Friday, October 12, 2007
U.S. pledges to release 50 detainees a day
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."
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."
Labels: Maj. Gen. Douglas M. Stone, prisoners, Ramadan
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Chemical Ali's execution delayed till after Ramadan
(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.
‘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.
Labels: Ali Hassan al-Majid, Chemical Ali, death sentence, Ramadan
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Syria to drop visa demand during Ramadan
Region
(AFP) - Syria said on Thursday it would drop visa restrictions for Iraqis fleeing the violence at home as a goodwill gesture for the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. The decision is aimed at allowing Iraqi families to meet during the month, an official said, adding that visas would once again be required after Eid al-Fitr, the festival marking the end of Ramadan on about October 12,
About 30,000 Iraqis fleeing violence in their own country are arriving each month in neighbouring Syria, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, which estimates the total number of refugees at more than four million. Syria had announced it would impose visa restrictions on Iraqis from September 10 in a bid to control the flood of refugees. It was also planning to permit only those Iraqis who were from the economic, commercial and scientific sectors to enter Syria.
About 30,000 Iraqis fleeing violence in their own country are arriving each month in neighbouring Syria, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, which estimates the total number of refugees at more than four million. Syria had announced it would impose visa restrictions on Iraqis from September 10 in a bid to control the flood of refugees. It was also planning to permit only those Iraqis who were from the economic, commercial and scientific sectors to enter Syria.
Labels: Eid al-Fitr, Iraq, Ramadan, Syria, visas
U.S. military releases detainees in deal with vice-president
Politics
(Al Jazeera) - The US military in Iraq has announced the start of a programme that will see the release of 50 to 80 detainees a day during the Ramadan month. The military reached a deal with Tareq al-Hashemi, the Sunni Arab vice-president, last month to conduct "special Ramadan releases". It says it is holding 23,000 Iraqis.
On Thursday, Omar al-Jubouri, an adviser on human rights to al-Hashemi, said 43 Iraqis were freed from the Camp Cropper detention facility near Baghdad's international airport. Ramadan in Iraq began on Thursday for the Sunni population while the Shias will commence their daily fasting on Friday. "Task Force 134, the (US-led) organisation responsible for detainee operations, expects to release between 50 and 80 detainees per day during this holy month," a US military statement said.
Major-General Douglas Stone, commander of Task Force 134, said in the statement: "The detainees being released are only those who (US-led forces) have determined no longer need to be detained for imperative reasons of security." Around 20,000 detainees are held in US-run prisons in Iraq, mostly in Camp Bucca near the southern port city of Basra and in Camp Cropper near Baghdad. Al-Hashemi has long complained about the detention of Sunni Arabs.
The issue was a key factor that prompted the main Sunni bloc, the Accordance Front, to quit the government last month. The deal with the US military is separate from an accord that al-Hashemi signed with Iraq's top Shia and Kurdish leaders in August, which also called for the release of many detainees. Al-Jubouri said there had been no movement yet on freeing prisoners under that agreement. Some 32,000 detainees were being held in Iraqi detention facilities and prisons, he said.
Those eligible for release under Operation Lion's Paw, a joint venture between the Iraqi government and US-led forces, will be reviewed by an impartial board, Stone said. His statement said: "The process will be fair, open to all detainees who are qualified and will reflect the detainee population, with Sunni and Shia detainees reviewed equally and impartially. "This will be a completely non-sectarian, non-political process" that will allow prisoners to be home for Ramadan.
On Thursday, Omar al-Jubouri, an adviser on human rights to al-Hashemi, said 43 Iraqis were freed from the Camp Cropper detention facility near Baghdad's international airport. Ramadan in Iraq began on Thursday for the Sunni population while the Shias will commence their daily fasting on Friday. "Task Force 134, the (US-led) organisation responsible for detainee operations, expects to release between 50 and 80 detainees per day during this holy month," a US military statement said.
Major-General Douglas Stone, commander of Task Force 134, said in the statement: "The detainees being released are only those who (US-led forces) have determined no longer need to be detained for imperative reasons of security." Around 20,000 detainees are held in US-run prisons in Iraq, mostly in Camp Bucca near the southern port city of Basra and in Camp Cropper near Baghdad. Al-Hashemi has long complained about the detention of Sunni Arabs.
The issue was a key factor that prompted the main Sunni bloc, the Accordance Front, to quit the government last month. The deal with the US military is separate from an accord that al-Hashemi signed with Iraq's top Shia and Kurdish leaders in August, which also called for the release of many detainees. Al-Jubouri said there had been no movement yet on freeing prisoners under that agreement. Some 32,000 detainees were being held in Iraqi detention facilities and prisons, he said.
Those eligible for release under Operation Lion's Paw, a joint venture between the Iraqi government and US-led forces, will be reviewed by an impartial board, Stone said. His statement said: "The process will be fair, open to all detainees who are qualified and will reflect the detainee population, with Sunni and Shia detainees reviewed equally and impartially. "This will be a completely non-sectarian, non-political process" that will allow prisoners to be home for Ramadan.
Labels: Accord Front, Camp Bucca, Camp Cropper, detainees, Major-General Douglas Stone, Operation Lion's Paw, Ramadan, Tareq al-Hashemi, U.S. military
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Top clerics name start dates for Ramadan
Religion
(AFP) - Iraq's minority Sunni Arab community will begin observing Ramadan -- Islam's holiest period -- from Thursday, followed a day later by the majority Shiites, top clerics said. Sheikh Ahmad Abdul Ghafur al-Sammaraie, the head of Sunni religious endowment in Iraq, said the Sunni Arabs in the war-ravaged country would observe Ramadan from Thursday. "The legal committee for observing the crescent has decided that Thursday is the first day of Ramadan," Sammaraie said in a statement.
Iraq's Shiites, who are a minority in the Muslim world but make up the majority in Iraq, will observe the holy period from Friday, according to the office of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the seniormost Shiite cleric. "The office of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani expects that the crescent will be observed late Thursday and Friday will be the first day of Ramadan," a statement from Sistani's office said.
Baghdadis were out on the streets in numbers on Wednesday, purchasing sweets, pastries, and other food and household items for Ramadan. During the dawn-to-dusk fasting month, the nightly curfew will be eased in the capital, coming into effect at midnight instead of at 11:00 pm. It will continue to be enforced until 5:00 am. Authorities have also scrapped the weekly vehicle curfew that usually applies between 11:00 am and 3:00 pm on Fridays, for the duration of the fasting month.
However, vehicles will not be allowed over the many bridges that span the Tigris River and link east and west Baghdad on the Muslim day of prayer and rest. On Wednesday, the interior ministry issued a list of instructions it said were aimed at thwarting attacks during Ramadan, a period of high violence in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003.
Baghdadis were out on the streets in numbers on Wednesday, purchasing sweets, pastries, and other food and household items for Ramadan. During the dawn-to-dusk fasting month, the nightly curfew will be eased in the capital, coming into effect at midnight instead of at 11:00 pm. It will continue to be enforced until 5:00 am. Authorities have also scrapped the weekly vehicle curfew that usually applies between 11:00 am and 3:00 pm on Fridays, for the duration of the fasting month.
However, vehicles will not be allowed over the many bridges that span the Tigris River and link east and west Baghdad on the Muslim day of prayer and rest. On Wednesday, the interior ministry issued a list of instructions it said were aimed at thwarting attacks during Ramadan, a period of high violence in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003.
Labels: Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, curfew, Ramadan, Sheikh Ahmad Abdul Ghafur al-Sammaraie
Monday, September 10, 2007
Night curfew to be eased in Baghdad during Ramadan
Security
(AFP) - Iraq will ease the nightly curfew in Baghdad during the holy month of Ramadan which begins this week, Brigadier General Qassim Atta, spokesman for the Baghdad security plan, said on Monday. Atta said the curfew in the capital would come into effect at midnight (2000 GMT) instead of 11.00 pm but would continue to be enforced until 5:00 am (0100 GMT). He added that the authorities had also decided to scrap the weekly vehicle curfew that usually applies between 11:00 am and 3:00 pm on Fridays, for the duration of the fasting month.
However, vehicles will not be allowed over the many bridges that span the Tigris River and link east and west Baghdad on the Muslim day of rest. The vehicle curfew was introduced to thwart insurgent attacks on worshippers observing the main weekly prayers. The announcement of the changes to the curfew came hours after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said that violence in Baghdad had fallen by 75 percent since the US military "surge" was launched in the capital on February 14.
However, vehicles will not be allowed over the many bridges that span the Tigris River and link east and west Baghdad on the Muslim day of rest. The vehicle curfew was introduced to thwart insurgent attacks on worshippers observing the main weekly prayers. The announcement of the changes to the curfew came hours after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said that violence in Baghdad had fallen by 75 percent since the US military "surge" was launched in the capital on February 14.
Labels: Baghdad, Brigadier General Qassim Atta, curfew, Ramadan
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Special Security Procedures During Ramadan
Security
(Al Mada Newspaper) - 5 SEP - An “Operation Enforcing the Law” spokesman has confirmed that Baghdad’s Operations Command has created a (special) security plan for the Ramadan period. It is likely that the curfew hours will be decreased during Ramadan [since Moslems must fast during Ramadan’s daylight hours, curfews will probably be rolled back to allow them to get food, etc. after sundown].
Yesterday, during a press conference in the Baghdad Convention Center, Brigadier General Qassim Atta said: Baghdad’s Operations Command often creates (new) security plans (for special circumstances)…and Ramadan’s security plan will be a good plan. He continued: the Security Force Commanders are considering “decreased curfew hours during the (Moslem) holy month of Ramadan”…however, he did not provide any further details.
Yesterday, during a press conference in the Baghdad Convention Center, Brigadier General Qassim Atta said: Baghdad’s Operations Command often creates (new) security plans (for special circumstances)…and Ramadan’s security plan will be a good plan. He continued: the Security Force Commanders are considering “decreased curfew hours during the (Moslem) holy month of Ramadan”…however, he did not provide any further details.
Labels: Brigadier General Qassim Atta, curfew, Ramadan
Friday, August 17, 2007
Zarqawi Brigade, Islamic State of Iraq threaten coalition with increased attacks
Insurgency
(MEMRI) - Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi Brigade Threatens "Quality Attack"in Next Few Days
On August 13, 2007, Islamic websites posted an announcement by the Sheik Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi Brigade warning of a "quality attack" in the next few days, aimed at "causing numerous fatalities among the enemy." Following are excerpts: "We have already completed all the logistical preparations, and are about to complete the technical preparations, so the attack is imminent. We call on all the brothers and urge them to prepare well, and to make themselves fully available, for the attack, whenever it comes, in order to cause numerous fatalities among the enemy and cast the leaders of the infidels into the dust... This will be a quality attack [that will be publicized] in the jihadi media... The attack will be for the sake of the victory of the Islamic State."
ISI Commander Threatens Coalition Forces: "In the Coming [Month of] Ramadan... We Will Grind You Under Our Feet like Rats"
In a message posted August 12, 2007 on Islamist websites, ISI commander Sheikh Abu 'Ubaida threatens the Coalition forces, saying that the coming month of Ramadan (which begins September 13, 2007) will be "a month of death and screams" in which they will be struck without mercy.
On August 13, 2007, Islamic websites posted an announcement by the Sheik Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi Brigade warning of a "quality attack" in the next few days, aimed at "causing numerous fatalities among the enemy." Following are excerpts: "We have already completed all the logistical preparations, and are about to complete the technical preparations, so the attack is imminent. We call on all the brothers and urge them to prepare well, and to make themselves fully available, for the attack, whenever it comes, in order to cause numerous fatalities among the enemy and cast the leaders of the infidels into the dust... This will be a quality attack [that will be publicized] in the jihadi media... The attack will be for the sake of the victory of the Islamic State."
ISI Commander Threatens Coalition Forces: "In the Coming [Month of] Ramadan... We Will Grind You Under Our Feet like Rats"
In a message posted August 12, 2007 on Islamist websites, ISI commander Sheikh Abu 'Ubaida threatens the Coalition forces, saying that the coming month of Ramadan (which begins September 13, 2007) will be "a month of death and screams" in which they will be struck without mercy.
Following are excerpts:
"To all the soldiers and commanders of the Crusader army... The Muslim month of martyrdom and jihad is drawing near, and what are you doing? We have prepared for you dozens of brave men in dozens of car bombs, by means of which we will kill you without mercy - in Baghdad, Al-Anbar, Mosul, Diyala, Kirkuk, and Basra, in the North and in the South...
"Our month of fasting is drawing near, and for you, the month of death and screams is drawing near. It is only a few weeks away... We have prepared for you [all kinds of] strange deaths in the streets of Baghdad, and we swear to turn this month into a momentous occasion of which nations will speak for generations. We swear that we will grind you under our feet like rats...
"We repeat the call of the heroic martyred sheikh Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi, who humiliated you in the past, [and say to you] that the Sunni mosques are open to anyone who wishes to surrender and throw down his arms. Regard this as a last warning from a fighter in the field whose hands are stained with [the blood of] dozens of your comrades [who were killed] in Baghdad and in Salah Al-Din... We swear that we will [spill] your blood everywhere, and you will receive the heads of [your] apostate [allies] by the [sackfull].
"As for the Sunnis... [we ask you] to be patient... Victory is near and your enemy is drawing his last breaths... Keep the women and children away from the places frequented by the American and Iranian enemy, and heed the instructions of the ISI commanders in you area."
"To all the soldiers and commanders of the Crusader army... The Muslim month of martyrdom and jihad is drawing near, and what are you doing? We have prepared for you dozens of brave men in dozens of car bombs, by means of which we will kill you without mercy - in Baghdad, Al-Anbar, Mosul, Diyala, Kirkuk, and Basra, in the North and in the South...
"Our month of fasting is drawing near, and for you, the month of death and screams is drawing near. It is only a few weeks away... We have prepared for you [all kinds of] strange deaths in the streets of Baghdad, and we swear to turn this month into a momentous occasion of which nations will speak for generations. We swear that we will grind you under our feet like rats...
"We repeat the call of the heroic martyred sheikh Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi, who humiliated you in the past, [and say to you] that the Sunni mosques are open to anyone who wishes to surrender and throw down his arms. Regard this as a last warning from a fighter in the field whose hands are stained with [the blood of] dozens of your comrades [who were killed] in Baghdad and in Salah Al-Din... We swear that we will [spill] your blood everywhere, and you will receive the heads of [your] apostate [allies] by the [sackfull].
"As for the Sunnis... [we ask you] to be patient... Victory is near and your enemy is drawing his last breaths... Keep the women and children away from the places frequented by the American and Iranian enemy, and heed the instructions of the ISI commanders in you area."
Labels: Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi Brigade, coalition forces, Islamic State of Iraq, Ramadan, Sheikh Abu 'Ubaida, threat
