Monday, June 25, 2007
Petraeus - Iranian trained militia responsible for kidnapping Brits
Security
(The Times) - A group funded, trained and armed by Iran was responsible for kidnapping five British civilians in Baghdad last month, according to the commander of US forces in Iraq. General David Petraeus told The Times on teh 21st that he believed that the men, four security guards and a consultant, were alive and added that there had been repeated attempts to free them. No demands have been made for their release.
Commandos searching for the hostages have staged a series of raids on suspected terrorist hide-outs. “There have been several operations to try to rescue them, we just have not had the right intelligence,” General Petraeus said. “There is a very intensive effort ongoing to try to locate and rescue them.”
The remarks are the first official acknowledgement of secret hostage rescue efforts that the British authorities refuse to comment on. They are also likely to inflame relations with Iran further. The general said that the terrorist cell responsible had very close ties to the Iranian authorities, but he fell short of accusing Tehran of complicity.
Since the group was snatched from the Finance Ministry in Baghdad three weeks ago, Britain has sent hostage negotiators and antiterrorist experts to help in the hunt. The British Embassy in Baghdad said that staff were working hard to secure their release.
General Petraeus said that Britain and the US had suffered at the hands of the group he blamed for abducting the British hostages. He identified it as a secret cell of al-Mahdi Army. Of the cell responsible for the kidnap, he said: “They are not rank-and-file Jaish al-Mahdi. They are trained in Iran, equipped with Iranian [weapons], and advised by Iran.”
Commandos searching for the hostages have staged a series of raids on suspected terrorist hide-outs. “There have been several operations to try to rescue them, we just have not had the right intelligence,” General Petraeus said. “There is a very intensive effort ongoing to try to locate and rescue them.”
The remarks are the first official acknowledgement of secret hostage rescue efforts that the British authorities refuse to comment on. They are also likely to inflame relations with Iran further. The general said that the terrorist cell responsible had very close ties to the Iranian authorities, but he fell short of accusing Tehran of complicity.
Since the group was snatched from the Finance Ministry in Baghdad three weeks ago, Britain has sent hostage negotiators and antiterrorist experts to help in the hunt. The British Embassy in Baghdad said that staff were working hard to secure their release.
General Petraeus said that Britain and the US had suffered at the hands of the group he blamed for abducting the British hostages. He identified it as a secret cell of al-Mahdi Army. Of the cell responsible for the kidnap, he said: “They are not rank-and-file Jaish al-Mahdi. They are trained in Iran, equipped with Iranian [weapons], and advised by Iran.”
Labels: British hostages, General David Petraeus, Iran, Ministry of Finance
Thursday, June 07, 2007
British ambassador to Iraq appeals for release of kidnapped Brits
Security
(BBC) - The British ambassador to Iraq has appealed for the release of five kidnapped Britons who were seized by armed militia. The five men were seized on May 29 from Baghdad's Finance Ministry by gunmen believed to be the Mehdi Army militia. British Ambassador Dominic Asquith has now issued a statement in English and Arabic, appealing for information.
He said he was "greatly concerned" about the men, whose families were "deeply worried". One of the five has been named as 28-year-old Alec MacLachlan, from Llanelli in Wales. The search for Mr MacLachlan and his four companions is continuing in Sadr City, a suburb of the Iraqi capital.
The area is a stronghold for the Mehdi Army. It is being searched by both US and Iraqi troops. Mr Asquith said: "I am greatly concerned about these five men. "Their families are deeply worried not to have news of them. "I ask those holding them to release them so they may return to their families.
"We have people here in Iraq who are ready to listen to any person about this incident, or any person who may be holding these men and who may wish to communicate." The men - a computer expert and four bodyguards - were taken from the building by kidnappers wearing police uniforms who staged the capture without firing a shot, according to senior Iraqi officials.
He said he was "greatly concerned" about the men, whose families were "deeply worried". One of the five has been named as 28-year-old Alec MacLachlan, from Llanelli in Wales. The search for Mr MacLachlan and his four companions is continuing in Sadr City, a suburb of the Iraqi capital.
The area is a stronghold for the Mehdi Army. It is being searched by both US and Iraqi troops. Mr Asquith said: "I am greatly concerned about these five men. "Their families are deeply worried not to have news of them. "I ask those holding them to release them so they may return to their families.
"We have people here in Iraq who are ready to listen to any person about this incident, or any person who may be holding these men and who may wish to communicate." The men - a computer expert and four bodyguards - were taken from the building by kidnappers wearing police uniforms who staged the capture without firing a shot, according to senior Iraqi officials.
Labels: Alec MacLachlan, British hostages, Dominic Asquith, Ministry of Finance, Sadr City
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Mahdi Army may be behind abduction of foreigners
Security
(BBC) - A Shia militia group is thought to be behind the kidnapping of five Britons in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said that the Mehdi Army, rather than al-Qaeda, could be responsible.
The Anglican vicar of Baghdad, Canon Andrew White, said the kidnapping could be linked to the recent killing of a radical Shia cleric by UK troops.
The Britons were seized at a government building near Baghdad's Sadr City suburb, a Mehdi Army stronghold.
The five men - a computer expert and four bodyguards - were taken from the finance ministry building in Baghdad. The kidnappers wore police uniforms and staged the capture without firing a shot, senior Iraqi officials said.
Mr Zebari said the kidnappings represented a "very serious challenge... to the government itself". The kidnappers probably had connections with local police in the area, he told the BBC's Today programme. "The number of people who were involved in the operation, to seal all the buildings, to set roadblocks, to get into the building with such confidence, [they] must have some connection."
Canon Andrew White said there was "very likely a connection" between Tuesday's kidnappings and the death of Abu Qadir, also known as Wissam Waili, a leader of the Mehdi Army militia, who was killed in Basra on 25 May. He told the BBC: "The worrying thing is this is obviously not a case for ransom demand; economic hostage-taking is fairly easy to deal with. "The fact is that just last week, one [leader] of the most militant wing of the Mehdi Army was killed by the British troops, and we now see that there is very likely a connection between these two [events]."
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, speaking during a trip to Libya, said: "We will do everything we possibly can to help." In a statement, Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said support was being offered to the kidnap victims' next of kin at what was "clearly a very distressing time for all concerned". The Iraqi government itself has got a few questions to answer about this. "It is not sensible at this stage to speculate on what might have happened," the statement said. "We are working closely with the Iraqi authorities to establish the facts and doing all we can to secure their swift and safe release."
British embassy officials in Iraq are following up the case and the Iraqi government has set up a special operations room. The British government convened an emergency meeting of its Cobra crisis management committee to discuss the issue on Tuesday afternoon.
The four kidnapped security guards were working for Canadian-owned security firm GardaWorld. The company is one of the biggest suppliers of private security in Iraq, and is mainly staffed by Britons. The computer expert was working for Bearingpoint, a US management consultancy which has worked on development projects in Iraq since 2003. As yet, no group has taken responsibility for the abduction.
This is thought to be the first time Westerners have been abducted from a government facility. BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said: "Because these men were very unusually seized from a government ministry in broad daylight by people dressed as special police commandoes, in an incredibly brazen raid, the Iraqi government itself has got a few questions to answer about this.
"I think the suspicion is that there was some connivance, possibly low or middle-level, within the police. The Iraqi police is known to be heavily infiltrated by Shia militias." BBC correspondent Jim Muir said similar abductions of large numbers of Iraqis had been blamed on Shia militias, but it was not being ruled out that Tuesday's raid could have been staged by Sunni insurgents. He said senior Iraqi officials said the kidnappers told guards at the Ministry of Finance building that they were from the Integrity Commission - the Iraqi government's internal watchdog.
Witnesses said that the street was sealed off at both ends and the kidnappers, in police camouflage uniforms, walked past guards at the finance ministry building on Palestine Street. A police source told the BBC that dozens of police vehicles were used in the operation. Frank Gardner said a team of experienced police hostage negotiators had already been assembled, and that extra staff had been flown to the British Embassy in Baghdad following the kidnappings.
Intense negotiations were going on with Iraqi officials, and US representatives in Iraq, he said. He added: "It's thought that it would be quite hard for them to abduct these people and take them too far from the area where they were seized without being detected. "So there will be back-channel contacts, SIS - the Secret Intelligence Service - will be involved in this, speaking to informers, trying to find out if anybody has seen anything suspicious, and trying to find out who they are dealing with here." About 200 foreigners of many different nationalities have been kidnapped in Iraq over the past four years, though the number has fallen dramatically since a few years ago.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said that the Mehdi Army, rather than al-Qaeda, could be responsible.
The Anglican vicar of Baghdad, Canon Andrew White, said the kidnapping could be linked to the recent killing of a radical Shia cleric by UK troops.
The Britons were seized at a government building near Baghdad's Sadr City suburb, a Mehdi Army stronghold.
The five men - a computer expert and four bodyguards - were taken from the finance ministry building in Baghdad. The kidnappers wore police uniforms and staged the capture without firing a shot, senior Iraqi officials said.
Mr Zebari said the kidnappings represented a "very serious challenge... to the government itself". The kidnappers probably had connections with local police in the area, he told the BBC's Today programme. "The number of people who were involved in the operation, to seal all the buildings, to set roadblocks, to get into the building with such confidence, [they] must have some connection."
Canon Andrew White said there was "very likely a connection" between Tuesday's kidnappings and the death of Abu Qadir, also known as Wissam Waili, a leader of the Mehdi Army militia, who was killed in Basra on 25 May. He told the BBC: "The worrying thing is this is obviously not a case for ransom demand; economic hostage-taking is fairly easy to deal with. "The fact is that just last week, one [leader] of the most militant wing of the Mehdi Army was killed by the British troops, and we now see that there is very likely a connection between these two [events]."
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, speaking during a trip to Libya, said: "We will do everything we possibly can to help." In a statement, Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said support was being offered to the kidnap victims' next of kin at what was "clearly a very distressing time for all concerned". The Iraqi government itself has got a few questions to answer about this. "It is not sensible at this stage to speculate on what might have happened," the statement said. "We are working closely with the Iraqi authorities to establish the facts and doing all we can to secure their swift and safe release."
British embassy officials in Iraq are following up the case and the Iraqi government has set up a special operations room. The British government convened an emergency meeting of its Cobra crisis management committee to discuss the issue on Tuesday afternoon.
The four kidnapped security guards were working for Canadian-owned security firm GardaWorld. The company is one of the biggest suppliers of private security in Iraq, and is mainly staffed by Britons. The computer expert was working for Bearingpoint, a US management consultancy which has worked on development projects in Iraq since 2003. As yet, no group has taken responsibility for the abduction.
This is thought to be the first time Westerners have been abducted from a government facility. BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said: "Because these men were very unusually seized from a government ministry in broad daylight by people dressed as special police commandoes, in an incredibly brazen raid, the Iraqi government itself has got a few questions to answer about this.
"I think the suspicion is that there was some connivance, possibly low or middle-level, within the police. The Iraqi police is known to be heavily infiltrated by Shia militias." BBC correspondent Jim Muir said similar abductions of large numbers of Iraqis had been blamed on Shia militias, but it was not being ruled out that Tuesday's raid could have been staged by Sunni insurgents. He said senior Iraqi officials said the kidnappers told guards at the Ministry of Finance building that they were from the Integrity Commission - the Iraqi government's internal watchdog.
Witnesses said that the street was sealed off at both ends and the kidnappers, in police camouflage uniforms, walked past guards at the finance ministry building on Palestine Street. A police source told the BBC that dozens of police vehicles were used in the operation. Frank Gardner said a team of experienced police hostage negotiators had already been assembled, and that extra staff had been flown to the British Embassy in Baghdad following the kidnappings.
Intense negotiations were going on with Iraqi officials, and US representatives in Iraq, he said. He added: "It's thought that it would be quite hard for them to abduct these people and take them too far from the area where they were seized without being detected. "So there will be back-channel contacts, SIS - the Secret Intelligence Service - will be involved in this, speaking to informers, trying to find out if anybody has seen anything suspicious, and trying to find out who they are dealing with here." About 200 foreigners of many different nationalities have been kidnapped in Iraq over the past four years, though the number has fallen dramatically since a few years ago.
Labels: abduction, Abu Qadir, Baghdad, Basra, Bearingpoint, Canon Andrew White, Cobra, GardaWorld, Hoshyar Zibari, Mahdi Army, Ministry of Finance, Wissam Waili
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Westerners 'abducted in Baghdad'
Security
(BBC) - A number of Westerners have reportedly been kidnapped from a finance ministry building in central Baghdad. There is confusion over the number and nationality of those involved. They are believed to include at least one finance expert, thought to be German, and at least four bodyguards, believed to be British.
"We are aware of reports that a group of westerners have been kidnapped. We are urgently looking into them," the UK foreign office said. Central Baghdad was also wracked by a bus explosion which killed at least 22 people and injured about 55. It is not clear if the parked minibus was carrying any passengers. The attack took place in Tayaran Square, where labourers wait for daily construction work. The blast comes a day after a car bomb killed at least 20 people in the Sinak commercial district in Iraq.
"We are aware of reports that a group of westerners have been kidnapped. We are urgently looking into them," the UK foreign office said. Central Baghdad was also wracked by a bus explosion which killed at least 22 people and injured about 55. It is not clear if the parked minibus was carrying any passengers. The attack took place in Tayaran Square, where labourers wait for daily construction work. The blast comes a day after a car bomb killed at least 20 people in the Sinak commercial district in Iraq.
COMMENT: There are currently conflicting versions of this story. Below is teh report from Reuters. COMMENT ENDS.
(Reuters) - Gunmen wearing police uniforms kidnapped at least three Western lecturers and several of their bodyguards from a Finance Ministry building in central Baghdad on Tuesday, a witness told Reuters. Police said the lecturers were German and they were seized from their cars outside the ministry building. The lecturers had been advising ministry personnel on organizing electronic contracts, said the witness, who did not want to be identified.
The gunmen entered the lecture room led by a man wearing a police major's uniform. "Where are the foreigners, where are the foreigners?," the gunmen shouted, according to the witness who was in the conference room.
At least 22 people were killed and 55 were wounded when a bomb planted in a parked minibus exploded in a busy commercial area in central Baghdad, police said. The blast was near a major intersection in Tayaran Square, an area filled with markets where day laborers, usually poor Shi'ites, queue for work.
No other details were immediately available.
More than 200 foreigners and thousands of Iraqis have been kidnapped since the U.S.-led invasion to topple
Saddam Hussein in 2003, although there had been a relative lull in the taking of foreigners in recent months.
Most of the foreign hostages who have been taken in Iraq have been released but at least 60 have been reported killed by their captors.
The witness in the Finance Ministry said another lecturer escaped being abducted because he was sitting apart from his colleagues. The lecturers, all men and employed by a U.S. organization, had given at least 12 lectures at the ministry over the past year, she said. There was no immediate comment from the U.S. Embassy. A source at the Finance Ministry confirmed the lecturers had been kidnapped but said he had no further information.
Tuesday's assault appeared to be the first time Westerners have been kidnapped from inside an Iraqi government building where many foreigners work assisting the government, and as contractors. A German woman, married to an Iraqi doctor, and her son were kidnapped on February 6. Last year two German engineers were captured in Iraq and held for 99 days before they were freed, although it was not clear if a ransom was paid. German archaeologist Susanne Osthoff was also held by an Islamist group.
The gunmen entered the lecture room led by a man wearing a police major's uniform. "Where are the foreigners, where are the foreigners?," the gunmen shouted, according to the witness who was in the conference room.
At least 22 people were killed and 55 were wounded when a bomb planted in a parked minibus exploded in a busy commercial area in central Baghdad, police said. The blast was near a major intersection in Tayaran Square, an area filled with markets where day laborers, usually poor Shi'ites, queue for work.
No other details were immediately available.
More than 200 foreigners and thousands of Iraqis have been kidnapped since the U.S.-led invasion to topple
Saddam Hussein in 2003, although there had been a relative lull in the taking of foreigners in recent months.
Most of the foreign hostages who have been taken in Iraq have been released but at least 60 have been reported killed by their captors.
The witness in the Finance Ministry said another lecturer escaped being abducted because he was sitting apart from his colleagues. The lecturers, all men and employed by a U.S. organization, had given at least 12 lectures at the ministry over the past year, she said. There was no immediate comment from the U.S. Embassy. A source at the Finance Ministry confirmed the lecturers had been kidnapped but said he had no further information.
Tuesday's assault appeared to be the first time Westerners have been kidnapped from inside an Iraqi government building where many foreigners work assisting the government, and as contractors. A German woman, married to an Iraqi doctor, and her son were kidnapped on February 6. Last year two German engineers were captured in Iraq and held for 99 days before they were freed, although it was not clear if a ransom was paid. German archaeologist Susanne Osthoff was also held by an Islamist group.
Labels: abduction, bodyguards, British, Germans, lecturers, Ministry of Finance, Westerners
Friday, May 11, 2007
$140 bn. for Basrah reconstruction
Reconstruction
(Addustour Newspaper) - 10 MAY - The Finance Ministry has allocated 140 billion dollars in additional budget funding to speed up reconstruction in the governorate in 2007. Basrah Governorate Advisor, Ihsan Abd Al Jabar, said that this money from the Finance Ministry is for the governorate’s service sector. It is the governorate’s duty to follow how this money is spent and to oversee the projects which this money is used for.
Labels: Basrah, Ministry of Finance, reconstruction funds, service sector
Thursday, April 19, 2007
54 countries reduce Iraq debt
Finance
(Iraq Directory) - The Ministry of Finance said that the number of countries that have reduced their debt on Iraq hit 54 states, and the government is continuing its efforts to reduce the remaining debt and hopes to reduce some of its debt to the rate of 100%, while the Adviser of the Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Kamal Al-Basri, said the Paris Club settlement stipulated stopping the State’s subsidy to a number of sectors and activities in order to drop 80% of Iraq's debt.
The Ministry of Finance noted that the follow-up efforts of the Ministry will continue in order to cancel the debts of Iraq once and for all to promote the economic reality of the country and ensure a decent life for all its citizens; the Ministry was working to repatriate funds, especially those funds and real estates stolen by the former regime and his followers and smuggled outside the country, as well as following-up Iraq's dues for loans granted to some countries where the Iraqi Fund for Foreign Development is following-up Iraq’s debts and their benefits according to time periods.
Adviser of the Prime Minister for Economic Affairs said that there is a plan to compensate the current ration card with cash and provide a competitive market for supply materials; the plan will be implemented in three provinces: Dahuk, Samawah and Hillah, where the amount of compensation will be $ 10 per person, since the volume of the State’s expenditure, the big deficit in its budget and the total amount of the government’s subsidy has become a major burden on the State’s budget and its economic growth. He continued that Iraq needs 200 billion dollars for reconstruction, and this amount can only be provided after 20 years if the National Oil Company were able to maintain the production of three million barrels per day.
The Ministry of Finance noted that the follow-up efforts of the Ministry will continue in order to cancel the debts of Iraq once and for all to promote the economic reality of the country and ensure a decent life for all its citizens; the Ministry was working to repatriate funds, especially those funds and real estates stolen by the former regime and his followers and smuggled outside the country, as well as following-up Iraq's dues for loans granted to some countries where the Iraqi Fund for Foreign Development is following-up Iraq’s debts and their benefits according to time periods.
Adviser of the Prime Minister for Economic Affairs said that there is a plan to compensate the current ration card with cash and provide a competitive market for supply materials; the plan will be implemented in three provinces: Dahuk, Samawah and Hillah, where the amount of compensation will be $ 10 per person, since the volume of the State’s expenditure, the big deficit in its budget and the total amount of the government’s subsidy has become a major burden on the State’s budget and its economic growth. He continued that Iraq needs 200 billion dollars for reconstruction, and this amount can only be provided after 20 years if the National Oil Company were able to maintain the production of three million barrels per day.
Labels: debt, Ministry of Finance, ration cards
