Gorilla's Guides

EEK!

2007-01-01T15:00:00.000+01:00

You've landed at Gorilla's Guides old home. But there's nobody here because we've moved. We got really fed up with constant blogger problems so we built a new nest in our very own part of the rainforest and ran away.

Somehow or another we forgot to pound out the message to you on the jungle drums. We're truly sorry 'bout that.

Please consider yourself warmly invited to visit us in our new home.

markfromireland

New Nest

2006-12-29T05:46:00.000+01:00

Site News We Have Moved:

The tribe of renegade gorillas ~~guilty~~ of ~~responsible~~ ~~for~~ ~~who~~ ~~commit~~ who write Gorilla's Guides has moved permanently to their new home.

The new address for Gorilla's Guides is:

http://gorillasguides.com/

Or you could try this clicking this link.

http://www.gorillasguides.com/

Please alter your bookmarks/favourites for your browsers :-)

Similarly if you use a reader please create the new feed for "Guides" from the new site.

Comments for postings on this site have been moved to their postings on the new site. You should find any comments you made here playing happily in their new home :-)

We'll make one or two postings tomorrow here just to keep you informed. Thereafter we'll keep here"alive" purely as an archive.

Erdla

American Troops Kill Sadrist Leader Near Najaf

2006-12-27T11:54:00.000+01:00

Breaking News: US Forces Kill Sadrist Leader Near Najaf : Aswat al Iraq:

U.S. forces kill a Sadrist leader near Najaf
By Haider al-Kaabi
Najaf, Dec 27, (VOI) – The U.S. forces killed in the early hours of Wednesday a leader of the Shiite Sadr movement after a raid to the killed Sadrist’s house near Najaf.
“The U.S. forces raided on Wednesday 4:00 am the house of Shaheed Allah foundation chief Sahib al-Aamiri in Hiyrah district, 18 km south of Najaf, and shot him dead,” an al-Aamiri’s family member told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
Sahib al-Aamiri is a prominent leader of the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-sadr’s movement.
Neither Shaheed Sadr office in Najaf nor the U.S. army made a comment on the incident.
VOI correspondent in the Shiite sacred city of Najaf reported the Iraqi security forces immediately went on alert in preparation to any emergency situation.
The incident came only one week after the security responsibility in Najaf province, 160 km southwest of Baghdad, was transferred to the Iraqi army from the Multi-National forces.
URL [Arabic] URL [English]

This comes under the heading of Uh Oh

markfromireland

December 27th 2006 - Early Morning Round-Up

2006-12-27T07:25:00.000+01:00

Selected early morning headlines @ 06:30 CET. With early morning bonus photograph right at the bottom of the post :-)

Reuters Alertnet

U.S. officials send minister out of Iraq - sources

26 Dec 2006 19:12:11 GMT Source: Reuters

AMMAN, Dec 26 (Reuters) - A fugitive former Iraqi minister, with dual U.S. citizenship, flew to Jordan in an American plane after escaping from a Baghdad jail earlier this month, Jordanian Prime Minister Marouf Bakheet said on Tuesday.
"He came to Jordan as an American and on an American plane," Bakheet told reporters.
He did not elaborate or say whether Ayham al-Samarraie, an electricity minister in the former Iraqi transitional government of Prime Minister Iyad al-Allawi, was still in Amman.
Samarraie, who spent years in exile in the United States, was being held in Iraq on various corruption charges and was reportedly freed by armed, plain-clothes Americans.
He said he was being victimised because of his opposition to Iranian influence in Iraq and Shi'ite militias, who are accused of killing thousands of members of his minority Sunni Arab sect.
A Western diplomatic source familiar with the case and who requested anonymity said: "American secret service officials put him on board a U.S. military plane from Baghdad airport on Friday and brought him to Jordan".
U.S. embassy spokesman Lou Fintor in Baghdad said Washington was not involved in the disappearance of Samarraie, facing trial in up to 12 corruption cases.
"There is absolutely no truth to the reports whatsoever. ... We deny any involvement in Mr. Samarraie's disappearance from an Iraqi facility," he said.
Another Jordanian intelligence source said American security officials were involved in the operation to whisk Samarraie out of Iraq.
U.S. officials have said they were cooperating with Iraq in investigating how Samarraie escaped.
Samarraie had been detained at a police station on the outskirts of the Green Zone, the heavily fortified compound that houses the Iraqi government and the U.S. and British embassies.
He was convicted in October and sentenced to two years in jail for misuse of public funds. The conviction was overturned on appeal but he was being held pending the other corruption cases. (Additional reporting by Mariam Karouny in Baghdad)

Other Alertnet Reports

PRESS DIGEST - Washington Post - Dec. 27
27 Dec 2006 04:00:49 GMT
Source: Reuters
WASHINGTON, Dec 27 (Reuters) - The Washington Post included the following items on its front page on Dec. 27. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. --- ... Full article
U.S. ready to send 3,500 troops to Kuwait -sources
26 Dec 2006 23:19:37 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Adds details, comment, byline) By Kristin Roberts WASHINGTON, Dec 26 (Reuters) - The Pentagon is expected to send 3,500 troops into Kuwait to stand ready for use in Iraq, senior defense officials ... Full article
Iraq court says Saddam should hang within 30 days
26 Dec 2006 23:03:11 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Adds comment on possible US troop movement) By Mariam Karouny and Ibon Villelabeitia BAGHDAD, Dec 26 (Reuters) - An Iraqi appeals court on Tuesday upheld Saddam Hussein's death ... Full article
U.S. ready to send 3,500 troops into Kuwait-source
26 Dec 2006 22:33:45 GMT
Source: Reuters
WASHINGTON, Dec 26 (Reuters) - The Pentagon is expected to send 3,500 troops into Kuwait to stand ready for use in Iraq, a senior defense official said on Tuesday as the Bush administration weighs ... Full article
U.S. Sen. Biden says intends to run for president
26 Dec 2006 22:03:15 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Adds Jimmy Carter quote paragraph 15) By Richard Cowan WASHINGTON, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden, one of the Democratic party's leading voices on foreign policy and a sharp critic ... Full article

IRIN

IRAQ: Insecurity and poverty put pregnant women in danger

BAGHDAD, 26 Dec 2006 (IRIN) - For years Salah Hussein, 26, had dreamed of having a child, but he never imagined that his wish would be marred by the death of his wife in childbirth.
Hussein’s wife, Fadiya, died of complications during a delivery which, doctors said, were caused by malnutrition and the stress of living in a war-torn country.
“We are a poor family and I couldn’t afford to buy her good food. This was not my fault but the fault of this destroyed country in which the conditions of the health sector are worsening day by day,” said Hussein who works as a barber in the capital, Baghdad.
Dozens of pregnant women with life-threatening conditions are being admitted to Iraq’s hospitals every month.
Dr. Mayada Youssif, a gynaecologist at Baghdad’s Kadhimiyah hospital, believes that pregnant women are falling ill due to the insecurity and poverty that Iraqis have to live with as a result of the conflict.
“Insecurity has forced women to stay at home during their whole period of pregnancy, and they look for a doctor only when they are feeling really ill or feel, near to delivery time, that conditions have become too dangerous,” Youssif said.
The UN children’s agency UNICEF has said that Iraq's maternal mortality rates have increased dramatically over the last 15 years. In 1989, 117 Iraqi mothers out of 100,000 died during pregnancy or childbirth. That ratio has now increased by 65 per cent. Full article

The Guardian

Saddam to hang within 30 days

Brian Whitaker
Wednesday December 27, 2006

Saddam Hussein could be hanged within days after the rejection of his appeal by Iraq's highest court yesterday.
The former Iraqi dictator was sentenced to death in November over the killing of 148 Shia Muslims from the town of Dujail in 1982. He is facing another trial accused of genocide against the Kurds - but that may now never be completed.
The death sentence from the first trial must be implemented within 30 days, the chief judge, Aref Shahin, said yesterday, hinting that it could come even sooner: "From tomorrow, any day could be the day of implementation."
Iraq's prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, a member of the Shia majority persecuted under Saddam's Sunni-minority rule, has already said he wants the execution to take place before the end of the year. Read in full

Early Morning Bonus Photo From Peace For Palestine

Housewife4Palestine posted this photo on Christmas Day under the following heading: A Day in Iraq: Best Trained Military in the World?

Well indeed .... Good Queston ... Head on over to her blog to read more about it.

markfromireland

cross posted to new site.

Main security developments in Iraq on Tuesday December 26th 2006 : Aswat al Iraq

2006-12-26T19:19:00.000+01:00

Security developments in Iraq December 26th 2006 Update

Voices of Iraq: Iraq-Security (Highlights) 2

Iraq-Security (Highlights) 2
Baghdad, Dec 26, (VOI) – Main security developments in Iraq on Tuesday:

Baghdad – An explosive-rigged car went off in a popular market in the Sunni-majority northern Baghdad district of al-Aazamiya, killing 20 people and wounding 35 others, a security source said. Earlier in the day, 15 people were killed and 70 others wounded in a wave of car bombings in al-Baiyaa district in southwestern Baghdad.

Falluja – An Iraqi army base in the restive town of Falluja came under an armed attack, but the damage was not immediately known, a police source said.

Baghdad – Gunmen shot dead two brothers as they were shopping in a popular market in southwestern Baghdad district of Sidiya, a security source said.

Mosul – A civilian was killed in a drive-by shooting attack in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul while four people were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded in the city, Iraqi police sources said.

Baiji – A car bomb exploded near Tamim police station in Baiji, Salah Eddin province, wounding five people and causing heavy material damage, a source in Salah Eddin police operations room said.

URI

Main security developments in Iraq on Tuesday December 26th 2006 : Aswat al Iraq:

Baaquba: Seven unidentified corpses were received on Tuesday by the Diala health department's forensic medicine section, a medical source said.

Baghdad: A Senior Iraqi police officer was killed and nine people were wounded on Tuesday morning when three explosive charges went off in succession near a major Sunni mosque in downtown Baghdad, a police source said.

Baghdad: Fifteen people were killed and 70 others wounded in a chain of successive blasts in al-Baiyaa district in southwest of Baghdad, on Tuesday, Iraqi interior ministry sources said.

Baghdad: The U.S. army said on Tuesday three U.S. soldiers were killed and three others wounded in two separate incidents in southwest Baghdad.

Baghdad: Unidentified gunmen kidnapped on Tuesday a senior Iraqi trade ministry official in an ambush in western Baghdad, Iraqi interior ministry sources said.

Kirkuk: A child was killed and five others wounded in Kirkuk on Tuesday when an explosive device went off near a primary school in north of the city, a security source said.

Kirkuk: Two Iraqi policemen were wounded on Tuesday when their patrol vehicle came under attack with small:arms fire in southern Kirkuk, a police source said.

Missan: A senior police officer was killed on Tuesday morning when masked gunmen attacked him while driving his car in central Ammara city, 380 km southeast of Baghdad, a security source said.

Missan:Unknown gunmen shot dead on Tuesday morning a local leader of the Shiite cleric Muqtada al:Sadr’s Mahdi army in Ammara, capital city of southern Iraqi province of Missan. URL:

85 killed or injured in al-Baiyaa blasts, another kills five in Baghdad (Update) : Aswat al Iraq:

Baghdad, Dec 26, (VOI) – Fifteen people were killed and 70 others wounded in a chain of successive blasts in al-Baiyaa district in southwest of Baghdad, on Tuesday, Iraqi interior ministry sources said.
TV images shot by a local cameraman showed the powerful explosions that left in its wake a huge blaze devouring a number of civilian vehicles that parked at the scene then.
A man who was evacuating a number of charred bodies from the scene said "three car bombs blew up here with only a few minutes apart."
Meanwhile, Iraq's interior ministry sources said another explosive charge bombing took place in the usually shopper-thronged al-Bab al-Sharqi area in central Baghdad, killing five and wounding 15 others.
Bab al-Sheikh, near al-Bab al-Sharqi, witnessed on Tuesday morning three explosive charge bombings, killing a police lt. colonel and injuring nine others, including a number of policemen.
The blasts took place near the mosque and tomb of Sheikh Abdul-Qadir Guilani, said the sources. URL.
See immediately below for original report.

Baghdad-Blasts : Senior police officer killed in Baghdad blast Aswat al Iraq:

Baghdad, Dec 26, (VOI) – A Senior Iraqi police officer was killed and nine people wounded on Tuesday morning when three explosive charges went off in succession near a major Sunni mosque in downtown Baghdad, a police source said.
“Three explosive charges went off in succession near sheikh Abdul-Qadir al-Guilani mosque in downtown Baghdad today morning killing a police lieutenant colonel and wounding nine people, including policemen,” the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
The third explosive device went off while policemen and civilians were helping take to a nearby hospital the wounded from the explosion of a double charge in the location, the source added. URL

Iranian diplomats detained in al-Hakim's guesthouse : Aswat al Iraq:

Iranian diplomats detained in al-Hakim's guesthouse – legislator
By Kawther Abdul-Amir
Baghdad, Dec 26, (VOI) – The Iranian diplomats arrested by the U.S. forces were detained inside the guesthouse of Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, the leader of the Shiite Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), an Iraqi legislator said.
"The diplomats had come to Iraq upon an official invitation from President Jalal Talabani, and accordingly their arrest represents a violation of Iraqi sovereignty," Mahmoud Othman, a member of the Iraqi parliament for the Kurdistan Coalition, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
The New York Times newspaper had reported on Monday that the U.S. army arrested a number of Iranian diplomats for their suspected involvement in operations targeting Iraqi forces last week.
Diplomats working in the Iranian embassy in Baghdad were released but a number others who were invited by the Iraqi president are still remanded in custody.
The U.S. State Department, in a statement on Monday, said the U.S. forces in Iraq detained a number of Iranians, including two diplomats who were released over their diplomatic immunity.
Iraq's National Security Advisor Muwafaq al-Rubai’i was supposed to hold a press conference on this issue on Tuesday but he postponed it till Wednesday due to developments, a source close to Rubaie said. URL

Detained Reuters correspondent in Ramadi released : Aswat al Iraq:

Ramadi, Dec 26, (VOI) – U.S. forces released Ramadi-based-Reuters correspondent Ammar al-Dulaimi after one week of detention in the restive Anbar’s city of Ramadi, a security source said.
“Reuters correspondent Ammar al-Dulaimi was released last night after the U.S. forces detained him at his house in Ramadi one week ago,” the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
Ammar al-Dulaimi was arrested on December 19 from his house at Albo Alwan village in Ramadi, 110 km west of Baghdad. URL

Wassit: Unknown bodies buried in Wassit reach 177 : Aswat al Iraq:

Unknown bodies buried in Wassit reach 177
By Abdul-Jabbar al-Sufrani
Wassit, Dec 26, (VOI) – The number of unidentified bodies buried in a mass grave in the province of Wassit reached 177 since August, a source in Wassit on Tuesday.
"Seven unidentified bodies found in different areas in the province were buried on Monday," Maamoun Ojail, the official in charge of the forensic medicine unit in al-Zaharaa public hospital, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
The number of unidentified corpses buried since last August reached 177, he said, adding a committee was set up to write down the available information on a tag attached to each corpse to make it easier for relatives to identify the bodies.
The majority of corpses are for men wearing civilian clothes. Their bodies were retrieved from the rivers Tigris and Malih in northern Suwayra.
Kut, the main city in the province of Wassit, is 180 km southeast of the capital Baghdad. URL

Diyala: Seven bodies found in Diala: Aswat al Iraq:

Seven bodies found in Diala By Asim Taha
Baaquba, Dec 26, (VOI) – Seven unidentified corpses were received on Tuesday by the Diala health department's forensic medicine section, a medical source said.
"The forensics in the Baaquba public hospital received seven bodies from different areas in the province of Diala (57 km north of the capital Baghdad)," a source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) on condition of anonymity.
"Some of the bodies bore marks of torture and others were blindfolded and hand-tied and had bullet holes," the source added. URL:

Senior Iraqi trade ministry official kidnapped in western Baghdad : Aswat al Iraq:

Senior Iraqi trade ministry official kidnapped in western Baghdad By Wathiq Ismael
Baghdad, Dec 26, (VOI) – Unidentified gunmen kidnapped on Tuesday a senior Iraqi trade ministry official in an ambush, Iraqi interior ministry sources said.
"Unknown armed men boarding two vehicles intercepted Muhannad Ahmed Saleh, the director of the Baghdad International Fair, when he was driving from home to work in the western Baghdad district of al-Amiriya," an interior ministry source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
Saleh, who was alone in his car, was led to an unknown place, the source added.
Al-Amiriya, of a Sunni majority, is witnessing non-stop armed operations nearly on a daily basis.
An offshoot of Iraq's trade ministry, the Baghdad International Fair used to be concerned with the inviting a large number of Iraqi, Arab and foreign companies to participate regularly in the annual 15-day exhibit.
The fair held earlier this month a round attended only by Iraqi companies, and was the first of its kind since the outbreak of the U.S.-led war on Iraq in March 2003. URL:

Baghdad: Car bombing in Baghdad Sunni district leaves 20 dead, 35 wounded : Aswat al Iraq:

Car bombing in Baghdad Sunni district leaves 20 dead, 35 wounded By Wathiq Ismael
Baghdad, Dec 26, (VOI) – An explosive-rigged car went off on Tuesday in a popular market in the Sunni-majority northern Baghdad district of al-Aazamiya, killing 20 people and wounding 35 others, a security source said.
The car bomb “was left near the popular market facing Imam Abu Hanifa al-Nouman mosque in al-Aazamiya and it exploded as worshippers were leaving the mosque after Maghreb (sunset) prayers,” the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
“The blast killed 20 civilians and wounded 35 others, mostly worshippers. Also four cars parked nearby were damaged while the shrine did not sustain any damage,” he added.
Security forces cordoned off the area as ambulances rushed the wounded to al-Nouman hospital.
The blast occurred about two hours after the court of appeals upheld the death sentence against former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and two former aides for committing crimes against humanity in the Dujail case.
Earlier in the day, 15 people were killed and 70 others wounded in a cluster of car bombings in al-Baiyaa district in southwestern Baghdad. The URL for this story:

Western Agency Reports

AP: Bombings kill 54 Iraqis; 7 Americans die on Yahoo! News:

By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press Writer 39 minutes ago
At least 54 Iraqis died Tuesday in bombings, officials said, including a coordinated strike that killed 25 in western Baghdad. Separately, the U.S. military announced the deaths of seven American soldiers, raising the death toll significantly in one of the bloodiest months for the military this year.
The three coordinated car bombs in western Baghdad injured at least 55 people, a doctor at Yarmouk hospital, where the victims were taken, said on condition of anonymity because of safety concerns. The attacks occurred in a mixed Sunni and Shiite neighborhood.
In other attacks, a car bomb exploded near a Sunni mosque in northern Baghdad at the beginning of the evening rush hour, killing 17 people and wounding 35, a doctor at Al-Nuaman hospital said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
A bomb also exploded in a central Baghdad market, killing four people and wounding 15, police said. Two roadside bombs targeted an Iraqi police patrol in an eastern neighborhood of the capital, killing four policemen and injuring 12 people.
In Kirkuk, 180 miles north of the Iraqi capital, a roadside bomb killed three civilians — including an 8-year-old girl — and wounded six other people, police said.

[snip]

American troops fought gunmen in a Shiite militia stronghold in east Baghdad on Tuesday, witnesses said.
Fighters loyal to the anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr engaged in the clashes with U.S. forces in and near Sadr City, an official in al-Sadr's office said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. There was no immediate word on casualties.
British soldiers were on alert for reprisals a day after they raided a police station in the southern city of Basra, killing seven gunmen in an effort to stop renegade Iraqi officers from executing their prisoners.

[snip]

A spokesman for Iraq's defense minister said Monday that the Iraqi Interior and Defense ministries approved the Basra operation, but some members of the Basra provincial council said they were not notified.
"We object to the way the operation was conducted," council member Hakim al-Maiyahi told The Associated Press. "There was no need to bring in such a huge number of forces and break down the station."

[snip]

Elsewhere, Jordanian Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit said Tuesday that a former Iraqi Cabinet minister who escaped from a Baghdad prison this month had arrived in Jordan on a U.S. plane.
Ayham al-Samaraie, a former minister of electricity with dual U.S. and Iraqi citizenship, had been serving time for corruption when he escaped mid-December.
Lou Fintor, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, said the U.S. government was not involved in al-Samaraie's escape "in any way." He denied in "unequivocal terms" the claim that al-Samaraie flew out of Iraq on an American plane.

Reuters AlertNet - FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Dec 26:

Following are security developments in Iraq as of 1700 GMT on Tuesday:
* denotes a new or updated item.
* BAGHDAD - A car bomb in the mainly Sunni Arab district of Adhamiya in Baghdad killed 15 people and wounded 30, hospital sources said.
* BAGHDAD - One U.S. soldier was killed and two injured when their vehicle rolled over during a combat mission south of Baghdad on Tuesday, the U.S. military said.
BAGHDAD - Three simultaneous car bombs exploded in southwestern Baghdad, killing 16 people and wounding 70, Interior Ministry and police sources said.
BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb killed five people and wounded 15 others in a crowded area in central Baghdad, police said.
BAGHDAD - Three U.S. soldiers looking for roadside bombs were killed northwest of Baghdad, the U.S. military said. One soldier was wounded.
BAGHDAD - Two U.S. soldiers were killed and one wounded in a roadside bomb attack southwest of Baghdad on Monday, the military said. Another roadside bomb in the same area killed one U.S. soldier and wounded two on Monday.
BAGHDAD - Three roadside bombs in quick succession killed a police lieutenant colonel and wounded nine people in central Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.
BAGHDAD - A total of 40 bodies were found, shot dead and most of them showing signs of torture, on Monday in different districts of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.
BAGHDAD - Gunmen kidnapped Muhanad Ahmed Saleh, director of the Baghdad International Fair, on his way to work in Amiriya district in western Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.
BAGHDAD - U.S. forces captured a suspected leader of a murder and kidnapping cell along with four suspected insurgents near Baghdad, the U.S. military said.
BAGHDAD - A mortar round killed two people on Monday in northern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.
BAGHDAD - A bodyguard of Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi was killed by a "foreigner assailant" on Sunday near the office of Abdul Mahdi in Baghdad, the vice president's office said.
BAIJI - A car bomb near a police station wounded a policeman and four civilians in the oil refining city of Baiji, 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
NEAR KIRKUK - Gunmen wounded two policemen in a drive-by shooting in a town near Kirkuk, police said.
BAQUBA - The bodies of six people, gagged and bound, were found in two districts in Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad, a hospital source said.
KIRKUK - A roadside bomb killed a child and an elderly man and wounded three university students in the northern oil city of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
RIYADH - Police found the body of a policeman, shot dead and tortured, on Monday in the town of Riyadh, 70 km ( 40 miles) southwest of Kirkuk, police said.
BASRA - Gunmen kidnapped a bank manager and two employees and stole $750,000 on Monday in the southern city of Basra, police said.
MOSUL - The bodies of a soldier and a civilian were found shot dead on Monday in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:
* BAGHDAD - An Iraqi appeals court upheld Saddam Hussein's death sentence for crimes against humanity and said he should hang within 30 days.
Saddam, 69, was sentenced to death on Nov. 5 for crimes against humanity over the killings of 148 Shi'ites from the town of Dujail after he escaped assassination there in 1982.

This posting has been crossposted

markfromireland

Please Excuse The Mess

2006-12-26T16:20:00.000+01:00

Gorilla's Guides Is Moving!

We've been busy arranging to move from blogger to our new premises. There might be some irregularity in posting over the next week or so. Starting tomorrow we'll be parallel running all our current English language sites — including here. However getting the new site for "Gorilla's Guides" right has to come first as we want to provide you with better facilities than will ever be available with blogger.

We'll keep you posted.

Erdla, Dubhaltach, markfromireland, and the rest of the team.

Sabah's First Posting

2006-12-26T06:48:00.000+01:00

Greetings from Saba in Irak to all our readers.

I am a former army officer who believes in a united and free Iraq. At present I work for an Islamic charitable organisation. I am looking forward to writing here and thank our host, his family and colleagues for inviting me and for teaching me some of the mysteries of writing XHTML.

A little humour for my first posting :-) This is from Al Quds Al Arabi.

Saba

December 25th 2006 Main Security Stories of The Day Aswat al Iraq

2006-12-26T01:24:00.000+01:00

Iraq-Security (Main Items of The Day) : December 25th 2006: Aswat al Iraq:

Samawa – Two policemen were killed and 13 others wounded in armed clashes in the Iraqi towns of Samawa and Rumaytha as the local government in Samawa insisted on disarming Mahdi Army militia, eyewitnesses said. More than 40 people were killed or wounded in Samawa on Sunday in heated clashes between Mahdi army and Iraqi police forces.
Baghdad – Four Iraqi civilians were killed and 18 others wounded in a suicide bombing inside a bus in east Baghdad, a security source said.
Baghdad – Baghdad police patrols found 29 unidentified bodies in different parts of Baghdad during the last 24 hours, a police source said on Monday.
Ramadi – A suicide bomber blew himself up at a police checkpoint in Anbar University in Ramadi town, killing five people including four policemen and wounding five others, a security source in the western Iraqi province of Anbar said.
Baghdad – A gunman was killed and three others suspected to be members of al-Qaeda group were arrested in Baiji town, Salah Eddin province, the U.S. army in Iraq said.
Falluja – Unidentified gunmen attacked a U.S. patrol in central Falluja, damaging one of its vehicles, a security source said.
Baghdad – Three U.S. soldiers were killed and two others wounded in separate military operations in Baghdad and the western Iraqi province of Anbar, the U.S. army in Iraq said.
Karbala – A new batch of 73 bodies arrived in the Shiite-sacred town of Karbala for burial as nobody claimed them from Baghdad forensic department, a security source in Karbala said.
Basra – Gunmen kidnapped three bank employees in the southern Iraqi city of Basra along with one billion dinars ($667,000) of the bank’s money, a security source in Basra said.
Falluja – A U.S. hummer vehicle was destroyed in a roadside bomb explosion in the southern Iraqi village of Alous, but it was not immediately clear if there were casualties.
Baaquba – One Iraqi soldier was killed and four others wounded when an explosive charge went off at an Iraqi army patrol in Diala province, a security source said.

markfromireland

Baghdad December 25th 2006

2006-12-25T16:38:00.000+01:00

markfromireland

Christmas Eve Round Up News Translated and Summarised from Arabic (truncated)

2006-12-24T23:50:00.000+01:00

Christmas in Iraq 2006

Iraqi Red Cresent workers distributing humanitarian aid to the poor in Iraq, December 23rd 2006. Note the boxes - those are boxes of food. Not very good food. But enough to survive on. What they're handing out at the risk to their own lives are survival rations.

Many in Iraq depend completely on the food handouts because of the economic chaos caused by the American occupiers deciding to completely rewrite the laws governing economic activity especially anything to do with oil to suit their own economic purposes.

Most of the poverty in Iraq is a direct consequence of the corrupt racist and illegal American war against Iraq and her people. The massive economic disruption caused by the resistance against the American invaders is coupled with the massive economic disruption caused by internecine strife.

Most of the people who die in Iraq today die of poverty.
They die of malnutrition related diseases.
They die of water-borne disease.
They die because the Americans fucked over the pharmaceutical system to suit their own selfish economic interests.
They die because the Americans fucked over their previously free medical system to suit their own selfish economic interests.

People who can't afford food or water can't afford medical treatment either.
Soon they are going to start to die of cold - in fact some already have.

The Iraqi Red Crescent does not know the fate of the 13 of its staff kidnapped a week ago at gun point from one ofits Baghdad offices in an area massively controlled by the Americans and their political allies in Iraq.

Today December 24th 2006 the Red crescent in Fallujah held a sit-in protest to demonstrate their grief, their horror, and their outrage, at the things they see and hear and smell on a daily basis. The treatment they have to put with on a daily basis. The fear with which they live on a daily basis.

markfromireland

December 24th 2006.

Baghdad : Director of Institute of Toxicology Assasinated :Aswat al Iraq:

Ali Abdel Amir Assadi the director of the toxicology institute was murdered by gunmen in Palestine street (East Baghdad) who shot him in his car. URI:

Fallujah : Workshop Orphan Care : Aswat al Iraq:

There were 80 participants at day one of the workshop organised principally by the Iraqi foundation for human development and the Iraqi society for the care of orphans. The workshop is geared to increasing the coordination of the Islamic charities in Fallujah and to increasing their effectiveness. URI:

Fallujah : Saqlawiyah : American Patrol Bombed : Aswat al Iraq:

An American army of occupation patrol was attacked by a roadside bomb near the Saqlawiyah bridge 15 km north-west of Fallujah. No reports of casualties no comment from the American army of occupation spokesweasels as yet either. URI:

Kirkuk : Huayjah : Two Brothers Shot Dead : Aswat al Iraq:

Two brothers who owned shops the city centre were shot dead near the Technical Institute in Al-Huwayjah. URI:

Dohuk : Survivors of Anfal Demand Compensation : Aswat al Iraq:

A group representing survivors of the Saddam regime's Anfal campaign are demanding compensation from the green zone government. They say their preliminary data indicates tens of thousands of Kurds were killed or went missing during the Anfal campaign. URI:

Mosul : Fuel Convoy Bombed : American Army of Occupation Patrol Attacked : Aswat al Iraq:

A convoy of Turkish trucks carrying fuel (kerosene) on the road to Mosul from Dohuk governorate was attacked by a roadside bomb. One of the trucks burst into flames as a result. The driver escaped unhurt.
An American army of occupation patrol was attacked by a bomber in north-east Mosul. No reports of casualties yet. URI

Salahadin : Baijii : Civilian Shot By American Forces : 4 Seized in Raids : 1 Kidnapping : Aswat al Iraq:

American army of occupation forces shot and killed a civilian as he was leaving a mosque in his neighborhood in the town of Baiji.
Four people were arrested during raids in the city.
Unknown armed men kidnapped one civilian this morning.
The article on Aswat al Iraq points out that the area is under stringent "security" by occupation troops for the last two months. URI:

At which point Aswat Al Iraq's server went down. It looks like they used a cheap DNS service and haven't renewed their account. Ho hum ... onward on second thoughts ... not onward ... I'm traveling, tired, cold, very pissed off, and the battery on this thing is running low needs recharging urgently, and come to that I could do with some recharging myself.

Goodnight folks "peace on earth to men of good will" this grumpy middleaged Irishman aka "the charming only when feeling refreshed gorilla" needs to get some sleep.

markfromireland

December 23rd News From Iraq Translated and Summarised From Arabic

2006-12-24T18:12:00.000+01:00

Islamic Christmas Haiku!: If this is the time // of Jesus, peace upon him... // let's usher in peace!

Peace to the followers of the prophet Jesus (PBUH) from
Laith and his sons, Mohammed, Hussayn, and Ali.

These are the most important storys we have selected from Yesterday December 23rd

Diwaniyah : 4 Bodies Found Including Kidnapped Policeman:

3 of the victims were found in the river 40km north east of Diwaniyah. The policeman was found 5 km to the north. URL:

Al-Huwayjah: Kirkuk : Oil Smugglers/Black Market Dealers Arrested:

Police conducted a raid in the al-Thawra district of Al-Huwayjah 70 km south of Kirkuk. Three people transporting oil derivatives* for sale in the black market were arrested and their cargo seized. [* this usually means Kerosene for cooking and heating - Mohammed] URL:

Karbala International Airport Ready to Proceed 200 Dunums* Set Aside:

[Explanation for Foreigenrs: This is a most important story. You should read it in the context of attempts to strengthen the south against central government and even to break it free if Iraq is split.
The Holy Cities are dedicated to Imam Ali (AS) and Imam Hussein (AS) respectively. They receive many pilgrims from all over the world second only to Makkah. Kufa the third Holy City was the Headquarters of Imam Ali and is were he was murdered in the Mosque at Kufa during morning prayers on the 19th of Ramadan by a Kharajite.

* A dunum is the measurement of area this gives us:

200 Dunums (2,500 m² x 200 = 500000m²) you can can go to this place for converting it to other measurements if metric confuses you. ]
More than 10 companies from Iraq, The Gulf, and International, have made bids for the building of Karbala International according to Abdel Al-Yasiri.

The civil aviation authority, the Ministry of Planning and the Ministry of Transport together with Religious and civil authorities are now studying the bids. The airport is to be set up in not more than 3 years at a cost at a cost that us in the range of between one billion to three billion dollars.

The purpose of the airport is to receive more pilgrims to the Holy cities. It is hoped that this will increase prosperity in the region. have been set aside for the airport 22km south of Karbala. URL .

Diyala : Baquba : Suspected Resistance Fighters Captured:

Green zone government troops and American invaders captured 21 people suspected of being in the resistance in a "sweep" of villages 5km south of the city. URL:

Muthana: Samawah : Fighting Between Green Zone Government Troops Supported by American Invaders and Sadrists:

[First I paste this - Mohammed] Posting of the agreement:

Diwaniya Peace Agreement

منع المظاهر المسلحة ومحاسبة مثيري الفتنة - التيار الصدري يوافق علي خطة المالكي لاستعادة
أمن الديوانية
الديوانية ــ الزمان
وافق التيار الصدري الذي يترأسه مقتدي الصدر علي مبادرة رئيس الوزراء العراقي نوري المالكي
لانهاء العنف في الديوانية، فيما وقع ممثلون عن القوي والاحزاب في المدينة علي خطة انهاء العنف التي اقترحتها لجنة
شكلها المالكي لوضع حد نهائي للأوضاع المتدهورة في المدينة. وتقضي الخطة بمنع المظاهر المسلحة في المدينة ومحاسبة
المقصرين الذين أثاروا الفتنة.
واكدت انه لا توجد خطوط حمراء للاجهزة الامنية وبامكانها اعتقال المشتبهين في المدينة وعدم
استقدام اي جهة سياسية او دينية الا عن طريق الدولة واجهزتها ووقف الهجمات علي القوات الامريكية في الاحياء السكنية
وعدم قصف مواقعها لعدم اعطائها المبرر لاجتياح المدينة كما نصت الخطة علي ايقاف
الاغتيالات.
وكان قد عقد في الديوانية التي شهدت اعمال عنف واشتباكات بين جيش المهدي وقوات مشتركة
عراقية امريكية اجتماع أمني ضم مستشاري رئيس الوزراء لشؤون العشائر وعشائر المحافظة وممثلين عن الاحزاب للتوصل الي حل
للازمة الامنية في المدينة. من جانبه طالب الشيخ عبد الرزاق النداوي مدير مكتب الصدر في الديوانية بتعويض المتضررين
جراء الاشتباكات ونقل القاعدة العسكرية التابعة للقوات المتعددة الجنسية الي خارج الديوانية، ووقف مداهمة اعضاء
التيار الصدري في المدن.
وكانت قوات امريكية داهمت في النهضة الواقعة شمال شرق الديوانية واجرت عمليات تفتيش كما
استمرت هذه القوات في تسير دوريات في شوارع المدينة خاصة منطقتي العروبة والجزائر. وكانت عشائر الديوانية استنجدت
بالحكومة العراقية لتخليص المدينة من سيطرة المليشيات واتهمتها في رسالة الي رئيس الوزراء بالقيام باعمال القتل
والاختطاف والسرقة. وسبق لوزير الدفاع العراقي عبد القادر جاسم ان اعلن ان ثلاثة عشر من جنود الجيش العراقي الجديد
قتلوا علي ايدي المليشيات بعد اسرهم اثر نفاذ ذخائرهم خلال معارك جرت قبل اسبوعين. واتفقت عشائر الديوانية علي رفض
استخدام العنف واعتماد مشروع المصالحة وايقاف عمليات التهجير القسري التي شهدتها خلال الاشهر الستة الماضية واضطرت
فيها عشرات الآلاف من السكان لمغادرة المحافظة الي اماكن اخري في العراق

Main Points:

No further armed demonstrations in the town.
No "red lines" for the security services - who are to be permitted to arrest suspects.
Only the state organs may conduct arrests.
Attacks against American forces in residential neighborhoods and shelling their positions to cease.

markfromireland
posted by markfromireland at Tuesday, September 19, 2006
2
comments links to this post

A force of green zone government troops from the falcon brigade backed up by American invaders of Iraq entered Samawah on Saturday evening coming from Diwaniyah. The total of dead and wounded in the resulting fighting was 5 dead and 26 wounded mostly civilians.

This is the second consecutive day of fighting in the city. The fighting is most intense on the east side of the city.

Sheikh Karim in a telephone interview with Aswat Al Iraq said "There are efforts to stop the fighting between the police and the Mahdi Army." he explain that he in communication with tribal leaders and civic dignitaries to try organise mediating between the police who are loyal to the green zone government and the Jaish. (Mahdi army)

Severe fighting started last month when the Jaish tried to release prisoners being held in prison by [SCIRI controlled] green zone government political police/intelligence. Three people were killed and 32 wounded.

The two sides signed an agreement that was meant to prevent clashes. Included in the agreement was:

No arms at political rallies.
Only government forces to carry arms [in public.]
All parties to agreement would facilitate the arrest of persons for whom lawful arrest warrants had been made by the judicial authorities.
All detainees not proved guilty to be released.

However as one person quoted at the end of the article said the fact that there are: "renewed clashes after less than twenty days of a cease-fire is proof that the problem still exists." URL:

For context you can See these listed below. The fighting is becoming severe because SCIRI has lost political control of many of the provinces to the Sadrists and are trying to keep the grip on those provinces by force. The American invaders are trying to help their quisling SCIRI allies to do this. List of postings for context:

Mosul : One Person Killed : Army Patrol Bombed:

A 50 year old civilian was shot dead in the commercial centre of Mosul by gunmen shooting from a car. An army patrol was attacked by bomb but escaped without casualties. URL

Wasit : Collection Launched to Save The Life Of The Poet al Amar:

A fund-raising campaign to pay expenses for the treatment of the poet and novelist Al-Amar, who is suffering from ischemic heart disease and needs to undergo surgery outside Iraq has been launched.

The Wasit Council for Culture and the Arts one of the institutions of civil society in the province of Wasit, which was founded in August 2003 to support the efforts and the work of artists from the province. Has launched the appeal. The appeal is directed to charitable, religious, and wealthy people in Wasit. URL:

[The poet is very ill and must stay in bed all the time because he has blocked arteries. He has been in hospital for a long time but there are no medical supplies to treat him so he has been advised to get treated outside of Iraq. He refused political offices and patronage in former times because he was opposed to what the government was doing. He has written many books for children and also plays for schools. He is one of my favourite poets when my father was helping me learn to read we used many of his books - Mohammed]

Meeting With His Excellency Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani:

This report we have not translated or summarised because the follower of the Prophet Jesus (PBUH) says he is writing an analysis and has done it already. He says it will go up in a few hours if he still has access to a connection The Arabic URI is here if you are able to read Arabic.
- Mohammed

Murderers of Pakistani and Indian Pilgrims Arrested:

The funeral of the Indian and Pakistani pilgrims in Karbala
Two members of the green zone government police in al Anbar have been arrested and have confessed to the murder of pilgrims from Pakistan and India in al-Anbar on September 2nd.
URL

Explanation of this story: Gunmen took 14 Pakistani and Indian Shiite pilgrims, killed them and left their bodys in the desert. How they did it was like this (this is from coverage in many places at the time as well as the Aswat Al Iraq story above) :
They stole two cars by killing the drivers and leaving the bodys in gutter on side of road.
They drove into the desert in the stolen cars.
They set up a false roadblock in the desert (between Anbar and Karbala is a lot of desert.)
They stopped the pilgrims' cpnvoy.
They separated the men from the women.
Most of the murdered pilgrims were elderly gentlemen who had saved money for many years to make the pilgrimage
They bound the hands of these men and killed most of them by shootings in their heads. One was beheaded. Some were tortured before they were murdered.
The women were allowed to continue their journey.
You can also read this analysis from the follower of the Prophet Jesus (PBUH) about how this was the "last straw" for the Grand Ayatollahs causing them to warn green zone "government" "Prime Minister" Maliki.

The analysis is here: Dead Man Walking

Hit : American Invaders Attacked:

The American invaders' headquarters in Hit was shelled by Iraqi resistance fighters. No reports of casualties. URL

My son Mohammed helped me greatly with the English for this posting and also put in the explanations. May those of the readers who celebrate the birth of the Prophet Jesus, who we as Muslims also revere have joy and peace of their celebration of his birth and may they also attend to his teachings.

Laith

Update: Fixed formatting error caused by slight mispasting - mf 25/12/06

December 22nd Update2 News In English From Aswat Al Iraq Together With Peace Takes Courage

2006-12-22T08:50:00.000+01:00

Aswat al Iraq:

Iraq-Security (Highlights) 2
Security developments in Iraq
Baghdad, Dec 21, (VOI) – Main security developments in Iraq on Thursday:Baaquba – The Baaquba public hospital received 20 bodies that had been found in different parts of the city, a medical source in the Diala health department said.Iraq-Security (Highlights) 2Security developments in IraqBaghdad, Dec 21, (VOI) – Main security developments in Iraq on Thursday:
Baaquba – The Baaquba public hospital received 20 bodies that had been found in different parts of the city, a medical source in the Diala health department said.
Baghdad – Iraqi and Multi-National forces killed seven gunmen and arrested three in Jebinat near Baaquba in operations in which an Iraqi soldier was killed and seven others were wounded.
Hit – A land mine planted by gunmen exploded at a U.S armored vehicle east of Hit town in Anbar province, destroying it, eyewitnesses said.
Mosul – An employee was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in southwestern Mosul, while an unidentified body was found in the north part of the town.
Kirkuk – Telecommunications between Kirkuk and Mosul were cut due to sabotage on telephone lines between the two northern Iraqi cities, an official source in Kirkuk telecommunication department said.
Karbalaa –Two gunmen shot dead an ex-member of the now-dissolved Baath party in central Karbalaa, eyewitnesses said.
Kirkuk – A security official in Kurdistan Democratic Party was wounded when an explosive device went off at his motorcade in southern Kirkuk, a security source said.
Baghdad- One person was killed and two others wounded when a home-made bomb exploded south of Baghdad, witnesses said.
Ramadi – U.S. troops killed two people in the western city of Ramadi as a siege continued on the western district of Theela.
Moqdadiya – Two bodyguards of the deputy governor of Diala province were killed during an armed attack in central Moqdadiya, northeast of Baaquba.
Mosul – Two civilians were wounded when an explosive charge blew up at a U.S. army patrol southwest of Mosul while gunmen in a car killed a civilian west of the city.
Amara – A former member of the dissolved Baath party was killed by gunmen in central Amara, witnesses said.

Peace Takes Courage:

It's one week before Christmas. 2,948 American families will be missing a family member this Christmas due to this immoral war in Iraq. According to a recent study it is estimated that around 650,000 Iraqis have also died since the war begin. This Christmas we need to all take time out of our busy holiday schedules to think about those who have been killed in the Iraq war. It is up to us to make sure that this coming year brings many changes to help get our country back on track. Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ - who taught love, compassion, understanding, and most of all PEACE. Let this holiday remind us that peace is a possible goal and that we have much work to do in order to achieve it.
6 Comments
Posted on 18 Dec 2006 by Ava
She has the windows media player file here
or you can watch it on youtube.
Or you can watch it here:

I have a lot of respect for her - she is very brave.

Site News: I will not be able to make any postings today. I think Sabah is due to make the posting but I haven't been able to contact him to confirm.

Erdla

December 21st Update2 News In English From Aswat Al Iraq Together With Various Agency Reports

2006-12-21T18:49:00.000+01:00

Joint statement : Iraqi Red Crescent abduction:

21-12-2006 Press Release 06/145
Joint statement : Iraqi Red Crescent abduction
On Sunday 17 December a number of Iraqi Red Crescent Society staff and volunteers and other persons were abducted from one of the Society's offices in Baghdad. As of today, some have been released, but many are still being held.

We are appealing for their immediate and unconditional release.

Iraqi Red Crescent staff are helping all Iraqis countrywide with humanity and impartiality. They are performing their humanitarian duties in dangerous circumstances and often pay a very high price for their commitment.

Iraqi Red Crescent staff are entitled to full protection under international humanitarian law and they deserve our respect and support because of their work in support of the many Iraqis in dire need of help.

We strongly reaffirm our support for and solidarity with the Iraqi Red Crescent Society in these trying times.

We call on those who are holding the Iraqi Red Crescent staff members and other persons abducted on 17 December to respect their lives and dignity and to release them unharmed, immediately and unconditionally.

Baghdad, Dec 20, (VOI) - Main security developments in Iraq on Wednesday (Part 2) : Aswat al Iraq:

Iraq-Security (Highlights) 2
Security developments in Iraq
Baghdad, Dec 20, (VOI) - Main security developments in Iraq on Wednesday:

Baghdad - Four civilians were wounded in two car bomb explosions in southwestern and southeastern Baghdad, Iraqi police sources said.

Kirkuk - A car bomb exploded at an Iraqi army checkpoint southwest of Kirkuk, killing one soldier and wounding four others, a police source said.

Baghdad - Unidentified gunmen assassinated the Assistant Dean of the faculty of law in Mostanseriya University in eastern Baghdad, a police source said.

Baghdad - The Multi-National forces in Iraq said they captured three suspects who were attempting to set up a mortar tube and firing point east of al-Qasim near Hilla town in Babel province.

Falluja - U.S. forces lifted blockade over the village of al-Naimiya, south of Falluja, after two days of siege, an official source in Falluja provincial council said.

Baiji - Two people, one of them a police officer, were killed and three civilians wounded in a car bomb explosion in central Baiji town, Salah Eddin province.

Falluja - Saqlawiya police station used by U.S. forces in the restive town of Falluja as a military base came under a heavy mortar attack, without causing any casualties, a police source said.

Iraq-Security (Highlights) :: Aswat al Iraq :: Aswat al Iraq:

Security developments in Iraq
Baghdad, Dec 20, (VOI) - Main security developments in Iraq on Thursday:

Baghdad - A suicide bomber blew himself up at dawn amidst a group of recruits outside Baghdad police academy killing ten people and wounding 15 others, a security source said.

Kirkuk - Police chief of al-Adala town, south of Kirkuk, survived a roadside bomb explosion at his motorcade, while two of his bodyguards sustained minor injuries, a security source in Kirkuk said.

Baghdad - Two U.S. soldiers were killed in military operation in the western Iraqi province of Anbar, the U.S. army in Iraq said. raises the U.S. casualty toll in Iraq during the last 48 hours to four dead and six wounded.

Basra - Four gunmen were wounded in two separate clashes with British patrols in the southern Iraqi city of Basra while all British bases around the city came under attack, the spokesman for the Multi-National forces in the south said on Thursday.

Mosul - An explosive charge went off at a U.S. patrol in southeastern Mosul, but it was not immediately clear if it caused any casualties or damage, an official source in Ninawa police operations room said.

Tikrit - Unidentified attackers killed a police lieutenant colonel north of Tikrit, a source in Salah Eddin police force said.

Reuters AlertNet - FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Dec 21:

Dec 21 (Reuters) - Following are security and other developments in Iraq as of 1130 GMT on Thursday:

* indicates new or updated item.

* BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb targeting a U.S. military patrol wounded a civilian in Adhamiya district in northern Baghdad, police said.

* MOSUL - A roadside bomb targeting a U.S. military patrol wounded two civilians in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

* MOSUL - Gunmen killed a man in mosul, police said.

* MOSUL - The body of a man was found shot dead in Mosul on Wednesday, police said.

BAGHDAD - A suicide car bomb killed two people and wounded two others in Amil district in southwestern Baghdad, police said.

KIRKUK - Two policemen were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near the convoy of police Colonel Adnan Mohammed in Kirkuk, police said.

BAGHDAD - Iraqi soldiers killed 12 insurgents and arrested 56 others over the past 24 hours in different parts of Iraq, the Defence Ministry said.

BAGHDAD - One U.S. soldier and a Marine have been killed in action in Iraq's western Anbar province, the U.S. military said in a statement. The military said the soldier died on Tuesday while the Marine was killed on Thursday.

BAGHDAD - One U.S. soldier was killed and three were wounded when a roadside bomb hit a patrol south of Baghdad on Wednesday, the military said in a statement.

BAGHDAD - A suicide bomber killed at least 10 people and wounded 15 when he blew himself up at a police recruitment centre in eastern Baghdad, police sources said.

NEAR KIRKUK - A suicide car bomber rammed his car into an Iraqi army checkpoint, killing one soldier and wounding four on Wednesday in a town near Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

KIRKUK - Gunmen killed a man and his wife on Wednesday in Kirkuk, police said.

RAMADI - Several mortars landed near a police station wounding three women on Wednesday in the restive city of Ramadi, 110 km (68 miles) west of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

RAMADI - One woman was killed when two rockets hit a police station in Ramadi on Tuesday, the U.S. military said, adding that a man, a woman and a 12-year-old child were also wounded.

TIKRIT - Gunmen killed police Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed Saleh on Wednesday in Tikrit, 175 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

McClatchy Washington Bureau | 12/20/2006 | Roundup of violence in Iraq - 20 December:

Roundup of violence in Iraq - 20 December
By Laith Hammoudi
McClatchy Newspapers

The daily Iraq violence report is compiled by McClatchy Newspapers Special Correspondent Laith Hammoudi in Baghdad from police, military and medical reports. This is not a comprehensive list of all violence in Iraq, much of which goes unreported. It's posted without editing as transmitted to McClatchy's Washington Bureau.

Baghdad . According to the Ministry of Interior operation room

-- 11 people were killed including 6 commandos and 30 injured including 9 commandos when a suicide car bomb attacked a commandos checkpoint near Baghdad University in Jadriya neighborhood downtown Baghdad at 7:15 am today.

-- 4 civilians were killed and other 7 injured in a parked car bomb explosion near the Identity directorate building in Al Kasra neighborhood, a part of Adhamiyah neighborhood downtown Baghdad.

-- Anonymous insurgents assassinated early today Mahmood Mohammed Rasheed, the brother of the famous comic actor Zuhair Mohammed Rasheed. Moahmood Rasheed who was a teacher was assassinated near the Al Hikma school where he works in Al Baladiyat neighborhood east of Baghdad. Mohamood is a Palestinian citizen.

-- 4 civilians were injured in two car bomb explosions. Two were wounded in a parked car bomb explosion near Al Baiyaa court in Al Baiyaa neighborhood south of Baghdad. The other two were injured in another car bomb parked near the farmers association in Al Riyadh neighborhood eastern Baghdad.

-- 76 anonymous bodies were found in Baghdad today. 63 were found in the west part of Baghdad ( Karkh) and only 13 found in the east part of Baghdad (Rusafa)

Diyala province

-- A governmental source in Baladrooz town east of Baqouba city (60 kms north of Baghdad) said that 2 civilians were killed and 8 were injured when an insurgents group from Dainiya neighborhood targeted civilians in Shakori village in the same town early morning today.

-- A police source in Baladrooz city said that the explosions experts defused two IEDs which were laid near the shops of two Kurdish businessmen.

-- A military official in the 5th division of the Iraqi army said that a soldier was killed and 3 others were wounded when a group of more than 30 insurgents attacked early morning today a military checkpoint in Abo Al Nakhal district in Khalis city north of Baqouba city. The source confirmed that 5 insurgents were killed.

Karbala

-- the police chief of Karbalaa, Abo Al Waleed, announced today that Karbala police members had captured two leaders of Ansar Al Sunna army who are accused of committing many crimes of killing and robbery. Abo Al Waleed said that the two men were captured after having intelligence information confirmed that they entered the city planning to commit terrorists actions.

Twenty bodies found in Baaquba : Aswat al Iraq:

Baaquba-Bodies
Twenty bodies found in Baaquba
By Assem Taha
Baaquba, Dec 21, (VOI) - The Baaquba public hospital on Thursday received 20 bodies that had been found in different parts of the city, a medical source in the Diala health department said.
"The forensic division at Baaquba public hospital received 20 unidentified bodies of people who had been killed by gunshots," the source, who declined to be identified, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
Some of the bodies had been blindfolded and hand-cuffed, he added.
Baaquba lies 60 km north of Baghdad.

Talabani discusses security plans in Iraq with visiting U.S. defense secretary : Aswat al Iraq:

Talabani-Gates
Talabani discusses security plans in Iraq with visiting U.S. defense secretary
Baghdad, Dec 21, (VOI) - Iraqi President Jalal al-Talabani discussed with visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates proposals for developing Baghdad security plans, a presidential statement said on Thursday.
Talabani discussed with Gates on Wednesday "bilateral relations and ways of combating terrorism in Iraq," read the statement received by the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
Gates praised Talabani's ideas and promised to take them into consideration when evaluating the situation in Iraq, the statement added.
Gates has arrived in Baghdad on Wednesday on a previously unannounced visit, his first to Iraq after he was sworn in as defense secretary replacing Donald Rumsfeld.
On Wednesday, U.S. president George Bush said he would weigh all options regarding Iraq including sending more troops there.
Bush told a news conference in Washington that he did not make up his mind yet about sending more troops to Iraq, but he was studying all options.

Two U.S. soldiers killed in Anbar : Aswat al Iraq:

Two U.S. soldiers killed in Anbar
Baghdad, Dec 21, (VOI) - Two U.S. soldiers were killed in military operation in the western Iraqi province of Anbar, the U.S. army in Iraq said on Thursday.
This raises the U.S. casualty toll in Iraq during the last 48 hours to four dead and six wounded.
"One soldier assigned to Regimental Combat Team 7 died
Tuesday and one Marine assigned to 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division died today from wounds sustained due to… action while operating in Al Anbar Province," the army said in a statement received by the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
The army said in a statement last night that one of its soldiers was killed in south Baghdad when a bomb went off near his patrol, while four other soldiers were wounded in the blast.
Another statement said that an improvised explosive device was detonated near a Multi-National Division -Baghdad patrol, killing one soldier and wounding four others southwest of the Iraqi capital on Wednesday.
The latest deaths raise the U.S. official death toll in Iraq to 2,955 since the 2003 invasion, including 66 this month.

Iraqi parliament convenes informally, still lacking quorum : Aswat al Iraq:

Parliament-Quorum
Iraqi parliament convenes informally, still lacking quorum
By Adel Fakher
Baghdad, Dec 21, (VOI) - Iraqi legislators will hold an informal meeting on Thursday to discuss political issues as it still lacks quorum, Deputy Speaker Khaled al-Attiya said.
"It will be an open session with some members making statements. We will also discuss a number of issues," he told reporters.
"It will not be a formal session…for lack of quorum," he added.
Parliament has lacked quorum for some two weeks because a large number of members are traveling abroad. Members of the Sadrist bloc have also been boycotting the house.
Earlier this month, the parliament decided to deduct 500,000 dinars (about $340) from the monthly allocations of legislators for each day of absence without a valid excuse.
Each Iraqi parliamentarian gets a total of 17 million dinars monthly.
The parliament also threatened to publish the names of the often-absent members in the media.

Four gunmen wounded in clashes with British forces in Basra : Aswat al Iraq:

Basra-British
Four gunmen wounded in clashes with British forces in Basra
By Malek Saadoun
Basra, Dec 21, (VOI) - Four gunmen were wounded in two separate clashes with British patrols in the southern Iraqi city of Basra while all British bases around the city came under attack, Captain Tane Dunlop, the spokesman for the Multi-National forces in the south, said on Thursday.
A British patrol "clashed last night with gunmen after an explosive charge went off at the patrol west of Basra and the clash resulted in wounding two gunmen," Dunlop told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) by telephone.
"Another clash occurred between British forces and gunmen near a British camp in al-Saii downtown district and two gunmen were also wounded in the clash," he added.
Light weapons, hand grenades and RPG7 rockets were used in the clashes, he said, adding that there were no casualties among British forces.
All British bases near Basra came under Katyusha attacks last night and this morning, he said.

Suicide bomber kills 10, wounds 15 outside Baghdad police academy : Aswat al Iraq:

Baghdad-Bombing
Suicide bomber kills 10, wounds 15 outside Baghdad police academy
By Adel Fakher
Baghdad, Dec 21, (VOI) - A suicide bomber blew himself up at dawn on Thursday amidst a group of recruits outside Baghdad police academy killing ten people and wounding 15 others, a security source said.
"A suicide attacker wearing an explosive belt this morning targeted a gathering of youth who wanted to join the police corps and were waiting outside the police academy in Palestine Street in eastern Baghdad," the interior ministry source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
"The suicide bomber stood in line among the would be recruits at the back gate of the academy then blew himself up, killing eight recruits and two police guards and wounding 15 other recruits," he added.
Police and army recruitment centers have been a repeated target for bombing attacks in Baghdad and elsewhere.

Iran occupied large area during Anfal operation, ex-defense minister tells court : Aswat al Iraq:

Trial-Defendant
Iran occupied large area during Anfal operation, ex-defense minister tells court
By Kawther Abdul-Amir
Baghdad, Dec 21, (VOI) - Iran had been occupying an area larger than Lebanon in Iraqi Kurdistan when the army of former president Saddam Hussein carried out the Anfal operation in which tens of thousands of Kurds were killed in 1988, ex-defense minister Sultan Hashim told an Iraqi tribunal on Thursday.
The court is trying Saddam, Hashim and five others on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity during the 1988 campaign in Kurdistan.
"Insurgents have been giving support for the Iranians…they had formed semi-regular forces comprising brigades, headquarters and commanders…," Hashim told the court.
"I carried out a military operation in a specific area within a specific time frame… I hope it is taken into consideration that the military law punished those who did not carry out orders with death. I was carrying out my duty," he said, adding that he had been decorated after the operation.
He asked chief judge Mohammed al-Uraibi al-Khalifa to bring military experts to explain military aspects.
"It is strange that we have been referred to a civil court although we are soldiers. I demand that military experts are brought to explain our statements because it is illogical that soldiers should be tried by a civil court," he said.
Prosecutor Monqez al-Feraun said fighting against Iranian occupation forces did not justify "the arrest and burying of children, men and women or the mass graves and the use of chemical weapons."
The court adjourned the trial to January 8.
In November, Saddam was sentenced to death in a separate trial after being convicted of ordering the killing of 148 people following an attempt on his life in 1982.

Former PM says 'mafia groups' behind violence: Azzaman in English:

Former PM says 'mafia groups' behind violence
By Mundher al-Shawfi
Azzaman, December 20, 2006

Former Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari attributed the upsurge in violence in the country to activities by what he said were 'mafia groups' bent to destabilize the government. Jaafari denied the country was in a state of civil war or on the brink of a whole-scale sectarian strife. "Simply there are mafia groups which are behind most of the violence," he said.

He said the current political rhetoric was void of references to sectarian differences because the authorities "are using patriotism as a basis for distinction." However, the Iraqi government itself is built on sectarian grounds with sects, religious denominations and ethnic minorities currently using their positions to steer ministries and armed forces to their advantage.

Jaafari's bloc, the Dawaa Party, is part of the ruling coalition led by Shiite factions in partnership with Kurdish groups.

"Iraq cannot coexist with sectarianism which permits the shedding of innocent Iraqi blood," he said. He said he was hopeful Iraqis will eventually resolve their differences through the reconciliation meetings the government is holding currently. Jaafari said former Baathists were welcome to take part in reconciliation talks. However, he said there was no place for what he described as "Saddamists". He did not elaborate. The former premier said neighboring countries should stop meddling in Iraqi affairs. "Their (interference) is exacerbating the problem," he added. However, he said Iraq needed its neighbors and it was essential for the government to establish good relations. Haafari said the presence of militias was a threat to stability and they should be disbanded.

MIDDLE EAST: Weekly update of human rights violations in the region (14 Nov - 21 Dec 2006):

DUBAI, 21 Dec 2006 (IRIN) - EGYPT: Bahais left without ID cards

CAIRO, (IRIN) - Followers of the Bahai faith this week lost the right to openly state their religious identity on official documents, after a ruling by the Supreme Administrative Court.

The case began in a lower court after the Civil Status Department of the Ministry of Interior confiscated ID cards and birth certificates from the family of Hossam Ezzat, a Bahai, on the grounds that their religious declaration was illegitimate. The lower court granted Bahais the right to enter their faith on official documents, a decision which the Ministry of Interior then appealed.

Hossam Bahgat, of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, represented the Ezzat family in court. "The ruling now creates a problem for the government, because citizens must either live without an ID, or identify themselves as Muslim or Christian," he said.

Egypt's Mufti, Alii Gomaa, has said that Bahais should declare themselves Muslim on official documentation.

IRAQ: 32 journalists murdered in 2006

BAGHDAD, (IRIN) - The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said on Wednesday that 32 Iraqi journalists were killed in Iraq in 2006 due to spiralling violence in the country.

"For the fourth consecutive year, Iraq was in a category of its own as the deadliest place for journalists," the CPJ said. "Murder now accounts for 61 percent of deaths in Iraq since the war began [in 2003]," it added.

The international watchdog said four journalists died as a result of crossfire or acts of war this year; 28 were murdered and three were kidnapped and then slain.

"The deaths in Iraq this year reflect the utter deterioration in reporters' traditional status as neutral observers in wartime," Joel Simon, CPJ Executive Director, said. "This is an extraordinarily alarming trend because along with the terrible loss of life, it is limiting news reporting in Iraq and, in turn, our own understanding of a vital story," Simon added.

This year's killings brought to 92 the number of journalists who have died in Iraq since the US-led invasion of March 2003. In addition, 37 media support workers-interpreters, drivers, fixers and office workers-have been killed over the same period.
JORDAN: Gov't closes notorious jail

AMMAN, (IRIN) - The Jordanian government on Tuesday closed down a notorious prison after local and international human rights groups repeatedly claimed inmates at the detention facility were tortured and kept in dire conditions.

The run-down Jafer prison lies on the edge of a desert, 250 km east of Amman. Human rights activists say inmates were vulnerable to extreme weather conditions - including high temperatures and blinding sand storms - and snakes, scorpions and other lethal insects were abundant in the facility.

Human rights groups welcomed the closure saying they hoped the move would signal a shift in official policy on the treatment of prisoners. "This is a step in the right direction, but what we would like to see is an end to systematic torture at other prisons," said Abdul Karim Shreideh of the Arab Organisation for Human Rights.

In an unrelated case, the military run state security court on Monday sentenced 74-year-old Mahmoud Said to one year in prison for distributing pamphlets that criticise the government.

The street vendor from Irbid, 60 km north of Amman, distributed four leaflets before being apprehended by secret service agents, the court said. Said was sentenced initially to three years after the court found him guilty of provoking sectarianism and belonging to an illegal political party, Hezb al-Tahrir (Liberation Party). However, the court immediately commuted his sentence to a year "to give him a second chance in life".
SYRIA: Kilo to be tried soon, says lawyer

DAMASCUS, (IRIN) - The trial of Syrian rights activist and writer Michel Kilo will be held soon in a criminal court, his lawyer, Khalil Matouk, said on Tuesday. Kilo was detained in May for calling on Damascus to improve its relations with Lebanon and charges related to inciting sectarian division and engaging with foreign organisations - charges which carry a maximum jail term of three years.

Earlier, the Court of Appeals rejected the appeal lodged by Kilo's lawyers and the appeal of activist Mahmoud Issa, who, along with Kilo, signed the Damascus-Beirut declaration calling on Syria to respect Lebanese sovereignty.

Meanwhile, the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria said officials interrogated activist Faek al-Meer on 30 December on charges including violating the country's dignity, weakening the patriotic sentiment, jeopardising the country's security and stability, provoking disorder and turmoil, and spying for a hostile country.

These charges followed his visit to Lebanon to mourn the death of Communist leader George Hawy, who was assassinated in Beirut in June 2005. Lebanese authorities claim that Damascus had a hand in Hawy's assassination. While waiting for a decision on his case, al-Meer has been detained in Adra al-Madany Prison.

YEMEN: Jailed editor's appeal rejected

SANA'A (IRIN) - The country's Court of Appeals on 18 December rejected the appeal of Kamal al-Ulefi, the editor-in-chief of al-Rai al-Aam weekly newspaper. On 25 November, he was sentenced to a year in prison and his newspaper was closed for six months. He was convicted of republishing the controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, which were first published by a Danish newspaper.

Also on 18 December, human rights activists, representatives of civil society organisations, journalists and lawyers staged a sit-in in front of the appeals court in the capital, Sana'a, in solidarity with Anesah al-Shu'ebi, who was allegedly tortured and raped at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Protestors demanded that Rizq al-Jawfi, head of CID, should be investigated in connection with the allegations.

Meanwhile, a report by the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRinfo) criticised the Yemeni government for monopolising the Internet service, blocking several news websites, and reading private emails.

"The political security forces and the Ministry of Interior routinely search homes and private offices, control phone calls and read emails. In addition, there is widespread interference in many other personal matters, all of which are alleged to be based on security intelligence. These practices are implemented without any legal orders being issued and they are done without judicial supervision," reads the report, entitled 'Implacable Adversaries: Arab Governments and the Internet'.

jb/sm/mbh/dh/maj/ar/ed
[ENDS]

IRAQ: Salwa Muhammad, Iraq "This will be the last polio campaign of my life"

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

Salwa Muhammad gives a child polio drops.

BAGHDAD, 21 Dec 2006 (IRIN) - "I am a 32-year-old Iraqi widow with three children. Seven years ago I started working with UNICEF [the UN Children's Agency], giving anti-polio vaccines to thousands of children. But my life has changed drastically in the past two years as my work has become dangerous because now I get threats at least once every two months.

I need to work to help support my family, so now I have to move from place to place. Whenever I feel that my life is threatened in a particular district, I move to another.

IRAQ POLIO CAMPAIGN

Called Iraq's polio National Immunisation Days (NIDs).
Launched by Ministry of Health.
Oral polio vaccines provided by UNICEF.
World Health Organisation (WHO) helping plan and monitor campaign.
4.8 million children under 5 will be immunised in two phases.
First phase in November immunised 95% of all children in Iraq.
Second phase runs for 5 days from 16 to 21 December.
5,300 teams of vaccinators travelling house-to-house throughout the country.
UNICEF and WHO are calling on all parties to ensure safety of vaccinators.
Iraq has been polio-free since 2000.

Many times I have thought of leaving my job but when a child opens his or her mouth to receive the polio drops and I know that it will save his or her life, I change my mind because as a mother I know how important it is to give children polio vaccines. But I have had enough and this is going to be the last polio campaign of my life.

We carry the vaccines in a special vaccine carrier and go knocking door by door asking if there are any children in the house. Sometimes we try to get information from the neighbours about other houses with children. But people don't always help; sometimes they just close the doors on you saying that they will never assist Iraqis who work for foreign organisations or who work for the government, which has betrayed Iraqis. In moments like these you feel like someone is going to go behind your back and shoot you dead.

We are scared all the time when we go out to give the vaccines. Aid workers have been targeted by insurgents and militias and whenever we turn a corner we fear being hit by a bullet and becoming another victim of this violence.

In some districts the situation is even more dangerous with insurgents or militias coming after us asking our first names, surnames, religious beliefs -and they prevent us from knocking on some doors if people in those houses are from a different sect than the people with guns.

In those circumstances, we don't try to be heroes by insisting on going into these houses because the threat is real and if we insist we could get killed. We usually ask a neighbour to inform the people of those houses about the campaign so that they can take their children to the nearest public health clinic where they can also have the drops administered.

Fighters believe that because UNICEF is delivering the drops we are supporters of the US forces. They do not know the difference between UNICEF and the US and consider us as Iraqis working for a foreign company. This is what makes this job dangerous for us. Iraqis do not believe that there is any organisation which is neutral and people lump you on whatever side they want.

Some of our colleagues have been beaten. Some, especially women, have been accused by fighters of being government followers and because they go out to work, they are also accused of being prostitutes. There are also allegations that our vaccine drops are contaminated with some poison from the US forces.

Of course, all that is ridiculous. All we do is to try and save children's lives but at the end of the day we are considered betrayers, are accused of all manner of things and are insulted.

I have had enough and I cannot stand it anymore because it is becoming increasingly dangerous. We could lose our lives any time and there is no appreciation of what we do. Maybe when all aid workers stop working in Iraq, people will understand how important we are and how protected we should be."

Read more about Iraq's polio campaign
as/ar/ed[ENDS]

Alertnet Headlines For Iraq:

FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Dec 21
21 Dec 2006 16:06:32 GMT
Source: Reuters
Dec 21 (Reuters) - Following are security and other developments in Iraq as of 1545 GMT on Thursday: * indicates new or updated item. * BAGHDAD - A suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest ... Full article

Emergency relief for Iraqi and Lebanese communities
21 Dec 2006 16:00:00 GMT
Source: World Emergency Relief (WER) - UK
WER has shipped a further 15 tons of emergency humanitarian supplies for immediate distribution to Iraqi and Lebanese communities affected by conflict in the Middle East region. Two 40 foot ... Full article

US soldiers in Iraq urge Gates to send more troops
21 Dec 2006 15:59:02 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Adds Gates news conference) By Kristin Roberts BAGHDAD, Dec 21 (Reuters) - U.S. soldiers in Iraq urged new Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday to send reinforcements but generals expressed ... Full article

Shi'ite officials press Iraq PM to tackle militias
21 Dec 2006 15:01:40 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Mariam Karouny BAGHDAD, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Senior members of Iraq's Shi'ite Alliance are pressing Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to go after the Shi'ite militia loyal to cleric Moqtada al-Sadr if ... Full article

IRAQ: Salwa Muhammad, Iraq "This will be the last polio campaign of my life"
21 Dec 2006 10:47:23 GMT
Source: IRIN
Salwa Muhammad is a 32-year-old Iraqi widow who works with UNICEF giving anti-polio vaccines to thousands of children. While she enjoys the satisfaction of knowing that she is helping to save lives, she wants to quit because of the continual threats she and other aid workers receive. Full article

FACTBOX-Military and civilian deaths in Iraq
21 Dec 2006 10:39:44 GMT
Source: Reuters
Dec 21 (Reuters) - One U.S. soldier and one Marine have been killed in action in western Anbar province, the U.S. military said in a statement. It said the soldier died on Tuesday while the Marine was ... Full article

Joint statement : Iraqi Red Crescent abduction
21 Dec 2006 09:16:07 GMT
Source: International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) - Switzerland
On Sunday 17 December a number of Iraqi Red Crescent Society staff and volunteers and other persons were abducted from one of the Society's offices in Baghdad. As of today, some have been released, but many are still being held. Full article

Iraqi police targeted as U.S. seeks new approach
21 Dec 2006 08:50:48 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Mariam Karouny BAGHDAD, Dec 21 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed 10 Iraqis at a police recruitment centre in Baghdad on Thursday and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, on his first trip to ... Full article

U.S. Military expected to announce Haditha charges
21 Dec 2006 05:43:22 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Dan Whitcomb CAMP PENDLETON, Calif, Dec 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. military was expected to announce charges on Thursday against a group of Marines in the killing of 24 unarmed civilians in Haditha ... Full article

Suicide bomber kills 10 in Baghdad - police sources
21 Dec 2006 05:38:01 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Updates death toll, details) BAGHDAD, Dec 21 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed at least 10 Iraqis and wounded 10 at a police recruitment centre in Baghdad on Thursday, police sources said. They ... Full article

Independent Online Edition > UK Politics:

'Brainwashed' Blair losing battle to prove his influence
By Andrew Grice, Political Editor
Published: 21 December 2006

Tony Blair's "shoulder to shoulder" support for George Bush has been called into question again by claims that he was "brainwashed" by President Bush over plans to pull troops out of Iraq.

The Prime Minister returned yesterday from his seven-nation visit to the Middle East, apparently without achieving any significant breakthrough in the peace process. But British officials said that he had found a desire to make progress among Israeli and Palestinian leaders, and insisted that he had never expected to find a magic solution. They said his tour should be judged over the longer term rather than immediately.

The trip has been overshadowed by a growing perception that Mr Blair's relationship with President Bush is very much a "one-way street" in which Britain gets very little in return for his unwavering public backing for Washington. Even some Blairites are starting to question the Prime Minister's stance. They are appalled that President Bush has refused to honour his 2004 promise to expend "capital" on the Middle East peace process during his second term. "He doesn't cut Tony much slack," one Blair aide said yesterday.

For someone who is often described as a "lucky" politician, cabinet ministers believe that Mr Blair was extremely unlucky to have President Bush in the White House for the past six years.

Tareq al-Hashemi, the Iraqi Vice-President, claimed that Mr Blair was ready about three months ago to back a timetable for withdrawing allied forces from Iraq, but was "brainwashed" into changing his mind during his recent talks with President Bush in Washington. He told the Council on Foreign Relations in New York: "It is quite unfortunate that your President made a sort of blackmail out of Mr Blair."

Later he told the BBC: "I got the impression that he was much willing, and interested in fact, to raise this subject maybe for the first time with Mr Bush.

"I think he discovered that Mr Bush is still adamant that he's not going to declare some sort of timetable for withdrawal to avoid passing wrong messages to terrorism."

His claims echoed a report by the respected Chatham House think-tank which claimed that Mr Blair had enjoyed no significant influence over the Bush administration, despite the military, political and financial sacrifices that Britain had made to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Professor Victor Bulmer-Thomas, the outgoing director of Chatham House, said: "Blair has learnt the hard way that loyalty in international politics counts for nothing. And his successor will not make the same mistake of offering unconditional support for US initiatives in foreign policy at the expense of a more positive relationship with Europe."

But Mr Blair predicted that his successor would maintain his close relationship with America. "I think most people, when they are actually in a position of having to take the decisions, will come to the same view," he said. "Us having a strong relationship with America is one reason why, when I come and discuss the Israel/Palestine issue out in the Middle East, you are having a different kind of conversation, precisely because you have got a relationship with America."

Robert Tuttle, the US ambassador in London, described the Chatham House report as "puzzling and incorrect". He said: "Our relationship is the strongest of any two governments in the world and I think the world is a better place for that relationship."

Mr Tuttle added: "I think that the special relationship is very, very strong ... You have a very strong prime minister who made the commitment [in Iraq] on what he thought was best for the United Kingdom."

"My Worst Experience Was Making The Coffin Of My Own Brother, Ahmed."

2006-12-20T18:35:00.000+01:00

Aswat al Iraq | Baghdad, Dec 20, (VOI) - Main security developments in Iraq on Wednesday:

Security developments in Iraq on Wednesday Baghdad- The U.S. army said in a statement on Wednesday six persons suspected of association to Qaida in Iraq armed group were arrested in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. One of the arrested was believed to be a leader of Qaida in Iraq and had connection to the killing of scores of civilians including women and children, the statement added. Iraq-Security (Highlights) Security developments in Iraq on Wednesday Baghdad, Dec 20, (VOI) - Main security developments in Iraq on Wednesday:

Baghdad- The U.S. army said in a statement on Wednesday six persons suspected of association to Qaida in Iraq armed group were arrested in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. One of the arrested was believed to be a leader of Qaida in Iraq and had connection to the killing of scores of civilians including women and children, the statement added.
Basra- The spokesman for the Multi-National forces in southern Iraq said on Wednesday British patrols engaged in clashes with unknown gunmen in three different parts in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. The spokesman said "there were no casualties among the British forces."
Baghdad- U.S. and Iraqi forces launched in the early hours of Wednesday an intensive house-to-house search campaign in al-Adl neighborhood in western Baghdad, an eyewitness said.
Baghdad- The Iraqi police said on Wednesday unknown gunmen positioned a fake checkpoint on the main road to al-Lij village, nearly 25 km southeast of Baghdad, and forced farmers from the village at gunpoint to unknown destination.
Mosul- The Iraqi police said on Wednesday a police station was attacked by unknown gunmen while mortar shells fell on a hospital in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul but no casualties were reported.
Mosul- An Iraqi security source said on Wednesday an explosive charge went off at a U.S. vehicle patrol in al-Wahda neighborhood in eastern Mosul. The source said "the blast left no casualties among the Iraqi civilians but it was impossible to know if there were casualties among the U.S. soldiers as the U.S. forces immediately cordoned off the area."
Baghdad- At least five people were killed and 11 others were wounded on Wednesday morning when a car bomb went off in northern Baghdad, a police source said.
Baghdad- A suicide attacker detonated on Wednesday morning an explosives-rigged car at a police checkpoint in downtown Baghdad, killing 11 people and wounding 31 others, a police source said.

Violence claims some 1,200 people in November - morgue official : Aswat al Iraq:

Baghdad-Morgue Violence claims some 1,200 people in November - morgue official By Wathiq Ismael

Baghdad, Dec 20, (VOI) - Baghdad forensic morgue has received in November about 1,200 bodies of people killed in actions of violence, an Iraqi medical official said on Wednesday.

"The number of bodies received at the forensic morgue un Baghdad during November is about 1,200 bodies," the official, who declined to be named, told the independent news agency voices of Iraq (VOI).

November toll is down from October when the morgue received 1,600 bodies, he said. "Most of the bodies bore marks of torture and had gun shots," the official added. The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) has reported that some 100 people get killed in Iraq everyday and most of them in Baghdad where sectarian violence and killings are at their worst. The morgues toll does not represent the true and final toll of those killed in Baghdad as families sometimes collect the bodies of the victims from the hospitals before the bodies are sent to the morgue. Blasts and car bombings are the main reason behind the rising death toll in Baghdad as violence rages unabated in the Iraqi capital. Tens of bodies are also found dumped in the streets of Baghdad almost daily.

Najaf-Handover | Aswat al Iraq:

Najaf-Handover - Security responsibility handed over to Iraqi army in Najaf By Haider al-Kaabi Najaf, Dec 20, (VOI) -The Iraqi forces received in an official ceremony held on Wednesday the security responsibility from the Multi-National forces in the Shiite sacred city of Najaf. "The transfer of the security responsibility to the Iraqi civil administration in Najaf came third after the handover occurred in the southern Iraqi provinces of Samawa and Thi-Qar," the Iraqi national security adviser Dr. Muafaq al-Rubai'i said at the ceremony. The national security advisor, who represented the Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki at the ceremony, said "this step will be followed by the hand over of the security responsibility in the three Iraq's Kurdistan region to the Iraqi civil administration there." The three provinces within Kurdistan region are Sulaimaniyah, Duhuk, and Arbil. "The Iraqi government makes every effort to accelerate the completion of the Iraqi forces' preparedness in terms of training and arms supply," said Dr. Rubai'i and added " a decision was recently made by the government as to re-use the former Iraqi army officers in the new formation of the Iraqi forces." The national security adviser also called upon Iraq's neighboring countries to stop interfering in Iraq's internal affairs and these countries should consider such intervention as Rubai'i put it "a red line and violation to the Iraqi national security." "The government's move to strengthen the capabilities of the Iraqi forces comes within its comprehensive plan to disband militias and limit the possession of arms in the hand of the government." The ceremony was attended by some commanders from the Multi-National forces and Iraqi officials, tribal chiefs and political parties' representatives. Najaf is 180 km southwest of Baghdad.

Baghdad-Kidnapping | Aswat al Iraq:

Baghdad-Kidnapping - Gunmen kidnap six farmers near Baghdad By Monther Hamad Zahi Baghdad, Dec 20, (VOI) - The Iraqi police said unknown gunmen kidnapped six farmers in the early hours of Wednesday from a village near Baghdad. "Unknown gunmen positioned a fake checkpoint on the main road to al-Lij village, nearly 25 km southeast of Baghdad, and forced farmers from the village at gunpoint to unknown destination," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). The hijacked farmers were riding in two cars when the incident occurred, he added. "The kidnappers left the farmers' behind after they were forced to unknown destination," the source said.

Polish premier visits Iraq, meets Maliki : Aswat al Iraq:

Iraq-Poland Polish premier visits Iraq, meets Maliki By Adel Fakher Baghdad, Dec 20, (VOI) - The Polish Prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski arrived on Wednesday in Baghdad and met with his Iraqi counterpart Nouri al-Maliki, a media source at Iraqi Prime Minister office said. "Talks have already started between the Iraqi Prime Minister and the visiting Premier Kaczynski," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). Both premiers are expected to give a joint news conference, he added.

Maliki- Kaczynski | Aswat al Iraq:

Maliki- Kaczynski Maliki: political, economic issues discussed with Kaczynski Baghdad, Dec 20, (VOI) -Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said on Wednesday he discussed with his Polish counterpart Jaroslaw Kaczynski issues of common interests for both countries as well as prospects of Polish companies investment in Iraq. "we discussed a spectrum of issues of common interests including the political process in Iraq," Maliki said in a joint news conference with Kaczynski in Baghdad. The Iraqi Premier who stressed that Iraq would stand by the friendly states that supported it said "we discussed possible investment opportunities for Polish companies in Iraq especially in the safe parts of the country." "The meeting was positive and dealt with political and economic issues," Maliki added. The Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski who arrived earlier in Baghdad said his country wanted to continue its support to the people of Iraq. "Iraq is in need of more solidarity to accelerate rebuilding the country," said Kaczynski at the joint news conference. Asked about the future of the Polish military presence within the Multi-National forces in Iraq, Kaczynski replied "our future presence in Iraq depends on more than one factor but after all we are here to help stability in Iraq." Poland has military presence in Iraq within the Multi-National Forces. The Polish troops are situated in the southern Iraqi provinces of Wassit and Diwaniya.

Saddam's Anfal trial session resumes in Baghdad : Aswat al Iraq:

Saddam-Anfal-Session Saddam's Anfal trial session resumes in Baghdad Baghdad, Dec 20, (VOI) - The trial of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and six of his aides on Anti-Kurds Anfal case resumed on Wednesday in Baghdad with all defendants present. Wednesday's session was chaired by chief judge Mohammed al-Uraibi al-Khalifah. The 32nd trial session continued for the third day running to show documents believed to be sent by the Iraqi military intelligence service to the presidency office in 1987 suggesting the use of the chemical weapons against Kurdish villages near the border with Iran. In the two previous sessions, Prosecutor Munqith al-Firaon showed 38 documents and letters sent from the Iraqi military intelligence service to the presidency office in 1987 suggesting that chemical weapons were used to bomb villages where Kurdish Peshmerga ( local Kurdish fighters) were active. Al-Firaon said in the trial 32nd session "although the duty of the military intelligence service was to collect military information as the defendant Saber al-Douri (the then chief of the military intelligence service) said, these documents prove that the service also suggested launching precise air strikes against what they referred to in these documents as ( the agents of Iran) in reference to the Iraqi Kurds." In November, Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death in a separate trial after being convicted of ordering the killing of 148 people after an attempt on his life in 1982. Saddam Hussein and his aides, including his cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, alias Chemical Ali, are being tried on charges of genocide on the case of the 1988 Anfal campaign, in which the Iraqi army gassed 182,000 Kurds and destroyed 4,000 villages. Also among the involved aides were Saber Abdul-Aziz Al-Douri, the chief of military intelligence during the campaign, Taher Tawfiq al-Aani, the former governor of Mosul, Sultan Hashim Ahmed, the former minister of defense, Hussein al-Tikriti, the former member in the armed forces' general command, and Farhan Mutlak al-Jobouri, a director in the former military intelligence department.

Gunmen attack police station, hospital in Mosul : Aswat al Iraq:

Mosul-Attack Gunmen attack police station, hospital in Mosul By Ibrahim Zannun Mosul, Dec 20, (VOI) - The Iraqi police said on Wednesday a police station was attacked by unknown gunmen while mortar shells fell on a hospital in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. "Unknown gunmen in two cars attacked today morning with small arms al-Nabi Younus police station in eastern Mosul," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). Meanwhile, mortar shells fell on the police station shortly after the gunmen's attack, he added. "Several mortar rounds also slammed today morning onto al-Salam public hospital in al-Wahda neighborhood in eastern Mosul," the source said. The two attacks on the police station and the hospital did not result in casualties, he added. Earlier, an explosive charge went off at a U.S. vehicle patrol in al-Wahda neighborhood. The source said "the blast left no casualties among the Iraqi civilians but it was impossible to know if there were casualties among the U.S. soldiers as the U.S. forces immediately cordoned off the area."

U.S. defense secretary arrives in Baghdad : Aswat al Iraq:

Baghdad-Visit (urgent) U.S. defense secretary arrives in Baghdad By Wathiq Ismael Baghdad, Dec20, (VOI) - The U.S. defense secretary Robert Gates arrived on Wednesday in an unannounced visit to Baghdad, official sources said. On Monday , Gates said in his address during a sworn-in ceremony at the Pentagon he will visit Iraq soon.

16 casualties as car bomb explodes in northern Baghdad : Aswat al Iraq:

Baghdad-Blast 16 casualties as car bomb explodes in northern Baghdad By Adel Fakher Baghdad, Dec20, (VOI) - At least five people were killed and 11 others were wounded on Wednesday morning when a car bomb went off in northern Baghdad, a police source said. "A car bomb parked in al-Maghrib street in northern Baghdad went off today morning killing five civilians and wounding 11 others," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). The Iraqi security forces immediately cordoned off the area while ambulances rushed to take the wounded to a nearby hospital, the source added.

Rubai'i arrives in Najaf, meets Sistani : Aswat al Iraq:

Najaf-Visit Rubai'i arrives in Najaf, meets Sistani By Haider al-Kaabi Najaf, Dec 20, (VOI) - The Iraqi national security adviser Muafaq al-Rabai'i arrived on Wednesday to the holy city of Najaf and met with the top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Rubai'i's visit to Najaf , 180 km southeast of Baghdad, came as a ceremony expected today in Najaf to hand over the security responsibility in the province from the Multi-National forces to the Iraqi army. The national security adviser met upon his arrival to Najaf with Gran Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in his house in the old city of Najaf. On Tuesday, the civil administration in Najaf announced a curfew effective as of midnight on Tuesday until 06:00 p.m. on Wednesday as a parade of Iraqi forces will take place in preparation for handover of security responsibility. Last week, spokesman for the Iraqi government said the Iraqi army will take over security in the Shiite-sacred city of Najaf on December 20 from the Multi-National forces. Najaf will be the third Iraqi province to receive the security responsibility from the Multi-National forces after the southern Iraqi provinces of Samawa and Thi-Qar.

Suicide bombing leaves 42 casualties in Baghdad : Aswat al Iraq:

1) Child being treated for burns in Baghdad's al Kindi hospital, she was injured in the suicide car attack.2) This lady and her granddaughter were hurt in the same bombing.
Baghdad-Bombing Suicide bombing leaves 42 casualties in Baghdad By Wathiq Ismael Baghdad, Dec 20, (VOI) - A suicide attacker detonated on Wednesday morning an explosives-rigged car at a police checkpoint in downtown Baghdad, killing 11 people and wounding 31 others, a police source said. "A suicide bomber detonated in early morning of Wednesday an explosives-rigged car at a police checkpoint in Jadiriyah area, central Baghdad, killing 11 people and wounding 31 others, including policemen," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). An eyewitness said " there were college students among the casualties as the blast occurred near Baghdad university campus."

Four Iraqi pilgrims die on Saudi borders in tough conditions : Aswat al Iraq:

Pilgrims-Deaths Four Iraqi pilgrims die on Saudi borders in tough conditions By Dergham Mohammed Baghdad, Dec 19, (VOI) - Four Iraqis, part of some 2,500 pilgrims who had been stranded for days on the border with Saudi Arabia, have died, a member of the higher Hajj committee said on Tuesday. The pilgrim, on their way to Mecca for the annual Moslem pilgrimage, have been held at the border area of Arar with Saudi Arabia for five days, Zahid al-Bayyati told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) by telephone. "(The stranded pilgrims) have been facing tough living conditions because of the cold and lack of food and sufficient blankets," he added Al-Bayyati attributed the congestion to problems carrying the pilgrims by air, forcing the committee to switch many of them to land travel. Saudi authorities had been notified that the number of pilgrims traveling by land would be higher than the 13,000 originally agreed but the total would still be the same as the approved quota of 25,000 pilgrims, he added. Saudi approval was still being awaited, resulting in the border congestion.

Iraq-Currency | Aswat al Iraq:

Dollar demand up in Iraqi central bank auction Baghdad, Dec 20, (VOI) - Demand for U.S. dollars was up to $22.230 million in Iraq's Central Bank auction on Wednesday compared with $10.605 million in the previous day. The central bank covered all bids from banks at $1.270 million in cash and $20.960 million in transfers abroad, all at 1,373 dinars to the dollar, down seven dinars from yesterday. Nine banks taking part in the auction offered to sell $2.500 million which the bank bought at 1,371 dinars.

IRAQ: Muhammad Abdel Kader, Iraq, "I never made so many coffins a day"

Muhammad Abdel Kader makes around 20 coffins a day.

BAGHDAD, 20 Dec 2006 (IRIN) - "My name is Muhammad Abdel Kader. I am 36 years old and live in the Ejidida neighbourhood of Baghdad with my parents, wife and only son. I have lived in Baghdad all my life. I have been making coffins since I was 24 to help with the family income.

I work non-stop, 12 hours a day, six days a week. I have never made so many coffins a day in my life. I have to make as many coffins as I can to meet demand in al-Qarah Cemetery.

Before the war, we were making about two or maximum three coffins a day for people who had died from diseases or car accidents. But today we make at least 20 a day for victims of the violence.

For me, this is good business because the more people I bury the more income I get. I usually get US $10 per burial. But I can't be inhuman and say that I don't care because the suffering of the families sometimes makes me think about changing my profession so that I don't ever have to see such depressing scenes.

We coffin makers are in so much demand these days. My job is essential to the country because of the dozens of people who are killed daily and if I don't make coffins, there will be more chaos.

I remember a day, some four months ago, when I and my colleague had to make 50 coffins. Soon there will be no more places here in the cemetery to bury so many bodies.

Some of the dead have been killed by militias or insurgents or in bomb explosions. Others have been killed by gangsters for money or in senseless sectarian violence. My worst experience was making the coffin of my own brother, Ahmed. He was a 33-year-old cabinet maker with two children. I had to help burying him. He was killed in a bomb explosion and fate had it that I was the one working in the cemetery on that day. Sometimes you don't even have time to cry for the loss of your relative.

After burying my brother, I had to help make coffins for 13 other people who had died on the same day.

My brother's death was a tragedy for my family. We were only two brothers helping our parents because my father lost his leg in the 1991 Gulf War and a month earlier my uncle had been killed by insurgents inside his home - but thank God I didn't have to bury him as it was my day off.

It is very sad to see Iraq like this today. I hope that my children one day will live in a better country without violence but in a country filled with happiness and dignity." as/ar/ed

McClatchy Washington Bureau | 12/19/2006 | Roundup of violence in Iraq - 19 December:

By Mohammed al Awsy McClatchy Newspapers The daily Iraq violence report is compiled by McClatchy Newspapers Special Correspondent Mohammed al Awsy in Baghdad from police, military and medical reports. This is not a comprehensive list of all violence in Iraq, much of which goes unreported. It's posted without editing as transmitted to McClatchy's Washington Bureau.

Baghdad . -- at 8 o'clock this morning an IED exploded in al zafaraniah area southern Baghdad, 6 civilians were injured.
-- at 9 o'clock this morning 4 employees of the ministry of industry were taking the salaries from al zuiah bank in karada area back to the ministry when unknown gunmen driving 4 vehicles stopped their car near abdul majeed private hospital and force them out from their car and took the car with one billion and two hundred million dinar.
-- at 1:30 this afternoon the head of doctors department at al alwia hospital was kidnapped from inside the hospital by unknown gunmen.
-- the actor MITASHAR AL SUDAMI was found dead today on haifa street, he as kidnapped yesterday.
-- today 53 bodies were found in Baghdad, some were handcuffed and tortured. 3 bodies were found in sadr city, 2 kamaliyah, 1 hussainiyah, 1 talbiyah, 1 aour, 5 dora, 4 kadhumiah, 4 hurriyah, 2 adil, 6 amil, 3 bayaa, 2 saidiyah, 2 risalah, 3 abu atsheer, 3 jihad, 1 mansour, 4 shoala, 5 ghazaliyah,and 1 yarmouk .
DIYALA province . -- according to a security source from muqdadia area 45km east of baqouba, terrorists assassinated a member of the timim tribe and his son as ther were traveling in their car at barwana village .
-- according to a medical source from diyala health directorate, the Iraqi police found 8 dead bodies in al tahreer area south of baqouba and in the mafraq and gatoon areas west of baqouba. one women and one military soldier were among the bodies.
-- according to an Iraqi military source from the fifth division in diyala province, iraqi army and unknown gunmen clashed after an IED exploded and killed 2 iraqi military officers. 5 gunmen were killed and a big number of weapons was confiscated.
-- according to a police source from baqouba police, 2 policemen were killed when their patrol was attacked by gunmen in al Mustafa area in baqouba. the same source said that 3 children were killed and 8 were injured when a number of mortars fell in al lualua area west of baqouba.

IRAQ: 32 : Journalists killed in 2006:

Atwar Bahjat, Al-Arabiya, February 23, 2006, Samarra
Adnan Khairallah, Wasan Productions and Al-Arabiya, February 23, 2006, Samarra
Khaled Mahmoud al-Falahi, Wasan Productions and Al-Arabiya, February 23, 2006, Samarra
Munsuf Abdallah al-Khaldi, Baghdad TV, March 7, 2006, Baghdad
Amjad Hameed, Al-Iraqiya, March 11, 2006, Baghdad
Muhsin Khudhair, Alef Ba, March 13, 2006, Baghdad
Kamal Manahi Anbar, freelance, March 26, 2006, Baghdad
So'oud Muzahim al-Shoumari, Al-Baghdadia, April 4, 2006, Baghdad
Laith al-Dulaimi, Al-Nahrain, May 8, 2006, south of Baghdad
James Brolan, CBS, May 29, 2006, Baghdad
Paul Douglas, CBS, May 29, 2006, Baghdad
Ali Jaafar, Al-Iraqiya, May 31, 2006, Baghdad
Ibrahim Seneid, Al-Bashara, June 13, 2006, Fallujah
Adel Naji al-Mansouri, Al-Alam, July 29, 2006, Baghdad
Riyad Muhammad Ali, Talafar al-Yawm, July 30, 2006, Mosul
Mohammad Abbas Mohammad, Al-Bayinnah Al-Jadida, August 7, 2006, Baghdad
Ismail Amin Ali, freelance, August 7, 2006, Baghdad
Abdel Karim al-Rubai, Al-Sabah, September 9, 2006, Baghdad
Safa Isma'il Enad, freelance, September 13, 2006, Baghdad
Ahmed Riyadh al-Karbouli, Baghdad TV, September 18, 2006, Ramadi
Hussein Ali, Al-Shaabiya, October 12, 2006, Baghdad
Abdul-Rahim Nasrallah al-Shimari, Al-Shaabiya, October 12, 2006, Baghdad
Noufel al-Shimari, Al-Shaabiya, October 12, 2006, Baghdad
Thaker al-Shouwili, Al-Shaabiya, October 12, 2006, Baghdad
Ahmad Sha'ban, Al-Shaabiya, October 12, 2006, Baghdad
Saed Mahdi Shlash, Rayat al-Arab, October 26, 2006, Baghdad
Naqshin Hamma Rashid, Atyaf (Iraqi Media Network), October 29, 2006, Baghdad
Muhammad al-Ban, Al-Sharqiya, November 13, 2006, Mosul
Luma al-Karkhi, Al-Dustour, November 15, 2006, Baqubah
Nabil Ibrahim al-Dulaimi, Radio Dijla, December 4, 2006, Baghdad
Aswan Ahmed Lutfallah, Associated Press Television News, December 12, 2006, Mosul
Mahmoud Za'al, Baghdad TV, January 25, 2006, Ramadi

ALERTNET HEADLINES

Iraqi soldiers eat frogs, rabbit at handover ceremony 20 Dec 2006 16:27:06 GMT Source: Reuters (Adds details on equipment, quotes) By Claudia Parsons NAJAF, Iraq, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Iraqi soldiers bit the heads off frogs and ate the heart of a rabbit as signs of courage on Wednesday at a ... Full article

Top US Mideast commander to retire in early 2007 20 Dec 2006 16:24:14 GMT Source: Reuters (recasts, adds details) By Jim Wolf WASHINGTON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - U.S. Army Gen. John Abizaid, who commands U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan as head of the Central Command, plans to retire ... Full article

Bush weighs more troops for Iraq, bigger military 20 Dec 2006 16:07:56 GMT Source: Reuters (Updates with Bush quotes, details) By Caren Bohan WASHINGTON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - The United States will not be "run out" of the Middle East by the Iraq crisis, President George W. Bush ... Full article

Bush vows "new course" as Gates visits Iraq 20 Dec 2006 15:57:45 GMT Source: Reuters (Recasts with Bush) By Kristin Roberts BAGHDAD, Dec 20 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush pledged on Wednesday to chart "a new course" in Iraq as new Secretary of Defense Robert ... Full article

Bush: looking at all options on Iraq, more troops 20 Dec 2006 15:23:12 GMT Source: Reuters WASHINGTON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush said on Wednesday he was reviewing all options on Iraq, including sending more troops. "I haven't made up my mind yet about more troops,& ... Full article

Iraq deadliest 2006 media dateline - watchdog 20 Dec 2006 15:00:13 GMT Source: Reuters By Michelle Nichols NEW YORK, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Iraq was by far the deadliest country for journalists in 2006, with most of the 32 killed there targeted by insurgents, the U.S.-based Committee to ... Full article

IRAQ: Muhammad Abdel Kader, Iraq, "I never made so many coffins a day" 20 Dec 2006 14:58:50 GMT Source: IRIN Muhammad Abdel Kader is a 36-year-old coffin maker from Baghdad. While he is doing better business than ever before, because of the daily deadly violence, he hopes to live to see a peaceful Iraq. Full article

UPDATE1-Top US Mideast commander to retire early in 2007 20 Dec 2006 14:44:20 GMT Source: Reuters (Adds details) WASHINGTON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - U.S. Army Gen. John Abizaid, commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, plans to retire early next year, the U.S. Central Command said on ... Full article

FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Dec 20 20 Dec 2006 14:42:01 GMT Source: Reuters Dec 20 (Reuters) - Following are security and other developments in Iraq as of 1300 GMT on Wednesday: * denotes new or updated item. *BAGHDAD - Gunmen killed university professor Muntathar ... Full article

Bush to make statement on Iraq, military strength 20 Dec 2006 12:41:23 GMT Source: Reuters WASHINGTON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush will hold a news conference on Wednesday at 10 a.m./1500 GMT and will make an opening statement on Iraq, the White House said. Bush will ... Full article

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December 19th Update2 News In English From Aswat Al Iraq Together With Various Agency Reports

2006-12-19T07:59:00.000+01:00

IRAQ: Aid agencies call for respect from armed groups

Attacks on Iraqi Red Crescent Society workers have made their jobs increasingly difficult.

BAGHDAD, 18 Dec 2006 (IRIN) - Ahmed Hussam (not his real name), 32, was shell-shocked after his colleagues were kidnapped on Sunday while on duty in the Iraqi Red Crescent Society's (IRCS) office in the capital, Baghdad.

"I saw my colleagues being taken by kidnappers and the ones who remained couldn't do anything to help them because the men were carrying guns and wearing police uniforms," Hussam said.

"It is a tragedy for the aid community. IRCS has been the main aid agency helping Iraqis and yet it has been targeted many times and some volunteers have been killed over the past three years. Now, 25 men have been taken and we don't know if they are going to be released alive," he added.

On 17 December, armed men wearing commando-style uniforms stormed the IRCS office in Baghdad and kidnapped 30 men. Women were segregated and left alone. Reports suggest that six men, all elderly, have been released.

It is a tragedy for the aid community. IRCS has been the main aid agency helping Iraqis and yet it has been targeted many times and some volunteers have been killed over the past three years.

Ahmed Hussam, Iraqi Red Crescent Society

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Committee of the Red Crescent (ICRC) have called for the immediate release of the workers, saying the Iraqi Red Crescent provided vital help for those in need.

"We demand their unconditional and immediate release. They are clearly identified by the Red Crescent emblem and they are entitled to full protection under international humanitarian law," Nada Doumani, the spokeswoman of the ICRC, told IRIN, without giving more details about any ongoing negotiations.

Doumani said that the ICRC has to remain neutral during conflicts and as such has a policy of working with all influential armed groups in any country so as to facilitate their humanitarian work on the ground and protect their employees. The ICRC has already been involved in negotiations with insurgent groups in Iraq before this latest incident, she said.

Grim picture of humanitarian situation

Doumani added that since the kidnapping no exceptional measures have been taken yet and that the ICRC would continue working in Iraq. "This [kidnapping] portrays the grim picture of the humanitarian situation in Iraq. This will make the work of these organisations very hard and will reflect on the services being offered to the Iraqi people," she said.

Most aid agencies pulled out of Iraq following the bombing of the United Nations compound in Baghdad in August 2003, in which 23 people were killed. With 1,000 staff members and 200,000 volunteers, the Iraqi Red Crescent is the only aid organisation extensively covering all of Iraq.

"We hope they [the kidnapped] are going to be released soon because we have a good reputation with Iraqis who respect us and trust us as a neutral organisation," Mazen Abdallah, secretary general of the Iraqi Red Crescent, said.

Iraqi citizens and aid workers are facing a large gap between the legal protection they should enjoy and the violent reality on the ground… More than ever aid workers who continue to work in Iraq on a daily basis to save lives are heroic.

Cedric Turlan, NGO Coordination Committee in IraqThe NGO Coordination Committee in Iraq (NCCI) urged the various fighting groups in Iraq to recognise and respect the presence of NGOs working impartially in the country for the benefit of the people. It called for the protection of aid workers and the release of those abducted or detained.

"Iraqi citizens and aid workers are facing a large gap between the legal protection they should enjoy and the violent reality on the ground. They face daily violations - such as abductions, executions, arbitrary detentions, attacks on aid convoys and a lack of respect for the principle of distinction between military and civilian people and objects," Cedric Turlan, NCCI Information Officer, said.

Turlan said that at least 81 aid workers have been killed since 2003.

"More than ever aid workers who continue to work in Iraq on a daily basis to save lives are heroic. Legally, the sovereign Iraqi state is responsible for attempting to stem all violations of human rights," Turlan said.

Turlan added that the Iraqi government should regulate and facilitate NGOs' work and that the US-led Multinational Forces there should recognise NGOs' presence and facilitate their access to vulnerable populations during military operations.

Copyright © IRIN 2006
The material contained on www.IRINnews.org comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian news and information service, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies.
All IRIN material may be reposted or reprinted free-of-charge; refer to the IRIN copyright page for conditions of use. IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Reuters AlertNet - MUSLIM AID LAUNCHES APPEAL FOR IRAQI ORPHANS AND WIDOWS:

MUSLIM AID LAUNCHES APPEAL FOR IRAQI ORPHANS AND WIDOWS 18 Dec 2006 16:44:00 GMT Source: Muslim Aid - UK Muslim Aid Website: http://www.muslimaid.org Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.

MUSLIM AID | Press Releases:

MUSLIM AID LAUNCHES APPEAL FOR IRAQI ORPHANS AND WIDOWS About Us > Press Releases 15/12/2006 It has been calculated that the violence in Baghdad claims 120 lives a day in the Iraqi capital. It has also been estimated by US scientists that over half a million civilians have been killed since the US invasion in 2003, and last month has seen some of the bloodiest sectarian violence since then. "The orphans and the widows are the people who feel the brunt of this violence," said Saif Ahmad, CEO of Muslim Aid. "They are the ones who have to pick up the pieces, and move on with their lives. That is one of the reasons why we are launching this appeal." Muslim Aid has operated a field office in Iraq since 2003, and has put a lot of resources into orphan care in the war-torn country. With Iraq verging on the brink of civil war, Muslim Aid has stepped up its drive to provide assistance to the country. (ENDS) For further information, please contact Michael Siva at 0207-377-4220 or media@muslimaid.org

Iraq-Security (Highlights) -2 :: Aswat al Iraq :: Aswat al Iraq:

Iraq-Security (Highlights) -2 Security developments in Iraq Baghdad, Dec 18, (VOI) - Main security developments in Iraq on Monday:

Falluja- The Iraqi police said on Monday the U.S. forces launched an intensive search campaign in southern Falluja during which 30 suspects were arrested.

Mosul- Police patrols in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul found on Monday two unidentified bodies dumped in western Mosul, a police source said.

Baghdad- A policeman was killed and another was wounded on Monday with sniper's bullets in Wathba square in central Baghdad, a police source said.

Baaquba- The Baaquba morgue said on Monday it received ten unidentified bodies that bore torture marks and had shots in different parts of the body.

Falluja- The Iraqi police said on Monday masked gunmen shot dead a policeman outside his house in central Falluja.

Al Zaman (English):

Japan business delegation in Kurdish north

A Japanese business delegation has arrived in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya to discuss what Japan can do to reconstruct the Kurdish region.... more 18/12/2006

Reconciliation conference ends with failure

The reconciliation conference the government convened to bring the disparate Iraqi groups together has failed.... more 18/12/2006

Unemployment at 50% says minister

Nearly half of Iraqis able to work are idle, said Minister of Labor and Social Affairs.... more 14/12/2006

Official says U.S. lying about reconstruction

The United States does not tell the truth about the reconstruction projects it executes in the country, the governor of the southern province of Diwayniya said.... more 13/12/2006

Children die, miscarriages increase as U.S. troops lay siege to city

At least eight children have died and seven women have had miscarriages in the town of al-Sinya which invading U.S. troops have put under siege for more than 50 days.... more 12/12/2006

McClatchy Washington Bureau | 12/17/2006 | Roundup of violence in Iraq - 17 December:

Roundup of violence in Iraq - 17 December By MOHAMMED Al AWSY McClatchy Newspapers The daily Iraq violence report is compiled by McClatchy Newspapers Special Correspondent Mohammed al Awsy in Baghdad from police, military and medical reports. This is not a comprehensive list of all violence in Iraq, much of which goes unreported. It's posted without editing as transmitted to McClatchy's Washington Bureau. Baghdad · at 12:30 this afternoon 10 police vehicles with people wearing the commandos uniforms stormed inside the red crescent office in park al saadon area near karada and near al andalous square , they kidnapped between 20 -30 employees and visitors and went to unknown place after a while the Iraqi forces locked the area no one leaves and no one comes to the area and starting to search the near by neighborhoods, an employee working at red crescent said that 6 employees were freed by was not conformed by the Iraqi police yet . · this morning a car bomb exploded in al mahmodiyah area southern Baghdad in front of the main bus station , one civilian was injured and a number of car were burnt. · in al shabaka square in Palestine street eastern Baghdad unknown gunmen stopped 3 vehicles that belongs to the government , 2 of these vehicles had 4 members of al kadhumiyah municipality council members , 3 members were kidnapped and the fourth was killed by the gunmen . · today 32 dead bodies were found in all over Baghdad , 1 Palestine street , 1 sader city , 4 hurriyah , 4 dora , 4 shoala , 3 amil , 2 mansour , 2 abu atsheer , 3 adil , 2 bayaa , 1 aalam , 1 saidiyah , 2 maamon and 2 in furat . DIYALA province . · according to a governmental source from baladroz area 45km eastern baquab that the security forces have arrested one of the terrorist AMEER , called HAMEED SHIHAB [ ebn mahia] he was arrested when the Iraqi forces made a raid in al dainiah area . · according to a source from diyala tribal council that the takfiri armed group assassin sheikh satar mohammed al khidhran [ sheikh of al baiat tribe ] and one of his relative who was with him when they were near al zihirat village when unknown gunmen opened fire at their vehicle . · the same sorece said that the multinational forces arrested last night sheikh yas al timimi [ one of the sheikhs of timim tribes] with out giving more details . · according to a police source from diyala police directorate that a force from diyal police directorate arrested this afternoon a group of terrorists [ 12 terrorists ] they were responsible for displacing families from baquba city , this arrest was done in al tahreer , mafraq and al gatoon neighborhoods western baquba . KARKUK province . According to brigadier sarhad kader the chief police of sectors and areas in karkuk that 4 people were arrested according to an intelligence information that those people are engaged in some operations against the Iraqi forces , 15 different kind of weapons were found with them and 2 vehicles .

Reuters Alertnet

US officials split over troop surge in Iraq -paper 19 Dec 2006 06:08:41 GMT Source: Reuters WASHINGTON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - As President George W. Bush weighs options for changing course in Iraq, his administration is split over the concept of sending in more troops, The Washington Post ... Full article

Iraq strife worst yet, militia big threat-Pentagon 19 Dec 2006 00:33:44 GMT Source: Reuters (Adds quotes, more report details) By Andrew Gray WASHINGTON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Attacks in Iraq on U.S.-led forces, local security personnel and civilians have surged 22 percent to record levels ... Full article

Attacks in Iraq at all-time high - Pentagon 18 Dec 2006 22:01:03 GMT Source: Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Attacks in Iraq on U.S.-led forces, local security personnel and civilians in the three months to Nov. 10 have surged 22 percent over the previous three months to reach an all- ... Full article

New Pentagon chief warns against failure in Iraq 18 Dec 2006 21:22:10 GMT Source: Reuters (Adds Bush quote) By Kristin Roberts WASHINGTON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Robert Gates, sworn in as U.S. defense secretary on Monday, said he understood the desire to bring troops home but that failure ... Full article

FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Dec 18 18 Dec 2006 20:54:07 GMT Source: Reuters Dec 18 (Reuters) - Following are security and other developments in Iraq as of 2015 GMT on Monday: * denotes new or updated item. * BAGHDAD - Police found 44 bodies in various parts of Baghdad ... Full article

U.S. military to announce Haditha charges Thursday 18 Dec 2006 19:49:07 GMT Source: Reuters WASHINGTON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. military plans to charge Marines in the killing of 24 civilians in Haditha, Iraq, on Thursday, according to sources familiar with the case. The November 2005 ... Full article

Divided Iraq would only increase violence -Erdogan 18 Dec 2006 19:23:54 GMT Source: Reuters UNITED NATIONS, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Iraq is in the midst of a civil war and carving it up would only increase the level of violence, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan of neighboring Turkey said on Monday, ... Full article

IRAQ: Palestinian refugees fear for their lives after recent attack

Palestinian refugees in Iraq face daily death threats to leave the country, but have nowhere to go.

BAGHDAD, 17 Dec 2006 (IRIN) - Palestinian refugees living in Iraq say there is increasing fear in their community after a recent attack on a predominantly Palestinian Baghdad neighbourhood left nine people dead and several injured, including children.

"We are getting worried about our situation in Iraq. We cannot leave the country because the borders are closed to us and the government doesn't give us any hope that it can increase our security," said Ahmed Muffitlak, spokesman for the Baghdad-based Palestinian Muslims Association (PMA).

On 13 December, local militia attacked the al-Baladiya district of the capital, where hundreds of Palestinians have lived for years. No attempt was made by the Iraqi police or multinational forces to halt the three-hour attack, Muffitlak said, adding that the militia stopped ambulances entering the area and attacked anyone who tried to enter or leave without their authorisation.

"Many elderly people got seriously sick just from the tension [of the situation] and some children were injured. When a father tried to take his six-year-old son to hospital, the fighters killed him, leaving the child in the street bleeding," Muffitlak said.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said it was appalled by this violent attack by armed militia and appealed to the international community to provide a solution for Palestinians attempting to flee Iraq.

"We are very alarmed by this attack and dismayed by the lack of protection given to Palestinians in Iraq. They have very limited freedom of movement and no possibility to leave the country - unlike Iraqis - to find a safe haven, nor any community to protect them," Radhouane Nouicer, UNHCR's Geneva-based deputy director for the region, said in a statement on 14 December.

Urgent protection needed

"We are urgently appealing to the Iraqi government and the multinational forces to provide protection and safety or an alternative safe location for this targeted group. We also ask the world to stop turning their back and provide a humane solution and safe haven to these people who have no way out," Nouicer added.

The Iraqi government has responded by saying that violence in the country is not only directed towards Palestinians but to everyone living in Iraq.

"We are really worried about the safety not only for Palestinians but also for all Iraqis and foreigners in our country and we are working hard to catch all these groups that are taking the lives of hundreds of innocent people," Lt Col Saeed Abdel-Fatah, a Ministry of Interior officer, said.

IRIN contacted a spokeswoman for the Multinational Forces in Iraq on the subject of the safety of Palestinians living there but has received no response as yet.

Palestinians in Iraq have lived under a degree of fear since the US-led occupation of Iraq began in 2003. As Sunnis under Israeli occupation in their homeland, they were afforded privileged status under former president Saddam Hussein's government - a factor which is now pitting them against the formally marginalised Shi'ite community in Iraq.

But ever since Sunni militants attacked a Shi'ite shrine in the northern city of Samarra in February this year, Palestinians have been increasingly targeted as sectarian violence between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims escalated.

Dozens of cases of the kidnappings and killings of Palestinians have been reported by UNHCR and local NGOs in the past few months.

"We have received reports of more than 500 threats against Palestinians and many cases of murders as well as women and youths being raped," Muffitlak said, adding that leaflets with death threats were left outside doors in Palestinian neighbourhoods of Baghdad, prompting hundreds to flee to the Syria-Iraq border.

Muffitlak said that most embassies in the country have stopped taking documents from Palestinians trying to arrange foreign visas. "We have called the UNHCR for help in taking every Palestinian out of Iraq before they get killed. But the organisation said that it is having great difficulty getting authorisation from foreign and Arab countries," he said.

UNHCR said it has approached resettlement countries, but so far positive responses have only been forthcoming from Canada, which has taken 64 Palestinians who were stranded in a Jordanian refugee camp for years. Syria took in 287 Palestinians in May 2006, before closing its borders to other desperate Palestinians, according to the latest UNHCR press release.

In 2003, UNHCR registered 23,000 of an estimated 34,000 Palestinians living in Iraq. Today, less than 15,000 Palestinians are believed to remain in the country.

as/ar/sz/ed

[ENDS]

Site Notice: There will be no further postings today.

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December 18th News In English From Aswat Al Iraq Together With Western Agency Reports

2006-12-18T19:51:00.000+01:00

Aswat al Iraq | Iraq-Security (Highlights) | Security developments in Iraq on Monday :

Baghdad, Dec 18, (VOI) - Main security developments in Iraq on Monday:

Baghdad - Five civilians were killed and 19 others wounded when a car bomb exploded in a popular market in southern Baghdad, a security source said.

Baghdad - Five Iraqi civilians were wounded in an explosive charge blast in a southern Baghdad vegetable market, while an employee was killed and his colleague was injured when a bomb planted in their official car went off, a security source said.

Baghdad - Seventeen out of total 30 persons kidnapped on Sunday from an Iraqi Red Crescent Society building were released, the Society secretary general said.

Baghdad - Three Iraqi policemen were wounded when an explosive charge went off at their patrol in central Baghdad, a police source said.

Mosul - Unidentified gunmen killed a member of Basra provincial council, a Ninawa police source said.

Baghdad - One U.S. Marine was killed in military operations in the western Iraqi province of Anbar on Saturday, the U.S. army in Iraq said.

Basra - Katyusha rockets were fired on two British bases in the southern Iraqi city of Basra without causing any damage, the Multi-National forces spokesman in south Iraq said.

Note 1: It seems to me to be unbelievable that I have to say this. But it looks like I do have to say it after we got some emails asking. Can I say to our readers that the Red Crescent is the same organisation as the Red Cross is. In Western countries it is called "Red Cross" in Muslim countries it is called "Red Crescent."

[Note 2: In the story about tattoos below. I have told by all of them that I have permission to say that Every Iraqi member of this blog both the writers and the moderators have one of these tattoos.

Laith who is an Imam tells me that in Islam tattoos are normally considered to be very wrong because you should not defile your body. But in the circumstances in Iraq it is necessary and permitted because people who are kidnapped are often mutilated very horribly while they are being tortured. These include burning, pouring over over of acid, drilling, flaying. So the tattoos are in places where the kidnappers/death squad members/green zone government police/alia et varia ..... do not usually touch. I will add that Dubhaltach also has one and that I cried very much when I saw it. I don't know if Gor has one I am pretty certain he does. - Erdla]

Erdla

Aswat al Iraq | Baghdad-Release | Seventeen of Iraqi Red Crescent abducted people released - official:

Family members of one of the kidnapped Red Crescent workers. He has NOT been released

Baghdad, Dec 18, (VOI) - Seventeen out of a total 30 persons kidnapped on Sunday from an Iraqi Red Crescent Society building were released, the Society secretary general said on Monday.

"Seventeen, including 13 Society workers, two visitors and two guards of the Dutch embassy, were released on Monday," said Mazen Abdullah Salloum.
"It was not known so far which organization kidnapped them, why or the place to which they were led because those freed said they were blindfolded all the time," Salloum told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

A branch office of the Iraqi Red Crescent Society has come under mass kidnapping on Sunday by armed men clad in Iraqi security uniforms.
Officials in the non-government organization put at 30 the number of kidnapped persons, mostly employees and guards of the Society, said Salloum, denying that the incident was sectarian-motivated.

He said all employees working in the Society offices belong to all religions and ethnicities with instructions months ago to ban the use of family or clan title in employees' names.

Baghdad has been a recent stage of mass kidnappings including scores of merchants and shop owners in the area of al-Sink in central Baghdad last week.
Mohammed al-Askari, the defense ministry spokesman, in a press conference earlier on Monday, termed the Sink operation as "heinous" and said it "aimed at intimidating the citizens and workers and cut their relations with their departments."

Askari said security authorities managed to identify the organizations behind these operations.

"We believe that perpetrators of these operations are certain groups that only want to paralyze life in the state institutions," said Askari.
AE

Reuters AlertNet - Red Crescent halts Baghdad work after abduction:

BAGHDAD, Dec 18 (Reuters) - The Iraqi Red Crescent suspended operations in Baghdad after gunmen in police uniforms kidnapped about 30 people from one of its offices in the capital on Sunday, an official of the humanitarian body said on Monday.

"We have suspended our operations in Baghdad until all the hostages are released," Maazen Abdullah, secretary-general of the Iraqi Red Crescent, told Reuters. Gunmen have released 17 hostages, most of them employees, Abdullah said.

The Red Crescent, which works in Iraq with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), has 40 offices in Baghdad. Work will continue in its other offices, Abdullah said.

In the latest mass kidnapping that highlighted lawlessness in Baghdad, gunmen wearing police uniforms stormed the branch of the Red Crescent office in central Karrada, separated men from women and took hostages.

Iraq's capital is plagued by daily kidnappings, many of which are carried out by armed groups on either side of the communal conflict between majority Shi'ites and Sunni Arabs.

The Red Crescent has said it has felt pressure from militant groups, but Abdullah said he did not know why the organisation's employees were abducted. The two-storey Red Crescent office is identified by the Red Crescent emblem.

The ICRC has called for the immediate and unconditional release of all the hostages.

"Iraqi Red Crescent workers provide vital help for all Iraqis in need. They do so with devotion and with humanity. They must be respected and supported, not harmed," ICRC director of operations Pierre Kraehenbuehl said in a statement.

The Iraqi Red Crescent, the only Iraqi aid agency working in Iraq's 18 provinces, has 1,000 staff and 200,000 volunteers. (Writing by Ibon Villelabeitia, editing by Elizabeth Piper: Baghdad newsroom))

Aswat al Iraq | Baghdad-Carbomb | Five Iraqis killed, 19 wounded in Baghdad car bombing:

Baghdad-Carbomb

Five Iraqis killed, 19 wounded in Baghdad car bombing By Adel Fakher

Baghdad, Dec 18, (VOI) - Five civilians were killed and 19 others wounded on Monday when a car bomb exploded in a popular market in southern Baghdad, a security source said.

The explosive-rigged car was set off by remote control in a market in al-Sidiya district, the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
"There are women and children among the victims," he said. Several shops were also damaged in the blast.
Earlier in Monday, Baghdad witnessed several blasts that claimed ten casualties

Aswat al Iraq | Samarrai-Escape-Update 1 | Former Iraqi minister Samarrai escapes prison - TV | By Kawthar Abdul-Amir :

Samarrai-Escape-Update 1
Former Iraqi minister Samarrai escapes prison - TV
By Kawthar Abdul-Amir
(Adds background)

Baghdad, Dec 18, (VOI) - Iraqi former electricity minister Ayham al-Samarrai escaped from his prison, al-Iraqiya state TV said on Monday. Samarrai was sentenced in October 2006 to two years in prison for negligence and squandering public money. He holds the U.S. nationality. Samarrai held the post of electricity minister in former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's government.

The integrity commission has said Samarrai would also stand trial on other charges. After he was sentenced, Samarrai said the court ruling was a political one because he called for starting a dialogue with Iraqi resistance groups.

Aswat al Iraq | Mosul-Tattoo (Feature) | Tattoos...Iraqis' post-death IDs | By Ibrahim Zannun:

Mosul-Tattoo (Feature) Tattoos...Iraqis' post-death IDs By Ibrahim Zannun

Mosul, Dec 18, (VOI) - Naji Qassem revealed his shoulder to his cousin Salah with a grin of satisfaction on his face about what he has done.
Qassem went in the morning with a friend to have his shoulder tattooed with his personal data - full name, address and telephone number.
Salah did not feel well about this but he knows his cousin was afraid to be buried in a strangers' graveyard if he was ever found dumped in a street a headless corpse.

Qassem and others like him who became accustomed to scenes and news of slaughters and killings enmeshed the Iraqis - with bodies mostly found on the roads without heads or in refuse dumps - had no other way to avoid burial in strangers' cemeteries but getting tattooed so that their bodies would be easy to identify after death.

Abu Waddah, a simple employee in the city of Mosul, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI): "My family has been searching for my brother and three cousins for 16 months now after they went to Baghdad for some administrative paperwork."

"There was no word about them and we could not even find their bodies," he said, adding "all male members of the family reacted by having their arms tattooed with their personal data, which was the least we could do."

Osama Khalil, a day laborer, said there were bodies that were not decapitated but had their faces disfigured with nitric acid.
"The fear conquering our hearts made us think of tattoos to use as a means of identification," said Khalil.

Mohammed Basil, a seller of mobile phones, said the problem is "we abandoned all hopes for a peaceful life. We have got to admit that death is expected at any moment, but all that we wish is to have our lifeless bodies identified so that our folks bury us and visit our graves. Tattoos have become necessary these days."
Yassin Nejm, a merchant, said his wife begged him to get tattooed in light of the growing unstoppable killings.

"I have nine children, the youngest of whom is only four months, and I wish to have my grave known to them so that they may visit me, and that is why I resorted to tattoo," said Nejm.

Saeed Khalaf, a tattooist, said most of the customers asked him to have their names and the phone numbers of three or four relatives tattooed.
"Appointments are set for customers because demand is growing over tattoos and most of the customers want tattoos as a way to have their corpses easily identified," said Khalaf.

Dr. Maher Abdul-Aziz, a dermatologist, told VOI that tattoos pose a threat to man's health particularly with the use of those old-fashioned ways as needles used to make tattoos are poorly sterilized.

"This could cause viral hepatitis, psoriasis or skin cancer and in some cases tattooed people are threatened with toxemia and eventually had their shoulder, leg or any other tattooed body part amputated," explained Dr. Abdul-Aziz.

Despite all these risks, most Iraqis who resort to tattoos have nothing else to do. The tough conditions in their country brought them to think of post-death time for they believe that death is coming anyway and that tattoos could serve then as IDs.

Aswat al Iraq | Baghdad-Explosions | Seven casualties in two blasts in Baghdad :

Baghdad-Explosions
Seven casualties in two blasts in Baghdad
By Adel Fakher

Baghdad, Dec 18, (VOI) - Five Iraqi civilians were wounded on Monday in an explosive charge blast in a southern Baghdad vegetable market, while an employee was killed and his colleague was injured when a bomb planted in their official car went off, a security source said.

"An explosive charge planted in Alwat al-Rasheed wholesale market in southern Baghdad went off, wounding five civilians and slightly damaging several produce shops," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

In eastern Baghdad, the source said, a bomb planted by unidentified people in a car used by the electricity ministry employees went off on Monday morning in Palestine Street, killing one employee and wounding another, the source said.

The car was badly damaged.

The source said that security forces immediately cordoned off the area and carried the wounded employee to al-Kindi nearby hospital.
Earlier in Monday, three policemen were wounded in a roadside bomb explosion that targeted their patrol car.

Aswat al Iraq | U.S. Marine killed in Anbar:

Baghdad, Dec 18, (VOI) - One U.S. Marine was killed in military operations in the western Iraqi province of Anbar, the U.S. army in Iraq said on Monday.
"One Marine assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5 died Dec. 16 from wounds sustained due to… action while operating in Al Anbar Province," the army said in a statement received by the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

The army reported on Sunday that three soldiers were killed and a fourth was wounded in a bomb explosion that targeted their patrol north of Baghdad.
The latest deaths raise to 2,947 the number of U.S. servicemen killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, including 57 killed during this month.

Aswat al Iraq | Iraq's problems to be solved by linking security to political course - Talabani:

Baghdad, Dec 18, (VOI) - Iraqi President Jalal al-Talabani told a visiting U.S. Congress delegation on Sunday that the solution to Iraq's problems should be through linking security to the political course.
Talabani received on Sunday members of the U.S. Congress delegation at his residence in the capital Baghdad, read a statement issued by the presidency and received by the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
Among the members was Senator John Kerry, the former Democratic Party U.S. presidential candidate.
The American delegation had arrived in Baghdad Sunday on a previously unannounced visit to Iraq, coinciding with a visit by British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Earlier, the delegation met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
The statement pointed out that Talabani has offered the delegation members "a detailed explanation on the current situation in the country and developments of the political process aimed at entrenching democracy there (and briefed them on) efforts to set up a front encompassing all powers that believe in the march of democracy" in Iraq.
The Congress delegation "highly appreciated President Talabani's role in pushing forward the political process in Iraq and pro-reconciliation stance."
Talabani, in a joint press conference with Blair on Sunday, said the prevailing orientation in Iraq now "is heading towards national reconciliation and rapprochement."
AE

Reports From Western Agencies:
McClatchy LATEST IRAQ HEADLINES

Roundup of violence in Iraq - 16 December - 12/16/2006 11:57 PM EST
By Mohammed al Awsy, McClatchy Newspapers
The daily Iraq violence report is compiled by McClatchy Newspapers Special Correspondent Mohammed al Awsy in Baghdad from police, military and medical reports. This is not a comprehensive list of all violence in Iraq, much of which goes unreported. It's posted without editing as transmitted to McClatchy's Washington Bureau.
Al-Maliki reaches out to the country's Sunni minority - 12/16/2006 05:25 PM EST
By Nancy A. Youssef, McClatchy Newspapers
Iraq's Shiite Muslim Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki Saturday announced that his government would open its doors to some former members of Saddam Hussein's predominantly Sunni Baath Party.
Roundup of violence in Iraq - 15 December - 12/15/2006 05:48 PM EST
By Mohammed al Awsy, McClatchy Newspapers
The daily Iraq violence report is compiled by McClatchy Newspapers Special Correspondent Mohammed al Awsy in Baghdad from police, military and medical reports. This is not a comprehensive list of all violence in Iraq, much of which goes unreported. It's posted without editing as transmitted to McClatchy's Washington Bureau.
New commander in Iraq has a reputation for aggressive action - 12/14/2006 06:37 PM EST
By Nancy A. Youssef, McClatchy Newspapers
Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, who became the No. 2 U.S. military commander in Iraq on Thursday, is returning to a country that's fundamentally different from the one he left two years ago.
Gunmen kidnap shopkeepers, bystanders in Baghdad - 12/14/2006 06:35 PM EST
By Mohamed al Dulaimy and Hannah Allam, McClatchy Newspapers
Kadhim Mahdi ran a lucrative carpentry business in west Baghdad, but he closed his shop when clashes and car bombs shut down his neighborhood.

Red Crescent stops work in Baghdad after kidnap - AFP Yahoo! News:

by Jennie Matthew 1 hour, 59 minutes ago

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraqi Red Crescent aid workers have suspended work in war-torn Baghdad after two dozen of their colleagues fell victim to the latest mass kidnap to shock a city plagued by sectarian violence.

[snip]

"We have frozen or stopped temporarily activities in Baghdad, but this is not affecting civilian needs. This was logical because our main staff is still kidnapped," the Iraqi Red Crescent's secretary general Mazen Abdallah said Monday.

"We are the only organisation working in all of
Iraq. We don't want to stop," he added, emphasising that the closure applied only to the capital.

In addition to the main branch targeted in the kidnapping, the Iraqi Red Crescent has closed another 40 subsidiary offices in Baghdad, affecting more than 600 staff, a large proportion of them security guards, Abdallah said.

Seventeen of more than 30 men snatched in Sunday's brazen raid by gunmen dressed in police uniforms have been released, including three guards from the nearby Dutch embassy and 10 Red Crescent guards and drivers, Abdallah added.

But 19 Red Crescent staff -- a mixed group of Shiite and Sunni disaster, relief and health workers -- are still missing following what was the second mass abduction to terrorise Baghdad in less than a week.

The International Committee of the Red Cross, part of the same movement, has called for the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages, and condemned the kidnapping as a breach of international humanitarian law.

Fully aware of the ugly sectarian tensions threatening to rip Iraq apart, Abdallah said he ordered his staff not to reveal their family names while at work, in order not to disclose their religious or ethnic backgrounds.

Reuters AlertNet - FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Dec 18:

Dec 18 (Reuters) - Following are security and other developments in Iraq as of 1945 GMT on Monday:

* denotes new or updated item.

* BAGHDAD - One U.S. soldier was killed and another injured when a Bradley armoured vehicle rolled over during a patrol north of Baghdad on Monday, the U.S. military said, adding that the cause of the incident was under investigation.

* TIKRIT - Iraqi and U.S. forces backed by U.S. air strikes killed eight suspected insurgents last Thursday after they came under fire from a house during a patrol east of Balad, 80 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said on Monday.

BAGHDAD - Gunmen killed a woman and wounded two when they attacked a group of female staff at the Ministry of Education in Amil district in southwestern Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - A car bomb at the entrance of a wholesale vegetable market killed five people and wounded 19 in the southern Saidiya district of Baghdad, police said. A car bomb at a wholesale vegetable market in southern Doura district wounded seven people, police said.

JURF AL-SAKHAR - The U.S. military said it detained 18 suspected insurgents on Sunday and seized a weapons cache after searching a house near Jurf al-Sakhar, a town 85 km (50 miles) south of Baghdad.

NEAR KIRKUK - A roadside bomb attack on a police patrol wounded two policemen on the main road between Tuz Khurmatu and Kirkuk, police said.

BAGHDAD - Gunmen who kidnapped about 30 people at a Red Crescent office in Baghdad on Sunday have freed 17 hostages, Mazen Abdullah, secretary general of the Iraqi Red Crescent, said on Monday. The group suspended operations in Baghdad.

BAGHDAD - The Iraqi army arrested 40 insurgents during the last 24 hours in different parts of Iraq, the Defence Ministry said.

KIRKUK - Gunmen killed a policeman on his way to work in the ethnically mixed city of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

DOUR - Gunmen kidnapped three truck drivers and set their trucks on fire in the town of Dour, near Tikrit, police said.

MOSUL - Gunmen killed Khaireddine al-Dabagh, a member of the city council in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

SAMARRA - Gunmen kidnapped police Captain Nihad Khalid, head of emergency police in Samarra, 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad, after storming his house, police said. A curfew was imposed afterwards in the city.

BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb wounded seven people when it exploded in a wholesale vegetable market in the southern Doura district of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol wounded three policemen near the Technology University in central Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

BAGHDAD - A bomb planted in a car carrying Electricity Ministry officials killed the driver and wounded two in eastern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

HAWIJA - A roadside bomb killed one person and wounded another in the town of Hawija, 70 km (40 miles) south west of Kirkuk, police said.

ANBAR - A U.S. soldier was killed in combat on Saturday in Anbar Province, the U.S. military said. Earlier the military had described the dead serviceman as a Marine.

RAMADI - One insurgent and a civilian were killed in clashes between U.S. forces and insurgents on Saturday in the restive city of Ramadi, 110 km (68 miles) west of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

TIKRIT - Iraqi and U.S. security forces arrested a suspected weapons smuggler on Sunday in Tikrit, 175 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

FALLUJA - Iraqi and U.S. security forces arrested a suspected forger accused of supplying insurgents with fake identity documents on Sunday in Falluja, 50 km (35 miles) west of Baghdad, the U.S. military said on Monday.

BAGHDAD - U.S. forces detained five insurgents on Saturday in two separate incidents in eastern Baghdad, the U.S. military said on Monday.

Terror threat raised by Iraq war - Yahoo! News:

Terror threat raised by Iraq war

Mon Dec 18, 9:51 AM ET

LONDON (AFP) - Britain would face a lower terrorist threat if the
Iraq war had not "gone so badly wrong", a former top intelligence advisor has said.

Dame Pauline Neville-Jones, former chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC), said Prime Minister
Tony Blair's government had been slow to realise the dangers of extremists after the 2003 war.

"There comes a time when you do have to recognise the realities rather frankly -- you cannot move forward unless you do," Neville-Jones, who was JIC chair from 1993-1994, told the Evening Standard newspaper Monday.

"I think it is the case that the terrorist threat to this country would not have been so great, firstly if we had recognised the seriousness of the threat earlier and, secondly, if the Iraq intervention had not gone so badly wrong."

Blair and other ministers have vigorously denied any link between Britain's foreign policy and terror attacks on Britain.

Neville-Jones, an former senior diplomat, is currently heading a group charged by the leader of the main opposition Conservatives, David Cameron, with looking at the party's security policies.

"We will find it difficult to serve our interests, or those of America, if we are regarded as their mute partner in every foreign undertaking," said the group's first report, published Monday.

Erdla

December 17th News From Iraq Translated From Arabic Together With Western Agency Reports

2006-12-17T20:49:00.000+01:00

Summary of events reports on Aswat Al Iraq

Baghdad:: Gunmen "dressed in police uniforms" stormed the Iraqi Red Crescent building in Karada and forced scores of its employees at gunpoint to acompany them to an unknown destination.
Baghdad:: The Iraqi army forces raided on Sunday morning houses in al-Fadhal area in central Baghdad confiscating weapons caches, the spokesman for Iraqi defense ministry said.
Baghdad:: Four people were killed, four others wounded, car bombing of a market in al-Mahmudiyah outskirt (south Baghdad.)
Baghdad:: The dentistry college of Baghdad University in al-Muaadham near the health ministry was attacked in an apparent repeat of the Health Ministry Attack on November 23rd.
Hilla:: Unknown gunmen shot and killed Sheikh Sabah a tribal chief along with a local official of the Sunni Islamic party in north of Hilla.
Fallujah:: American armoured vehicle patrol bombed.
Basra:: A member of Basra governoarate's council home was attacked by grenade.
Kirkuk:: Four people arrested weapons seized in raids on villages in the Debis district.

Main Story

Actually there are two main stories - you can't take them in isolation. They are:

The Red Crescent kidnappings.
The attack on the Dental Hospital.

Red Crescent Workers Abducted in Karada | Aswat al Iraq: Baghdad | Bab al-Mu'azzam/al-Muaadham | Near Health Ministry | Dentristy College Attacked: The pattern is identical to the Health Ministry-Attack
(see below) and the al-Sanak market attack.

The Arabic URL for this story on Aswat al Iraq is here:

So far what is known is that at least 28 (males) were kidnapped from the the Red Crescent's Offices in Karadah. The modus operandi was identical to previous mass kidnappings including the one in al-Sanak during the week and the November attack on the health ministry. It's worth repeating what I said back then because an extremely clear pattern has emerged:

1. A worker at the Redcrescent Office reacts to the kidnapping.
2. A relative of one of the kidnap victims.

There's really not much to be said about this. You're well capable of working out why a ministry under Sadrist control came under attack. The health ministry complex is in central Baghdad.That area is under green zone government Ministry of Defense contro. Which is to say that it's under SCIRI control.
[snip]
The attack was very well coordinated it was very well planned it consisted of a concerted mortar barrage followed by in the region of 100 gunmen storming the complex. Snipers covered their attack and shot at people trying to escape the complex.

In broad daylight in Bab al-Mu'adham for crying out loud 100 masked gunmen were able to storm a major ministry complex with in the region of 2,000 people inside. To get to Bab al-Mu'adham you have to go through checkpoint after checkpoint after checkpoint. And that's not including the checkpoints in Bab al-Mu'adham itself

They had help - they had a lot of help.

Link to posting (emphasis has been added.)

The pattern is identical and very very blatant, in each case it has been in an area that's heavily patrolled by SCIRI controlled forces. In each case it has been in an area to which to gain access you have to go through checkpoint after checkpoint after checkpoint controlled by SCIRI forces. In each case it has been in an area in which to move around you have to go through checkpoint after checkpoint after checkpoint controlled by SCIRI forces. In each case it has been in an area in which to leave you have to go through checkpoint after checkpoint after checkpoint controlled by SCIRI forces.

Here's what happened today you can see very easily how it fits the pattern. It's important to know that SCIRI control Karadah.

A large convoy of SUVs identical to those used by Interior Ministry forces arrive at the building. In this case there were at least 10 SUVs. Even by current standards that's a pretty hefty convoy.
A large number of gunmen storm the building - in other words there was shooting, a lot of shooting, between them and those guarding it. Nobody came to investigate the shooting. Both the SCIRI controlled Interior ministry and the SCIRI controlled Defense Ministry deny that anyone reported it. The SCIRI controlled police deny that anyone reported it.
In this particular "incident" the gunmen also attacked the Dutch Embassy and captured three of the embassy guards. Are we supposed to believe that the embassy didn't call for help?
The kidnappers go through the building fairly quickly but very thoroughly - in other words they knew the layout of the building - the plans for buildings such as the Red Crescent Building are on file, you get absolutely no prizes whatsoever for guessing which ministry has those files.
According to people present in the Red Crescent building the gunment "in the uniforms of" the SCIRI controlled special forces took the time to confiscate all the mobile phones they could find.
They even recorded on video cameras brought along for the purpose what they were doing. Don't believe me?
"A woman who was present at the scene when the gunmen stormed the building told VOI 'the kidnapers took all the mobiles found with the people present at the office while one of the attackers was recording the kidnapping with a video camera.' "
The gunmen then drove off taking their victims with them.
Brigadier Abdul-Karim Khalaf (appointed by SCIRI), denies all knowledge of any details of the incident, despite the fact that those detail are being broadcast on several radio stations and carried on Iraqi news sites.
Brigadier Abdul-Karim Khalaf (appointed by SCIRI), makes a statement saying that the SCIRI controlled Interior ministry and the SCIRI controlled Defense Ministry, and the SCIRI controlled police, are busily engaged in setting up check points, roadblocks, and "making investigations." - Yeah right. The good brigadier doesn't have far to look. Neither do the American advisers in the Ministry to whom he reports directly.

Let it not be forgotten that a senior Red Crescent Official complained on Friday that the biggest problems the organisation have are with the American invaders.

Now lets look at the Dental Hospital Attack. (URI (Arabic on Aswat Al Iraq)) You'll notice the same MO. This time it didn't work. And yes it's Sadrist controlled nearly all the health facilities are:

The Dental faculty is in Bab al-Muaadham very close indeed to the Sadrist controlled Health Ministry.

I repeat the area is massively under the control of SCIRI and that to get into, out of, or around, the area you have to go through innumerable checkpoints all manned by heavily armed forces loyal to SCIRI controlled ministrys.
The Health Ministry was the scene of a massive attack in November.
A convoy of gunmen drive up
They open fire and attempt to storm the building.
This time heavy fire from the guards drive them off
So they withdraw - somehow or another managing an impossible feat which is to get out of the neighbourhood avoiding all the SCIRI controlled roadblocks to say nothing of any American roadblocks and patrols. I'd love to know how they managed that trick.
No don't bother I already know how they managed that trick:

markfromireland

See also: various Western Reports Below - mfi:

ICRC calls for immediate and unconditional release of Iraqi Red Crescent staff abducted in Baghdad:

Press Release 06/144
ICRC calls for immediate and unconditional release of Iraqi Red Crescent staff abducted in Baghdad
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) called today for the immediate and unconditional release of all persons abducted from one of the Iraqi Red Crescent Society offices in Baghdad.

Geneva (ICRC) - Some 30 persons, most of them Iraqi Red Crescent workers, were kidnapped by unidentified armed men in the morning of 17 December from their duty station in the Iraqi capital.

Shortly thereafter, ICRC Director of Operations Pierre Krähenbühl appealed for the unconditional and immediate release of the Iraqi Red Crescent personnel and of all others abducted with them. "I call upon those who carried out the kidnapping at the Iraqi Red Crescent office to immediately release all the abducted persons unharmed," he said. "Iraqi Red Crescent workers provide vital help for all Iraqis in need. They do so with devotion and with humanity. They must be respected and supported, not harmed."

The Iraqi Red Crescent offices are clearly identified by the red crescent emblem. The staff working for this humanitarian organization are entitled to full protection under international humanitarian law.

Other Security Reports From Aswat Al Iraq December 17th 2006:

Babil (Babylon) | Sheikh Sabah of the Islamic Party shot dead:

Sheikh Sabah of the Islamic Party shot dead in Babil by gunmen who pulled alongside the car in which he was travelling and opened fired, Sheikh Ismail also of the Islamic party appears to have survived unhurt. Alaa Hussein Al-Janabi, was wounded and died of his wounds in hospital. [Sheikh Ismail is heavily involved in the call for national reconciliation. - mfi] URI:

Basrah | Grenade Attack On Home of Governorate's Council Member:

A hand grenade attack caused severe damage to the home of member of the Basra Governorate last night. Unknown gunmen threw a grenade at the house of Ghazi Samara member of the council of the province of Basra last night in the al-Dhobbat neighborhood (7 km north of the city.) No casualties, neighbouring houses also damaged. 2 other incidents:
Police defused an explosive charge in al-Saaie (central Basra.)
Three artilery shells found in al-Hakimiya (central Basra.) URL for this story:

Kirkuk | 14 Kalashnikovs Seized 4 People Arrested:

A search and seize operation in Kirkuk led to the discovery of 14 Kalashnikovs and the arrest of 4 people. The operation centred on the villages villages near Debis 35km west of Kirkuk. URL for this story
Tikrit | Salah al-Din | Mortar Attack:
3 family members including a child injured in mortar attack at dawn. Police patrol 3 members, injured when mortar shell hit their car. URL for this story
Najaf | Al Sistani | Delegation:
Grand Ayatollah Sistani received a delegation of officials including Najaf's governor Asaad Sultan Abu, Aswat Al Iraq quote a source in the Grand Ayatollah's office as saying the Grand Ayatollah called for the lives of the Iraqi people to be safeguarded by everybody and condemned this violence [against Iraqis -mfi] in Baghdad, Mosul and Karbala and the other Iraqi cities. URL for this story
Fallujah | al Anbar | American patrol bombed:
An American patrol was attacked by a roadside bomb in central Fallujah. Not known if there were casualties. URL for this story
Reuters AlertNet - FACTBOX-Military and civilian deaths in Iraq:
A roadside bomb detonated near a U.S. military patrol on Saturday, killing three soldiers and wounding one north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said. Another U.S. soldier died on Friday in fighting in Ramadi, the U.S. military said. Following are the latest figures for military deaths in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003:
U.S.-LED COALITION FORCES:
United States 2,946
Britain 126
Other nations 121
IRAQIS:
Military Between 4,900 and 6,375#
Civilians Between 50,721 and 56,219*
# = Think-tank estimates for military under Saddam Hussein killed during the 2003 war. No reliable official figures have been issued since new security forces were set up in late 2003. * = From www.iraqbodycount.net (IBC), run by academics and peace activists, based on reports from at least two media sources. The IBC says on its Web site that the figure underestimates the true number of casualties.
Reuters AlertNet - Dozens kidnapped at Baghdad Red Crescent office:
BAGHDAD, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Gunmen in police uniforms kidnapped dozens of people at a Baghdad branch of the Red Crescent on Sunday, the same day as British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrived in the capital to meet Iraq's embattled leaders. A Red Crescent official and witnesses said the gunmen stormed the office in central Karrada in pickup trucks, separated men from women and then took off with some 25 employees, visitors and private security guards. Police said between 10 and 20 people were kidnapped. "They took all the men, separated them from the women and left," a witness told Reuters. Baghdad is plagued by daily kidnappings, both political and criminal. Last week, gunmen in camouflage fatigues abducted some 30 people in an industrial area in central Baghdad but released most of them a few hours later. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government is struggling to contain soaring sectarian tension and daily violence that U.N. officials estimate kills more than 100 people a day. [snip] . (Baghdad newsroom)
Reuters AlertNet - FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Dec 17:
Dec 17 (Reuters) - Following are security and other developments in Iraq as of 0630 GMT on Sunday:
BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb detonated near a U.S. military patrol on Saturday, killing three soldiers and wounding one north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.
MUSSAYAB - Police found the bodies of two people shot dead on Saturday in Mussayab, 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.
JURF AL-SAKHAR - Police found the bodies of two people, shot dead and tortured, in Jurf al-Sakhar, 85 km (53 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.
ISKANDARIYA - Gunmen killed Alaa Muhsin, a Sunni sheikh from the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party, on Saturday in Iskandariya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.
ISKANDARIYA - Sheikh Ismail al-Khanfashi, deputy head of an Iraqi NGO, was killed on Saturday by gunmen. Al-Khanfashi took part in a national reconciliation conference in Baghdad.
Baghdad kidnapping sows terror as Blair backs Iraq PM - Yahoo! News:
BAGHDAD (AFP) - The latest in a series of mass kidnappings spread terror in Baghdad as Prime Minister Tony Blair made a suprise visit to support his embattled Iraqi counterpart Nuri al-Maliki.
Up to 30 men were hauled off at gunpoint Sunday from a branch of the Red Crescent medical aid agency in a smart downtown area by a gang of 50 gunmen sporting police uniforms, the second mass abduction in Baghdad in three days. The hostage-takers, jumping out of around 10 pick-up trucks, raided the Red Cresent building in Karada in broad daylight, snatching between 20 and 30 men but leaving women behind, a security source said. Iraqi police and US troops were rapidly drafted in to seal off the area and monitor all traffic in and out of the abduction zone. Meanwhile, a short distance away another gang -- again in the uniforms of the Shiite-dominated security forces -- shot dead one Sunni local councillor and kidnapped three more from their car, a security official said. The latest abduction came just three days after gunmen in military uniforms snatched dozens of businessmen from a commercial street in Baghdad, before releasing around 29 hostages, all Shiites
28 kidnapped from aid office in Baghdad - Yahoo! News:
In the latest violence, gunmen in five pickup trucks pulled up at the office of the Iraqi Red Crescent in downtown Baghdad and abducted 25 employees and three security guards from an adjacent building, police said.

A Red Crescent official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of safety concerns, said the gunmen left women behind.

The Red Crescent, which is part of the international Red Cross movement, has around 1,000 staff and some 200,000 volunteers in Iraq. It works closely with the International Committee of the Red Cross, which visits detainees and tries to provide food, water and medicine to Iraqis.

"We don't know who they are. We don't know why they did this," said Antonella Notari, a Red Cross spokeswoman in Geneva.

She also said the organization was in contact with the Iraqi Interior Ministry, which denied any involvement and had assured that they were searching for the abductees.

Mazin Abdellaha, the secretary-general of the Iraqi Red Crescent, appealed to the kidnappers to release the captives.

"They represent a humanitarian agency that works for the general good, and this agency helps all people regardless of their sect or ethnicity," Abdellaha said.

At least half a dozen mass kidnappings have been carried out in the Iraqi capital this year, possibly by armed groups linked to the sectarian conflict between Sunnis and Shiites.

The abduction comes just days after the organization's vice president, Dr. Jamal al-Karbouli, said American forces represented a greater danger to its work than insurgents.

"The insurgents, they are Iraqis, a lot of them are Iraqis, and they respect the Iraqis. And they respect our (the Red Crescent's) identity, which is neutrality," al-Karbouli said Friday.

Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, said in response that the U.S.-led coalition forces "strive to ensure they are respectful when they conduct interaction with the local population."
"strive to ensure they are respectful when they conduct interaction with the local population." Yeah sure. Lt. Col. Christopher Garver is a liar but I already knew that too. Do a search here if you don't believe me or just click around. Try looking for oh try looking for stuff like ...shooting pregnant women in the stomach ... taking children hostage... air and artillery attacks on civilian areas ...
Just look for the Standard American stuff in Iraq.
Truth is only one of the casualties of the American war against the Iraqi people. Other casualties are innocent civilians, especially women and children, and the tattered remnants of what was once the honour of the American army and the nation which it serves.
An Army reflects the values of the nation from which it springs and which it serves. Use whichever obscenity you like to express how I feel about both right now. You could try starting with "Filthy Racist Murdering Scum" and go on from there.
markfromireland

December 16th 2006 Main Stories From Aswat Al Iraq Translated from Arabic

2006-12-16T15:18:00.000+01:00

Sadr city residents seen through a hole in a wall of a house that was damaged during an Iraqi and U.S. Army joint forces raid and air strike Saturday, Dec.16, 2006.

Saturday's Main Security Stories:

Fallujah: Clashes erupted on Saturday between the U.S. forces and unknown gunmen after an explosive device blast damaged a Hummer within a U.S. vehicle patrol in southern Fallujah, 45 km west of Baghdad, an eyewitness said.
Baaquba: The Iraqi police, backed by the U.S. forces, arrested in a search campaign eight suspects, including two Egyptians, in western and northern Baaquba, 60 km northeast of Baghdad, a police source said on Saturday.
Baghdad: An green zone government army special force, backed by U.S. troops, arrested three men suspected of attacking Iraqi security forces in a raid on a mosque in Baghdad.
Hilla: Two people, including a soldier, were killed when two explosive charges went off near an Iraqi army checkpoint on a highway northeast of Hilla, 110 km south of Baghdad, the Iraqi police said.

What's Getting The Most Attention Saturday Night:

Kurdistan School Examinations: Aswat al Iraq:

Sheikh Hussein Sheikh Mustafa, Director-General of Education Sulaymaniyah announced a new examination grading system for schoolchildren. The system is is similar to that found in Iraqi universities. URI

Kurdistan Alliance Leader calls for Dissolution of Militias : Aswat al Iraq:

Fouad Massoum called for militias to to be dissolved and an end to double standards in politics [he also wants a pony - mfi] URI:

Mosul Arrests: Aswat al Iraq:

Coalition forces say they have arrested three members of an armed cell (including the leader) responsible for attacks against green zone government forces in the city. The statement says the leader is responsible for the deaths of several Iraqi soldiers loyal to the green zone government. URI :

Basra Curfew (Aftermath of Assassination of Tribal Leader): Aswat al Iraq:

Ali wrote about the assassination of Sheikh Mohsen Alkanaan yesterday. Today's events are part of the aftermath of the sheikh's murder. Following his murder a large number of tribesmen went round the city shooting into the air and vowing vengeance. Aswat al Iraq have almost identical reports in English and Arabic on the curfew imposed today as a precautionary measure. The text immediately below is from their English language service. (Note how the spokesman is very careful not to identify the tribe by name.) The interesting thing about this story is that there's an update. Identical in all respects to what you read below in which the police hastily deny that there's a curfew at all.- mfi:
Curfew imposed in Basra By Malik Saadon Basra, Dec 16, (VOI) -An indefinite curfew was imposed in the southern Iraqi city of Basra as announced by police vehicles roaming the city, according to eyewitnesses. "Armoured vehicles of the Iraqi army cordoned the Basra governor headquarters," an eyewitness from Basra's main city of al-Ashar told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). Meanwhile, a member of the Basra province council who asked not to be named told VOI that these were "precautionary measures in case some clan embark on security-destabilising actions." The source did not name the clan.
On Friday, unidentified gunmen killed a tribal chief of the Bani Tamim clan and two escorts in an armed attack in downtown al-Cornish street. Following the attack, scores of vehicles boarded by gunmen from Bani Tamim clan wandered about the city shooting in the air and threatening the killers of their chief.
Update: The police in Basra have denied that a curfew exists. Bani Tamim is one of the largest and oldest clans in Basra. It dates back to the period preceding the Islamic conquest of Iraq. URI (Arabic): URI (English): URI (Arabic) to update in which police deny curfew exists.

Kirkuk Two Bodies Found: Aswat al Iraq:

Police have found two bodies in the Shwan area of northern Kirkuk. The victims were blindfolded, handcuffed, had been tortured, and shot repeatedly. URI :

Fallujah: American Headquarters Shelled (Mortars): Aswat al Iraq:

Headline says it all. It's so regular an occurrence it's surprising they even report it - mfi. URI

Fallujah: American Patrol Attacked: Aswat al Iraq:

At least two civilians were killed in crossfire between an American patrol and resistance fighters in the centre of Fallujah. The gunfight lasted about twenty minutes. The attackers used ordinary light weapons and RPGs. The report says there were American casualties as well. URI :

Hilla: Babil: Child Killed: Aswat al Iraq:

4 year old girl killed by mortar fire. The attack was on Hattin about 50km north of Hilla. URI:

Mosul: Aswat al Iraq:

Four civilians were wounded when two bombs targeting an American patrol in Mosul. Two people were killed and and a third wounded in separate attacks in the city. URI:

markfromireland

Technorati : Iraq

News From Iraq December 15 2006 Translated From Arabic

2006-12-16T08:58:00.000+01:00

Summary: Main Storys translated from the Arabic Language pages of the independent Iraqi News Service Aswat al Iraq (Voices of Iraq) in Iraq on Friday Dec 15 2006

Al Sadr: Al Sadr's attempts to reach out to the Sunni continue apace and appear to be bearing fruit.
Diwaniya: Two Iraqi policemen were killed in Diwaniya.
Falluja: A bomb exploded targeting an Iraqi army patrol in al-Halabsa village west of Falluja their vehicle was destroyed there are known to be casualties.
Deloiya (Salah Adin): U.S. invader forces raided several houses and took into captivity several citizens, an arms cache was discovered.
Hilla: Car bomb one civilian killed.
Basra: Gunmen "dressed in police uniform" killed Sheikh Mohsen al-Kanaan of Bani Tamim tribe and two of his escorts.
Baquba: Three people carrying Iranian nationality documents arrested for illegally entering Iraq.
Baghdad: Three U.S. invader army troops were killed and two others wounded in military operations in Anbar and Ninewa.

Most Important Story:

Al-Sadr Issues Statement Favour of Istanbul Conference: Sadrists Attend Meeting Basra Great Mosque Pledge To Protect Sunnis:

This is a very big story. The story is about Muqtada al-Sadr supporting the "Iraqi People’s Support Conference" in Istanbul. This was the Sunni conference held in Istanbul yesterday and the day before. Muqtada al-Sadr has issued a statement supporting it. He said that it "supports our brothers [the Ahl ul-Sunna, the Sunni people - Ali]," and that his entire concern was for the success of meetings such as this of people whose aim is:

"to extricate themselves from the grasp of the occupation and of the Baathists"

He went on to say:

"I will not accept the intervention of any country in the affairs of Iraq, and will continue to reject the occupation."

He added that he was "ready to attend conferences in support of the Ahl ul-Sunna, those in support of the Shiites, or those in support of Iraq as a whole or indeed of any Islamic country"

Aswat al Iraq's reporter then reminds the readers that the green zone government spokesman issued yesterday a statement in which he (Ali al-Dabbagh) condemned the Turks for hosting such a conference which he described in these terms:

“This conference currently held in a neighbouring country sends a wrong message to Iraq that is translated into acts of violence inside the country,” Ali al-Dabbagh, the "government" spokesman went on to say this:

“Such conferences are against the Iraqi people,”

and said that the neighbouring countries should refrain from holding such conferences.[You can read an English language account of this on the Aswat al Iraq English pages here - Ali]

Muqtada al-Sadr also called in his statement for unity and the closing of ranks, saying that our only weapon against weapon power was that we Muslims unite.He added that he was innocent of shedding Muslim blood and that were he qualified to issue fatwahs he would "If I were a scholar qualified to issue fatwas, I would without hesitation ban the killing of our brothers [the Ahl ul-Sunna -Ali] in Iraq or outside of Iraq" and that whomsoever does that is "the enemy of God and His Prophet and his family until the Day of Judgment."

The original URL of the story is here. There is a second much later story which you will find here that deals with the meeting in that was held today in the great mosque of Basra of clerics, and tribal leaders from both the Sunni and Shiite communities. The meeting was attended by a delegation representingMuqtada al-Sadr. The Sadrist delegates pledged to protect all members of the Ahl ul-Sunna. Amongst the others attending were members of:
The Iraqi Islamic Party.
The Association of Muslim Scholars.
Various Sunni delegations.
The Association of Islamic unity.
These "seized the opportunity" to reiterate their ban on belonging to takfiri and terrorist organisations, the spilling of blood, and their demand that the tombs of the Imams [in Samarra - Ali] be rebuilt. Following their issuing these fatwas Muqtada al-Sadr sent a delegation to the dialogue and today's meeting has been the result.

It is important for readers to remember that al-Sadr's movement sent both weapons and fighters to Fallujah when the Americans laid waste to the city and slaughtered many of its civilian inhabitants. That al-Sadr's group were the only ones to send aid, weapons, and fighters, and this has not been forgotten. It is particularly important for American readers to remember this.

Iraq Political Powers Conference| al-Aani | (Arabic):

The link to the Arabic version is here. The text below is from the English version. There are no substantial differences:

Baghdad-Conference :: Aswat al Iraq :: Aswat al Iraq:

By Monther Hamad Zahi
Baghdad, Dec 15, (VOI) – Between 200 to 250 Iraqi political figures will attend the political powers conference scheduled to be held on Saturday in Baghdad, a spokesman for the conference said on Friday.
"The deteriorating security conditions were behind refusal by many figures opposing the political process going on in Iraq to attend the meeting," Nusayr al-Aani told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) by telephone.
The government has granted assurances to those figures but fear is still dominating, he said.
Aani noted that several workshops will be held on the sidelines of the conference to discuss different issues like getting former Iraqi army officers back to their jobs, expanding the space for political participation and the legitimacy of the Debaathification Commission.
The conference resolutions, he said, would contribute to having common grounds of understandings among the Iraqi political blocs and figures outside the political process.
The state ministry for national dialogue affairs had said on Sunday that December 16 will be the date for convening the conference.
A statement by the Iraqi government said the gathering would be held under the aegis of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
The conference raises the slogan "Iraqi political powers will be the mainstay of national unity and a guarantee for the success of the political process, reconciliation and rapprochement," it said.
Last June, Maliki launched an initiative for reconciliation comprising four conferences, including Saturday's meeting of political powers.
Two months ago a religious clerics’ conference held in Mecca had issued the so-called Mecca Document, which urged an end to Iraqi bloodshed. The Mecca meeting was preceded by two conferences for Iraqi clans and civil society organizations.

Other Main Storys on Aswat al Iraq

Kirkuk bomb:

2 policemen injured by a bomb in central Kirkuk. Here:

Mosul 2 bombings: Police patrol attacked:

An American patrol was attacked by a bomber in the west of the city. One civilian injured.

Another patrol was was attacked by a bomber in the south east - one person injured.

A police patrol came under fire from a group of gunmen in a car. They returned fire no reports of injuries.
From here:

Basra British Bases Shelled:

The British occupiers carried out a raid in north Basra and claim to have seized an unspecified quantity of ammunition. The British occupiers were reminded of how the people of Basra feel about them when their bases in Basra came under rocket attack overnight. Link:

Basra: Assasination of Sheikh Mohsen Alkanaan:

An elder of the Bani Tamim tribe [The Bani Tamim are a large and powerful tribe. -Ali] and two of his security detail were shot dead by "gunmen wearing police uniforms" in central Basra today. Sheikh Mohsen Alkanaan's car was atttacked by the gunmen firing into the car in which he was travelling killing him and his companions.The URL for this story is here:

Hilla Bombing:

A civilian died in Hilla when his car was bombed. The blast completely destroyed the car and burnt the unfortunate man's body completely. The URL for this story is here:

Unprecedented Masters Awarded To Female StudentIraq:

What is unprecedented is that her supervisor was located in Taiwan and because of the distances (to say nothing of the security issues - Ali] involved the University of Mosul coordinated with her supervisor over the net. Other supervisors were in Dohuk. Everything was coordinated over the net and her masters is now awarded. It is something to do with using a technique called PCR for diagnosing brucellosis in sheep. [I have no idea what that sentence means please be gentle to my ignorance - Ali ;-)]The story quotes the Mosul university spokesman as saying that her initiative was impressive and her as saying "We have demonstrated for all time that we did not know the [meaning of]impossible" The URL for this story is here:

Diyala Three Arrested Crossing Illegaly Into Iraq:

Security forces in Diyala province have arrested three Iranian nationals who crossed into Iraq illegally

The three were arrested near Mundhiriyah border crossing between Iraq and Iran in the province of Diyala, after they entered Iraqi territory illegally. The three are now being interrogated to know why they did this. [Probably businessmen or smugglers or pilgrims or people going to visit their relatives - people who live in the border zone cross "illegaly" everyday and have done so for centuries. - Ali ] The page for this story is here:

Fallujah (Halabsa Village) Bomb:

A bomb placed on the side of the road in Halabsa village (west of Fallujah) exploded as a patrol of the "Iraqi" army passed. There were casualties but their number is not known because a near by American patrol rushed to the scene and sealed it off. The vehicle that was attacked was completely destroyed the witness described the explosion as "strong and loud. " [Which in al-Fallujah and its environs means it must have been very large to be described like that - Ali] The URL for this story is here:

Diwaniyah 2 police shot dead:

2 policemen shot dead as they left home in the Iskan district of Diwaniya. Police rushed to scene but the gunmen had escaped. The page for this story is here:

Three American Invaders of Iraq Killed:

The American Invader Army released two statements one dealt with two invaders (marines) killed in Anbar the third death was in Nineweh governorate. That is 49 American invaders killed since the start of the month. The story is here:

Ad Duluiyah (Salah al-Din) American Raid:

The American invaders carried out a dawn raid in Ad Duluiyah Aldaudeh the raid involved armoured vehicles and air drops onto several houses. The American invader troops closed the bridge, cut off all the roads, and raided several houses. Five citizens were taken by the American invader troops, most from their houses and one from his car. A cache of weapons was also seized. This story is here:

3 Kidnappers Arrested Woman Freed: Kirkuk:

The gang pretended to be police. They searched homes and accused those living there of having false identity. They took away a woman pretending to do so for an investigation. The family reported this to the police. Who searched and caught the gang releasing the woman. [Some good news for a change - Ali] The report is here:

Finally my apologies for the extreme delay in posting. There was fighting last night and it was impossible for our group to make our way safely across Baghdad.

Ali

News From Iraq December 14 2006 Translated From Arabic

2006-12-14T19:39:00.000+01:00

Summary

Baghdad: Gunmen in Iraqi police uniform kidnapped shop owners and customers in al-Sanak Baghdad.
Hilla: Two people killed six others wounded by a car bomb in Hilla
Ten unidentified bodies in al-Khalesa south of Baghdad.
Basra – A British invader was wounded by roadside bomb.
Mosul – Two unidentified bodies found.
Falluja – Gunmen attacked an Iraqi army barracks in Falluja with RPGs and automatic weapons causing unspecified casualties among soldiers, an Iraqi police source said.

(these are the storys getting most attention in the Iraqi Arabic media when I was writing this - Laith:)

The Kidnapping Of Mechanics From The al-Sanak Market in Central Baghdad:

This morning there was a mass kidnapping from the al-Sanak market in Central Baghdad. Aswat al Iraq's Arabic report for this story is here but I am adding to it from my knowledge of the place and the people who work there. Also from Radio Annas and other news in Baghdad. - Laith:

Al-Sanak market is specialising in car spare parts. But it is not just a market. The merchants there are many of them very skilled mechanics and the area is a mix of workshops and shops. It is therefore a mix of shops and industry zone. And it is always very busy. The men who work there are a mix of Sunni and Shia.

This morning about 100 gunmen arrived in SUVs of the type used by police. They were accompanied by ambulances. They were dressed in police uniforms. They carried the rifles and the Glock pistols issued by the Americans to the SCIRI controlled police. They took over Rasheed Street and when they were in control they selected people to take away with them. There are different reports of the numbers some say as many as a 100. The kidnapping victims are a mix of ordinary people to the market to buy or toget something fixed and the people who work their. Their victims were hands tied and are a mix of Sunni and Shia. They then drove away taking their victims with them.

There are now reports that SCIRI are claiming to have found and freed about 25 of the kidnapping victims.

If you can read Arabic you will see that the report says that the commander of police (in Karadah) is being investigated for neglicense after an almost identical attack last month. You will perhaps remember that there were conflicting statements about how many had been kidnapped from the Sadrist controlled Education Government Department Ministry. They said 150 the SCIRI Interior ministry say 80. They also said they had freed 70 of the victims. The report also says that it is not known what the investigation found. I will tell you that the "police" commander of Karadah is a senior member of SCIRI and was put into the job directly by the SCIRI controlled Interior ministry. This is true also of the commander of police for Al-Sanak.

Mosul: Primary School Bombed:

A primary school that had been closed for repairs was bombed. Police said it was because it was thought the school had been closed for conversion to a police station. Several schools in the Yarmouk area have been subject to arson attacks recently

An employee of the election commission was assasinated in Al-Bakr north east of the city. Link:

Fallujah Surveillance Cameras:

The American invaders are installing surveillance cameras mounted on towers surrounded by barbed wire throughout the city to try to reduce the number of attacks conducted by the resistance. Here:

Kurdistan Women's Organisations Petition Against Baker Report on Iraq:

The Kurdistan Women's Union Branch in Zakho northern Iraq, began a campaign today to collect signatures against the Baker-Hamilton report. Read in full:

Fallujah: "Iraqi" Army Barracks Attacked:

The barracks in Eastern Fallujah was attacked at two o'clock this afternoon. The attackers used RPGs and light weapons (this usually means Ak47s - Laith) the attack lasted about half an hour. no information on casualties yet. Story here:

Hilla Car Bomb:

Two people were killed and six others injured in a car bomb 40km north of Hilla. The story is here:

Basrah British Patrol Bombed:

A British invader patrol was attacked by a bomb in central Basrah. The tank was damaged. One of the invaders was hurt and evacuated to hospital. The damage to the tank forced the entire patrol to be evacuated according to the British invader spokesman Captain Dunlop. The story is here:

Parliament absentees:

The Arabic URL for this story is here. However Aswat al Iraq have an English version of the story from here this is the English:

Parliament-Absentees
Iraqi parliament to make absent legislators pay heavily
By Santa Michael
Baghdad, Dec 14, (VOI) – Weary of repeated absence of its members and canceling sessions for lack of quorum, the Iraqi parliament decided to deduct 500,000 dinars (about $340) from the monthly allocations of legislators for each day of absence without a valid excuse.
Each Iraqi parliamentarian gets a total of 17 million dinars monthly.
The parliament also threatened to publish the names of the often-absent members in the media.
“Realizing the danger of this phenomenon as is hampers the House of Representatives in carrying out its duties, the presidency of the House decided to deduct the amount of half a million dinars from frequent absentees,” Mohannad Jabbar, head of the parliament media office, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) by telephone on Thursday.
The House of Representatives has failed to hold its 59th session for fives times during the last two weeks for lack of quorum. The legal quorum is half the members plus one meaning that at least 138 members should be present to hold a formal session out of the total is 275 members.
The House presidency would freeze the money allocations of frequent absentees, publish their names in newspapers and other media and urge their parties to hold them accountable.
Last week, Shiite cleric Ayatollah Muhammad al-Yaaqoubi issued a fatwa prohibiting members of the Iraqi parliament from performing the annual hajj (pilgrimage) rituals this year to avoid adjourning parliamentary sessions.

Najaf Security Iraq:

The URL for the Arabic story is here the English version is here below is the English version:

Najaf-Security
Iraqi army to take over security in Najaf Dec 20 - official
Baghdad, Dec 14, (VOI) – The Iraqi army will take over security in the Shiite-sacred city of Najaf on December 20 from the Multi-National forces, the Iraqi government spokesman said on Thursday.
“On the 20th of December, the Multi-Nationals will hand over the security file of Najaf to the Iraqi army,” Ali al-Dabbagh told a news conference in Baghdad without elaboration
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and U.S. President George Bush have agreed in October to form a high-level working group to work towards accelerating building up Iraqi security forces.

[The reporter has glued on peaces of other storys onto the Arabic version such as the political blocks meetings next Saturday and the kidnappings from the car parts market in Baghdad today so the English version is better - Laith)

Baghdad 10 dead body found (al-Khalesa) :

10 people were found dead in South Baghdad (it was in al-Khalesa. This is quite a remote place. I think these unhappy murdered people were probably Shia - Laith). The URL for this story is here:

The Escape of Saddam's Nephew:[This article is very funny if you like to laugh with bitterness - Laith]

Brigadier Abdul Aziz Aluka from the police command in the governorate of Nineveh who is one of those investigating the escape from prison of the nephew of Saddam Hussein said that the prison was the biggest terrorist centre in the governorate and need a large police presence. He also said that in the old days people obeyed their orders. He has asked the authorities to permit a large police presence so that the suspicious movements of the 1200 prisoners can be watched all the time. The article also lists all the "security measures" in the prison which include, many checkpoints, "massive" fortifications, and barbed wire. The article says that the escape was planned months ago. Ayman Sabawi Ibrahim Hasan, the nephew of former President Saddam Hussein, escaped from Badush prison on Saturday 9th of this month with a prison guard. I wrote about it here. You can read the story in Arabic today on Aswat al Iraq here:

Hilla American Patrol bombed

An American invader patrol was bombed today on the Hilla Najaf road close to the University of Babil there are no confirmed casualties but eyewitnesses said that ambulances were seen arriving at the place of the bombing and taking three but they do not know if those three were injured or dead. The report is here.

Mosul Bomb:

An "Iraqi" army patrol was attacked by a bomb in the "New" Mosul district. One person was killed and another injured. None of the "Iraqi" soldiers were hurt. The story is here:

Bomb West Baghdad:

I include this only because it is pleasant to read that no people or property were damaged. The report is here.

Did They Try To Kill Him Or Not?:

Both the Interior Ministry (controlled by SCIRI) and the Office of The "Vice President of Iraq" deny that Dr. Abdul-Mahdi, member of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) was the target of a bombing attack near the University in West Baghdad today. His office said he had left his office duringthe morning. The report is here. (There were media reports that he was attacked. Perhaps he was too busy reading the reports from the American backed trained and funded SCIRI death squads to be able to leave his office today. Or perhaps he was too busy preparing to grovel in front of the new American general called Raymond Odierno in charge of the invader forces in Baghdad. May God destroy him and his masters- Laith)

BAGHDAD, 13 Dec 2006 (IRIN) - Escalating sectarian violence in Iraq since the February 2006 bombing of a revered Shi’ite mosque in Samarra has been responsible for the deaths of thousands of ordinary Iraqis.

This vicious cycle of revenge killings between Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims has left few families untouched. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), 425,000 Iraqis had been internally displaced since February and more than 3,500 Iraqi civilians are killed every month, according to the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).

While shootings and bombings occur on a daily basis in the capital, a particularly devastating attack took place on 12 December in the centre of the capital, in Taiyanan Square. A man driving a pick-up truck pulled up alongside a large group of Shi’ite day workers, calling them to him. He then detonated his explosives-packed truck.

The Iraqi police say 70 people were killed in the blast and more than 230 injured.

Kawkab Barakat, 62, lost her two sons in the explosion. Needing sedatives to stay calm, she spoke to IRIN about her tragic loss.

“I lost my only two sons in the explosion. I cannot control the pain. Now I understand what every Iraqi mother who lost their sons feels. They were trying to work to bring food and pay our rent, which is three months late.

My sons were very good people. They were responsible and worked hard to support us. They had many proposals to work with US engineers but refused many times [for fear of being seen as traitors]. But it wasn’t enough and those bastards killed them anyway.

I saw the body of one of my dead sons, but for the other they brought me his shoes saying that they could only find pieces of him. What did I do to deserve this? I am a mother and even a decent burial is not possible because my son was blown apart. Allahu akbar! [God is great]”

We are a poor family and the only income for me and my three daughters was that which my sons were bringing to us each day. Their wives and children live with me too. Now we are afraid because we don’t know how we are going to feed the children tomorrow. We [the women] have never worked outside. Maybe the only solution is to go in the streets and beg for help.”

BAGHDAD, 13 Dec 2006 (IRIN) - Conflicting opinions exist within the Iraqi government on how female prisoners are treated. According to the Iraqi Minister of Women’s Affairs and local NGOs, female prisoners in Iraq are held in appalling conditions, often without charge, and are sometimes raped and tortured.

“We don’t know the exact number of female prisoners but there are many being held in different prisons - even though the [other ministries in the] government and US forces deny it. They are afraid of a counterattack from the country’s conservative society,” Faten Abdul Rahman Mahmoud, Minister of Women’s Affairs, said.

Sarah Abdel Yassin, spokeswoman for the Baghdad-based Organisation for Women's Freedom (OWF), said she agreed with the minister and had met many women who had been tortured in Iraqi jails.

“The Ministry of Interior, [Ministry of] Defence and US forces are denying that there are female prisoners in Iraq but we have enough proof that they are there and that they suffer daily humiliation,” said Yassin.

However, other government ministries either deny the existence of women in Iraq’s jails altogether or say that there are very few and that they are held in humane conditions in special prisons.

“It is true that sometimes women are taken for some questioning in our departments, to help us, but they are always released after the inquiry and never held in prisons,” Muhammad Fareed, information officer at the Ministry of Interior, said.

“However, women charged in criminal cases, which are very few, are held in special prisons with all their human rights guaranteed,” he added.

Emily Greene, a spokeswoman for the US military in Iraq, told IRIN that they had no information about women being held in Iraqi prisons. The ones that had been held for investigation by them had all been released months ago and no torture had occurred, she said.

“Detainees in multi-national forces’ custody are treated humanely and in accordance with international standards and the principles of the Fourth Geneva Convention,” said Greene.

Women’s affairs minister Faten rejected these and the interior ministry’s assertions and said she was urging the judiciary to carry out an extensive investigation into the conditions in which women are being held in Iraq’s jails.

She added that the problem is countrywide though most women in prison were arrested during raids in the Anbar and Baghdad governorates on suspicion of assisting insurgents.

Terrifying experience in jail

Samira Abdallah, 38, was released from an Iraqi prison a month ago after being held for four months. As she was hooded when she was brought to the prison and hooded when she was released, she has no idea where the prison was. After a terrifying experience in jail, she fears for the other women who are still there.

“We were around 20 women, most of them from Fallujah or Ramadi like me, in one cell. I was praying all the time and thank God I wasn’t raped, but the guards hit me many times, trying to get information about insurgents in Anbar,” Samira said.

“I am a woman who never goes out from my home. My life was to cook and clean for my husband and children and they were accusing me of being a terrorist,” she said, as tears rolled down her cheeks.

When she was released without charge, she found out that her husband had been killed by the Iraqi army and she said that her eldest daughter had been raped by a soldier.

“Hania [Samira’s 16-year-old daughter] was so ashamed of what happened that she committed suicide. Now, after being held without any proper investigation or reason, I only have my seven-year-old son and no husband and daughter,” she said.

Yassin from OWF said she has spoken to many women who turned to her organisation for help after torment in Iraqi prisons.

“There were different stories but all of these women were sad and humiliated. Cases of beatings and rape were the most common,” she said.

Hadija Zeidan, 36, was one such woman who sought out the OWF. She said she and other women were tortured while in prison.

“Every day I was taken for interrogation by soldiers. Sometimes they were Iraqis and sometimes Americans. Some of them tried to sexually abuse me but God protected me because each time they tried someone superior to them came and forced them to take me back to the cell,” Zeidan said.

"But I was tortured. The most common thing they did was to beat me with their belts all over my body and hit me in my face. They knew I had nothing to do with the insurgency but they were just angry with me because I come from Anbar [a Sunni-dominated area where insurgency is believed to be stronger than anywhere else in Iraq]. I still have pain in my abdomen caused by the kicks to it with their boots,” she said.

Zeidan went to the OWF because she could not find her family in Baghdad when she was released two months ago, as sectarian violence had driven them from their home. “My life is totally destroyed and for sure my husband will think that I was raped in prison and might even try to kill me or divorce me for honour,” Zeidan said.

(Mohammed is one of my sons and helps me write the English for these reports.)

Laith.

News From Iraq December 13 2006 Translated From Arabic

2006-12-13T20:33:00.000+01:00

Summary:

Basra-The Shiite Thaarallah (God’s Wrath) party leader survived an assassination attempt.
A 12 year old child was killed on Wednesday when an "Iraqi army" soldier opened fire randomly in the southern gate of Falluja.
Baghdad-At least two people wounded by a car bomb at Yarmouk hospital, bombings in New Baghdad and Al-Kamaliya killed and 5 respectively many injured.
Three people kidnapped southern Baghdad,.
At least 13 civilians, including women and children, were wounded when mortar shells attacked the Malik Bin Anas mosque (Sunni neighbourhood) western Baghdad.
Mosul - Suicide attacks foiled.
Kirkuk- Multiple bombings targeting "Iraqi" army and police.

Baghdad Malik Bin Anas Mosque:

were hit by mortar shells today. 13 civilians including 5 women and 2 children were injured. The area is mostly Sunni and has been the subject of several mortar bombardments recently. Original report here:

Abductions South Baghdad:

Three people including a 19 year old girl were abducted by gunmen in al-Wahda on the outskirts of South Baghdad. The original report for this story is here:

Operation Sinbad Basra $50m to be spent:

US$50 million is to be spent on the rehabilitation of schools, clinics and some service facilities in Basra. According to Major General Ali Hammadi. The money is part of the tripartite security plan and is being allocated by the British occupation. The URL for this story is here:

Fallujah American Patrol Bombed:

An American army of occupation motorised patrol was bombed in East Fallujah. The occupiers sealed the area immediately and have not yet commented on the incident. Therefore it is not possible to know if there were casualties. Original report:

Baghdad Car Bombings :

Al-Kamaliya: A car bomb exploded in al-Kamaliya (east Baghdad) , killing ten people and wounding 25 others this attack was similar to the massive attack yesterday. It targeted a bus shelter that is a gathering spot for day labourers who go there early in the morning looking for work. Ten dead and 25 wounded. Al-Kamaliya is mostly Shia. [It is now 12 dead - 2 died in hospital Ali]
New Baghdad: Two car bombs exploded almost simultaneously in New Baghdad district, 5 killed 10 wounded. New Baghdad is mixed.
Yarmouk Hospital: (It is in West Baghdad) Explosions close to the morgue targeted people looking for dead relatives. 2 were injured. Three roadside bombs and a car bomb used to carry out this attack.
Sources: Some of this summary is from Aswat al Iraq here, some is from Radio Annas (Baghdad), some is personal observation from my telephoning my former commander who lives in al-Kamaliya and saw the bus shelter bombing. - Ali

Religious Authorities Support The Moves To Build A New Set Of Political Alliances:

The most important reactions were that Al-Sadr's office in Najaf refused to comment on the subject. Sheik Ali speaking on behalf of his father (Grand Ayatollah Al-Najafi) offered his father's support. While Sheikh Ali Rubaie said that Iraq is suffering and it is in everyone's interest (including the religious authority) to support every step that would preserve the unity of Iraq, stop bloodshed, and achieve peace and security. The Virtue Party said they will support any attempt to promote unity and descrease sectarianism. The draft political alliance, which was first announced in the last few days is supposed to include the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq and the two main Kurdish parties (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party), and the Iraqi Islamic Party. Attempts are being made to include the Dawa Party, and the Iraqi List (led by Iyad Allawi.) Original Arabic report here:

Child Shot Dead in Fallujah:

"Iraqi Independent National Guard" soldiers who work with the American invader forces in supervising the entry point to Fallujah. Opened fire on a crowd of civilians at the southern gate of the city of Fallujah. They opened fire randomly to disperse the congestion of a large number residents in front of the gate who were waiting to enter. This random fire led to the injury of a 12 year old child. The child died shortly after arrival in hospital.

Al-Fallujah (45 km west of Baghdad) is surrounded by a wall and has seven gates directly supervised by the American forces, backed by Iraqi army forces and the local police. Citizens wishing to enter the city are subjected to a thorough search, and have to have an identity card proving they are resident in Fallujah. The Arabic language report for this story is here:

Wasit Mortar Attack | Bomb Defused:

Three mortar attacks this morning, a bomb was defused on the Baghdad-Kut road.
The URL for this story is here:

Basra Yosuf Sinawwi al-Mawsawi surivives Assasination Attempt| kidnapping attempt on student fails:

The convoy in which Yosuf Sinawwi al-Mawsawi who leads the (Shiite) Thaarallah (God’s Wrath) party was travelling was attacked using a bomb. He survived unhurt. The attack was in al-Nwaab district (7 km north of Basra) Two of his guards and three civilians wounded. [Thaarallah Party is an Islamic party based in Basra and it was first formed as a movement and later turned into a political party before the 2005 general elections but it won no parliamentary seats. - Ali]

The serious crimes squad foiled an attempt to kidnap a female student outside the Basra university campus in Bab al-Zubaier.

The original report is here:

Tal Afar 2 suicide bombers killed:

According to this report by Ibrahim Zannun two suicide bombers were killed before they could attack. His source was Brigadier Najam al-Juburi. There were two attacks prevented:
A bomber wearing a vest of explosives was shot trying to detonate it beside a patrol car in Wahda [This is is Talafar to northwest of Mosul - Ali]
A second bomber tried to flee driving an explosives packed car [in other words he knew his attack would fail and wanted to come back another day - Ali] He too was shot.
No casualties (except for the dead bombers who are surely now screaming in Hell.) Original report in Arabic here:

Breaking News From Aswat al Iraq::

Dawa have said they are interested in joining the new political bloc. Haidar Abbadi also said that there was no need to form alliances outside of parliament because in "included all communities." Here:

Kaadim New Head of Students Sports Body:

He replaces Dr. Hadeeb who was abducted and killed two weeks ago. Link:

Basra Raids And Bombing:

In several raids in Basra these weapons were seized:
15 Katyusha rockets

7 mortar bombs.

5 Katyusha rocket launcher

10 60 mm mortar shells
There was an attempted killing by bombing in the Abu al-Khasib area south of Basra. The story is here:.

Kirkuk Bombings:

One police officer killed three wounded in bombing 5km south of Kirkuk. [That is to be added to the 12 soldiers killed and 26 injured in three bombings in the last 24 hours - Ali] The URL for this story can be found here:

In other words to that you must add this report which details the attacks.
Suicide bombing (Riyadh-Baiji road)
2nd suicide bombing (same place)
3rd suicide bombing on Kirkuk-Tikrit road.

Wasit Three Further Councils Suspend All Dealings With American Invaders:

Three further councils as well as the main governorate council now refuse to cooperate with the American invaders in protest at the illegal arrest of Sheikh Yehya al - Baghdadi, Muqtada Al Sadr's envoy and manager to the governorate the councils are those of:

Kut

Al-Hayy and

Nu
[Truly the Americans are fools already they have lost Al-Anbar now they throw away Wasit. - Ali] The URL for this story is here:

And Finally there is this report on the American Yahoo news reporting site. Please read it carefully:

US needed 'Iraqi De Gaulle' for invasion: Perle - Yahoo! News:

Wed Dec 13, 10:14 AM ET

BERLIN (AFP) - Top US neoconservative Richard Perle, a key former architect of US
President George W. Bush's foreign policy, has admitted there were mistakes in the execution of the
Iraq war, saying the invasion had needed "an Iraqi De Gaulle."

Perle, who was an advisor to former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, told German weekly broadsheet Die Zeit in an issue to be published Thursday that a string of tactical errors had resulted in the chaos reigning in Iraq today.

"The idea was good, the execution was bad," he was quoted as saying in an advance German transcript of the interview.

"We should have agreed on a post-war Iraqi leadership" but were thwarted by opposition at the US State Department and the
Central Intelligence Agency, Perle said.

"We should have marched into Baghdad with an Iraqi De Gaulle," he said.

General Charles de Gaulle led the French resistance against the Nazi German occupation during World War II and returned from British exile to a hero's welcome in Paris in 1944, assuming the presidency of the provisional government.

Perle blasted the findings released last week by the bipartisan Iraq Survey Group mapping a way forward in the strife-raged country.

"I have never seen such a foolish report," he said.

He said proposals such as opening talks with Iraq's neighbors
Iran and
Syria and planning the withdrawal of US troops were flat wrong.

"Syria and Iran have done everything they can to destabilize Iraq and they do not have the slightest interest in another strategy. A report that begins with false premises ends in nothing," Perle said, adding that he did not expect Bush to follow the recommendations.

"I think he will change the strategy: more US troops in Iraqi units, more Iraqis in American (units). That could improve the impact of both units. In any case that would be easier than forging a national army from enemy ethnic groups," he said.

Perle, one of the most outspoken advocates of toppling Iraqi leader
Saddam Hussein, publicly broke with the government over the invasion before key midterm elections in November, along with several other high-profile "neocons."

What this evil American fool, the zionist pig called Perle who made his money selling weapons and peddling his political contacts is too evil and arrogant to understand is that DeGaulle was a patriot who fought to free his country. He would never have been part of such an invasion. The Iraqi DeGaulles are fighting - and killing, the American invaders just as the French DeGaulle fought and killed the German ones in World War II

Ali

An Unbearable Photo and An Attack On Al Sadr's Office

2006-12-12T19:45:00.000+01:00

I found this photo after I had done the main posting. There are three things I find very upsetting about it:

It is always terrible to see an injured or dead child.
The attack was on an ambulance.
Like so many things in Iraq you only find it from the photograph service. It is too small an "incident" for me to have found any other reports of it.

I also found this after I had done the main posting:

McClatchy Washington Bureau | 12/12/2006 | Mahdi army headquarters briefly stormed by gunmen:

Mahdi army headquarters briefly stormed by gunmen
By Hannah Allam and Laith Hammoudi
McClatchy Newspapers
Audio | Raid on Sadr headquarters
McClatchy reporter Hannah Allam was in an interview at the headquarters of Muqtada al Sadr's office in Kadhemiya, down the street from the landmark golden-domed shrine of Imam Moussa Kadhim, when about 50 unidentified gunmen stormed in.
The incident, which occured at about 1 p.m. local time, was captured on a digital recorder. Here's what takes place on this audio file.
"Gunmen yell "Assalamu alaikum!" - Peace be upon you! - as they enter.
Sounds of guns being cocked can be heard as militiamen standing near the McClatchy team prepare their weapons.
Gunmen: "Nobody talk! Don't talk! Nobody goes out! Get inside!"
Sound of ruckus, unintelligible shouts. Someone from the crowd yells "Pray to Muhammad and his family!"
The Sadr militiamen respond with a prayer used solely by the Sadrists (the beginning is a standard Shiite prayer, but end reflects the militancy of the Sadrists): "May Allah bless Muhammad and his family, and bring salvation soon, and damn their enemies!"
Woman cries to the McClatchy team, "Please, take me with you!"
Another Sadr militaman calls for prayer and the crowd responds.
Women's voices, frantic: "What? Who? What is this?"
A Mahdi Army officer with gun in the air, says to Laith Hammoudi, referring to the women: "Get them out! Quickly!"
Woman sobbing, "How can I get out? How can I get out?"
Man's voice: "Walk behind me, follow me..."
More weapons cocking. Sound of running, voices, "Come on. Come on."
Then the sounds of the street, and horns honking signal that the McClatchy team has made it out of the Sadr offices to safety on the street. "OK, OK, OK."
Recording and translation by Laith Hammoudi, a special correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers

Their roundup can be found here. But the daily posting on Today in Iraq always has a much more comprehensive list and is the one we recommend.

Erdla

Evening News Iraq December 12 2006

2006-12-12T17:21:00.000+01:00

News Headlines from Independent Iraqi News Agency Aswat al Iraq English Language Service:

Baghdad-Bombing: al-Tayaran Square:

Baghdad, Dec 12, (VOI) – A suicide bomber blew himself up amidst a group of day laborers in central Baghdad killing 47 [Reuters are saying it is now 70 Dead and 236 wounded Erdla] and wounding 148 others, an Iraqi interior ministry source said on Tuesday.
"The suicide bomber parked his vehicle at al-Tayaran Square, where laborers used to gather each morning waiting for jobs, and pretended to hire laborers," the source said, adding the assailant set off his explosives-rigged car as the laborers got into his vehicle, killing 47 and injuring 148."
TV images carried live by the official al-Iraqiya channel showed the destruction left by the explosion. The state-run channel quoted Maj. General Jihad al-Jabri, the director of the interior ministry's explosives department, as saying the powerful explosion and the magnitude of destruction left indicate that the explosives were no less than 120 kg."
Baghdad and other Iraqi cities had recently witnessed similar armed operations that targeted day laborers' hangouts as suicide bombers tried to cause as many civilian casualties as they could.
The bombing comes amidst a series of armed attacks in the capital Baghdad, which witnessed a serious unbridled security deterioration, an immense challenge to the government's efforts to curb killings, assassinations, kidnappings and forced displacement.

Baghdad-Bombing: al-Tayaran Square: Update 1: Death Toll Now 60:

Baghdad, Dec 12, (VOI) – The death toll of a suicide car bomb attack that targeted day laborers on Tuesday morning reached 60 as the head of the Iraqi government vowed revenge against perpetrators.
A source from the Iraqi interior ministry said fatalities of a suicide attack that took place at al-Tayaran Square on Tuesday rose to 60 while the wounded climbed to 221.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Tuesday said “the organizations behind the deadly bombing want more blood of Iraqis and seek pushing the country towards the pit of a civil war.
"The bombing reveals that the armed groups behind it seek a murderous chaos, ignite sectarian sentiments and hurl the nation into a hellish sedition that would leave no one safe," Maliki said in a statement received by the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
Those who stand behind this operation are the "takfirists and their pro-Saddam allies," said Maliki, pledging to track down "criminals who committed it and bring them before justice to receive the punishment they deserve."
The premier's statement added that the attack was committed by two car bombs while the interior ministry stated that it was caused by only one car bomb driven by a suicide bomber.
The ministry had announced earlier that the explosion targeted a gathering of day laborers at the area of Tayaran Square in central Baghdad.
Baghdad and other Iraqi cities had witnessed recent similar armed operations that targeted day laborers' hangouts as suicide bombers tried to cause as many civilian casualties as they could.
The bombing comes amidst a series of armed attacks in the capital Baghdad, which witnessed a serious unbridled security deterioration, an immense challenge to the government's efforts to curb killings, assassinations, kidnappings and forced displacement.

Baghdad-Water :

Hurriya mosques warn of poisoned public water supply By Dergham Mohammed Ali

Baghdad, Dec 12, (VOI) – Mosques in the town of al-Hurriya warned citizens on Tuesday via loudspeakers against using drinking water because it is poisoned.
The mosques in Hurriya, a town west of the capital Baghdad, repeated the warnings at dawn on Tuesday and advised citizens not to drink water.
Dr. Sabir al-Issawi, the mayor of Baghdad, however, denied alleged poisoning of water, noting statements carried by the official al-Iraqiya TV channel that "drinking water plants are secured and these reports about poisoning are sheer malicious rumors."
Issawi said "there are no cases of poisoning in Baghdad caused by drinking water."

AP photographer killed in Mosul :

Journalist-Killing AP photographer killed in Mosul By Ibrahim Zannun:

Mosul, Dec 12, (VOI) –The Iraqi police said on Tuesday an Associated Press photographer was shot dead outside his house in the northern Iraq’s city of Mosul.
“Gunmen shot and killed on Tuesday morning Aswan Ahmed al-Jaf, AP photographer, outside his house in al-Tameem district, east of Mosul,” a police source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
Jaf’s death raises the number of the journalists who have been killed in Mosul up to 29 since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 according to Journalistic Freedoms Observatory count.
The Journalistic Freedoms Observatory is a non-governmental organization formed of Iraqi journalists to monitor the violations and aggressions against media workers in Iraq.

Senior Iraqi army officer killed in Basra:

Basra-Assassination Senior Iraqi army officer killed in Basra By Muhannad al-Saadi
Basra, Dec 12, (VOI) – A staff officer in charge of training in the Iraqi army was killed by gunmen fire in northern Basra on Tuesday morning, according to an official source at the Iraqi armed forces. Full Story:

Top council forms commission to weigh Baker-Hamilton report :

Top council forms commission to weigh Baker-Hamilton report
Baghdad, Dec 12, (VOI) – Iraq's Political Council for National Security will set up a six-man commission to study the Baker-Hamilton report pertaining to the situation in war-torn Iraq.
A statement by the presidency office affirmed on Tuesday that the council met on Monday under President Jalal Talabani to discuss the report and decided to "form a sextet to mull over the report and forward a reading about it to the council." Full story:

Iraq seeks stopping sale of stolen Iraqi antiquities in Germany:

Baghdad, Dec 12, (VOI) – Iraq's tourism and antiquities ministry urged organizations concerned on Tuesday to intervene to stop the selling of what it called “stolen Iraqi antiquities in an auction in Munich, Germany.”
The ministry was tipped that the auction included two important pieces of antiquities stolen earlier from Iraq, the ministry advisor Bahaa al-Mayyah said in a statement received by the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
The pieces are a 22.7-cm-high headless limestone statue of a Sumerian man wearing a woolen shirt and dates back 2500 years BC, and an 11.7-cm-high intact Cuneiform clay slab with Sumerian inscriptions that dates back to the era of the Ur Dynasty King Shulagi (2097 BC-2095 BC). Full story:

Gunmen set ten houses on fire in southern Baghdad village :

Gunmen set ten houses on fire in southern Baghdad village: By Monther Mohammed Zahi
Baghdad, Dec 12, (VOI) - Unidentified gunmen set ten houses ablaze in a village near the southern Baghdad’s outskirt of al-Madain, a source in the Iraqi police said on Tuesday.
"Unknown armed men set ten houses ablaze in al-Ibousah village near al-Madain outskirt, after two days of evacuating their residents," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
The source said “the incident occurred at dawn on Tuesday and the gunmen fled the scene before the arrival of the security forces there.”
This is the second incident of its kind in the area in as many days.

Mashhadani-Resistance:

Mashhadani urges “resistance” to show face, adopt dialogue Baghdad, Dec 12, (VOI) – Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani on Tuesday called upon all sides of the “Iraqi resistance” to come forward and sit at the dialogue table to end the “historic impasse” Iraq is facing.
Mashhadani also denounced a suicide bombing that targeted a workers’ gathering in central Baghdad which left more than 60 people dead and more than 200 wounded.
“These actions do not liberate a country, save a sect or retrieve a right… they are a waste of blood and money,” he told Tuesday’s parliamentary session which he said would be consultative rather than regular for lack of quorum.
He described the deteriorating security situation in Iraq as “a true historic impasse”, and urged those behind the current scene in Iraq to halt and reveal their true face.
“The message you want us to hear is already heard. If you consider yourselves the alternative then show up, express yourselves and come forward,” Mashhadani said.
“If you were part of the Iraqis, then give us a chance to contact you. This whole issue could be solved very simply… if you want us to respect you as an honest resistance, declare your platform and come for a solution,” he added Full article: "Mashhadani-Resistance"

Alertnet Stories And Headlines:
Reuters AlertNet - Four S.African Mercenaries kidnapped in Iraq:

JOHANNESBURG, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Four South African security workers have been kidnapped north of Baghdad and their whereabouts remain unknown, South Africa's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

Ministry spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa said the four, who have not been publicly identified, were kidnapped on Sunday when their convoy was stopped at a road block. Five Iraqis were also abducted, he said.

The men were employed by OSSI-Safenet security service, a sub-contractor for the U.S. Department of Defence, Mamoepa said.

About 2,000 South Africans, many trained as soldiers in the apartheid-era military force, are believed to be working in the security sector in Iraq. Several have been killed there.

Reuters AlertNet - CHRONOLOGY-The deadliest bomb attacks in Iraq:

Here is a list of some of the deadliest bomb attacks in Iraq since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003:

Aug. 19, 2003 - A truck bomb wrecks U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, killing 22 people, including U.N. envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello.
Aug. 29, 2003 - A car bomb kills at least 83 people, including top Shi'ite Muslim leader Ayatollah Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim, at the Imam Ali mosque in Najaf.
Feb. 1, 2004 - 117 people are killed when two suicide bombers blew themselves up in Arbil at the offices of the two main Kurdish factions in northern Iraq.
Feb. 10, 2004 - Suicide car bomb rips through a police station in Iskandariya, south of Baghdad, killing 53.
Feb. 11, 2004 - Suicide car bomb explodes at an Iraqi army recruitment centre in Baghdad, killing 47.
March 2, 2004 - 171 people are killed in twin attacks in Baghdad and Kerbala.
Dec. 19, 2004 - A suicide car bomb blast in Najaf, 300 metres from the Imam Ali shrine, kills 52 and wounds 140.
Feb. 28, 2005 - A suicide car bomb attack in Hilla, south of Baghdad, kills 125 people and wounds 130. It was postwar Iraq's worst single blast.
July 16, 2005 - A suicide bomber in a fuel truck near a Shi'ite mosque in the town of Mussayib, near Kerbala, kills 98.
Sept. 14, 2005 - A suicide bomber kills 114 people and wounds 156 in a Shi'ite district of Baghdad.
Sept. 29, 2005 - 98 people are killed in three coordinated car bomb attacks in the mixed Shi'ite and Sunni town of Balad.
Nov. 18, 2005 - At least 74 people are killed and 150 wounded when suicide bombers blew themselves up inside two Shi'ite mosques in Khanaqin.
Jan. 5, 2006 - Two suicide bombers kill over 120 people and wound more than 200 in the cities of Kerbala and Ramadi. Fifty-three were killed and 148 wounded in Kerbala and 70 killed and 65 wounded in Ramadi.
July 1, 2006 - A car bomb attack at a crowded market in Sadr city, a Shi'ite district of eastern Baghdad, kills 62 and wounds 114. The Supporters of the Sunni People, a previously unknown Iraqi Sunni Muslim group claim responsibility.
July 18, 2006 - Fifty-nine people are killed by a suicide bomb in Kufa, near Najaf in an attack claimed by al Qaeda.
Aug. 10, 2006 - Thirty-five people are killed and 90 injured by bomb blasts near the Imam Ali shrine in southern city of Najaf. The Jamaat Jund al-Sahaba (Soldiers of the Prophet's Companions) group claim responsibility.
Nov. 23, 2006 - Six car bombs in different parts of the Sadr City neighbourhood of Baghdad kill 202 people. A further 250 people are wounded.
Dec. 12, 2006 - A suicide bomber kills 60 people and wounds at least 221 in Tayran Square, in central Baghdad after luring a crowd of labourers to his vehicle with promises of work.

Bush said likely to unveil Iraq plan in early '07
12 Dec 2006 16:29:13 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Adds more details) WASHINGTON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush is likely to delay the unveiling of a new strategy for Iraq until early 2007, instead of late this year as originally ... Full article

Bush said likely to unveil Iraq plan in early '07
12 Dec 2006 16:13:24 GMT
Source: Reuters
WASHINGTON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush is likely to delay the unveiling of a new strategy for Iraq until early in January, instead of late this year as originally planned, a White ... Full article

"Reveal yourself," Iraq's Speaker urges insurgents
12 Dec 2006 16:06:58 GMT
Source: Reuters
BAGHDAD, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Iraq's Sunni Muslim parliament speaker on Tuesday urged insurgents to come out into the open to help break a deadly cycle of tit-for-tat sectarian violence that has killed ... Full article

INTERVIEW-UK Iraq troop withdrawal "long time" away-minister
12 Dec 2006 15:19:06 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Mohammed Abbas MANAMA, Dec 12 (Reuters) - British troops could be in Iraq a "long time down the road", Britain's armed forces minister said. Adam Ingram declined to be drawn on a ... Full article

Divided Iraqi leaders in talks to find consensus
12 Dec 2006 15:17:12 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Mariam Karouny BAGHDAD, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Iraqi political leaders are in talks in an effort to find common ground among rival groups so as to halt worsening sectarian violence and strengthen Shi ... Full article

Bomb explodes at Iraq's Samarra mosque
12 Dec 2006 15:00:54 GMT
Source: Reuters
SAMARRA, Iraq, Dec 12 (Reuters) - A bomb exploded on Tuesday near the entrance of Samarra's Golden Mosque, site of a February bombing that unleashed a wave of sectarian violence in Iraq, causing ... Full article

CHRONOLOGY-The deadliest bomb attacks in Iraq
12 Dec 2006 13:58:06 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Updates with new details) Dec 12 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed 60 people in central Baghdad on Tuesday, the Interior Ministry said. Here is a list of some of the deadliest bomb attacks in ... Full article

Bomber kills 60 in Baghdad, Bush to review policy
12 Dec 2006 13:33:23 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Updates with US general) By Ross Colvin BAGHDAD, Dec 12 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber targeting poor labourers killed 60 people in Baghdad on Tuesday as President George W. Bush prepared to review ... Full article

IRAQ: Shortage of anti-retroviral drugs in Kurdistan
12 Dec 2006 13:28:58 GMT
Source: IRIN
Health officials in Iraq's northern Kurdistan region have said they lack anti-retroviral drugs and the necessary equipment for testing for the HI virus and that they have been instructed by health authorities in Baghdad to deport foreigners who have been found HIV-positive. Full article

IRAQ-JORDAN: Iranian-Kurd border refugees reject new proposals
12 Dec 2006 13:17:53 GMT
Source: IRIN
Iranian Kurds stuck on the Iraq-Jordan border for nearly two years say they will not leave their make-shift camp until they are resettled to a third country. Full article

Other Reports

Mothers lose bid to force Iraq war inquiry - Law - Times Online:

The mothers of two British soldiers killed in Iraq had challenged the Government’s refusal to hold an independent inquiry.

But this morning the court dismissed their claim that the Government was under an implied obligation to hold an independent inquiry under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects the "right to life".

Three appeal judges said: "We have every sympathy for the applicants. The deaths of their sons must be unbearable. However, the deaths will be investigated in detail.

"The only question which will not be investigated is the invasion question, namely whether the Government took reasonable steps to be satisfied that the invasion of Iraq was lawful under the principles of international law."

The case was brought by Beverley Clarke, mother of Trooper David Jeffrey Clarke, and Rose Gentle, mother of Fusilier Gordon Gentle. Full Article:

The New Anatolian - Gonul asks Baghdad not to impose 'unrealistic' future on Kirkuk:

The status of Kirkuk sparked a heated debate between Turkey and Iraq after Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul's request on Sunday not to impose an "unrealistic" future on the oil-rich city drew strong criticism from Baghdad.

Gonul said that Kirkuk's future status carries major implications for Turkey and Iraq's other neighbors, no matter who controls the city and its surrounding oilfields, and asked the Iraqi Shiite and Kurdish-led administration not to impose an "unrealistic" future on Kirkuk.

"We hope the natural resources of Kirkuk will be used by all groups in Iraq without discrimination," Gonul told an International Institute of Strategic Studies conference in the Bahraini capital Manama.

Gonul's remarks were immediately protested by Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, an ethnic Kurd, who warned Turkey not to meddle in "our Kirkuk."

"You speak of Kirkuk as if it is a Turkish city," Zebari said, adding, "These are matters for Iraq to decide."

Kirkuk is an ancient city that was once part of the Ottoman Empire, with a large minority of ethnic Turks (Turkmen) as well as various Christians, Shiite and Sunni Arabs, Armenians and Assyrians. Read in full:

Xinhua - English:

Bush administration bitterly rethinks Iraq policy www.chinaview.cn 2006-12-12 18:40:17
By Zhao Yi

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- The year 2006 ends with President George W. Bush bitterly rethinking his Iraq policy, which is widely believed to be the biggest fiasco of his government that even cost the Republicans both houses of Congress in the mid-term elections.

IRAQ POLICY REFERENDUM

Nov. 7, 2006 was far from a good day for Bush and his Republican Party as the ruling GOP lost control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives in the mid-term elections.

The failure was hardly a surprise at a time when the United States is widely believed to be bogged down in an Iraq war, which has already claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 U.S. soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.

The other rocky regions where Washington has been deeply involved, are Afghanistan and Gaza, which are both turning from bad to worse. Afghanistan's outlawed Taliban forces are increasingly perceived as making a comeback, and the implementation of the roadmap for a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict still remains deadlocked. Read in Full:

Erdla

Morning Round-Up December 12th 2006

2006-12-12T07:21:00.000+01:00

[Update:]Baghdad suicide bombing kills 57 - Yahoo! News:

22 minutes ago

BAGHDAD (AFP) - A suicide bomber detonated a pickup truck packed with explosives among a crowd of casual labourers in downtown Baghdad, killing at least 57 people and wounding 148, medics said.

The powerful blast ripped through traffic at 7:00 am (0400 GMT) in the busy Tayaran Square in the Rusafa district of the city, in at least the fourth attack on mainly Shiite day labourers in the same spot this year.

In a tactic used before, the pickup truck pulled up to a group of labourers and offered daily work, immediately attracting a large crowd desperate for wages in this economically depressed city.

"They came like bees to honey," said an interior ministry official.

Then the truck exploded. In the hours afterwards, several more dull explosions could be heard around the city.

The impact of the blast severely damaged two nearby buildings while dozens of handcarts full of fruit and vegetables were destroyed in the explosion.

Medical officials said 52 bodies had been received in the Al-Kindi Hospital and five more in Ibn Nafis, while the death toll was expected to rise.

"We are treating 25 people with extremely serious injuries," a doctor from the Ibn Nafis hospital said.

Suicide car bombs have become a hallmark of Sunni extremist attacks on the Shiites and in the last few weeks there have been several bloody blasts, including a series in Sadr City last month that killed nore than 200 people.

The whole city is in the grip of a cycle of revenge attacks sparked by these blasts, as Shiite militias launch mortars and night time death squad attacks against rival Sunni neighbourhoods.

Dozens of bodies turn up every day as result of these attacks and, according to UN figures, more than a hundred Iraqis are dying across the country every day -- many from sectarian attacks.

Aswat al Iraq [In English]:

Iraq-Security (Highlights)

Voices of Iraq / National stories Posted by nadioshka on Dec 11, 2006 - 09:51 PM
Iraq-Security (Highlights) Security developments in Iraq
Baghdad, Dec 11, (VOI) – Main security developments in Iraq on Monday:
Baghdad – Gunmen clad in police uniform robbed $1 million from employees working for the private Middle East Investment Bank in al-Saadoun street downtown Baghdad, in central Baghdad, security sources said.
Iraq-Security (Highlights)
Security developments in Iraq
Baghdad, Dec 11, (VOI) – Main security developments in Iraq on Monday:
Baghdad – Gunmen clad in police uniform robbed $1 million from employees working for the private Middle East Investment Bank in al-Saadoun street downtown Baghdad, in central Baghdad, security sources said.
Baghdad – Five people were killed and others injured after a mortar shell fell on the southern Baghdad neighborhood of Abu Deshir.
Baghdad - One Iraqi civilian was killed and five were wounded when a bomb exploded in eastern Baghdad morning, a security source said.
Baaquba- An armed group killed a member of Kurdistan Democratic Party in a town near Baaquba, Diala province, while two policemen were shot dead in Baaquba, Iraqi police said.
Dujail – Gunmen kidnapped five teachers in the village of Dujail, a security source in the Iraqi northern province of Salah Eddin province said.
Hit – An Iraq civilian was killed in clashes between a joint U.S.-Iraqi force and gunmen in Hit, Anbar province, eyewitnesses said.
Baghdad – Unidentified gunmen kidnapped nine civilians in al-Madain neighborhood in southern Baghdad, an Iraq police source said.
Touz Khormato – An armed group killed five members of one family in a village near the Iraqi town of Touz Khormato, a police source said.
Mosul – A policeman and a civilian were killed in separate attacks in the Iraqi northern town of Mosul.
Baghdad – A college student was killed when a car bomb was detonated near a private college in western Baghdad, a police source said.
Balad – Unidentified gunmen kidnapped eight farmers from a market east of Balad town, Salah Eddin province, a security source said.
Mosul – An armed group killed four members of one family in the northern Iraqi town of Mosul.
Kirkuk – Six civilians were wounded in a suicide bombing that targeted the house of a top police officer in the northern Iraqi oil town of Kirkuk, a security source said.
The URL for this story is: here

Aswat al Iraq [In English]:

Iraq-Bloc-Accordance

Voices of Iraq / National stories Posted by nadioshka on Dec 11, 2006 - 09:20 PM
Iraq-Bloc-Accordance Sunni front backs new political alliance
By Santa Michael
Baghdad, Dec 11, (VOI) – Prominent members of the Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front on Monday declared their support for a new political alliance planed between Iraqi political powers.

Sunni front backs new political alliance

Baghdad, Dec 11, (VOI) – Prominent members of the Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front on Monday declared their support for a new political alliance planed between Iraqi political powers.
Akram al-Hakim, the minister of state for national dialogue affairs, said on Friday that the coming days would see a new political bloc comprising the Shiite Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party and Kurds.
News of the new bloc came amidst a spiral in violence in Iraq and Hakim said the bloc aims at standing up to sectarian troubles.
“Iraq is now sliding into a civil war and anything that helps avoid this war has our support,” Adnan al-Dulaimi, head of the Accordance Front told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
“We are with any alliance formed inside the parliament or outside it, but we want it to be a true alliance that has an impact on the Iraqi scene. If these were only emotional pleas not based on practical bases, then I do not think it will work out,” he said.
The Accordance Front is the third biggest parliamentary bloc with 44 seats. It combines Dulaimi’s Iraqi People’s Congress, the National Dialogue Council headed by Khalaf al-Olayan, the Islamic Party headed by Iraqi Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi and independent legislators
“This call has our blessings, but we think it should come from the heart and has the true basics to implement what the bloc agrees on,” Dulaimi said.
He said that Iraq’s infrastructure is completely ruined and forced displacements are going on so the parliament has to rise up and solve all these issues.
Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani welcomed on Sunday the formation of the new political bloc.

The URL for this story is: here

Aswat al Iraq [In English]:

Gunmen-Robbery

Voices of Iraq / Baghdad
Posted by saleem on Dec 11, 2006 - 02:12 PM Gunmen-Robbery Gunmen rob $1 million in central Baghdad
By Wathiq Ismael
Baghdad, Dec 11, (VOI) –The Iraqi police said on Monday gunmen clad in police uniform and riding police-like vehicles robbed $1 million in central Baghdad.

Gunmen-Robbery: Gunmen rob $1 million in central Baghdad: By Wathiq Ismael:
Baghdad, Dec 11, (VOI) –The Iraqi police said on Monday gunmen clad in police uniform and riding police-like vehicles robbed $1 million in central Baghdad.
“Gunmen clad in police and riding new police-like 4x4 vehicles robbed $1 million from four employees working for the private Middle East Investment Bank in al-Saadoun street downtown Baghdad after they (robbers) stopped and forced two cars carrying the employees at gunpoint to unknown place,” the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
The source added “the employees inside the two cars were on their way to deposit the amount at the Iraqi central Bank, located at Rasheed street downtown Baghdad.”
The robbers, the source pointed out, forced the employees along with the $1 million at gunpoint to unknown place.
“The employees worked for the private Middle East Investment Bank-Elwiyiah branch,” the source added.
Al-Saadon street is one of the most crowded commercial area in central Baghdad.
This is the third armed robbery where gunmen clad in police hijacked a large amount of money from banks in Baghdad during the last two years.

The URL for this story is: here

Clerics urge Muslims to back Iraq Sunnis - Yahoo! News:

By ABDULLAH SHIHRI, Associated Press Writer 33 minutes ago

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - More than 30 prominent Islamic clerics from Saudi Arabia on Monday called on Sunni Muslims around the Middle East to support their brethren in
Iraq against Shiites and praised the insurgency.

The clerics said jihad, or holy war, "is one of the most important tenets of religion, and what has been taken by force can only be regained by force."

Their statement warned that Shiite Muslims were taking control of Iraq in a conspiracy with "Crusaders" in an attempt to marginalize Sunnis. They called on Sunni Muslims around the Middle East to "stand directly with our Sunni brothers in Iraq, using all appropriate and considered forms of support" and urged clerics to "educate the public about the Shiite threat."

Thousands of Iraqis have been killed this year in sectarian bloodshed between the majority Shiites and the Sunni Arab minority, who lost their dominance of the country to Shiites after the fall of
Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Saudi Arabia, like most Arab countries, is predominantly Sunni but has a significant Shiite minority. Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt all have expressed concerns over increasing Shiite power in Iraq and other parts of the region, which they see as an opening for Iranian influence.

"After almost four years of occupation, it is clear that the aim behind this occupation is for the Crusaders and Shiites to take control of Iraq, paving the way to complete their control over the region," read the statement, posted on a Saudi news Web site.

The statement was signed by more than 30 Saudi clerics — most from Saudi Arabia's top Islamic universities, the centers of the kingdom's hardline version of Sunni Islam.

The sectarian conflict in Iraq has raised fears of a growing split between the two main sects of Islam around the Middle East as members of each rally around their group.

Key Iraqi officials have said that millions of dollars in financing has been sent to Iraq's insurgents by private donors in Saudi Arabia, though Saudi officials have denied the report.

Car bombs kill 42, wounds 106 in Baghdad - Yahoo! News:

16 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Two car bombs exploded in a main square of central Baghdad on Tuesday morning, killing at least 42 people and wounding 106, police said.

The carefully coordinated attack in Tayaran Square at 7 a.m. involved a bomb in a parked car and a suicide car bomb, both of which exploded simultaneously near a police patrol and a crowd of Iraqis gathering to apply for jobs as day laborers, said police Lt. Bilal Ali.

He said at least 42 Iraqis, including seven policemen, were killed and 104 people wounded.

Gunfire could be heard right after the explosions, which occurred about 100 feet apart, but it was not immediately known if it involved police or insurgent snipers hiding nearby, Ali said.

In Baghdad, where many people are unemployed, scores of Iraqis gather in the square early in the morning to wait for minibuses or private cars that stop by and hire them for the day as construction workers, cleaners or painters. Nearby, small stands are set up to sell the laborers a breakfast of tea and egg sandwiches.

The suicide car bomber appeared to drive into one of those crowds and set off his explosives as the nearby parked car bomb also went off, Ali said.

Khalil Ibrahim, 41, a shop owner in the area, said: "In the first explosion, I saw people falling over, some of them blown apart. When the other bomb went off seconds later, it slammed me into a wall of my store and I fainted." He was speaking from a local hospital where he had been taken to be treated for shrapnel wounds to his head and back.

Tayaran Square is located near several government ministries and a bridge that crosses the Tigris River to the heavily fortified Green Zone, where Iraq's parliament and the U.S. and British embassies are located

Reuters AlertNet - Suicide car bomber kills 45 in Baghdad-ministry:

12 Dec 2006 05:51:35 GMT Source: Reuters (2 minutes ago): (Updates wounded toll, adds details)

BAGHDAD, Dec 12 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed 45 people and wounded scores in central Baghdad on Tuesday after luring a crowd of poor day labourers to his vehicle with promises of work, the Interior Ministry said.

Police said 148 people were wounded when the bomber's vehicle exploded at 7 a.m. (0400 GMT) in Tayran Square, sending a cloud of black smoke into the sky. Gunfire sounded immediately after the blast.

Tayran Square is typically a gathering point for carpenters, plumbers, brick-layers, painters and other workers in the construction trade who frequent the cafes and street vendors in the early morning while waiting for the chance of some work.

About 90 minutes later, a roadside bomb exploded near an Iraqi police patrol, but the Interior Ministry said there were no casualties in that incident. A third explosion rocked the centre of the city shortly afterwards, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.

Iraq is gripped by tit-for-tat sectarian killings between majority Shi'ites and Sunni Arabs who were once dominant under Saddam Hussein.

A car bomb devastated a fruit and vegetable market in Baghdad on Dec. 2, killing at least 51 people. In the worst attack since the U.S. invasion, more than 200 people were killed on Nov. 3 in multiple car bombings in the Shi'ite district of Sadr City.

Reuters AlertNet - Iraq in turmoil Other Headlines :

Annan warns US against go-it-alone diplomacy Source: Reuters (5 hours ago)
Quibbling about "civil war" doesn't help Iraq -UN Source: Reuters (5 hours ago)
Bush consults U.S. diplomats, experts on Iraq Source: Reuters (6 hours ago)
Allawi says Iraq nearing "point of no return" Source: Reuters (7 hours ago)

IRAQ: Alia'a Haydar, Iraq "I want go to school and learn how to write"

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

BAGHDAD, 11 Dec 2006 (IRIN) - Aid agencies estimate that thousands of Iraqi parents do not send their daughters to school for cultural reasons and because of the general insecurity in the country. As a result of two decades of war and economic hardship, Iraqi schools have fallen into disrepair, enrolment has dropped, and literacy levels have stagnated, agencies say.

In the south of the country, where infrastructure is more deteriorated due to years of neglect, the situation is worse.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) estimates literacy rates to be less than 60 percent, or 6 million illiterate Iraqi adults. People in rural areas and women are worst off. Only 37 percent of rural women can read, and only 30 percent of Iraqi girls of high school age are enrolled in school, compared with 42 percent of boys.

Alia'a Haydar, 15, resident of the city of al-Samawah, some 240km south of the capital, dreams of the day when she will be able to read magazine articles on the latest fashion and music and also read the Quran, the holy Muslim book.

"I don't know how to read or write my name. My family says that girls should not study as their destiny is to marry and raise children. They say women that study and read in the end turn out to be prostitutes," Alia'a said.

"I know this thinking is wrong but I fear my father. One day, he saw me trying to write on a piece of paper and he punished me for a week. Now, he is looking for a husband for me so that he won’t risk losing his daughter to a school.

"To make the situation of girls in our community worse, in the rural areas where I was living before there weren't schools. Now that we have come to the city, the only one near my home is seven kilometres away. For a girl who is not even allowed to go to the street corner alone, how could go I go to school alone?

"I want to go to school and learn how to write but I don't know what to do. Male mentality in Iraq is very old-fashioned. They see women as their servants with no brains to think and they are afraid of losing their power over us.

"One day I will be able to read, even if I have to run away. The risk of being killed if I do that is the same as working like a donkey in my home, getting beatings from my family for not doing housework properly or living the rest of my life with an illiterate man and not being able to write my own name."

Copyright © IRIN 2006 The material contained on www.IRINnews.org comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian news and information service, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. All IRIN material may be reposted or reprinted free-of-charge; refer to the IRIN copyright page for conditions of use. IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

IRAQ: Respect for human rights still a dream

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

BAGHDAD, 10 Dec 2006 (IRIN) - Sectarian violence causing displacement and targeted attacks are continuing to further deepen the situation of human rights in Iraq today, local and international NGOs say.

"We live in a catastrophic situation of a lack of human rights and displacement and targeting of people according to their identity and religious beliefs by militias, terrorists and mafia," Dr Aziz Jabur Shaeal, chairman of the Baghdad Centre for Human Rights Studies (BCHRS), said.

Shaeal's comments come as the world marks the United Nations Human Rights Day on 10 December.

"Sectarian violence has affected human rights in all fields with the assassinations of academics, doctors, journalists, writers, artists and the leaders of public opinion as well as kidnappings to blackmail families to pay huge quantities of money," Shaeal said.

"Deprivation of people from employment without proving their loyalty to a political party, especially religious parties, torture inside official and nonofficial prisons, the disappearance of many people after they are arrested, the deterioration of infrastructure, the absence of the role of government in the protection of people’s security and prevailing partisanship and corruption [are also rife]," he added.

Ibraheem Yacoub, 38, is one of millions of Iraqis who has first-hand experience of what it is like to live with no human rights. His two brothers were captured by militia men and accused of taking part in insurgent attacks. However, Yacoub said they were just students trying to finish their college studies. His brothers were found shot dead a week later in one of the streets of Baghdad.

"We were forced to leave our home because sectarian violence reached our neighbourhood and we didn't have any choice but to take our bags and some food and run, living like the homeless and with the risk of being the next victims of the country's daily violence," Yacoub said.

The Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights said continuing displacement should be tackled urgently - as this could open the doors to more violence and disrespect of the already deteriorated human rights situation in Iraq.

Escalation of sectarian violence

Sectarian violence began escalating significantly in February 2006 after a Shi’ite shrine in the northern city of Samarra was bombed by Sunni militants. Since then, revenge killings between the two Muslim sects have displaced nearly 425,000 Iraqis, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

In addition, up to 3,000 Iraqis are leaving to neighbouring countries on a monthly basis as the extent of the violence becomes clearer to residents, according to the Ministry of Displacement and Migration.

"The right to have a home to live and to live safely is the minimum that any human being should have and today thousands of Iraqis are being forced to flee their homes and encounter dangerous situations because of sectarian violence," Diar Ahmed, press officer at Iraq's Ministry of Human Rights, said.

Amnesty International says the lack of human rights in Iraq is unacceptable.

"Thousands of people are encountering the most serious and critical form of a lack in human rights and it is an absolutely intolerable situation," said Nicole Chouery, spokeswoman for Amnesty International in London, UK.

"People are displaced and require urgent support and assistance and violence is increasing every day, leaving the human rights issue absent in Iraq," Chouery added.

Women and children have also suffered greatly.

"Women and children are recognised [only] theoretically, but their rights are violated all the time. They face the same problems as other people in Iraq but also have additional problems, such as the enforcing of the Hijab [head cover] and other kinds of clothes, and restrictions in employment," Shaeal from BCHRS said, remarking on how conservative Iraqi society was now becoming.

Recent calls for improvements

In November, Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told a session of the UN Human Rights Council that despite the Iraqi government's efforts to address the deteriorating human rights situation, violence had reached unprecedented levels.

"In many parts of the country, scores of civilians are wilfully killed and injured every day," Arbour said at the conference.

She also said ever-growing unemployment, poverty, discrimination and diminishing access to basic services were severely affecting the economic and social rights of the Iraqi people.

According to Shaeal, establishing an international investigation committee with Iraqi NGOs to determine the violations of human rights is the only way to guarantee recognition of rights.

"The Security Council should vote for a resolution calling for the establishment of an international criminal court for Iraq, mandated to investigate all crimes against humanity committed in Iraq and to prosecute those found to be responsible. This should be the starting point," Muhammad al-Deraji, director of Monitoring of Human Rights in Iraq (MHRI), said.

"In addition, there should be support of the work of the United Nations in Iraq through an expansion of the political and human rights mandate of UNAMI [UN’s Assistance Mission for Iraq] in order to increase the protection of human rights in the country. And the Security Council should re-establish the position of the Special Rapporteur of Human Rights in Iraq," he added.

Based in Jordan for security reasons, UNAMI said it was struggling to keep abreast of human right violations in Iraq but said it was working closely with the Iraqi government to improve this situation.

Local and international NGOs have urged the Iraqi government to ratify the relevant international conventions that protect human rights, such as the Convention Against Torture (CAT); to disseminate the results of former investigations into cases of major human rights violations; and to invite the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture to visit Iraq.

According to the Iraqi constitution, “All Iraqis are equal before the law without regard to gender, opinion, nationality, religion, or origin. Discrimination on the basis of gender, nationality, religion, origin, or social standing is forbidden. They [the people] have the right to personal security in life and freedom except in accordance with the law. Equality of opportunity is guaranteed to all citizens in accordance to the law.” However, the reality on the ground is very different, activists say.

Copyright © IRIN 2006 The material contained on www.IRINnews.org comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian news and information service, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. All IRIN material may be reposted or reprinted free-of-charge; refer to the IRIN copyright page for conditions of use. IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Erdla

"We have intelligence information confirming the entry of snipers weapons to Baghdad city in large quantities."

2006-12-11T17:04:00.000+01:00

[This is the early evening news stories summariesed and translated by me from Arabic. I have chosen to make the headline different today as an experiment. Also I have given you a feature article written in English by Ibrahim Zannoun from the Iraqi Voices of Iraq service. Ali]

Plan To Protect Universities: The "Kicker" Is In Last Sentence:

Maliki has called on the students and professors in Universities to be steadfast (its translates literally as "be of enduring commitment" - Ali) in the face of threats and attacks. He also ordered the universities to take steps to ensure their protection. Finally the damned fool ordered universities to take "official action" against students who absent themselves from their study. [Today a student was killed by a bomb as he went into his college perhaps Maliki who is surrounded by American advisers thinks this unofficial action is not important. He can tell that to the students who saw the poor maimed corpse of their colleague. - Ali.]
The rest of this article quotes the chief of police of Baghdad as claiming that:
"The crime rate declined in Baghdad during the current month, by 40% less than the rates in the preceding months." [This man is as big a damned fool as Maliki. - Ali] He went on to say that this was the result of "great efforts by the police forces to maintain security."
Here is what is called I believe "the kicker." The last paragraph quotes him as saying this:
"We have intelligence information confirming the entry of snipers weapons to Baghdad city in large quantities."
Arabic Original here:

Basrah Reconstruction To Be Funded By Import Levy:

The president of Basra Governorate Council (Saadoun Mohamed Abbadi) confirmed that reconstruction funding for Basra will depend on maintaining the levy of 1% imposed on imported materials coming through the port and land crossings. Link to original

Kurdish Parties Reject Baker Hamilton:

This report by Hamid Zebari contains little of suprises. They are against it. The meeting was of twenty representatives (Kurdish, Turkoman, Assyrian and Chaldean) to agree a unified stance and prepare a memorandum to be sent to the UN and US. The Arabic language report quotes one of the participants as saying that "we begin to lose confidence in America which has been subjected to pressure by 12 thousand rebels in Iraq." and saying that that they will show how they oppose the policies of the United States by "peaceful demonstrations and sit-ins."
[Doubtlesss this will force the Americans to remain in Kurdistan. They pay great heed to the desires of peaceful demonstrators. Or perhaps not. Those "12 thousand rebels in Iraq" seem to be doing a better job of getting the invader to take notice - Ali]
The Arabic original is here: There is a shorter english report from Aswat al Iraq here:

American Civil Affairs Burea Opens in Kurdistan:

The Americans opened the office for a Civil Affairs Bureau in Irbil today it is to focus on the "reconstruction" of the region and attracting American investments to the province. The URL for this story is
here:

Car Bombs Baghdad:

Bomb Disposal Officers successfully defused a bomb in one of the markets in Mada'in. A bomb exploded killing one civilian and wounding another. The URL for this story is here:

8 Farmers 5 Teacher Abducted in the Iraqi province of Saladin:

This story by Ghazwan al-Jabouri is distressing. Masked gunmen attacked one of the markets selling fruit and vegetables and forced eight farmers attending the market to sell their crops to accompany them at gunpoint. Five teachers were kidnapped in Beni Tamim. Gunmen also killed a civilian at a rural rail station.The URL for this story is here:

Mosul 4 Brothers Killed:

Gunmen stormed a house in East Mosul and shot dead 4 brothers who lived there. [They were Shabakis The American Yahoo news say it was drive by - this is wrong. They attacked the house. Shabakis have been subjected to many purges by the Kurds they are a unique group very small and they tend to be prosperous because of the good qulaity of the land in the valleys they are concentrated in. their language is a mix of Turkish Arabic Farsi and Kurdish and nobody except them understands it. Some say there is Aramaic in the language also. Ali] Original of Story here.

8 people Arrested On Turkish Border To Iraq:

8 people were arrested on the Border (Zakho Dahuk) crossing illegaly. The story quotes the official who tipped off the agency as saying that "these persons were handed over to the police to take the necessary action against them." The article reminds readers that Zakho is the location of the notorious 700 prisoners abuse scandal. The article text is here.

6 People Wounded In Suicide Bombing Of Kirkuk Senior Policeman's Home:

A suicide bomber drove his car bomb to the of house Colonel Abdallah Araz (who is the director of criminal investigations in Kirkuk.) He exploded his bomb and 6 were wounded including two of the Colonel's family. From Arabic language article here: [The AFP news name him as Brigadier General Aras Namuq al-Kaki - Ali]

Headless Corpse of Abdul Sattar Khalaf Issawi Found In Fallujah:

Abdul Sattar Khalaf Issawi's headless corpse was discovered close to the Ibn Khaldoun secondary school. He was an organiser for the Islamic party. Gunmen burst into his home two days ago and abducted him.
The American invaders did another one of their "sweeps" in Fallujah today as well according to the article which you will find here.

Breaking News:

9 Civilians Abducted in Mada'in (South Baghdad):

Gunmen forced their car to pull over. Forced them into their car and drove away with them. From here:

Almshahadani suspends membership of National Security Coucil:

An official source said in the Office of the Chairman of the Iraqi Parliament, that has suspended his membership in the political council of national security. From here.

Babil (Babylon) Arts Festival of Iraq:

The arts festival opened today. A politician made a speech. (I am not going to trouble you by to translating it.) I am going to point out artists from the provinces of Karbala, Najaf, Diwaniyah addition to Babylon took part. From here.

English Language Feature Article From Aswat al Iraq

Aswat al Iraq: Feature: (In English) :

Death in Iraq…bitter questions and several faces of a tragedy - By Ibrahim Zannoun

Abu Ammar was dumbfounded when he heard about the death of his neighbor and colleague Saad Khalid.
"Who killed him and why? Saad was not a policeman or a translator. He was not a Shabaki (Shiite Kurd of Iraqi origin) or Yazidi and he never belonged to a party or advocated a certain ideology," Abu Ammar shouted at his wife in disbelief.
Abu Ammar later fell into deep silence and shock when his wife told him that Saad died of a heart attack.
Abu Ammar thought for a while that it was a bit strange. Death from natural causes in Iraq has become unfamiliar. It has been a while since anyone heard about the death of an Iraqi due to natural causes.
Violence has been raging unabated in Iraq with daily bombings and killings that claim scores of lives.
Jamal Samir, a photographer, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI): "We have been counting our deaths, not our survivors, just like we count our wars and disappointments. We know that our turn is inevitably coming as if we stand in a queue to jump into Death's arms."
"We wish to know one single reason for what is happening to us Iraqis," Samir lamented.
Salwa Nazim, a student, said Iraq is not a dress that could be taken off or a husband that could be abandoned.
"This is a nation, and nations can never be replaced. We are footing bills for a guilt we did not commit except that we were born Iraqis," said Nazim, stressing "we will never leave Iraq come hell or high water."
She said: "Hardships in our own motherland are better than easy life in a faraway country."
Salem Abdul-Aziz, a teacher, is troubled by the current state of affairs on the day-to-day life.
"We have erased from the dictionary of our life some vocabulary like happiness, joy and smiles because the words thriving in our society now include death, killing, explosions, slaughter, shrapnel and morgue that sometimes we imagine we were not meant to deserve to live but we don't know why," Abdul-Aziz stated somberly.
Dawoud Salman, a newspaper layout designer, told VOI that Iraqis have been addicted to listening to songs stirring agonies of the nation that even became ringing tones for mobile phones.
Retired senior citizen Abu Othman exclaimed bitterly: "how should a man of senses believe that we don't have enough water in Iraq to wash our dead before burying them, or that we are freezing in a cold winter or that we ride bicycles instead of cars because fuel became scarce in an oil-rich country?"
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