroshan (Market of Alcohol Sellers).
The small smuggling bazaar is located on a foothill where hundreds of sellers hide inside their tents daily, waiting for Iranian customers while avoiding religious authorities who strictly forbid their contraband. The smugglers carry wine and other types of alcohol as well as cigarettes and other illegal items into Iran on the backs of their mules, while border guards from both countries are within eyesight.
In addition to the possibility of being shot by Iranian border guards, the smugglers take a very narrow, difficult path loaded with mines left behind from decades of regional wars. Already many have died in mine explosions. "Our work is very difficult. When smugglers leave toward the Iranian border, they are not sure that they will arrive safe," said Abdul-Aziz Adhami, a 44-year-old alcohol seller. Adhami has fled Iran because of a rebellious political background. "Till now, several of my friends have been shot to death by Iranian border guards."
The most popular starting points of smuggling at the border of Haji Omran-Iran are Bane, Marivan, and Qela Shin. These are the most crowded of many. Alcohol and foreign cigarettes, including Winston, Easton, Magna, etc., that are smuggled into Iran are strictly prohibited by Iranian authorities. Alcohol sellers and even users may face sentences of whipping or at least a monetary fine. Nevertheless, people, especially youths, buy it.
"Different kinds of cigarettes are smuggled to the other side and a little tax is paid to the government here," said Abdulla Hamad Amin, 26, owner of a cigarette store in that market. Whisky, vodka, and champagne are the most popular alcohol smuggled into Iran. They are sold for twice the original price to Iranian customers, and for cities further away from the border, prices get progressively more expensive. Smuggling is the only source of living for many families in Haji Omeran.
Alcohols and cigarettes mostly are legally imported into Kurdistan from the Ibrahim Khalil-Turkey border, where they are distributed through Kurdistan. However, Iranian border guards are very firm in preventing smugglers from entering their land, smugglers said. Meanwhile, observers in Kurdistan constantly accuse the Iranian government of not controlling its borders with Kurdistan, where drugs flow easily into the region.
According to smugglers, they easily cross the border into Kurdistan while carrying drugs. "Many smugglers sometimes pay bribes to Iranian checkpoint guards and import opium into Kurdistan," concluded Adhami.

U.S. forces arrest Iranian in Kurdistan

2007-09-20T12:44:00.000Z

Region

(AFP) - US forces arrested an Iranian businessman on Thursday at a hotel in Sulaimaniyah, a majority Kurdish city in northern Iraq, a regional government official told AFP. He is the latest Iranian national to be detained in Iraq by the US military, which accuses Iran of helping fund and arm Shiite militia groups in the country's bloody sectarian conflict.
The businessman, identified only as Farhadi, was detained at around 4.00 am (midnight GMT) after US troops raided the Sulaimaniyah Palace hotel, said a spokesman for government of the largely autonomous region of Kurdistan. The businessman was a member of an Iranian commercial delegation visiting Sulaimaniyah, said the spokesman, Jamal Abdullah.
"American troops raided the Sulaimaniyah Palace hotel early in the morning and arrested a man known as Farhadi. He was a member of a commercial delegation from the Iranian province of Kermanshah," Abdullah said. US military spokesman Major Winfield Danielson said he could not immediately comment on the reported detention.
There was no immediate comment frm Tehran. Late last month, US forces briefly detained a group of Iranians, including two diplomats, from a Baghdad hotel in what the military later said was a "regrettable incident." Tehran issued a protest over what it called the "unjustifiable" detention of the Iranians, who were taken by US troops from a hotel in blindfolds and handcuffs after their convoy was stopped at a nearby checkpoint.
Thursday's arrest is the third such action by US troops since January, when five Iranians working in the northern Kurdish city of Arbil were seized for allegedly aiding the anti-American insurgency. They are still in US military custody. It comes amid mounting tension between the United States and Iran, with Washington accusing Tehran of stoking tensions in Iraq and of covertly developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran denies both charges, saying the presence of US troops is the main cause of violence in Iraq and that its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only. Amid a mounting war of words, Iran angered Washington further when it warned on Wednesday that it could bomb Israel if it was attacked by the Jewish state. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is travelling to New York on Sunday and will give a speech at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, the same day that US President George W. Bush is scheduled to speak.

17 prominent Sadrists released from prison

2007-09-20T12:40:00.000Z

Security, Politics

(Voices of Iraq) - Seventeen prominent members of al-Sadr movement, or those loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, will be released today from U.S. prisons in Iraq, Iraqi National Security Advisor Moqaffaw al-Rubaie said on Wednesday. "17 Sadrist detainees in coalition prisons will be set free in response togovernment efforts," al-Rubaie said during a news conference in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. Refusing to reveal the identity of the released prisoners, al-Rubaie said, "I would not describe them as leaders, but some of them are well-known in their regions…"
"This is the fourth batch of Sadrist detainees to be released from coalition forces' prisons," he explained. At the beginning of the conference, al-Rubaie announced an initiative by the Iraqi government that aims at enhancing the performance of security and legal institutions and release detainees from Iraqi prisons, and warned political factions against politicizing the move for "sectarian purposes."
Describing his government's initiative for "enforcing the rule of law" as an attempt "to do justice to the detainees in Iraqi prisons and address their issues in accordance with human rights principles," al-Rubaie said that the Iraqi government is determined to take all necessary measures to improve the performance of its security and legal apparatus.
Al-Rubaie read out the details of the initiative to reporters, which he said urges all concerned state-run institutions, including the ministries of defense, interior, justice, and labor, to provide accurate information about the number of Iraqi detainees and prisoners. The information will be submitted to the Supreme Legal Council, the leadership of the Public Prosecution, and the Ministry of Interior, al-Rubaie indicated.
Acknowledging serious problems in Iraqi prisons and detention centers, the security advisor warned political factions of politicizing the government's initiative. "The government asserts that it is not a political issue. We should put political divisions and factional and sectarian allegations aside and undermine endeavors to make use of the initiative for political or partisan purposes," al-Rubaie noted.

COMMENT: It would appear that deals have been cut in the wings. One of al-Sadr's conditions for not turning on the government and to consider rejoining it were that imprisoned Sadrists be released. COMMENT ENDS.

INL members go independent

2007-09-20T12:38:00.000Z

Politics

(Voices of Iraq) - Iraqi National List's (INL) members of parliament Safiyah al-Sehil and Hachem al-Hassani announced their withdrawal from the secular list, which is led by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, saying they will sit as independents in the Iraqi parliament. "We announce our defection from the INL and we will sit as independents in the parliament," the two parliamentarians said in a joint news conference before the session of the parliament.
When asked about the reasons behind his decision, al-Hassani told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) that divisions within the secular list over the decision-making process resulted in a complete lack of harmony between some of its members.
Al-Hassani was the former speaker of Iraq's Transitional National Assembly, the first Iraqi parliament formed after the 2005 elections. He was also a leading member in the Iraqi Islamic Party and was appointed as the minister of industry in Allawi's interim government. During the second legislative elections in 2005, al-Hassani joined the secular alliance led by Allawi, which includes many political parties of different ethnic affiliation.
Meanwhile, al-Sehil said that the list's deviation from the moderate and liberal line and its adoption of a "national Baathist line" led some of its senior members to consider reform. "We have tried to bring in reforms and rectify the path of the INL, but we unfortunately failed," al-Sehil said. After the defections of the two parliamentarians the INL now has 22 seats in the 275-member parliament.

Dawa Party reiterates commitment to UIC

2007-09-20T12:30:00.000Z

Politics

(Voices of Iraq) - The Daawa Party-Iraq has reiterated its commitment to the Shiite Unified Iraqi Coalition (UIC), denying reports that indicate its withdrawal from the bloc. "We continue to support Nouri al-Maliki's government and our main aim is to tackle all pending issues inside the UIC," the leader of the party, Abdul Kareem al-Anzi, said at a press conference held on Wednesday in Baghdad.
He denied reports that indicated its withdrawal from the UIC, but said they will work towards a strong coalition. Al-Anzi said last Sunday that the party may withdraw from the Shiite UIC if efforts to heal the rift within the Shiite alliance fail. The party's MP Abd al-Mousawi said that the Daawa Party had announced its commitment to the unified national government, underlining the importance of the presence of the Fadhila party and the Sadrist bloc in the UIC.
The party holds 13 seats out of the 83-seat UIC. The UIC was composed of several (Shiite) religious and political organizations and parties that entered the first legislative elections in Iraq to be held after foreign troops entered the country and unseated the regime in April 2003. The UIC now has 83 seats, after two members on the Risalyoon list, an offshoot of the Sadrist bloc, quit in solidarity. The step was preceded by the withdrawal of the Islamic Fadhila (Virtue) Party, which had 15 seats in March 2007.

Wounded Iraqis speak out about Blackwater incident

2007-09-20T12:16:00.000Z

Security

(CNN) -- It was last Sunday in western Baghdad. Helicopters circled overhead while armed guards, privately hired by the U.S. government, were conducting an ordinary mission to protect U.S. State Department employees. But within minutes there was an explosion, a hail of gunfire, and bodies in the streets. The Iraqi Interior Ministry says at least 10 Iraqis were killed and 10 wounded. Another government spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, told CNN that at least 20 people died, with 35 wounded.
So what happened on that day on a square in the Mansour district of Baghdad? It depends on whom you ask.
Blackwater USA, the private security firm at the center of the controversy, says its employees simply defended themselves against armed attackers. Two men hospitalized with gunshot wounds disagree. They say the guards fired on people for no reason.
Hasan Jaber Salman lies in Yarmouk Hospital, bandages covering gunshot wounds in his back. Salman says he is a lawyer who was headed from a courthouse to the Ministry of Justice when he found his route blocked by four armored Blackwater SUVs. The roadblock soon caused a traffic snarl, so armed Blackwater guards began waving at the drivers, telling them to turn around and leave the area.
"So we turned back, and as we turned back they opened fire at all cars from behind," Salman said. "All my injuries, the bullets are in my back. "Within two minutes the security force arrived in planes -- part of the security company Blackwater. They started firing randomly at all citizens." Blackwater, in a statement issued after the incident, denied that gunfire came from aircraft. "The helicopters providing aerial support never fired weapons," it said.
The firm also said its employees "acted lawfully and appropriately in response to a hostile attack." But Salman claims the attack was unprovoked. "No one fired at them, they were not attacked by gunmen, they were not targeted by an explosion," he said. The firing continued until Salman's car crashed into a police checkpoint and flipped over, he said, adding that eight bullets struck his car and four struck him.
"My left shoulder is broken ... and my arm is broken. I had a surgery. ... They opened up my stomach," he said. "I swear to God no one did anything to them at all." The lawyer said he intends to sue Blackwater, which he already did in 2005 after his son was involved in a similar incident outside al-Muthana Air Base near Baghdad's international airport. That lawsuit has not yet been resolved, he said.
Laborer Abul-Raheem Amir said he was on his way to a job when the minibus he was in got caught in a traffic jam caused by an explosion. "A security company called Blackwater, they got out and kept on firing randomly at people, starting with the people walking or working the street -- even the traffic policeman, even the people who work in the area," Amir said.
"People at first thought we were safe in the minibus, but when they realized they were not, they started getting out and went to other places to save themselves," he recounted. "Unfortunately that did not work. As they got out, people were shot and killed." He said he tried to make a run for it after the driver and two women next to him on the minibus were shot. "I ran about 50 meters [about 55 yards] and then was shot, the first bullet. Still I kept running, but the second bullet dropped me to the ground. ... It broke my bones, and the third one made me start crawling."
Some people helped get him off the street and away from the carnage. The shooting lasted for about a half-hour, and there were some 30 bodies in the street, he said. "I remember people strewn on the streets, children, elderly, young men, elderly women. ... The street turned into the street of the dead, a graveyard," he said. "There was nothing I could do. Every man was for himself." Amir wonders what the Blackwater employees were thinking.
"Is this some kind of a show of force for them to flex their muscles?" he said. "Are they doing this to us, the victims, so they can advertise and promote their abilities through the Western media? ... Is their mission to protect one person by killing 10 unarmed people? And if they are protecting two people, then they shoot 100 unarmed people. ... Is this Vietnam? ... "Enough, enough," he said. "Enough of all that's happening. God's fury is coming. Enough of this. Enough."

Suspect in murder of Russian diplomats arrested

2007-09-20T12:14:00.000Z

Security

(AP) - Iraq's foreign minister said Iraqi authorities have arrested a man suspected of organizing the murder of four Russian diplomats in Baghdad last year, Russian news agencies reported Wednesday. Speaking during a trip to Russia, Hoyshan Zebari was quoted by Interfax and RIA-Novosti as identifying the suspect as a man named Abu Nur and said he was a member of the terrorist group al-Qaida in Iraq.
"We have arrested one suspect. All efforts are now being taken to speed up the investigation," he was quoted by RIA-Novosti as saying. No further information was given. Law enforcement officials in Baghdad could not be reached for comment because of the Ramadan holiday. The abduction and killing of the diplomats in Baghdad in June 2006 angered Moscow, which complained that Iraqi and U.S. coalition forces were not doing enough to provide security in Baghdad.
Russia has been a consistent critic of the U.S.-led military campaign in Iraq. In January, after the Russian Embassy in Baghdad was shelled, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to complain about the security situation.

Iraqi parliamentary session cancelled after majority fail to attend

2007-09-20T12:09:00.001Z

Politics

(RFE/RL) - The Council of Representatives cancelled its September 18 session after the majority of representatives failed to appear for the session, RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq reported the same day. Only 115 out of 275 parliamentarians appeared for the session. Meanwhile, a committee formed by the United Iraqi Alliance has failed to lure parliamentarians loyal to Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr back to work, Al-Sharqiyah television reported on September 18. The news channel also reported that "some members" of the so-called moderates' front in the parliament asked two members of the Iraqis List to leave the list and join the front in exchange for government posts and other privileges.

Joint Iraqi-U.S. committee to investigate Blackwater incident

2007-09-20T11:58:00.000Z

Security

(RFE/RL) - Ali al-Dabbagh announced on September 19 that a join Iraqi-U.S. committee has been formed to investigate the September 16 killing of 10 Iraqi civilians by contractors working for the U.S.-based security firm Blackwater USA, Iraqi media reported. On September 19, the United States banned diplomats and civilians from leaving Baghdad's Green Zone due to a lack of protection forces. The Iraqi government announced on September 18 that it has revoked Blackwater's license. Adil Barwari, a member of the Council of Representatives' Security and Defense Committee, told state-run Al-Iraqiyah television on September 18 that the committee should seek legal action against the contractors should the investigation warrant prosecution.

Meanwhile, Major General Abd al-Karim Khalaf, the director of the National Command Center at the Interior Ministry, said on September 18 that a preliminary report showed that Blackwater security guards were not ambushed, as they claimed, but rather fired on a car that did not heed a policeman's call to stop, resulting in the death of a couple and their infant, international media reported. He added that the ministry's investigation into the incident includes eyewitness testimonies, including the testimonies of people wounded in the incident.

AQI militants seize village in Diyala

2007-09-19T12:12:00.000Z

Insurgency

(AFP) - Al-Qaeda in Iraq militants have seized control of an village in the restive province of Diyala after a two-day battle with a rival Sunni insurgent group, police said on Wednesday. Dozens of fighters from the Islamist extremist group arrived in boats on Monday and launched an attack on Al-Shuan village on the banks of the Diyala river, police Lieutenant Colonel Ibrahim al-Obeidi said
Members of the rival Brigades of the 1920 Revolution fought back but the Sunni Arab village eventually fell to the Al-Qaeda militants. Obeidi said the village had been attacked after its 300 or so inhabitants refused to align with Al-Qaeda in its fight against Iraqi and US security forces. "Al-Qaeda militants attacked the village two days ago and took control of it (Tuesday)," said Obeidi.
Quoting villagers who escaped the assault, Obeidi said seven of the 30 houses in the village had been destroyed but he gave no casualty figures. Many Sunni militants of the Brigades of the 1920 Revolution, an insurgent group formed to fight US forces in Iraq, have now joined with US and Iraqi troops to fight Al-Qaeda in Sunni Arab areas of Iraq. They also offer protection to vulnerable Sunni Arab villages under threat from Al-Qaeda as it seeks recruits for its anti-American insurgency.
Diyala, the second most dangerous region in Iraq after Baghdad, has been the focus in the past few months of a concerted military crackdown by US and Iraqi troops. According to US military commanders, dozens of fighters linked to Al-Qaeda have been killed or captured in the operation.

Iraqi security source - 142 assassinations in Karbala in 2007

2007-09-19T12:04:00.000Z

Security

(RFE/RL) - A security source in the holy city of Karbala told the independent Voices of Iraq that there have been 142 assassinations in the city since the beginning of 2007. "These included operations against senior officials in the governorate, police and army officers, and unknown citizens," the source said. He noted that assassinations decreased sharply after clashes erupted on August 28 during a Shi'ite religious festival between Iraqi security forces and members of Shi'ite cleric al-Sadr's militia, the Imam Al-Mahdi Army, leaving 52 people dead and more than 200 injured. The source said heightened security in the city has led to the decrease in killings.