Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Sunni politicians have doubts on political deal
Politics
(Al Jazeera) - Iraq's Sunni politicians have expressed doubt that the US-backed prime minister will deliver on goals set down in an agreement hammered out by the country's top leaders over the weekend. Under intense US pressure, Nuri al-Maliki and four other senior leaders declared on Sunday that they had reached a consensus on a number of issues. These included freeing detainees held without charge, easing the ban on former Saddam Hussein supporters in government posts, regulating the oil industry and holding provincial elections. No details were released, and most measures require parliamentary approval.
Some key Sunni figures on Monday dismissed the agreement as a stalling tactic by al-Maliki to ease pressure from Washington. "Our position is that this meeting represents a new phase of procrastination and does not honestly aim at solving the problems quickly," Khalaf al-Ilyan, a leader of the Sunni bloc, the Iraqi Accordance Front, said. "I think that no real or practical solution will come out of this."
Another Front leader, Adnan al-Dulaimi, said the accord included "good decisions that would serve the whole Iraqi people". "But we doubt that they will be implemented," he said. "All our experience with al-Maliki indicates that this is another new set of delaying measures. They give you a glimmer of hope, but at the end of the day you get nothing but promises."
Ryan Crocker, the US ambassador to Iraq, has expressed frustration over the lack of movement towards political reconciliation among the Shia, Sunni and Kurdish factions, but called Sunday's accord an "important step forward for political progress, national reconciliation and development". He attended Sunday's meeting with al-Maliki along with Adil Abdul-Mahdi, the Shia vice-president, Tariq al-Hashemi, the Sunni Arab vice-president, Massoud Barzani the head of the northern autonomous Kurdish region and President Jalal Talabani, who is also a Kurd.
But the deal did not convince the main Sunni Arab political bloc to take back the government posts they abandoned this month over differences with al-Maliki, a Shia. The Sunni walkout has paralysed the government ahead of a crucial report to the US congress by Crocker and General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq. In a step towards implementing the deal, US and Iraqi officials announced on Monday that US-led forces would increase the number of detainees released during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, which begins in September. They did not say how many would be freed.
Some key Sunni figures on Monday dismissed the agreement as a stalling tactic by al-Maliki to ease pressure from Washington. "Our position is that this meeting represents a new phase of procrastination and does not honestly aim at solving the problems quickly," Khalaf al-Ilyan, a leader of the Sunni bloc, the Iraqi Accordance Front, said. "I think that no real or practical solution will come out of this."
Another Front leader, Adnan al-Dulaimi, said the accord included "good decisions that would serve the whole Iraqi people". "But we doubt that they will be implemented," he said. "All our experience with al-Maliki indicates that this is another new set of delaying measures. They give you a glimmer of hope, but at the end of the day you get nothing but promises."
Ryan Crocker, the US ambassador to Iraq, has expressed frustration over the lack of movement towards political reconciliation among the Shia, Sunni and Kurdish factions, but called Sunday's accord an "important step forward for political progress, national reconciliation and development". He attended Sunday's meeting with al-Maliki along with Adil Abdul-Mahdi, the Shia vice-president, Tariq al-Hashemi, the Sunni Arab vice-president, Massoud Barzani the head of the northern autonomous Kurdish region and President Jalal Talabani, who is also a Kurd.
But the deal did not convince the main Sunni Arab political bloc to take back the government posts they abandoned this month over differences with al-Maliki, a Shia. The Sunni walkout has paralysed the government ahead of a crucial report to the US congress by Crocker and General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq. In a step towards implementing the deal, US and Iraqi officials announced on Monday that US-led forces would increase the number of detainees released during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, which begins in September. They did not say how many would be freed.
Labels: Adnan al-Dulaimi, Iraqi Accordance Front, Khalaf al-Ilyan, Nouri Al-Maliki, politics
Monday, April 30, 2007
Sunni leader urges his party to withdraw if security does not improve
Politics
(AP) - An Iraqi Sunni lawmaker urged his party Sunday to withdraw from the Shiite-led government if it fails to better protect citizens from sectarian bloodshed. Khalaf al-Ilyan, one of the three leaders of the Iraqi Accordance Front, said his party should set a timetable for the government to end mass killings and "stop threatening lawmakers" from his party.
Al-Ilyan's announcement came less than a week ahead of a conference on Iraq in which Arab countries are expected to demand that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government do more to reach out to disgruntled Sunni Arabs before they pledge substantial aid to the country. Iraq's neighbors, including Iran, along with Egypt, Bahrain and representatives from the five U.N. Security Council members have agreed to attend the conference, which will be held in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheik on Thursday and Friday.
"I call on the Accordance Front, its leaders, Cabinet ministers and lawmakers, to rise to their responsibilities and to clearly state their position on the deteriorating situation in Iraq," al-Ilyan told reporters in Amman. The Accordance Front holds five Cabinet posts and 44 seats in the Iraqi Parliament. He urged them to "threaten to completely pull out of the government, unless our legitimate demands are met within a specific period of time to protect our citizens." He declined to specify the timeframe.
The Iraqi lawmaker has been in Jordan for several weeks recovering from knee surgery he underwent in the United Arab Emirates. On April 8, an Iraqi military spokesman said U.S. and Iraqi troops found a huge stash of weapons in al-Ilyan's Baghdad home and arrested more than a dozen men working for him. But al-Ilyan denied any wrongdoing and insisted that the government was trying to smear his reputation because he is a fiery critic of al-Maliki's policies.
Al-Ilyan's announcement came less than a week ahead of a conference on Iraq in which Arab countries are expected to demand that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government do more to reach out to disgruntled Sunni Arabs before they pledge substantial aid to the country. Iraq's neighbors, including Iran, along with Egypt, Bahrain and representatives from the five U.N. Security Council members have agreed to attend the conference, which will be held in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheik on Thursday and Friday.
"I call on the Accordance Front, its leaders, Cabinet ministers and lawmakers, to rise to their responsibilities and to clearly state their position on the deteriorating situation in Iraq," al-Ilyan told reporters in Amman. The Accordance Front holds five Cabinet posts and 44 seats in the Iraqi Parliament. He urged them to "threaten to completely pull out of the government, unless our legitimate demands are met within a specific period of time to protect our citizens." He declined to specify the timeframe.
The Iraqi lawmaker has been in Jordan for several weeks recovering from knee surgery he underwent in the United Arab Emirates. On April 8, an Iraqi military spokesman said U.S. and Iraqi troops found a huge stash of weapons in al-Ilyan's Baghdad home and arrested more than a dozen men working for him. But al-Ilyan denied any wrongdoing and insisted that the government was trying to smear his reputation because he is a fiery critic of al-Maliki's policies.
Labels: Iraqi Accordance Front, Khalaf al-Ilyan, politics, security
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Parliament bombing update
Security, Politics
(AP) - A suicide bomber blew himself up in the Iraqi parliament cafeteria Thursday, killing at least eight people — including three lawmakers — and wounding dozens in a stunning assault in the heart of the heavily fortified, U.S.-protected Green Zone. A news video camera captured the moment of the blast — a flash and an orange ball of fire causing a startled Muslim imam who was being interviewed to duck, and then the smoky, dust-filled aftermath of confusion and shouting. The video was shot by Alhurra, a U.S. government-funded Arab-language channel.
The blast came hours after a suicide truck bomb exploded on a major bridge in Baghdad, collapsing the steel structure and sending cars tumbling into the Tigris River, police and witnesses said. At least 10 people were killed.
The parliament bombing was believed to be the deadliest attack in the Green Zone, the enclave that houses
Iraq's leadership as well as the U.S. Embassy, and is secured by American and Iraqi checkpoints. Security officials at parliament, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information, said they believed the bomber was a bodyguard of a Sunni member of parliament who was not among the dead. They would not name the member of parliament.
The officials also said two satchel bombs were found near the cafeteria. A U.S. bomb squad took the explosives away and detonated them without incident.
President Bush strongly condemned the attack, saying: "My message to the Iraqi government is `We stand with you.'Maj. Gen. William Caldwell told The Associated Press that eight people were killed in the attack, which witness accounts indicated was carried out by a suicide bomber.
Iraqi officials said the bomber struck the cafeteria while several lawmakers were eating lunch, and at least three of them — two Sunnis and a Shiite — were killed. State television said 30 people were wounded. "We don't know at this point who it was. We do know in the past that suicide vests have been used predominantly by al-Qaida," Caldwell said. Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh suggested that those behind the attack might work in the building. "There are some groups that work in politics during the day and do things other than politics at night," he told Alhurra.
The Alhurra video showed what appeared to be the moments just after the attack: A smoky hallway, with people screaming for help. One man was slumped over, covered in dust, motionless. A woman kneeled over what appeared to be a wounded or dead man near a table. Then the camera focused on a bloody severed leg. TV cameras and videotapes belonging to a crew sending footage to Western networks were confiscated and apparently handed over to U.S. authorities. After the blast, security guards sealed the building and no one — including lawmakers — was allowed to enter or leave.
A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said no Americans were hurt. The bombing came amid the two-month-old security crackdown in Baghdad, which has sought to restore stability in the capital so that the government of Iraq can take key political steps by June 30 or face a withdrawal of American support. "We know that there is a security problem in Baghdad," added Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, speaking at the State Department. "This is still early in the process and I don't think anyone expected that there wouldn't be counter-efforts by terrorists to undermine the security presence."
One of the dead lawmakers was Mohammed Awad, a member of the Sunni National Dialogue Front, said party leader Saleh al-Mutlaq. A female Sunni lawmaker from the same list was wounded, he said. Another was Taha al-Liheibi, of the Sunni Accordance Front, said Mohammed Abu Bakr, who heads the legislature's media department. A third dead legislator was Niamah al-Mayahi, a member of the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance bloc, said Saleh al-Aujaili, a fellow member. Asif Hussein Muhammad, an MP from the Islamic Union of Kurdistan, was also killed in the blast. Abu Bakr and other lawmakers said they saw the suspected bomber's body amid the ghastly scene. "I saw two legs in the middle of the cafeteria and none of those killed or wounded lost their legs — which means they must be the legs of the suicide attacker," he said.
Earlier in the day, security officials used dogs to check people entering the building in a rare precaution — apparently concerned that an attack might take place. A security scanner for pedestrians at the entrance to the Green Zone near the parliament building was not working Thursday, Abu Bakr said. People were searched only by hand and had to pass through metal detectors, he said.
The brazen bombing was the clearest evidence yet that militants can penetrate even the most secure locations. Masses of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers are on the streets in the ninth week of a security crackdown in the capital and security measures inside the Green Zone have been significantly hardened.
The U.S. military reported April 1 that two suicide vests were found in the Green Zone, also home to the U.S. Embassy and the Iraqi government. A rocket attack last month killed two Americans, a soldier and a contractor. A few days earlier, a rocket landed within 100 yards of a building where U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was holding a news conference. No one was hurt.
Khalaf al-Ilyan, one of the three leaders of the Iraqi Accordance Front, which holds 44 seats, said the attack was "aimed at everyone — all parties — our parliament in general being a symbol and a representative of all segments of Iraqi society." Al-Ilyan, who is in Jordan recovering from knee surgery, said the blast also "underlines the failure of the government's security plan. The plan is 100 percent a failure. It's a complete flop. The explosion means that instability and lack of security has reached the Green Zone, which the government boasts is heavily fortified," he said.
Hadi al-Amiri, head of the parliament's security and defense committee, said the blast shook the building just after legislators ended their main meeting, and broke into smaller committees. He said Iraqi forces are in charge of security in the building, and that explosives could have been smuggled in amid restaurant supplies.
Attacks in the Green Zone are rare. The worst previous known assault occurred Oct. 14, 2004, when a blast at a market and a popular cafe killed six people — the first bombing in the sprawling region. On Nov. 25, 2004, a mortar attack inside the zone killed four employees of a British security firm and wounded at least 12. On Jan. 29, 2005, insurgents hit the U.S. Embassy compound with a rocket, killing two Americans — a civilian and a sailor — on the eve of landmark elections. Four other Americans were wounded.
The blast came hours after a suicide truck bomb exploded on a major bridge in Baghdad, collapsing the steel structure and sending cars tumbling into the Tigris River, police and witnesses said. At least 10 people were killed.
The parliament bombing was believed to be the deadliest attack in the Green Zone, the enclave that houses
Iraq's leadership as well as the U.S. Embassy, and is secured by American and Iraqi checkpoints. Security officials at parliament, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information, said they believed the bomber was a bodyguard of a Sunni member of parliament who was not among the dead. They would not name the member of parliament.
The officials also said two satchel bombs were found near the cafeteria. A U.S. bomb squad took the explosives away and detonated them without incident.
President Bush strongly condemned the attack, saying: "My message to the Iraqi government is `We stand with you.'Maj. Gen. William Caldwell told The Associated Press that eight people were killed in the attack, which witness accounts indicated was carried out by a suicide bomber.
Iraqi officials said the bomber struck the cafeteria while several lawmakers were eating lunch, and at least three of them — two Sunnis and a Shiite — were killed. State television said 30 people were wounded. "We don't know at this point who it was. We do know in the past that suicide vests have been used predominantly by al-Qaida," Caldwell said. Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh suggested that those behind the attack might work in the building. "There are some groups that work in politics during the day and do things other than politics at night," he told Alhurra.
The Alhurra video showed what appeared to be the moments just after the attack: A smoky hallway, with people screaming for help. One man was slumped over, covered in dust, motionless. A woman kneeled over what appeared to be a wounded or dead man near a table. Then the camera focused on a bloody severed leg. TV cameras and videotapes belonging to a crew sending footage to Western networks were confiscated and apparently handed over to U.S. authorities. After the blast, security guards sealed the building and no one — including lawmakers — was allowed to enter or leave.
A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said no Americans were hurt. The bombing came amid the two-month-old security crackdown in Baghdad, which has sought to restore stability in the capital so that the government of Iraq can take key political steps by June 30 or face a withdrawal of American support. "We know that there is a security problem in Baghdad," added Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, speaking at the State Department. "This is still early in the process and I don't think anyone expected that there wouldn't be counter-efforts by terrorists to undermine the security presence."
One of the dead lawmakers was Mohammed Awad, a member of the Sunni National Dialogue Front, said party leader Saleh al-Mutlaq. A female Sunni lawmaker from the same list was wounded, he said. Another was Taha al-Liheibi, of the Sunni Accordance Front, said Mohammed Abu Bakr, who heads the legislature's media department. A third dead legislator was Niamah al-Mayahi, a member of the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance bloc, said Saleh al-Aujaili, a fellow member. Asif Hussein Muhammad, an MP from the Islamic Union of Kurdistan, was also killed in the blast. Abu Bakr and other lawmakers said they saw the suspected bomber's body amid the ghastly scene. "I saw two legs in the middle of the cafeteria and none of those killed or wounded lost their legs — which means they must be the legs of the suicide attacker," he said.
Earlier in the day, security officials used dogs to check people entering the building in a rare precaution — apparently concerned that an attack might take place. A security scanner for pedestrians at the entrance to the Green Zone near the parliament building was not working Thursday, Abu Bakr said. People were searched only by hand and had to pass through metal detectors, he said.
The brazen bombing was the clearest evidence yet that militants can penetrate even the most secure locations. Masses of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers are on the streets in the ninth week of a security crackdown in the capital and security measures inside the Green Zone have been significantly hardened.
The U.S. military reported April 1 that two suicide vests were found in the Green Zone, also home to the U.S. Embassy and the Iraqi government. A rocket attack last month killed two Americans, a soldier and a contractor. A few days earlier, a rocket landed within 100 yards of a building where U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was holding a news conference. No one was hurt.
Khalaf al-Ilyan, one of the three leaders of the Iraqi Accordance Front, which holds 44 seats, said the attack was "aimed at everyone — all parties — our parliament in general being a symbol and a representative of all segments of Iraqi society." Al-Ilyan, who is in Jordan recovering from knee surgery, said the blast also "underlines the failure of the government's security plan. The plan is 100 percent a failure. It's a complete flop. The explosion means that instability and lack of security has reached the Green Zone, which the government boasts is heavily fortified," he said.
Hadi al-Amiri, head of the parliament's security and defense committee, said the blast shook the building just after legislators ended their main meeting, and broke into smaller committees. He said Iraqi forces are in charge of security in the building, and that explosives could have been smuggled in amid restaurant supplies.
Attacks in the Green Zone are rare. The worst previous known assault occurred Oct. 14, 2004, when a blast at a market and a popular cafe killed six people — the first bombing in the sprawling region. On Nov. 25, 2004, a mortar attack inside the zone killed four employees of a British security firm and wounded at least 12. On Jan. 29, 2005, insurgents hit the U.S. Embassy compound with a rocket, killing two Americans — a civilian and a sailor — on the eve of landmark elections. Four other Americans were wounded.
Labels: Ali Al Dabbagh, Iraq's parliament, Khalaf al-Ilyan, Mohammed Awad, National Dialogue Front, Niamah al-Mayahi, satchel bombs, suicide bomber, Taha al-Liheibi, United Iraqi Alliance
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Sunni MP - weapons cache was 'planted' by Shia government
Politics, Security
(Associated Press) - An Iraqi Sunni lawmaker denied Monday that he had stashed weapons in his Baghdad home and accused the Iraqi government and Iran of trying to discredit him because of his criticism of state policies. Khalaf al-Ilyan spoke to The Associated Press one day after an Iraqi military spokesman said U.S. and Iraqi troops had found a huge stash of weapons in his home and arrested more than a dozen men.
Al-Ilyan, who is recovering from knee surgery in Jordan, accused the Shiite-led government of a smear campaign against him. He said if there were weapons at his home, the Shiite-led security forces must have planted them. "Government authorities search my house twice a week. How can I stash away weapons there? How can I hide weapons there? Am I that foolish to do that when there are so many areas in Iraq where weapons could be concealed?" al-Ilyan said.
He called the government's allegations against him "unfounded, baseless and unjust." Al-Ilyan, one of three leaders of the main Sunni Arab bloc in parliament, said the government was out to get him because he has spoken out against its policies. "The government stands against anyone who speaks the truth or dares to speak out against its policies and actions," al-Ilyan said. "I always talk loudly. I say that the government harbors terrorism and terrorists. They don't like that. So, they accuse us of being terrorists."
He said he planned to write a letter to parliament and to contact U.S. officials "to make them understand the reality behind all this."
Al-Ilyan, who is recovering from knee surgery in Jordan, accused the Shiite-led government of a smear campaign against him. He said if there were weapons at his home, the Shiite-led security forces must have planted them. "Government authorities search my house twice a week. How can I stash away weapons there? How can I hide weapons there? Am I that foolish to do that when there are so many areas in Iraq where weapons could be concealed?" al-Ilyan said.
He called the government's allegations against him "unfounded, baseless and unjust." Al-Ilyan, one of three leaders of the main Sunni Arab bloc in parliament, said the government was out to get him because he has spoken out against its policies. "The government stands against anyone who speaks the truth or dares to speak out against its policies and actions," al-Ilyan said. "I always talk loudly. I say that the government harbors terrorism and terrorists. They don't like that. So, they accuse us of being terrorists."
He said he planned to write a letter to parliament and to contact U.S. officials "to make them understand the reality behind all this."
Labels: Khalaf al-Ilyan, weapons stash
Monday, April 09, 2007
Weapons stash found in Sunni politician's home
Security, Politics
(AP) - U.S. and Iraqi troops found a huge stash of weapons in a raid on the home of a Sunni lawmaker and detained at least a dozen men for questioning, officials said Sunday. Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, spokesman for the Baghdad security plan, said the raid targeted a house of legislator Khalaf al-Ilyan — one of the three leaders of the Iraqi Accordance Front, which holds 44 seats in parliament.
"During the search, we discovered many weapons and explosive materials," al-Moussawi said at a news conference. He did not say when the raid took place, but a U.S. military statement said it occurred Tuesday. Among the weapons found in the house were 33 Kalashnikov rifles, three pistols, one hand grenade, 4.4 pounds of TNT and 13 82-mm mortar rounds, al-Moussawi said. The U.S. military said eight 57-mm rockets and 5,000 rounds of ammunition were also seized, along with photos of burning British soldiers and American flag-draped coffins. A detailed search revealed buried mortar rounds with new explosive timing and initiation devices.
Al-Ilyan was believed to be in Jordan at the time of the raid, and was unreachable for comment. Al-Moussawi said troops detained 12 people for questioning. A U.S. military statement put the number of detainees at 14, and said they were al-Ilyan's personal bodyguards. As a parliament member, al-Ilyan has immunity from prosecution. But al-Moussawi said "no one is immune when it comes to the law, and if anyone is convicted the person will be detained by security forces."
Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, a U.S. military spokesman, suggested U.S. officials would not back away from prosecuting a parliament member. "Anytime we find someone operating outside the law, not following the rules that have been set by this government, they are subject to being detained and arrested," Caldwell said. Last month, Iraqi security forces raided the home of another prominent Sunni lawmaker, Dhafer al-Ani, and seized four vehicles, confiscated weapons and detained seven suspects.
"During the search, we discovered many weapons and explosive materials," al-Moussawi said at a news conference. He did not say when the raid took place, but a U.S. military statement said it occurred Tuesday. Among the weapons found in the house were 33 Kalashnikov rifles, three pistols, one hand grenade, 4.4 pounds of TNT and 13 82-mm mortar rounds, al-Moussawi said. The U.S. military said eight 57-mm rockets and 5,000 rounds of ammunition were also seized, along with photos of burning British soldiers and American flag-draped coffins. A detailed search revealed buried mortar rounds with new explosive timing and initiation devices.
Al-Ilyan was believed to be in Jordan at the time of the raid, and was unreachable for comment. Al-Moussawi said troops detained 12 people for questioning. A U.S. military statement put the number of detainees at 14, and said they were al-Ilyan's personal bodyguards. As a parliament member, al-Ilyan has immunity from prosecution. But al-Moussawi said "no one is immune when it comes to the law, and if anyone is convicted the person will be detained by security forces."
Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, a U.S. military spokesman, suggested U.S. officials would not back away from prosecuting a parliament member. "Anytime we find someone operating outside the law, not following the rules that have been set by this government, they are subject to being detained and arrested," Caldwell said. Last month, Iraqi security forces raided the home of another prominent Sunni lawmaker, Dhafer al-Ani, and seized four vehicles, confiscated weapons and detained seven suspects.
COMMENT: The Iraqi Accordance Front is an alliance of three mainly Islamist Arab Sunni groups that boycotted elections in January. It was created on October 26, 2005 to contest the December 2005 general election. Sheikh Abdul Nasir al-Janabi is a leader of Iraqi Accord Front. The Front consists of Iraq's largest Sunni political movement, the Iraqi Islamic Party, which is running with a group called the Iraqi National Dialogue and an umbrella Sunni movement called the General Conference of the People of Iraq.
The Front pledges to push for the withdrawal of foreign forces, and promises security through dialogue and by bringing back former Iraqi army officers. Its leaders also want to change articles in the constitution especially wording on the devolution of power to Iraq's regions. The General Council for the People of Iraq is led by Adnan al-Dulaimi, the Iraqi Islamic Party is led by VP Tariq al-Hashimi and the Iraqi National Dialogue Council, a bloc of parties led by Khalaf al-Ulayyan. In the December 2005 elections, the alliance won 15.1% and 44 out of 275 seats, the largest number of any Sunni Arab-led list. COMMENT ENDS.
Labels: Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, Iraqi Accordance Front, Khalaf al-Ilyan, weapons stash
