Friday, August 17, 2007
Indefinate curfew in Diwaniyah as new governor is chosen
Security, Politics
(Voices of Iraq) - Local authorities in Diwaniya city imposed an indefinite curfew on the Shiite city from Thursday evening as the provincial council is expected to select a new governor for the province on Friday. "It is decided that a curfew be imposed on Diwaniya city as of Thursday 7:00 pm till further notice in preparations for the selection of a new governor for the province on Friday," acting governor Dhia Shubbar said in a statement received by the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
Diwaniya Provincial Council accepted nominations for the post of the governor after the former governor Khalil Jalil Hamza was killed in a blast on Saturday. A source from the Provincial Council told VOI "seven persons were nominated for the post and the 41-member-council is expected to name the new governor by voting on Friday." SICI member, Sheikh Hussain Al Badari, the chief of the council’s security committee; Dawa Party member, Laith Ali Motar; Diwaniya Governorate Council member and SICI member, Sheikh Ghanim Abid Dahish; and Accord Front member, Muslim Al Ghazi are among the nominees for the governor position.
Diwaniya is 180 km south of Baghdad.
Diwaniya Provincial Council accepted nominations for the post of the governor after the former governor Khalil Jalil Hamza was killed in a blast on Saturday. A source from the Provincial Council told VOI "seven persons were nominated for the post and the 41-member-council is expected to name the new governor by voting on Friday." SICI member, Sheikh Hussain Al Badari, the chief of the council’s security committee; Dawa Party member, Laith Ali Motar; Diwaniya Governorate Council member and SICI member, Sheikh Ghanim Abid Dahish; and Accord Front member, Muslim Al Ghazi are among the nominees for the governor position.
Diwaniya is 180 km south of Baghdad.
Labels: curfew, Dhia Shubbar, Diwaniya, Khalil Jalil Hamzah
Monday, August 13, 2007
Governor and police chief of Qadisiya killed
Security
(Al Jazeera) - Hundreds of mourners turned out to bury an assassinated provincial governor and chief of police on Sunday as the Iraqi prime minister ordered an investigation into their killings, which he called "a seditious act", and appealed for talks to end an ongoing cabinet crisis. Khalil Jalil Hamza, the governor, and Khalid Hassan, the police chief, of the southern province of Qadisiya were killed by a roadside bomb on Saturday as they headed back to Diwaniya, the provincial capital, from the funeral of a tribal sheikh. Both men were Shi’a.
Iraqi police and soldiers tightly surrounded the centre of the Shia city of Najaf, where the bodies were brought on Sunday for burial. Carrying Iraqi flags and posters of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the country's Shia cleric, the mourners set out from the Shia Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) offices joined by a number of officials. Police said on Sunday they had arrested two men, a commander of a force that protects infrastructure in Diwaniya, and his deputy, who were believed to have been near the site of the attack.
In Baghdad, the office of Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq's prime minister, mourned the passing of Hamza and Hassan and announced that an investigation into their deaths was under way. Jalal Talabani, Iraq's president, had described the attack as a "cowardly terrorist act" by Sunnis fighters who had been displaced by the current security crackdown by Iraqi and US forces. Talabani's office said: "They have committed a crime in a secure part of our country after they were besieged and kicked out of Anbar, Diyala and Samarra."
General David Petraeus, the US military commander, and Ryan Crocker, the US ambassador, issued a joint statement condemning the killings. But Diwaniya residents said on Sunday they feared all-out war among rival Shia factions after Saturday's assassinations. The SIIC and supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr, the anti-American Shia leader, are said by local residents to be targeting each other in an armed conflict mainly through assassinations. SIIC's armed wing, the Badr Organisation, controls the police who fight al-Sadr's al-Mahdi Army militia. The Shia-dominated south has become increasingly restless as factions vie for control of the oil-rich region, often pitting police loyal to one bloc against militiamen of others.
Iraqi police and soldiers tightly surrounded the centre of the Shia city of Najaf, where the bodies were brought on Sunday for burial. Carrying Iraqi flags and posters of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the country's Shia cleric, the mourners set out from the Shia Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) offices joined by a number of officials. Police said on Sunday they had arrested two men, a commander of a force that protects infrastructure in Diwaniya, and his deputy, who were believed to have been near the site of the attack.
In Baghdad, the office of Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq's prime minister, mourned the passing of Hamza and Hassan and announced that an investigation into their deaths was under way. Jalal Talabani, Iraq's president, had described the attack as a "cowardly terrorist act" by Sunnis fighters who had been displaced by the current security crackdown by Iraqi and US forces. Talabani's office said: "They have committed a crime in a secure part of our country after they were besieged and kicked out of Anbar, Diyala and Samarra."
General David Petraeus, the US military commander, and Ryan Crocker, the US ambassador, issued a joint statement condemning the killings. But Diwaniya residents said on Sunday they feared all-out war among rival Shia factions after Saturday's assassinations. The SIIC and supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr, the anti-American Shia leader, are said by local residents to be targeting each other in an armed conflict mainly through assassinations. SIIC's armed wing, the Badr Organisation, controls the police who fight al-Sadr's al-Mahdi Army militia. The Shia-dominated south has become increasingly restless as factions vie for control of the oil-rich region, often pitting police loyal to one bloc against militiamen of others.
COMMENT: Jalil was a former top operative in the Badr Brigade, a former paramilitary group based in Iran that has since changed its name to the Badr Organization. The Badr Organization issued a statement calling Jalil a “holy fighter” and seemed to implicate elements of the Imam Al-Mahdi Army, which is loyal to Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, in his killing. An al-Sadr spokesman denied his organization’s involvement in the deaths of the governor and his police chief. COMMENT ENDS.
Labels: Afak, Badr Organisation, Brig .Gen. Khalid Abed Hassan, Diwaniyah, Khalil Jalil Hamzah, Mahdi Army, Najaf, Nouri Al-Maliki, Qadisiya, SIIC
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Governorate signs cease-fire with al-Sadr
Security
(Al-Iraqiyah) - Local government officials and representatives of Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr signed an 11-point cease-fire agreement in Al-Qadisiyah Governorate on May 20, Iraqi media reported. Al-Iraqiyah television said participants at the meeting agreed upon the need to uphold security, and said they will do their utmost to prevent any actions that undermine it. "We denounce, condemn, and censure the assassinations, killings, abductions, and acts of robbery and rape, as well as all the other crimes that took place in the governorate," Al-Qadisiyah Governor Khalil Jalil Hamzah said.
Al-Iraqiyah reported that the agreement stipulates that weapons shall remain only in the hands of government security services. Al-Sharqiyah television reported on May 20 that the cease-fire will be in effect for only 30 days. The news channel said the agreement was made to allow for students to take their final exams, and that new negotiations will take place in 30 days' time.
Labels: Al-Qadisiyah Governorate, cease-fire, Khalil Jalil Hamzah, Moqtada Al-Sadr
