Thursday, October 04, 2007
MNFI - Iranian detainee is key leader in Quds Corps
(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.
"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.
Labels: Brigadier General Kevin Bergner, EFPs, Iranian detainee, Mahmoud Farhadi, Quds Force, Ramadan Brigade, Sulaymaniyah, Zafar Battelion
Friday, August 10, 2007
Swedish plane fired at while flying over northern Iraq
Security
(SR) - A Swedish passenger jet has been fired at while flying over northeastern Iraq. The Nordic Airways plane was carrying some 130 passengers, and had just taken off from Sulaymaniyah, in Iraqi Kurdistan, en route to Stockholm. After the pilot saw bright light flashes, the crew realized that someone had opened fire but no damage has been reported, and no passengers were injured. The plane landed at Stockholm’s Arlanda airport on Thursday, without the passengers being aware of what had occurred. The airline makes one journey a week on this route, but has suspended all flights until further notice.
Labels: Arlanda, Nordic Airways, northeastern Iraq, passenger jet, Sulaymaniyah
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Italians sign US$ 40 mn contract with Kurdistan to supply electricity
Reconstruction, Kurdistan
(VOI) - Iraq's Kurdistan’s Ministry of Electricity on Wednesday signed a contract with the Italian company ELC, guaranteeing consultations about the restoration of the Darbendikhan and Doukan dams, which supply the Kurdistan region with electricity. "Kurdistan region's Minister of Electricity Hoshyar Siwaily signed a contract with representatives of ELC, an Italian company, to obtain consultations for the restoration of the Darbendikhan and Doukan dams," the ministry announced in a statement that the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) obtained a copy of. According to the statement, the restoration work will cost around U.S. $40 million, funded by the World Bank. The Darbendikhan and Doukan dams are two of the most ancient dams in the city, built across the Lesser Zab and Sirwan rivers in Sulaymaniya in the 1950s and 1960s to supply the region with electricity.
Labels: Darbendikhan dam, Doukan dam, ELC, Hoshyar Siwaily, Italy Kurdistan electricity, Sulaymaniyah, World Bank
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Barzani - while Iranians captured in Irbil, Al-Quds force visiting Kurdish officials
Iran, Kurdistan, U.S.
(AP) - American forces who captured five Iranians in the northern city of Irbil three months ago were really after commanders of Iran's Revolutionary Guards who were visiting Kurdish officials, the Kurdish leader said in remarks broadcast Saturday. Massoud Barzani, president of the 15-year-old Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq, told Al-Arabiyah television that the Iranian commanders first visited Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in the northern city of Sulaimaniyah and then went to visit him. Barzani did not say where he met the commanders, although he was thought to have been in Irbil at the time.
He also did not say how he knew U.S. forces were trying to capture the commanders or where they were when the Americans raided a house in Irbil on Jan. 11 and detained the five Iranians, who still are in U.S. custody. Irbil is the capital of the Kurdish region. "It (the house) was not a secret Iranian office. It is impossible for us to accept that an Iranian office in Irbil was doing things against coalition forces or against us. That office was doing its work in a normal way and had they been doing anything hostile, we would have known that," Barzani said.
"They did not come to detain the people in that office. There was an Iranian delegation, including Revolutionary Guards commanders, and they came as guests of the president. He was in Sulaimaniyah. They came to Sulaimaniyah and then I received a call from the president's office telling me that they wanted to meet me as well." U.S. Defense Department officials in Baghdad did not immediately respond to telephone and e-mail requests for comment.
Washington has said the five captured Iranians were rounded up on suspicion they were providing aid to Shiite militia fighters who are targeting U.S. and Iraqi troops and civilians. "They (the commanders) came here and they came openly. Their meetings with the president and myself were reported on television. The Americans came to detain this delegation, not the people in the office," he said. "They came to the wrong place at the wrong time. The only place where there is no Iranian influence is Irbil. I will never allow such influence in Kurdistan, whether Iranian or otherwise," Barzani added.
He also did not say how he knew U.S. forces were trying to capture the commanders or where they were when the Americans raided a house in Irbil on Jan. 11 and detained the five Iranians, who still are in U.S. custody. Irbil is the capital of the Kurdish region. "It (the house) was not a secret Iranian office. It is impossible for us to accept that an Iranian office in Irbil was doing things against coalition forces or against us. That office was doing its work in a normal way and had they been doing anything hostile, we would have known that," Barzani said.
"They did not come to detain the people in that office. There was an Iranian delegation, including Revolutionary Guards commanders, and they came as guests of the president. He was in Sulaimaniyah. They came to Sulaimaniyah and then I received a call from the president's office telling me that they wanted to meet me as well." U.S. Defense Department officials in Baghdad did not immediately respond to telephone and e-mail requests for comment.
Washington has said the five captured Iranians were rounded up on suspicion they were providing aid to Shiite militia fighters who are targeting U.S. and Iraqi troops and civilians. "They (the commanders) came here and they came openly. Their meetings with the president and myself were reported on television. The Americans came to detain this delegation, not the people in the office," he said. "They came to the wrong place at the wrong time. The only place where there is no Iranian influence is Irbil. I will never allow such influence in Kurdistan, whether Iranian or otherwise," Barzani added.
Labels: Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Iranian detainees, Irbil, Jalal Talabani, Massoud Barzani, Sulaymaniyah
Monday, March 26, 2007
Sophisticated phone network to link Kirkuk to Kurdish towns
Telecommunications
(IDP) - The Head of the General Telecommunications Department in Kirkuk said that a project has started which will link the city with the provinces of Kurdistan region by a sophisticated telephone network which is the first of its kind in the whole northern regions.
The Chief Engineer, Adel Abdullah explained that the link will be through "an optical cable extending from Kirkuk to Sulaymaniyah", adding that this line "will link the cities of the northern provinces to Kurdistan cities, and then link all Iraqi governorates by an advanced optical communication network that will contribute to the provision of quick telecommunications service to citizens in the country".
Abdullah added, "the new service will contribute in the expansion of the number of telephone exchanges in the city of Kirkuk, through the introduction of new departments ... Thus increasing the number of telephone lines that will be available to citizens".
The Chief Engineer, Adel Abdullah explained that the link will be through "an optical cable extending from Kirkuk to Sulaymaniyah", adding that this line "will link the cities of the northern provinces to Kurdistan cities, and then link all Iraqi governorates by an advanced optical communication network that will contribute to the provision of quick telecommunications service to citizens in the country".
Abdullah added, "the new service will contribute in the expansion of the number of telephone exchanges in the city of Kirkuk, through the introduction of new departments ... Thus increasing the number of telephone lines that will be available to citizens".
Labels: Kirkuk, Kurdistan, Sulaymaniyah, telecommunications
