Thursday, September 20, 2007
Joint Iraqi-U.S. committee to investigate Blackwater incident
Security
(RFE/RL) - Ali al-Dabbagh announced on September 19 that a join Iraqi-U.S. committee has been formed to investigate the September 16 killing of 10 Iraqi civilians by contractors working for the U.S.-based security firm Blackwater USA, Iraqi media reported. On September 19, the United States banned diplomats and civilians from leaving Baghdad's Green Zone due to a lack of protection forces. The Iraqi government announced on September 18 that it has revoked Blackwater's license. Adil Barwari, a member of the Council of Representatives' Security and Defense Committee, told state-run Al-Iraqiyah television on September 18 that the committee should seek legal action against the contractors should the investigation warrant prosecution.
Meanwhile, Major General Abd al-Karim Khalaf, the director of the National Command Center at the Interior Ministry, said on September 18 that a preliminary report showed that Blackwater security guards were not ambushed, as they claimed, but rather fired on a car that did not heed a policeman's call to stop, resulting in the death of a couple and their infant, international media reported. He added that the ministry's investigation into the incident includes eyewitness testimonies, including the testimonies of people wounded in the incident.
Labels: Ali al-Dabbagh, Blackwater, investigation
Friday, June 01, 2007
Reporters Without Borders calls for investigation unit into journalist deaths
Media
(Reuters) -- Media advocate Reporters Without Borders has called for the establishment of a special police unit to investigate media killings in Iraq after a record 12 journalists were slain in May. The Paris-based group expressed deep shock after the deaths of four journalists in five days and said police should also set up a witness protection program to help in investigations of media killings.
"The Iraqi government must fulfil their duty to protect journalists," RSF said in a statement on its Web site. (RSF stands for the group's name in French, Reporters sans Frontières.) RSF's statement and its count of 11 journalists killed in May, all but one Iraqi, did not include the death of Saif Fakhry, an Iraqi cameraman who was killed on Thursday.
Fakhry was shot twice while walking to a mosque near his home in Baghdad. He had worked for AP Television News (APTN) since August 2004 and is survived by his wife, who is due to give birth to their first child next month, APTN said.
Journalists are increasingly finding themselves caught in the crossfire in Iraq's sectarian conflict and the Sunni Arab insurgency against U.S forces and the Iraqi government. Since the fall of Saddam Hussein, who controlled all media, Iraqis have seen the proliferation of newspapers and television. Many are controlled by political or religious factions, and Iraqi journalists, dozens of whose colleagues have been killed or kidnapped, complain some officials put them under heavy pressure.
RSF says 177 journalists and media assistants, most of them Iraqis, have been killed in Iraq since the start of the U.S.-led invasion to topple Hussein in March 2003, making Iraq one of the most dangerous conflicts for journalists since World War II. The group said more should be done to investigate the deaths and to organize awareness campaigns among the Iraqi security forces and the public for the protection of journalists.
"We call for the creation of a special force within the national police to identify the perpetrators and instigators of killings of journalists," the RSF statement said. "To help the investigators, a witness protection program should also be set up with the help of countries in the region."
"The Iraqi government must fulfil their duty to protect journalists," RSF said in a statement on its Web site. (RSF stands for the group's name in French, Reporters sans Frontières.) RSF's statement and its count of 11 journalists killed in May, all but one Iraqi, did not include the death of Saif Fakhry, an Iraqi cameraman who was killed on Thursday.
Fakhry was shot twice while walking to a mosque near his home in Baghdad. He had worked for AP Television News (APTN) since August 2004 and is survived by his wife, who is due to give birth to their first child next month, APTN said.
Journalists are increasingly finding themselves caught in the crossfire in Iraq's sectarian conflict and the Sunni Arab insurgency against U.S forces and the Iraqi government. Since the fall of Saddam Hussein, who controlled all media, Iraqis have seen the proliferation of newspapers and television. Many are controlled by political or religious factions, and Iraqi journalists, dozens of whose colleagues have been killed or kidnapped, complain some officials put them under heavy pressure.
RSF says 177 journalists and media assistants, most of them Iraqis, have been killed in Iraq since the start of the U.S.-led invasion to topple Hussein in March 2003, making Iraq one of the most dangerous conflicts for journalists since World War II. The group said more should be done to investigate the deaths and to organize awareness campaigns among the Iraqi security forces and the public for the protection of journalists.
"We call for the creation of a special force within the national police to identify the perpetrators and instigators of killings of journalists," the RSF statement said. "To help the investigators, a witness protection program should also be set up with the help of countries in the region."
Labels: investigation, journalists, Reporters Without Borders, Saif Fakhry
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Parliament signs contract with new security company
Security, Politics
(Voices of Iraq) - Iraq's Parliament Speaker Mahmud al-Mashhadani said on Tuesday that the parliament signed a contract with a security company to protect the parliament inside the green zone in central Baghdad, but did not reveal its identity.
A strong blast took place in the cafeteria annexed to the parliament on April 12, killing a Parliament Member Mohammed Awad along with 20 employees. Today's parliament session witnessed a controversy between al-Mashhadani and legislator Qasem Dawoud, of the Iraqi National List, on the outcome of the blast investigation. The deputy asked on the reason behind neglecting a former suggestion to assign a security company to protect the parliament four months ago.
"Protecting the parliament is now assigned to the interior ministry according to instructions by Iraq's premier and this will continue till the end of the investigation, as new measures could be taken," al-Mashhadani responded. Qasem Dawoud also demanded to stop parliament's sessions till the end of the investigations, a demand rejected by legislators attending the session. The speaker of the parliament warned the legislators in today's session against gathering in groups near certain places to avoid casualties in case of future attacks.
Parliamentarian Fouad Masoum, of the Kurdistan Coalition, also called for unveiling the outcome the investigation and to put an end to restrictions and searching procedures imposed on lawmakers, threatening to boycott the sessions. Al-Mashhadani asserted that the investigation was due to end and the outcome will be presented to all members in a closed session, vowing to call to account all those responsible for the attack.
A strong blast took place in the cafeteria annexed to the parliament on April 12, killing a Parliament Member Mohammed Awad along with 20 employees. Today's parliament session witnessed a controversy between al-Mashhadani and legislator Qasem Dawoud, of the Iraqi National List, on the outcome of the blast investigation. The deputy asked on the reason behind neglecting a former suggestion to assign a security company to protect the parliament four months ago.
"Protecting the parliament is now assigned to the interior ministry according to instructions by Iraq's premier and this will continue till the end of the investigation, as new measures could be taken," al-Mashhadani responded. Qasem Dawoud also demanded to stop parliament's sessions till the end of the investigations, a demand rejected by legislators attending the session. The speaker of the parliament warned the legislators in today's session against gathering in groups near certain places to avoid casualties in case of future attacks.
Parliamentarian Fouad Masoum, of the Kurdistan Coalition, also called for unveiling the outcome the investigation and to put an end to restrictions and searching procedures imposed on lawmakers, threatening to boycott the sessions. Al-Mashhadani asserted that the investigation was due to end and the outcome will be presented to all members in a closed session, vowing to call to account all those responsible for the attack.
Labels: investigation, Ministry of Interior, parliament bombing, security
Monday, March 05, 2007
Iraqi government opens investigation into British-Iraqi raid in Basra
Security
(AP) Iraq's government opened a probe Monday into a British-Iraqi raid on a police intelligence headquarters in southern Iraq that captured an alleged death squad leader and found 30 prisoners with signs of torture. The raid took place Sunday at the National Iraqi Intelligence Agency building in Basra.
Inside, troops discovered 30 prisoners with signs of torture and abuse, including one woman and two children, the British military said in a statement. It did not elaborate. An alleged death squad leader was captured along with four other suspected militiamen, Maj. David Gell, a British military spokesman, said Monday. "They were suspected of serious criminal activity, including kidnap, torture, murder and involvement in roadside bomb attacks on multinational forces and civilians," Gell said.
The prisoners were not intentionally released but escaped after the operation, the British military said. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered an investigation into the raid and vowed to punish "those who carried out this illegal and irresponsible act," his office said in a statement late Sunday. Government officials were in Basra on Monday to begin an investigation, said Ali al-Dabbagh, a government spokesman.
More than 200 British troops were involved in the raid, along with an unknown number of Iraqi forces, Gell said. British and Iraqi forces stormed the building without warning, and "the method of entry ... was appropriately robust," the statement said. It was unclear whether the suspects worked at the intelligence agency or had taken refuge there. Sunday's raid came a day after Iraqi commandos arrested a suspected militia leader, from whom they gleaned information that enabled them to carry out the operation, the statement said.
Inside, troops discovered 30 prisoners with signs of torture and abuse, including one woman and two children, the British military said in a statement. It did not elaborate. An alleged death squad leader was captured along with four other suspected militiamen, Maj. David Gell, a British military spokesman, said Monday. "They were suspected of serious criminal activity, including kidnap, torture, murder and involvement in roadside bomb attacks on multinational forces and civilians," Gell said.
The prisoners were not intentionally released but escaped after the operation, the British military said. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered an investigation into the raid and vowed to punish "those who carried out this illegal and irresponsible act," his office said in a statement late Sunday. Government officials were in Basra on Monday to begin an investigation, said Ali al-Dabbagh, a government spokesman.
More than 200 British troops were involved in the raid, along with an unknown number of Iraqi forces, Gell said. British and Iraqi forces stormed the building without warning, and "the method of entry ... was appropriately robust," the statement said. It was unclear whether the suspects worked at the intelligence agency or had taken refuge there. Sunday's raid came a day after Iraqi commandos arrested a suspected militia leader, from whom they gleaned information that enabled them to carry out the operation, the statement said.
Labels: Basra, investigation, raid
