9 Killed In Continuing Violence:
Four street cleaners were killed and another wounded when a roadside bomb went off in the Mansour district in west-central Baghdad, police said.
http://tinyurl.com/om543
===
3 U.S.Soldiers Killed As Shi'ite in-fighting delays Iraq govt :
Shi'ite in-fighting over who should head Iraq's vital oil ministry is delaying efforts by the prime minister-designate to form a unity government aimed at averting a slide toward civil war, officials said on Thursday
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060511/wl_nm/iraq_dc
===
Marine dies from injuries in Iraq:
Sgt. Alessandro Carbonaro, 28, of Bethesda, Md., died Wednesday at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany after being injured in combat in Al Anbar province, Iraq on May 1
http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/438389.html
===
Baghdad clerics must be approved by Iraqi gov't:
Clerics will need official sanction to lead congregations in Iraq's capital and Iraqi forces will only be allowed to raid mosques in the presence of US troops
http://tinyurl.com/mkmfb
===
Zinni on Iraq: ‘We’re not withdrawing’:
Don’t count on the U.S. ever withdrawing completely from Iraq, a retired Marine general said Tuesday. Anthony Zinni, the four-star who commanded U.S. Central Command before retiring in 2000, said when the U.S. commits forces to a country now, it means a long-term commitment. Iraq is no different.
http://www.armytimes.com/print.php?f=1-292925-1765707.php
===
Juan Cole: Saving Iraq: Mission impossible:
Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite hard-liner distrusted by his foes, will almost certainly be unable to stop Iraq's slide to chaos.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13007.htm
===
Adviser: Iraq ‘civil war’ places U.S. in reactive role:
Iraq is embroiled in a “low-level civil war” that is forcing the United States to react to events on the ground rather than shape them, according to a former U.S. military adviser who spent two years there studying the insurgency.
http://www.airforcetimes.com/story.php?f=1...925-1764639.php
===
Bill Shifts Oversight of Some Iraq Aid:
The Senate last week approved $109 billion in additional spending for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, including $1.5 billion in added Iraq reconstruction money.
http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB1147...3890748480.html
===
Former diplomat says many in government view Iraq war as crazy:
A former diplomat from Arkansas, who said she resigned from the U.S. Foreign Service in part as a protest against the war in Iraq, says many people in the government believe the war is crazy, but are afraid to speak out.
http://www.pbcommercial.com/articles/2006/...r/d8hhev6o0.txt
Full Version: Iraq News Volume 10
Common Ground Common Sense > Issues that Affect Our Lives > Foreign Policy and National Defense > Foreign Policy & National Defense Issues Archive
- No Hope Left In Iraq Fear Some
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/No_Hope_Le..._Fear_Some.html
Washington (UPI) May 12, 2006 - Sectarian violence in Iraq between Sunni and Shiite Muslims is getting worse and there is no hope of quashing it, the author of a new book on Iraq says. Nir Rosen, former Baghdad bureau chief for the Asia Times and now a freelance writer, spent time with Shiite firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and individuals involved with the Sunni insurgency in central Iraq.
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/No_Hope_Le..._Fear_Some.html
Washington (UPI) May 12, 2006 - Sectarian violence in Iraq between Sunni and Shiite Muslims is getting worse and there is no hope of quashing it, the author of a new book on Iraq says. Nir Rosen, former Baghdad bureau chief for the Asia Times and now a freelance writer, spent time with Shiite firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and individuals involved with the Sunni insurgency in central Iraq.
15 killed in continuing violence:
Four Iraqi soldiers were killed and seven civilians were wounded in clashes between the Iraqi army and insurgents in the town of Dhuluiya, 40 km (25 miles) north of Baghdad
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L12680396.htm
===
Bombs and bullets claim another 13 lives:
An Iraqi soldier was killed and five wounded in an attack on their patrol in Balad, north of Baghdad, police said.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MOU242518.htm
===
Four US soldiers killed in Iraq:
The US military has announced the deaths of four soldiers, including three in two separate roadside bombings southwest of Baghdad.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060511/wl_mi...fp/iraqusunrest
===
Al-Sistani orders mosques closed after killing of Sunni leader:
In a bid to stop sectarian violence, Iraq's top Shiite cleric ordered all Shiite mosques to close for three days in a town in southern Iraq where a local Sunni Arab leader was assassinated.
http://www.kare11.com/news/national/nation...?storyid=124726
===
The nightmares that fill the Baghdad night:
In the 'new Iraq' beloved of Bush and Blair, women can be arrested just for complaining.
http://tinyurl.com/k597h
===
Displaced Iraqis 'living like animals':
The spiralling violence in Iraq has led to sustained "sectarian cleansing" with many families forced to take refuge in squalid camps.
http://tinyurl.com/pytap
===
Caught in the Crossfire: The Untold Story of Falluja :
Video:
The American attack on Falluja, and the subsequent costs to the people there, has been a humanitarian, social, moral and ethical disaster; yet the American government and media have largely ignored the plight of the innocent victims. The refugees of Falluja risked their lives in order to tell their story to the world through the groundbreaking new documentary film, Caught in the Crossfire.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article13020.htm
===
US in secret gun deal :
The Pentagon has secretly shipped tens of thousands of small arms from Bosnia to Iraq in the past two years, using a web of private companies, at least one of which is a noted arms smuggler blacklisted by Washington and the UN.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/armstrade/story/....html?gusrc=rss
===
600 Ugandans reportedly abused while working in Iraq :
A senior U.S. officer has been working to restore the morale of some 600 Ugandan guards, most of them serving abroad for the first time, following the allegations that they were sexually abused while working with the U.S. forces in Iraq.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-05/...ent_4539340.htm
Four Iraqi soldiers were killed and seven civilians were wounded in clashes between the Iraqi army and insurgents in the town of Dhuluiya, 40 km (25 miles) north of Baghdad
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L12680396.htm
===
Bombs and bullets claim another 13 lives:
An Iraqi soldier was killed and five wounded in an attack on their patrol in Balad, north of Baghdad, police said.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MOU242518.htm
===
Four US soldiers killed in Iraq:
The US military has announced the deaths of four soldiers, including three in two separate roadside bombings southwest of Baghdad.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060511/wl_mi...fp/iraqusunrest
===
Al-Sistani orders mosques closed after killing of Sunni leader:
In a bid to stop sectarian violence, Iraq's top Shiite cleric ordered all Shiite mosques to close for three days in a town in southern Iraq where a local Sunni Arab leader was assassinated.
http://www.kare11.com/news/national/nation...?storyid=124726
===
The nightmares that fill the Baghdad night:
In the 'new Iraq' beloved of Bush and Blair, women can be arrested just for complaining.
http://tinyurl.com/k597h
===
Displaced Iraqis 'living like animals':
The spiralling violence in Iraq has led to sustained "sectarian cleansing" with many families forced to take refuge in squalid camps.
http://tinyurl.com/pytap
===
Caught in the Crossfire: The Untold Story of Falluja :
Video:
The American attack on Falluja, and the subsequent costs to the people there, has been a humanitarian, social, moral and ethical disaster; yet the American government and media have largely ignored the plight of the innocent victims. The refugees of Falluja risked their lives in order to tell their story to the world through the groundbreaking new documentary film, Caught in the Crossfire.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article13020.htm
===
US in secret gun deal :
The Pentagon has secretly shipped tens of thousands of small arms from Bosnia to Iraq in the past two years, using a web of private companies, at least one of which is a noted arms smuggler blacklisted by Washington and the UN.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/armstrade/story/....html?gusrc=rss
===
600 Ugandans reportedly abused while working in Iraq :
A senior U.S. officer has been working to restore the morale of some 600 Ugandan guards, most of them serving abroad for the first time, following the allegations that they were sexually abused while working with the U.S. forces in Iraq.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-05/...ent_4539340.htm
Baghdad bombs kill 19, blasts wreck shrines Yahoo! News
Bombs killed 19 people in Baghdad on Sunday in one of its bloodiest days in weeks, after blasts wrecked six small, rural Shi'ite shrines north of the capital in what appeared to be fresh sectarian attacks. As parliament met and Shi'ite Prime Minister-designate Nuri al-Maliki wrestled with factional disputes to form a government of national unity, six bombs exploded in Baghdad, including one at the main entrance leading to Baghdad airport. Dozens were wounded in the attacks. Hospital sources said three people were killed in the blast in the airport area, a sprawling compound that houses the U.S. military headquarters in Iraq. No one was hurt in Saturday's shrine attacks around the small town of Wajihiya. Residents expressed anger and concern that militants were trying to create friction in their mixed Sunni and Shi'ite community, which is typical of the region. Two of the shrines -- mostly one-room buildings attached to the tombs of noted clerics -- honoured relatives of two Shi'ite imams commemorated at the Golden Mosque in Samarra, where a bombing in February sparked weeks of communal bloodshed. Residents of Wajihiya, a town of about 5,000 people 30 km (20 miles) east of the regional capital Baquba, showed reporters five sites where explosions after dark had damaged the shrines, the most notable of which was dedicated to Abdullah bin Ali al- Hadi. A sixth was blown up in countryside nearby, police said. "This is a quiet place. We live in harmony with each other," local man Faez Abbas, 26, said, adding that Sunnis also used the shrines for worship -- a common practice in Iraq, although shrines are most often set up by Shi'ites. Iraqi and U.S. officials have said the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is targeting majority Shi'ites in an attempt to provoke retaliatory attacks against minority Sunnis and ignite a sectarian civil war. Raed Rasheed, governor of Diyala province, where the mixed Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish populations have suffered heavily from guerrilla violence, condemned the bombings and also criticised his police force for failing to protect the shrines. Several other small shrines were attacked after the destruction of Samarra's Golden Mosque on February 22. Widely blamed on al Qaeda's Sunni Islamist guerrillas -- although they have denied it -- the Samarra bombing provoked reprisal attacks by Shi'ites and a wave of sectarian bloodshed that has pitched Iraq toward civil war. Shi'ites, repressed under Saddam Hussein, are the majority community in the country and now hold sway. The Sunnis were dominant in Saddam's era.
CONSTITUTIONAL DEADLINE
Five months after parliamentary elections, Maliki has another week to present a cabinet to parliament under a constitutional deadline set when he was appointed in April. As parliament gathered for only its third full day of normal business since the December election, a small but influential Shi'ite party that has been complicating Maliki's task renewed its rejection of his offers. The Fadhila party, a member of the dominant Shi'ite Islamist Alliance which chose Maliki as premier, is struggling to keep control of the Oil Ministry. Other Alliance leaders want that vital post to go to Hussain al-Shahristani, a prominent Islamist and nuclear physicist once jailed and tortured by Saddam. Negotiators said on Sunday Shahristani was still favorite. In the deadliest blast in the capital on Sunday, six people, including three policemen, were killed by a bomb aimed at a police patrol in the mainly Sunni district of Aadhamiya. Four people were killed and five wounded when a bomb aimed at an Iraqi police convoy went off near Beirut Square in northeastern Baghdad. An attack targeting a checkpoint manned by Interior Ministry forces in Tayaran Square in central Baghdad killed two and wounded five. The victims' identities were unclear. In the northern city of Mosul, clashes erupted between insurgents and Iraqi security forces fighting alongside U.S. troops on Sunday, killing one policeman and wounding three, sources said.
By Aseel Kami
Bombs killed 19 people in Baghdad on Sunday in one of its bloodiest days in weeks, after blasts wrecked six small, rural Shi'ite shrines north of the capital in what appeared to be fresh sectarian attacks. As parliament met and Shi'ite Prime Minister-designate Nuri al-Maliki wrestled with factional disputes to form a government of national unity, six bombs exploded in Baghdad, including one at the main entrance leading to Baghdad airport. Dozens were wounded in the attacks. Hospital sources said three people were killed in the blast in the airport area, a sprawling compound that houses the U.S. military headquarters in Iraq. No one was hurt in Saturday's shrine attacks around the small town of Wajihiya. Residents expressed anger and concern that militants were trying to create friction in their mixed Sunni and Shi'ite community, which is typical of the region. Two of the shrines -- mostly one-room buildings attached to the tombs of noted clerics -- honoured relatives of two Shi'ite imams commemorated at the Golden Mosque in Samarra, where a bombing in February sparked weeks of communal bloodshed. Residents of Wajihiya, a town of about 5,000 people 30 km (20 miles) east of the regional capital Baquba, showed reporters five sites where explosions after dark had damaged the shrines, the most notable of which was dedicated to Abdullah bin Ali al- Hadi. A sixth was blown up in countryside nearby, police said. "This is a quiet place. We live in harmony with each other," local man Faez Abbas, 26, said, adding that Sunnis also used the shrines for worship -- a common practice in Iraq, although shrines are most often set up by Shi'ites. Iraqi and U.S. officials have said the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is targeting majority Shi'ites in an attempt to provoke retaliatory attacks against minority Sunnis and ignite a sectarian civil war. Raed Rasheed, governor of Diyala province, where the mixed Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish populations have suffered heavily from guerrilla violence, condemned the bombings and also criticised his police force for failing to protect the shrines. Several other small shrines were attacked after the destruction of Samarra's Golden Mosque on February 22. Widely blamed on al Qaeda's Sunni Islamist guerrillas -- although they have denied it -- the Samarra bombing provoked reprisal attacks by Shi'ites and a wave of sectarian bloodshed that has pitched Iraq toward civil war. Shi'ites, repressed under Saddam Hussein, are the majority community in the country and now hold sway. The Sunnis were dominant in Saddam's era.
CONSTITUTIONAL DEADLINE
Five months after parliamentary elections, Maliki has another week to present a cabinet to parliament under a constitutional deadline set when he was appointed in April. As parliament gathered for only its third full day of normal business since the December election, a small but influential Shi'ite party that has been complicating Maliki's task renewed its rejection of his offers. The Fadhila party, a member of the dominant Shi'ite Islamist Alliance which chose Maliki as premier, is struggling to keep control of the Oil Ministry. Other Alliance leaders want that vital post to go to Hussain al-Shahristani, a prominent Islamist and nuclear physicist once jailed and tortured by Saddam. Negotiators said on Sunday Shahristani was still favorite. In the deadliest blast in the capital on Sunday, six people, including three policemen, were killed by a bomb aimed at a police patrol in the mainly Sunni district of Aadhamiya. Four people were killed and five wounded when a bomb aimed at an Iraqi police convoy went off near Beirut Square in northeastern Baghdad. An attack targeting a checkpoint manned by Interior Ministry forces in Tayaran Square in central Baghdad killed two and wounded five. The victims' identities were unclear. In the northern city of Mosul, clashes erupted between insurgents and Iraqi security forces fighting alongside U.S. troops on Sunday, killing one policeman and wounding three, sources said.
By Aseel Kami
Witnesses to appear defending Saddam Yahoo! News
The trial of Saddam Hussein and seven co-accused is due to resume on Monday with the testimony of defense witnesses in connection with the killings of 148 Shi'ites in the 1980s, prosecutors and defense said. Separately, prosecutors said they had completed preparing a second trial, for genocide against the Kurds, and had passed it to the court. Hearings could start within a couple of months. Saddam, 69, who faces a death sentence if found guilty of crimes against humanity in the first trial, is not expected to take the stand when witnesses for a local Baath party official begin testifying in the heavily fortified Baghdad courtroom, defense counsel said. Khamis al-Obeidi, one of Saddam's lawyers, told Reuters dozens of witnesses, some from the town of Dujail, are ready to testify to the innocence of Saddam, his half-brother Barzan al- Tikriti and the six other defendants. The 148 Shi'ite men and youths were killed or executed after an attempt on Saddam's life in 1982 in Dujail, north of Baghdad. "Hundreds of people asked the defense team to attend the court and testify on behalf of our clients, but we decided that only witnesses whose testimonies are effective and legally productive could take the stand in court," Obeidi said. Witnesses are expected to be called for each of the eight defendants in an order in which witnesses for Saddam will appear last. Officials expect three days of hearings this week. The trial, the first of a dozen or more Saddam may face, has been marred since it started in October by the killing of defense lawyers, Saddam's diatribes and the resignation of the initial chief judge, who complained of government interference. During the last session on April 24, a five-member team of experts said signatures and handwriting on documents linking Saddam and six co-accused matched those of the former leader. Saddam and Barzan, former chief of the feared intelligence services, have said there was no crime in prosecuting the Dujail Shi'ites because they had plotted to kill a head of state at a time when Iraq was at war with neighbouring, Shi'ite Iran. Last week, former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, a member of Saddam's defense team, said the trial was a sham designed to justify the U.S.-led invasion.
GENOCIDE
Court officials said they were preparing to set a date for a new trial for Saddam, this time on charges the former leader committed genocide against Kurds in the late 1980s. The campaign against the Kurds was dubbed Anfal, or the Spoils of War. Saddam's co-accused will include his cousin Ali Hassan al-Majeed, known as "Chemical Ali," for his role in a poison gas attack against the Kurdish village of Halabja in 1988 that killed 5,000 people. The Halabja incident will form the basis of a separate, later trial. The Anfal hearings could run in parallel to the Dujail trial. Even if sentenced to death in the first case, Saddam can appeal, a process likely to delay any execution substantially. "After studying and checking the 41 dossiers of Anfal case, it was referred to the criminal panel to study it and set a date for starting the trial," said Munkith al-Fatlawi, the chief prosecutor in the Anfal case. "The prosecution will inform the defendants' lawyers of the Anfal case within 10 days and according to the Iraqi penal procedures law the trial could start 45 days after that." Prosecutors said the court would provide full protection for the defense witnesses of the Dujail case and that their identities be kept secret. Prosecution witnesses who described years of interrogations and abuses in Saddam's jails in the 1980s spoke behind a curtain for fear of their lives. Defense witnesses may do likewise.
By Ahmed Rasheed
The trial of Saddam Hussein and seven co-accused is due to resume on Monday with the testimony of defense witnesses in connection with the killings of 148 Shi'ites in the 1980s, prosecutors and defense said. Separately, prosecutors said they had completed preparing a second trial, for genocide against the Kurds, and had passed it to the court. Hearings could start within a couple of months. Saddam, 69, who faces a death sentence if found guilty of crimes against humanity in the first trial, is not expected to take the stand when witnesses for a local Baath party official begin testifying in the heavily fortified Baghdad courtroom, defense counsel said. Khamis al-Obeidi, one of Saddam's lawyers, told Reuters dozens of witnesses, some from the town of Dujail, are ready to testify to the innocence of Saddam, his half-brother Barzan al- Tikriti and the six other defendants. The 148 Shi'ite men and youths were killed or executed after an attempt on Saddam's life in 1982 in Dujail, north of Baghdad. "Hundreds of people asked the defense team to attend the court and testify on behalf of our clients, but we decided that only witnesses whose testimonies are effective and legally productive could take the stand in court," Obeidi said. Witnesses are expected to be called for each of the eight defendants in an order in which witnesses for Saddam will appear last. Officials expect three days of hearings this week. The trial, the first of a dozen or more Saddam may face, has been marred since it started in October by the killing of defense lawyers, Saddam's diatribes and the resignation of the initial chief judge, who complained of government interference. During the last session on April 24, a five-member team of experts said signatures and handwriting on documents linking Saddam and six co-accused matched those of the former leader. Saddam and Barzan, former chief of the feared intelligence services, have said there was no crime in prosecuting the Dujail Shi'ites because they had plotted to kill a head of state at a time when Iraq was at war with neighbouring, Shi'ite Iran. Last week, former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, a member of Saddam's defense team, said the trial was a sham designed to justify the U.S.-led invasion.
GENOCIDE
Court officials said they were preparing to set a date for a new trial for Saddam, this time on charges the former leader committed genocide against Kurds in the late 1980s. The campaign against the Kurds was dubbed Anfal, or the Spoils of War. Saddam's co-accused will include his cousin Ali Hassan al-Majeed, known as "Chemical Ali," for his role in a poison gas attack against the Kurdish village of Halabja in 1988 that killed 5,000 people. The Halabja incident will form the basis of a separate, later trial. The Anfal hearings could run in parallel to the Dujail trial. Even if sentenced to death in the first case, Saddam can appeal, a process likely to delay any execution substantially. "After studying and checking the 41 dossiers of Anfal case, it was referred to the criminal panel to study it and set a date for starting the trial," said Munkith al-Fatlawi, the chief prosecutor in the Anfal case. "The prosecution will inform the defendants' lawyers of the Anfal case within 10 days and according to the Iraqi penal procedures law the trial could start 45 days after that." Prosecutors said the court would provide full protection for the defense witnesses of the Dujail case and that their identities be kept secret. Prosecution witnesses who described years of interrogations and abuses in Saddam's jails in the 1980s spoke behind a curtain for fear of their lives. Defense witnesses may do likewise.
By Ahmed Rasheed
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-I..._r=1&oref=login
Shiites, Sunnis Threaten Gov't Formation
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: May 14, 2006
Filed at 7:39 a.m. ET
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Efforts to create a national unity government in Iraq stumbled Sunday as a member of an influential Shiite alliance bloc threatened to form a new government unilaterally if rival groups did not scale back their demands. Sunnis said they may withdraw from the process entirely.
Under the constitution, Prime Minister-designate Nouri al-Maliki faces a May 22 deadline to form a government. Lawmakers have struggled with this task for months, hoping a new government will cool escalating sectarian tensions between Iraq's Shiite majority and the Sunni Arab minority.
As the 275-member parliament convened Sunday, Bahaa al-Araji, a lawmaker loyal to the radical anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, denounced what he said was continued U.S. meddling in the selection of ministers for coveted Interior and Defense Ministry posts. He set a deadline of two days before the 130 alliance deputies act unilaterally.
''Within the past two days, the occupation forces have been interfering with certain names and certain posts,'' said al-Araji, whose group holds 30 seats. ''There are also blocs participating in the (formation of) the government that have begun demanding more than what they are entitled to electorally.''
''We have set a limit of within two days, and the (various) blocs should abide by this timeframe and act in accordance with the rules upon which we have agreed. Otherwise, we will form a government without regard to their demands,'' he said, singling out the Sunni Arab Accordance Front as one example.
Sunni lawmakers shot back with their own threats, with one member of the three-party Sunni Arab coalition that holds 44 seats threatening to walk out of the talks and the government.
''If we do not get what we deserve, we will end our participation in the political process,'' lawmaker Salman al-Jumali told The Associated Press. ''Our representatives in parliament, and the officials already awarded ministerial posts will withdraw.''
He said they wanted the Defense, Education, Planning and Health ministries, among others.
Earlier, another member of the United Iraqi Alliance, the Fadhila Party, rebuffed a call by al-Maliki to return to the Cabinet formation negotiations, saying the political process was marred and that the incoming government would be little more than an amalgam of personalities out of tune with the needs of Iraqis.
''We wish the people would understand our stance -- a long-standing one for the party,'' said Sheik Sabah al-Saedi, a spokesman for the party which hold 15 seats. The parties ''must be honest and just in evaluating the issues and reporting them to the people because history will bear witness.''
Last week, Fadhila said it was withdrawing from the talks, arguing that the process was being driven by self-interests, sectarianism and U.S. pressure.
The group had earlier said that it was also frustrated by a rejection of its bid for the Oil Ministry. But in Sunday's news conference, al-Saedi said they would not come back, ''even if we are given the Oil Ministry now.''
Fadhila's withdrawal, coupled with the threats by the Sadrists and al-Jumaili, casts further doubts that al-Maliki can meet the May 22 deadline.
Lawmakers have said that without unanimity on key posts, al-Maliki may announce a partial Cabinet and hold temporary control of the Interior and Defense ministries until suitable candidates are agreed upon.
U.S. officials have said they would like to see independents, unaffiliated with Iraq's various violent militias, hold those two posts. This has led some lawmakers to accuse the United States of meddling.
Al-Araji said the Accordance Front is ''demanding more than what they are entitled to,'' and stressed that the Iraqi List, a secular faction headed by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, was also evaluating its continued role in the negotiations.
''There are no problems within the alliance. But there is uncertainty within the Iraqi List whether to (continue) participating and today they will reach a decision,'' al-Araji said.
Shiites, Sunnis Threaten Gov't Formation
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: May 14, 2006
Filed at 7:39 a.m. ET
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Efforts to create a national unity government in Iraq stumbled Sunday as a member of an influential Shiite alliance bloc threatened to form a new government unilaterally if rival groups did not scale back their demands. Sunnis said they may withdraw from the process entirely.
Under the constitution, Prime Minister-designate Nouri al-Maliki faces a May 22 deadline to form a government. Lawmakers have struggled with this task for months, hoping a new government will cool escalating sectarian tensions between Iraq's Shiite majority and the Sunni Arab minority.
As the 275-member parliament convened Sunday, Bahaa al-Araji, a lawmaker loyal to the radical anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, denounced what he said was continued U.S. meddling in the selection of ministers for coveted Interior and Defense Ministry posts. He set a deadline of two days before the 130 alliance deputies act unilaterally.
''Within the past two days, the occupation forces have been interfering with certain names and certain posts,'' said al-Araji, whose group holds 30 seats. ''There are also blocs participating in the (formation of) the government that have begun demanding more than what they are entitled to electorally.''
''We have set a limit of within two days, and the (various) blocs should abide by this timeframe and act in accordance with the rules upon which we have agreed. Otherwise, we will form a government without regard to their demands,'' he said, singling out the Sunni Arab Accordance Front as one example.
Sunni lawmakers shot back with their own threats, with one member of the three-party Sunni Arab coalition that holds 44 seats threatening to walk out of the talks and the government.
''If we do not get what we deserve, we will end our participation in the political process,'' lawmaker Salman al-Jumali told The Associated Press. ''Our representatives in parliament, and the officials already awarded ministerial posts will withdraw.''
He said they wanted the Defense, Education, Planning and Health ministries, among others.
Earlier, another member of the United Iraqi Alliance, the Fadhila Party, rebuffed a call by al-Maliki to return to the Cabinet formation negotiations, saying the political process was marred and that the incoming government would be little more than an amalgam of personalities out of tune with the needs of Iraqis.
''We wish the people would understand our stance -- a long-standing one for the party,'' said Sheik Sabah al-Saedi, a spokesman for the party which hold 15 seats. The parties ''must be honest and just in evaluating the issues and reporting them to the people because history will bear witness.''
Last week, Fadhila said it was withdrawing from the talks, arguing that the process was being driven by self-interests, sectarianism and U.S. pressure.
The group had earlier said that it was also frustrated by a rejection of its bid for the Oil Ministry. But in Sunday's news conference, al-Saedi said they would not come back, ''even if we are given the Oil Ministry now.''
Fadhila's withdrawal, coupled with the threats by the Sadrists and al-Jumaili, casts further doubts that al-Maliki can meet the May 22 deadline.
Lawmakers have said that without unanimity on key posts, al-Maliki may announce a partial Cabinet and hold temporary control of the Interior and Defense ministries until suitable candidates are agreed upon.
U.S. officials have said they would like to see independents, unaffiliated with Iraq's various violent militias, hold those two posts. This has led some lawmakers to accuse the United States of meddling.
Al-Araji said the Accordance Front is ''demanding more than what they are entitled to,'' and stressed that the Iraqi List, a secular faction headed by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, was also evaluating its continued role in the negotiations.
''There are no problems within the alliance. But there is uncertainty within the Iraqi List whether to (continue) participating and today they will reach a decision,'' al-Araji said.
Blasts kill 14 at Baghdad airport BBC News
Fourteen people have died and six were hurt in a double suicide attack near Baghdad airport, on a day of violence that claimed at least 30 lives in Iraq. The blasts took place in a car park close to the airport compound, the US military said. Militants north of the capital also attacked the Iraqi foreign minister's convoy, killing two of his bodyguards. The violence came a day after two British soldiers died in a bombing near Basra, the British army said. The province's governor has suspended the local police chief and asked for the military commander in the area to be removed, accusing both men of having terrorist links. But Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told the BBC he did not think the Defence Ministry would follow the governor's instructions.
Police targeted
The airport attacks saw two vehicles packed with explosives detonated in a busy car park. The nearby US army base was not believed to be a target. Elsewhere in the capital, at least another 11 people died in a series of attacks on police patrols and a market, officials said. In these and other incidents around the country:
The airport attacks came as militants launched an assault on the foreign minister's convoy as it was travelling north of the capital.
Fourteen people have died and six were hurt in a double suicide attack near Baghdad airport, on a day of violence that claimed at least 30 lives in Iraq. The blasts took place in a car park close to the airport compound, the US military said. Militants north of the capital also attacked the Iraqi foreign minister's convoy, killing two of his bodyguards. The violence came a day after two British soldiers died in a bombing near Basra, the British army said. The province's governor has suspended the local police chief and asked for the military commander in the area to be removed, accusing both men of having terrorist links. But Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told the BBC he did not think the Defence Ministry would follow the governor's instructions.
Police targeted
The airport attacks saw two vehicles packed with explosives detonated in a busy car park. The nearby US army base was not believed to be a target. Elsewhere in the capital, at least another 11 people died in a series of attacks on police patrols and a market, officials said. In these and other incidents around the country:
- At least five civilians are killed when a bomb aimed at a police patrol explodes on Palestine Street in the east of Baghdad
- At least three people are killed and another 13 injured by a roadside bomb planted in the Sunni-dominated district of Adhamiya in the north of the city
- Three civilians are killed when a bomb detonates at a vegetable market in the southern Zafaraniya district of the Iraqi capital
- Insurgents and police clash in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, leaving one policeman dead
- Two civilians die and nine are injured in a bomb attack targeting a US military convoy in Mosul
- Police in Karbala find the bodies of five people who had apparently been kidnapped.
The airport attacks came as militants launched an assault on the foreign minister's convoy as it was travelling north of the capital.
- Iraq's Nightmare Reality
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Iraqs_Nightmare_Reality.html
Amman, Jordan (UPI) May 15, 2006 - If the old saying that things need to get worse before they get better applies to Iraq, it's hard to imagine how much worse it can possibly get before that country returns to minimum normality.
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Iraqs_Nightmare_Reality.html
Amman, Jordan (UPI) May 15, 2006 - If the old saying that things need to get worse before they get better applies to Iraq, it's hard to imagine how much worse it can possibly get before that country returns to minimum normality.
41 die in Iraqi attacks:
Up to 26 were killed in Baghdad and 15 in the south of the country, including two British soldiers.
http://u.tv/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=73308&pt=n
===
U.S. Soldier among nine killed as violence continues:
The bodies of three Iraqis who had been kidnapped and tortured also were found in the capital of Iraq, police said.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2006/05...1578188-ap.html
===
Blast kills two American soldiers in Eastern Baghdad :
Two US soldiers were killed on Sunday due to a bomb blast that targeted their Army vehicle in East Baghdad, said a statement by the US forces.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/Home/Story.aspx?Lan...=en&DSNO=865909
===
Crying Wolf: Who is behind the Death Squads in Iraq?:
Viewers should be &aware that due to the nature of the subject, some images within this movie are of a disturbing nature. The implications of the evidence are even more disturbing.
http://www.cryingwolf.deconstructingiraq.org.uk/index.html
===
Clashes Erupt Between Two Iraqi Army Units :
Clashes erupted Friday between two Iraqi army units following a roadside bombing north of the capital, and Iraqi police said a Shiite solder was killed in an exchange of fire with a Kurdish unit.
http://tinyurl.com/o9mel
===
Report: Suicidal troops sent into combat:
U.S. military troops with severe psychological problems have been sent to Iraq or kept in combat, even when superiors have been aware of signs of mental illness, a newspaper reported for Sunday editions.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12777489/
===
Pair help Iraq veterans 'survive peace':
An Iowa couple's son killed himself while suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. 'We can't ignore the others,' they say.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article13309.htm
===
Military seeks more air bases :
"We’ll be in the region for the foreseeable future," said U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Allen Peck, deputy air commander of U.S. Central Command, which oversees the region. "Our intention would be to stay as long as the host nations will have us."
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article13040.htm
===
On Mother's Day in a Time of War:
On this Mother's Day, my thoughts go out to First Lady Laura Bush. - She will never feel the pain that so many Iraqi mothers feel when their babies are blown to bits for Bush's agenda. And she will never feel the pain of all those American mothers of dead soldiers.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article13042.htm
===
Ex-WMD Inspector: Politics Quashed Facts :
A year after Bush administration claims about Iraqi ``bioweapons trailers'' were discredited by American experts, U.S. officials were still suppressing the findings, says a senior member of the CIA-led Iraq inspection team.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article13037.htm
===
Words of Mass Deception:
Rod Barton blew the whistle on Australian, US and British lies about Iraq's hidden weapons cache. And the Australian Government has made sure he pays a high price for his stand. Hamish McDonald reports
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article13031.htm
===
Up to 26 were killed in Baghdad and 15 in the south of the country, including two British soldiers.
http://u.tv/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=73308&pt=n
===
U.S. Soldier among nine killed as violence continues:
The bodies of three Iraqis who had been kidnapped and tortured also were found in the capital of Iraq, police said.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2006/05...1578188-ap.html
===
Blast kills two American soldiers in Eastern Baghdad :
Two US soldiers were killed on Sunday due to a bomb blast that targeted their Army vehicle in East Baghdad, said a statement by the US forces.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/Home/Story.aspx?Lan...=en&DSNO=865909
===
Crying Wolf: Who is behind the Death Squads in Iraq?:
Viewers should be &aware that due to the nature of the subject, some images within this movie are of a disturbing nature. The implications of the evidence are even more disturbing.
http://www.cryingwolf.deconstructingiraq.org.uk/index.html
===
Clashes Erupt Between Two Iraqi Army Units :
Clashes erupted Friday between two Iraqi army units following a roadside bombing north of the capital, and Iraqi police said a Shiite solder was killed in an exchange of fire with a Kurdish unit.
http://tinyurl.com/o9mel
===
Report: Suicidal troops sent into combat:
U.S. military troops with severe psychological problems have been sent to Iraq or kept in combat, even when superiors have been aware of signs of mental illness, a newspaper reported for Sunday editions.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12777489/
===
Pair help Iraq veterans 'survive peace':
An Iowa couple's son killed himself while suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. 'We can't ignore the others,' they say.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article13309.htm
===
Military seeks more air bases :
"We’ll be in the region for the foreseeable future," said U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Allen Peck, deputy air commander of U.S. Central Command, which oversees the region. "Our intention would be to stay as long as the host nations will have us."
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article13040.htm
===
On Mother's Day in a Time of War:
On this Mother's Day, my thoughts go out to First Lady Laura Bush. - She will never feel the pain that so many Iraqi mothers feel when their babies are blown to bits for Bush's agenda. And she will never feel the pain of all those American mothers of dead soldiers.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article13042.htm
===
Ex-WMD Inspector: Politics Quashed Facts :
A year after Bush administration claims about Iraqi ``bioweapons trailers'' were discredited by American experts, U.S. officials were still suppressing the findings, says a senior member of the CIA-led Iraq inspection team.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article13037.htm
===
Words of Mass Deception:
Rod Barton blew the whistle on Australian, US and British lies about Iraq's hidden weapons cache. And the Australian Government has made sure he pays a high price for his stand. Hamish McDonald reports
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article13031.htm
===
US hails raids near Baghdad, Sunnis cry "atrocity" Yahoo! News
U.S. forces killed over 40 Iraqi rebels in raids and air strikes near Baghdad, the military said on Monday, but leading clerics from the Sunni minority accused the Americans of an "atrocity" that killed two dozen civilians. Two U.S. helicopter crew were killed when their aircraft was shot down during the battles on Sunday in the rural area around Latifiya and Yusufiya, south of the capital, where the military has said al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been active. The complaint from the Muslim Clerics Association, the main Sunni Arab religious grouping, came at a sensitive time as U.S. officials wait anxiously for minority Sunni political leaders to confirm their participation in a national unity government. Saddam Hussein, whose overthrow in the U.S. invasion of 2003 deprived Sunnis of the power they once held over the Shi'ite Muslim majority, refused to plead in court on Monday when read a formal charge sheet for crimes against humanity in the killing, torture or jailing of 399 Shi'ites from the town of Dujail. The judge entered a not guilty plea for the former president, who insisted he was still head of state. The U.S. military said its troops killed 41 people over the preceding two days, all of them insurgents, referred to either as "al Qaeda associates" or "terrorists." In doing so it lost its second helicopter in the area in six weeks. Among those killed, according to a military statement, was a man suspected in the shooting down of a helicopter on April 1. U.S. military statements said several women and children were "inadvertently wounded by shrapnel" and treated in the site or evacuated, but made no mention of civilians being killed. But the Muslim Clerics Association, which has often been sharply critical of the occupying forces, said 25 civilians were dead in the U.S. action: "We hold the Iraqi government and the occupiers responsible for this brutal atrocity."
ZARQAWI ACCUSED
In recent weeks, U.S. commanders have announced raids on suspected bases around Yusufiya for Sunni al Qaeda fighters, describing some as staging areas for the sort of bomb attacks on Baghdad that killed more than 30 people on Sunday. U.S. officers have accused Zarqawi of trying to foment civil war and to derail Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's effort to form a national unity government with Sunnis and Kurds. A series of bloodless bombings of small Shi'ite shrines northeast of Baghdad on Saturday raised fears of the sort of sectarian backlash provoked by the destruction of a major shine in February that was blamed on al Qaeda -- though it denied it. Disputes over the key posts of interior, defense and oil ministers are hampering Maliki, who has a week left of a month-long constitutional period to present a cabinet to parliament. Sunni leaders have accused the Shi'ite-run Interior Ministry of running death squads. Maliki has said he will appoint an independent with no ties to armed groups to the post. After hundreds of deaths and with tens of thousands of people having fled their homes, some question whether a unity government can start to reverse a slide to civil war, however. Washington is keen to see stability in order to be able to start withdrawing some of its 133,000 troops from
Iraq.
SADDAM DEFIANT
Two and half years after he was found hiding in a hole by U.S. troops, Saddam stood relaxed and, on occasion, defiant in the heavily fortified Baghdad courtroom where he is being tried with seven others for crimes against humanity. Asked how he pleaded Saddam, 69, who stood alone at first in the metal-railed dock, complained that he could not give a simple Yes or No answer to the lengthy accusation: "I am president of Iraq by the will of the Iraqi people." "You were, but not now," replied Judge Raouf Abdul Rahman. He entered a "not guilty" plea on Saddam's behalf after he gave a 15-minute recitation of killings, torture and executions that followed an attempt on the Iraqi leader's life in Dujail. Seven months into the trial and after a three-week recess since the prosecution case ended, Abdul Rahman read each of the eight defendants in turn the final charge sheet against them. All pleaded not guilty or, like Saddam, were ruled to have so pleaded after contesting the U.S.-backed court's legitimacy. All eight face hanging if convicted, but only after appeals, likely to be held up by a dozen or so other trials for Saddam. The charge sheets against all eight consisted of largely similar accounts of the events of July 8, 1982. Nine people died on that day, the judge said. Others, some of them children, died under interrogation in Baghdad or in harsh conditions in the desert where hundreds spent four years. Of 399 people arrested, the names of some of the dead were listed -- among them were a number of children, including Zina Mohammed Hassan, a girl who died in a Baghdad torture center. Saddam, the judge said, also signed orders approving the executions in 1984 of 148 men from Dujail after a rapid court process -- even though some of them had already died under torture and 32 were under 18 and so protected by Iraqi law.
By Ibon Villelabeitia
U.S. forces killed over 40 Iraqi rebels in raids and air strikes near Baghdad, the military said on Monday, but leading clerics from the Sunni minority accused the Americans of an "atrocity" that killed two dozen civilians. Two U.S. helicopter crew were killed when their aircraft was shot down during the battles on Sunday in the rural area around Latifiya and Yusufiya, south of the capital, where the military has said al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been active. The complaint from the Muslim Clerics Association, the main Sunni Arab religious grouping, came at a sensitive time as U.S. officials wait anxiously for minority Sunni political leaders to confirm their participation in a national unity government. Saddam Hussein, whose overthrow in the U.S. invasion of 2003 deprived Sunnis of the power they once held over the Shi'ite Muslim majority, refused to plead in court on Monday when read a formal charge sheet for crimes against humanity in the killing, torture or jailing of 399 Shi'ites from the town of Dujail. The judge entered a not guilty plea for the former president, who insisted he was still head of state. The U.S. military said its troops killed 41 people over the preceding two days, all of them insurgents, referred to either as "al Qaeda associates" or "terrorists." In doing so it lost its second helicopter in the area in six weeks. Among those killed, according to a military statement, was a man suspected in the shooting down of a helicopter on April 1. U.S. military statements said several women and children were "inadvertently wounded by shrapnel" and treated in the site or evacuated, but made no mention of civilians being killed. But the Muslim Clerics Association, which has often been sharply critical of the occupying forces, said 25 civilians were dead in the U.S. action: "We hold the Iraqi government and the occupiers responsible for this brutal atrocity."
ZARQAWI ACCUSED
In recent weeks, U.S. commanders have announced raids on suspected bases around Yusufiya for Sunni al Qaeda fighters, describing some as staging areas for the sort of bomb attacks on Baghdad that killed more than 30 people on Sunday. U.S. officers have accused Zarqawi of trying to foment civil war and to derail Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's effort to form a national unity government with Sunnis and Kurds. A series of bloodless bombings of small Shi'ite shrines northeast of Baghdad on Saturday raised fears of the sort of sectarian backlash provoked by the destruction of a major shine in February that was blamed on al Qaeda -- though it denied it. Disputes over the key posts of interior, defense and oil ministers are hampering Maliki, who has a week left of a month-long constitutional period to present a cabinet to parliament. Sunni leaders have accused the Shi'ite-run Interior Ministry of running death squads. Maliki has said he will appoint an independent with no ties to armed groups to the post. After hundreds of deaths and with tens of thousands of people having fled their homes, some question whether a unity government can start to reverse a slide to civil war, however. Washington is keen to see stability in order to be able to start withdrawing some of its 133,000 troops from
Iraq.
SADDAM DEFIANT
Two and half years after he was found hiding in a hole by U.S. troops, Saddam stood relaxed and, on occasion, defiant in the heavily fortified Baghdad courtroom where he is being tried with seven others for crimes against humanity. Asked how he pleaded Saddam, 69, who stood alone at first in the metal-railed dock, complained that he could not give a simple Yes or No answer to the lengthy accusation: "I am president of Iraq by the will of the Iraqi people." "You were, but not now," replied Judge Raouf Abdul Rahman. He entered a "not guilty" plea on Saddam's behalf after he gave a 15-minute recitation of killings, torture and executions that followed an attempt on the Iraqi leader's life in Dujail. Seven months into the trial and after a three-week recess since the prosecution case ended, Abdul Rahman read each of the eight defendants in turn the final charge sheet against them. All pleaded not guilty or, like Saddam, were ruled to have so pleaded after contesting the U.S.-backed court's legitimacy. All eight face hanging if convicted, but only after appeals, likely to be held up by a dozen or so other trials for Saddam. The charge sheets against all eight consisted of largely similar accounts of the events of July 8, 1982. Nine people died on that day, the judge said. Others, some of them children, died under interrogation in Baghdad or in harsh conditions in the desert where hundreds spent four years. Of 399 people arrested, the names of some of the dead were listed -- among them were a number of children, including Zina Mohammed Hassan, a girl who died in a Baghdad torture center. Saddam, the judge said, also signed orders approving the executions in 1984 of 148 men from Dujail after a rapid court process -- even though some of them had already died under torture and 32 were under 18 and so protected by Iraqi law.
By Ibon Villelabeitia
At least 65 Killed ( including 3 marines) In continuing violence:
15 suspected al Qaeda-linked militants were killed during a series of raids near Latifiya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/KAM529851.htm
===
Iraq Sunnis Accuse US of Killing 25 Civilians:
"We hold the Iraqi government and the occupiers responsible for this brutal atrocity," the Muslim Clerics Association said in a statement.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13057.htm
===
Remains of 11 people found in Baghdad :
Iraqi police found eleven bodies of Iraqi citizens who were shot dead after having sustained injuries due to torture in different areas of Karbala in south of Baghdad.
http://english.bna.bh/?ID=44835
===
Insurgents Down U.S. Helicopter, Killing 2 :
Insurgents shot down a U.S. helicopter south of Baghdad and killed two soldiers, the U.S. military said Monday. Their deaths, along with those of three other soldiers and two Marines, brought the weekend toll to seven U.S. service members
http://tinyurl.com/ehhou
===
After seven British deaths in a week, Basra's police chief is linked to 'terrorists":
Fears that Basra is slipping beyond control were fuelled at the weekend when the governor suspended the city's police chief, who is a strong supporter of British attempts to purge the force of militia elements.
http://tinyurl.com/jtjs7
===
Shi'ite dissenter puts Iraqi government talks in jeopardy:
Efforts to create a national unity government in Iraq stumbled Sunday as a member of an influential Shi'ite alliance bloc threatened to form a new government unilaterally if rival groups did not scale back their demands. Sunnis said they may withdraw from the process entirely.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article.../605150387/1009
===
Violence robs Iraq of Christian heritage:
The flight of religious minorities escaping violence in post-war Iraq is threatening to rob the country of its once diverse Christian heritage.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/AB5...A540BD2F5E2.htm
===
Back From Iraq:
You don't tell them what it's like to kill a man or to have one of your buddies blown up. You just don't go there."
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13048.htm
===
Chris Floyd: Smoke Alarm: Yet More Evidence for War Crimes :
Here's yet another smoking gun revealing the fireless smoke of lies that the Bush Regime spread across the land to justify its outright war of aggression in Iraq. How many more times do we have to be shown glaring evidence that the war was a con job from the word go
http://tinyurl.com/kduzl
===
Italian Pay-off From Niger Forgery?:
What did the Italian government, under then-Prime Minister Berlusconi, get in return for providing Bush with a smoking gun to attack Iraq?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13052.htm
===
Inspector: Politics stunted 'biotrailer' findings:
A year after Bush administration claims about Iraqi ''bioweapons trailers'' were discredited by American experts, U.S. officials were still suppressing the findings, according to a senior member of the CIA-led inspection team.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13054.htm
===
A Must Listen: Greg Palast “Armed Madhouse :
Is the war in Iraq for oil? Yes, it's about the oil, but not for the oil. In my investigations for Armed Madhouse, I ended up with a story far more fascinating and difficult than I imagined. We didn't go in to grab the oil. Just the opposite. We went in to control the oil and make sure we didn't get it. It goes back to 1920, when the oil companies sat in a room in Brussels in a hotel room, drew a red line
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13055.htm
15 suspected al Qaeda-linked militants were killed during a series of raids near Latifiya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/KAM529851.htm
===
Iraq Sunnis Accuse US of Killing 25 Civilians:
"We hold the Iraqi government and the occupiers responsible for this brutal atrocity," the Muslim Clerics Association said in a statement.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13057.htm
===
Remains of 11 people found in Baghdad :
Iraqi police found eleven bodies of Iraqi citizens who were shot dead after having sustained injuries due to torture in different areas of Karbala in south of Baghdad.
http://english.bna.bh/?ID=44835
===
Insurgents Down U.S. Helicopter, Killing 2 :
Insurgents shot down a U.S. helicopter south of Baghdad and killed two soldiers, the U.S. military said Monday. Their deaths, along with those of three other soldiers and two Marines, brought the weekend toll to seven U.S. service members
http://tinyurl.com/ehhou
===
After seven British deaths in a week, Basra's police chief is linked to 'terrorists":
Fears that Basra is slipping beyond control were fuelled at the weekend when the governor suspended the city's police chief, who is a strong supporter of British attempts to purge the force of militia elements.
http://tinyurl.com/jtjs7
===
Shi'ite dissenter puts Iraqi government talks in jeopardy:
Efforts to create a national unity government in Iraq stumbled Sunday as a member of an influential Shi'ite alliance bloc threatened to form a new government unilaterally if rival groups did not scale back their demands. Sunnis said they may withdraw from the process entirely.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article.../605150387/1009
===
Violence robs Iraq of Christian heritage:
The flight of religious minorities escaping violence in post-war Iraq is threatening to rob the country of its once diverse Christian heritage.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/AB5...A540BD2F5E2.htm
===
Back From Iraq:
You don't tell them what it's like to kill a man or to have one of your buddies blown up. You just don't go there."
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13048.htm
===
Chris Floyd: Smoke Alarm: Yet More Evidence for War Crimes :
Here's yet another smoking gun revealing the fireless smoke of lies that the Bush Regime spread across the land to justify its outright war of aggression in Iraq. How many more times do we have to be shown glaring evidence that the war was a con job from the word go
http://tinyurl.com/kduzl
===
Italian Pay-off From Niger Forgery?:
What did the Italian government, under then-Prime Minister Berlusconi, get in return for providing Bush with a smoking gun to attack Iraq?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13052.htm
===
Inspector: Politics stunted 'biotrailer' findings:
A year after Bush administration claims about Iraqi ''bioweapons trailers'' were discredited by American experts, U.S. officials were still suppressing the findings, according to a senior member of the CIA-led inspection team.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13054.htm
===
A Must Listen: Greg Palast “Armed Madhouse :
Is the war in Iraq for oil? Yes, it's about the oil, but not for the oil. In my investigations for Armed Madhouse, I ended up with a story far more fascinating and difficult than I imagined. We didn't go in to grab the oil. Just the opposite. We went in to control the oil and make sure we didn't get it. It goes back to 1920, when the oil companies sat in a room in Brussels in a hotel room, drew a red line
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13055.htm
AMERICA IN BAGHDAD - DAVID PHINNEY (TOMPAINE.COM, MAY 15): The Bush administration continues to follow the dysfunctional contracting methods and lack of transparency with one of its most recent and visible projects in Baghdad -- the building of the new U.S. embassy.
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/05/1..._in_baghdad.php
IRAQ MAY ALREADY BE LOST TO US - H.D.S. GREENWAY (BOSTON GLOBE, MAY 16): The United States is not going to be able to control the course of events in Iraq.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial..._be_lost_to_us/
CAN WE WIN AN INSURGENTS WAR? - PATRICK J. BUCHANAN (AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE): The U.S. Army is not going to be defeated in Iraq, said one U.S. general, and he added pointedly: If we lose this war, we will lose it here in the United States.
http://www.amconmag.com/2006/2006_05_22/buchanan.html
IRAQ'S OIL: A NEO-CON DREAM GONE BUST - PETER KIERNAN (ASIA TIMES, MAY 17)
http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HE17Ak01.html
IRAQ WAR IMAGES UNCENSORED DAVID SWANSON (AFTERDOWNING STREET.ORG, MAY 15)
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/uncensored
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/05/1..._in_baghdad.php
IRAQ MAY ALREADY BE LOST TO US - H.D.S. GREENWAY (BOSTON GLOBE, MAY 16): The United States is not going to be able to control the course of events in Iraq.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial..._be_lost_to_us/
CAN WE WIN AN INSURGENTS WAR? - PATRICK J. BUCHANAN (AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE): The U.S. Army is not going to be defeated in Iraq, said one U.S. general, and he added pointedly: If we lose this war, we will lose it here in the United States.
http://www.amconmag.com/2006/2006_05_22/buchanan.html
IRAQ'S OIL: A NEO-CON DREAM GONE BUST - PETER KIERNAN (ASIA TIMES, MAY 17)
http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HE17Ak01.html
IRAQ WAR IMAGES UNCENSORED DAVID SWANSON (AFTERDOWNING STREET.ORG, MAY 15)
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/uncensored
3 U.S. Marines among 25 killed in continuing violence:
The bodies of three people, bearing signs of torture and with gunshot wounds in the head, were found in different districts in Baghdad, police said.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/KAM637333.htm
===
Baghdad bombing, shooting attack kills 19: police :
Nineteen people were killed in a shooting and bombing attack at a bus garage in eastern Baghdad on Tuesday, police said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060516/wl_nm/iraq_bomb_dc
===
At least 14 killed in Baghdad market bombing:
Several women and children were among the dead in the attack, which targeted a mixed Sunni-Shiite area of the capital.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1640157.htm
===
Iraq War Images Uncensored:
This collection of photos is the most complete we are aware of. Many of them are being made public here for the first time. Many of them are extremely gruesome. These must not be censored, because this is what a war really looks like, and that is something citizens need to see in order to cast informed ballots and lobby our representatives for or against war.
Warning - Thes images are extremely gruesome.
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/uncensored
===
In Iraq war, time is a weapon :
U.S. forces in Iraq, locked in a war that cannot be won by military force alone, are facing a weapon that tends to favor insurgents -- time.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060516/us_nm/usa_war_time_dc_2
The bodies of three people, bearing signs of torture and with gunshot wounds in the head, were found in different districts in Baghdad, police said.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/KAM637333.htm
===
Baghdad bombing, shooting attack kills 19: police :
Nineteen people were killed in a shooting and bombing attack at a bus garage in eastern Baghdad on Tuesday, police said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060516/wl_nm/iraq_bomb_dc
===
At least 14 killed in Baghdad market bombing:
Several women and children were among the dead in the attack, which targeted a mixed Sunni-Shiite area of the capital.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1640157.htm
===
Iraq War Images Uncensored:
This collection of photos is the most complete we are aware of. Many of them are being made public here for the first time. Many of them are extremely gruesome. These must not be censored, because this is what a war really looks like, and that is something citizens need to see in order to cast informed ballots and lobby our representatives for or against war.
Warning - Thes images are extremely gruesome.
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/uncensored
===
In Iraq war, time is a weapon :
U.S. forces in Iraq, locked in a war that cannot be won by military force alone, are facing a weapon that tends to favor insurgents -- time.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060516/us_nm/usa_war_time_dc_2
http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.p...nt=yes&id=14879
Swiss Canton Model Is Perfect for a Federated Iraq
by John R. Thomson
Posted May 17, 2006
On Human Events Online this March, John Thomson reiterated the compelling case for a decentralized Iraq ["America in Iraq: These Colors Must Not Run"], which we had originally proposed in articles published in February and June 2004. We therefore welcome the recent publication by Sen. Joseph Biden (D.-Del.) and Leslie Gelb in the New York Times of their article, "Unity Through Autonomy in Iraq." Our only question to them and others is "Gentlemen, what took you so long?"
There remains as yet little indication the Bush Administration is considering any significant alteration to its long sounded call for a centralized government. However, even the most stubborn, ill-experienced observer must agree that long-term prospects for such a formulation are slight indeed. In any event, we are delighted that after more than two years' gestation, the idea is getting attention and being discussed more broadly.
There are clearly challenges aplenty in the fulfillment of any governance formula for Iraq. The Arab world’s authoritarian tradition extends to Baghdad, requiring resolution and clear codification in law. Fortunately, at the leadership level, good judgment increasingly seems to prevail. Agreement on a prime minister and cabinet, after months of politicking, means politicians on all sides are becoming realistic, causing us to infer they have a clear understanding of the virtual impossibility of creating an effective, strong central government.
Shi'a and Kurd leaders overwhelmingly favor a decentralized government, with the Sunnis nominally opposed, fearing they will be dealt out of Iraq’s oil wealth.
What is required is equitable distribution of oil ownership with its attendant financial benefits, a challenge that provides an outstanding free-market opportunity, as discussed below. Arguments that the Kurds would slide from semi-autonomy to full independence and the Sunni sector would become a haven for terrorism are specious, so long as the United States maintains its promise to backup the fledgling government and its military forces. A Shi'a community controlled by Iran is equally improbable, owing to centuries of distrust between Arab and Persian Shi'ites.
The following is what we have been recommending for the past two years, respecting both governance and petroleum.
Governance. A cantonal system similar to the Swiss model is the most viable option for the restive, fearful Iraqi communities -- Shi'a, Kurd, Sunni, Christian and Turkmen. In countless talks with a broad range of Iraqi leaders, it appears eminently possible to maintain an Iraqi national fabric while allowing for semi-autonomous governance in different sectors of the country. Such a formula has peacefully embraced very different communities, the very challenge facing Iraq, in one nation for 800 years: Switzerland.
A system of five cantonal districts can be envisioned. Three would be Kurd, Sunni and Shi'a dominated, based respectively in the northern, central and southern areas of the country. Two other cantons would have special administrative status: the one, based in Baghdad (a melting pot of Shi'a, Kurds, Sunnis, Turkmen and Christians, among others), would be recognized by all Iraqis as the country's capital canton; the other, embracing oil-rich Kirkuk plus Diali-Khanaqin, would also have special status owing to the area's equally diverse ethnicity.
The Kurdish canton should contain three main districts -- Erbil, Dahuk and Suleimaniya. Concentrated in the North, the Kurds are a dynamic, non-Arab minority comprising some 20% of Iraq's population. They have been remarkably capable of governing themselves effectively for a decade, and should retain their status.
The Kurdish leadership has solemnly undertaken not to seek independence from Iraq, a development which would greatly upset neighboring Turkey, Iran and Syria, each with large and restive Kurdish communities eager for independence as part of a renewed Kurdistan. Indeed, Having the Kurds remain semi-autonomous is the surest way to keep them from seeking complete independence.
The Sunni minority, similar in size to the Kurds, is reviled by the Shi'a because of decades of oppression by Saddam Hussein's regime, and a Shi'a-dominated strong central government worries them, particularly following credible reports during the past year of Interior Ministry support for attacks on Sunni communities. The Sunni should have their own semi-autonomous canton in their heartland, the notorious "Sunni triangle" north and west of Baghdad. Once the Sunnis are secure in their safety–plus a fair share of Iraq's petroleum wealth -- they will cooperate fully in the eradication of the foreign Islamist terrorists, as well as the Sunni guerrillas, for one simple reason: They will have gained virtually all of what they want.
The numerically dominant Shi'a strongly favor running their own affairs, provided there is agreement on the composition and residual responsibilities of a Baghdad national government.
Shi'a would control their own development and destiny in the south and central areas where they predominate, and also be a pivotal force in a national government based in the Baghdad capital canton plus the ethnically mixed Kirkuk and Diali-Khanaqin.
The remaining sizable community to be specially considered is the Turkmen, who have felt inadequately considered since Iraq's liberation and are fearful for their rights. Most live in the two proposed mixed cantons, as does the much smaller Christian community. Clearly, every effort should be made to guarantee the rights of all minorities in the ultimate cantonal and national constitutions.
The national government should provide for Iraq's foreign relations, internal and external defense and monetary requirements, plus oversee the development, management and equitable operation of the country's massive petroleum reserves.
Petroleum. We have encountered no substantial or meaningful case favoring a nationalized, government-owned petroleum industry, just as we have heard no persuasive argument in Baghdad or Washington for a centralized Iraqi government. Indeed, there could be no stronger proof of Iraq's newly attained free-market status than for its greatest natural resource not to be socialized.
Iraq's petroleum wealth, an asset of inestimable potential perhaps even greater than that of Saudi Arabia, must be developed to the benefit of all the country's citizens. Oil in the north cannot be solely for the benefit of Kurds, or oil in the south solely benefiting the Shi'a: petroleum is a resource which must benefit all Iraqis equally.
The nation's enormous oil patch clearly requires committed oversight. Local management, reporting to a Board of Directors (half designated by a super majority of the national parliament and half by a similar majority of shareholders) would see to the industry's effective and honest operation, utilizing international companies to prospect and develop the oilfields plus market production.
Actual ownership should be completely Iraqi, adopting a modified Norwegian model that provides direct participation in the financial benefits of its oil industry to the citizenry, to whom of course the resource belongs. A key difference from the Norwegian model, however, should be that the Iraqi petroleum industry is actually owned by the citizens, whereas the Norwegian industry is state-owned, with profits earmarked to a host of services benefiting all citizens.
The keys to a successful citizen-owned, locally managed and internationally developed petroleum sector are threefold:
1. An equal number of shares distributed to every citizen age 18 or older.
2. Shares held by the original recipient for a minimum of five years, except in the event of death, when they would be deeded to the designated next of kin. In any event, shares could be held only by Iraqi citizens.
3. All petroleum-related operations overseen by an independent Board of Directors.
A citizen-owned oil industry would send a resounding message to Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and every other oil-producing state in the region: Petroleum is a resource of each country's citizens. In so doing, state-owned companies would no longer have the option, as currently, to creak with inefficiency and reek of corruption.
Implementation of a federated government and free-market petroleum industry owned by all Iraqis would lead to:
Development of trusted leadership cadres in the three major population groups;
Reduction in potentially disastrous inter-communal rivalries;
No need to deal with Tehran’s foul regime, simultaneously encouraging the already strong Iranian opposition;
Creation of a genuine beacon of free-market democracy in the Middle East.
This is decidedly not the time to cut and run. With renewed, enlightened commitment among Iraqi leaders plus recognition in Washington that progress must evolve in different ways at different times in different countries, we firmly believe the way forward is promising indeed.
America's Iraqi experience since the end of its brilliant military campaign has been an object lesson in what not to do. However, it is not too late to reverse the downward spiral and to implement with clarity and conviction what can and should be done to bring peace and stability to the country and, thence, the region.
Our recommended approaches to governance as well as petroleum sector organization and ownership have the great benefit of being broadly accepted by all Iraqis. They would avoid much of the predictable disputes that the coalition's current centralized approach for government and a nationalized petroleum sector have produced. Indeed, they would be as refreshing to good governance and nascent capitalism as the widely popular 15% flat tax for individuals and corporations that is already in place.
What remains is Republican concurrence with this thoroughly non-partisan solution to Iraq's two most pressing issues, followed by the U.S. mission and its British partners providing guidance and encouragement to the country's new cabinet in the fulfillment of these realistic goals.
Swiss Canton Model Is Perfect for a Federated Iraq
by John R. Thomson
Posted May 17, 2006
On Human Events Online this March, John Thomson reiterated the compelling case for a decentralized Iraq ["America in Iraq: These Colors Must Not Run"], which we had originally proposed in articles published in February and June 2004. We therefore welcome the recent publication by Sen. Joseph Biden (D.-Del.) and Leslie Gelb in the New York Times of their article, "Unity Through Autonomy in Iraq." Our only question to them and others is "Gentlemen, what took you so long?"
There remains as yet little indication the Bush Administration is considering any significant alteration to its long sounded call for a centralized government. However, even the most stubborn, ill-experienced observer must agree that long-term prospects for such a formulation are slight indeed. In any event, we are delighted that after more than two years' gestation, the idea is getting attention and being discussed more broadly.
There are clearly challenges aplenty in the fulfillment of any governance formula for Iraq. The Arab world’s authoritarian tradition extends to Baghdad, requiring resolution and clear codification in law. Fortunately, at the leadership level, good judgment increasingly seems to prevail. Agreement on a prime minister and cabinet, after months of politicking, means politicians on all sides are becoming realistic, causing us to infer they have a clear understanding of the virtual impossibility of creating an effective, strong central government.
Shi'a and Kurd leaders overwhelmingly favor a decentralized government, with the Sunnis nominally opposed, fearing they will be dealt out of Iraq’s oil wealth.
What is required is equitable distribution of oil ownership with its attendant financial benefits, a challenge that provides an outstanding free-market opportunity, as discussed below. Arguments that the Kurds would slide from semi-autonomy to full independence and the Sunni sector would become a haven for terrorism are specious, so long as the United States maintains its promise to backup the fledgling government and its military forces. A Shi'a community controlled by Iran is equally improbable, owing to centuries of distrust between Arab and Persian Shi'ites.
The following is what we have been recommending for the past two years, respecting both governance and petroleum.
Governance. A cantonal system similar to the Swiss model is the most viable option for the restive, fearful Iraqi communities -- Shi'a, Kurd, Sunni, Christian and Turkmen. In countless talks with a broad range of Iraqi leaders, it appears eminently possible to maintain an Iraqi national fabric while allowing for semi-autonomous governance in different sectors of the country. Such a formula has peacefully embraced very different communities, the very challenge facing Iraq, in one nation for 800 years: Switzerland.
A system of five cantonal districts can be envisioned. Three would be Kurd, Sunni and Shi'a dominated, based respectively in the northern, central and southern areas of the country. Two other cantons would have special administrative status: the one, based in Baghdad (a melting pot of Shi'a, Kurds, Sunnis, Turkmen and Christians, among others), would be recognized by all Iraqis as the country's capital canton; the other, embracing oil-rich Kirkuk plus Diali-Khanaqin, would also have special status owing to the area's equally diverse ethnicity.
The Kurdish canton should contain three main districts -- Erbil, Dahuk and Suleimaniya. Concentrated in the North, the Kurds are a dynamic, non-Arab minority comprising some 20% of Iraq's population. They have been remarkably capable of governing themselves effectively for a decade, and should retain their status.
The Kurdish leadership has solemnly undertaken not to seek independence from Iraq, a development which would greatly upset neighboring Turkey, Iran and Syria, each with large and restive Kurdish communities eager for independence as part of a renewed Kurdistan. Indeed, Having the Kurds remain semi-autonomous is the surest way to keep them from seeking complete independence.
The Sunni minority, similar in size to the Kurds, is reviled by the Shi'a because of decades of oppression by Saddam Hussein's regime, and a Shi'a-dominated strong central government worries them, particularly following credible reports during the past year of Interior Ministry support for attacks on Sunni communities. The Sunni should have their own semi-autonomous canton in their heartland, the notorious "Sunni triangle" north and west of Baghdad. Once the Sunnis are secure in their safety–plus a fair share of Iraq's petroleum wealth -- they will cooperate fully in the eradication of the foreign Islamist terrorists, as well as the Sunni guerrillas, for one simple reason: They will have gained virtually all of what they want.
The numerically dominant Shi'a strongly favor running their own affairs, provided there is agreement on the composition and residual responsibilities of a Baghdad national government.
Shi'a would control their own development and destiny in the south and central areas where they predominate, and also be a pivotal force in a national government based in the Baghdad capital canton plus the ethnically mixed Kirkuk and Diali-Khanaqin.
The remaining sizable community to be specially considered is the Turkmen, who have felt inadequately considered since Iraq's liberation and are fearful for their rights. Most live in the two proposed mixed cantons, as does the much smaller Christian community. Clearly, every effort should be made to guarantee the rights of all minorities in the ultimate cantonal and national constitutions.
The national government should provide for Iraq's foreign relations, internal and external defense and monetary requirements, plus oversee the development, management and equitable operation of the country's massive petroleum reserves.
Petroleum. We have encountered no substantial or meaningful case favoring a nationalized, government-owned petroleum industry, just as we have heard no persuasive argument in Baghdad or Washington for a centralized Iraqi government. Indeed, there could be no stronger proof of Iraq's newly attained free-market status than for its greatest natural resource not to be socialized.
Iraq's petroleum wealth, an asset of inestimable potential perhaps even greater than that of Saudi Arabia, must be developed to the benefit of all the country's citizens. Oil in the north cannot be solely for the benefit of Kurds, or oil in the south solely benefiting the Shi'a: petroleum is a resource which must benefit all Iraqis equally.
The nation's enormous oil patch clearly requires committed oversight. Local management, reporting to a Board of Directors (half designated by a super majority of the national parliament and half by a similar majority of shareholders) would see to the industry's effective and honest operation, utilizing international companies to prospect and develop the oilfields plus market production.
Actual ownership should be completely Iraqi, adopting a modified Norwegian model that provides direct participation in the financial benefits of its oil industry to the citizenry, to whom of course the resource belongs. A key difference from the Norwegian model, however, should be that the Iraqi petroleum industry is actually owned by the citizens, whereas the Norwegian industry is state-owned, with profits earmarked to a host of services benefiting all citizens.
The keys to a successful citizen-owned, locally managed and internationally developed petroleum sector are threefold:
1. An equal number of shares distributed to every citizen age 18 or older.
2. Shares held by the original recipient for a minimum of five years, except in the event of death, when they would be deeded to the designated next of kin. In any event, shares could be held only by Iraqi citizens.
3. All petroleum-related operations overseen by an independent Board of Directors.
A citizen-owned oil industry would send a resounding message to Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and every other oil-producing state in the region: Petroleum is a resource of each country's citizens. In so doing, state-owned companies would no longer have the option, as currently, to creak with inefficiency and reek of corruption.
Implementation of a federated government and free-market petroleum industry owned by all Iraqis would lead to:
Development of trusted leadership cadres in the three major population groups;
Reduction in potentially disastrous inter-communal rivalries;
No need to deal with Tehran’s foul regime, simultaneously encouraging the already strong Iranian opposition;
Creation of a genuine beacon of free-market democracy in the Middle East.
This is decidedly not the time to cut and run. With renewed, enlightened commitment among Iraqi leaders plus recognition in Washington that progress must evolve in different ways at different times in different countries, we firmly believe the way forward is promising indeed.
America's Iraqi experience since the end of its brilliant military campaign has been an object lesson in what not to do. However, it is not too late to reverse the downward spiral and to implement with clarity and conviction what can and should be done to bring peace and stability to the country and, thence, the region.
Our recommended approaches to governance as well as petroleum sector organization and ownership have the great benefit of being broadly accepted by all Iraqis. They would avoid much of the predictable disputes that the coalition's current centralized approach for government and a nationalized petroleum sector have produced. Indeed, they would be as refreshing to good governance and nascent capitalism as the widely popular 15% flat tax for individuals and corporations that is already in place.
What remains is Republican concurrence with this thoroughly non-partisan solution to Iraq's two most pressing issues, followed by the U.S. mission and its British partners providing guidance and encouragement to the country's new cabinet in the fulfillment of these realistic goals.
Saddam trial hears defence case BBC News
The former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and his seven co-defendants were back in court in Baghdad as their trial on murder and torture charges continued. Speaking from behind a curtain, witnesses testified in defence of some of the lesser-known defendants. The trial was then adjourned until next week when the focus is expected to turn to Saddam Hussein and his lieutenants. The judge has agreed to allow the defence to call Saddam as a witness for one of his co-defendants, AP reports. Former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan asked for Saddam Hussein and the former Iraqi intelligence chief, Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, to be allowed to testify on his behalf, the news agency said. Wednesday's session saw all eight defendants back in court for the first time since Monday when the charges were officially read out. "To establish justice we prefer to bring in all the defendants today with their attorneys," chief judge Raouf Abdul Rahman said at the start of the hearing, according to AFP news agency. Saddam Hussein's lawyers had complained that their client had not been called to appear in court on Tuesday to respond to the evidence. The charges relate to the defendants' alleged roles in the crackdown on the town of Dujail in 1982 after a failed assassination attempt on Saddam Hussein. Saddam Hussein has been accused of ordering:
Defence testimony concentrated on some of the defendants from Dujail, who had been officials in the ruling Baath party and are accused of sending letters to the security forces informing on Dujail residents. Witnesses continued to testify that they were good men and low-ranking officials with no responsibility or involvement in what happened. At one point, Saddam Hussein intervened in an argument about the validity of someone speaking about events from his childhood. "Imagination is part of a child's nature... so that could lead him to give testimony based on imagination and that would lead to injustice," he said. He also joked when one of the defendants shouted out that he had nothing to do with the crackdown, saying: "These Dujailis are known for their excitability". Saddam Hussein and his top aides have argued that the crackdown in Dujail was a legal response to the assassination attempt. But the defence has adopted a different approach with these three defendants, arguing that they were not involved at all in the arrest of people from Dujail, AP reported.
The former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and his seven co-defendants were back in court in Baghdad as their trial on murder and torture charges continued. Speaking from behind a curtain, witnesses testified in defence of some of the lesser-known defendants. The trial was then adjourned until next week when the focus is expected to turn to Saddam Hussein and his lieutenants. The judge has agreed to allow the defence to call Saddam as a witness for one of his co-defendants, AP reports. Former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan asked for Saddam Hussein and the former Iraqi intelligence chief, Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, to be allowed to testify on his behalf, the news agency said. Wednesday's session saw all eight defendants back in court for the first time since Monday when the charges were officially read out. "To establish justice we prefer to bring in all the defendants today with their attorneys," chief judge Raouf Abdul Rahman said at the start of the hearing, according to AFP news agency. Saddam Hussein's lawyers had complained that their client had not been called to appear in court on Tuesday to respond to the evidence. The charges relate to the defendants' alleged roles in the crackdown on the town of Dujail in 1982 after a failed assassination attempt on Saddam Hussein. Saddam Hussein has been accused of ordering:
- The illegal arrest of 399 people
- The torture of women and children
- The destruction of farmland
- The murder of nine people in the early days of the crackdown
- The murder of 148 people in the later phase of the crackdown
Defence testimony concentrated on some of the defendants from Dujail, who had been officials in the ruling Baath party and are accused of sending letters to the security forces informing on Dujail residents. Witnesses continued to testify that they were good men and low-ranking officials with no responsibility or involvement in what happened. At one point, Saddam Hussein intervened in an argument about the validity of someone speaking about events from his childhood. "Imagination is part of a child's nature... so that could lead him to give testimony based on imagination and that would lead to injustice," he said. He also joked when one of the defendants shouted out that he had nothing to do with the crackdown, saying: "These Dujailis are known for their excitability". Saddam Hussein and his top aides have argued that the crackdown in Dujail was a legal response to the assassination attempt. But the defence has adopted a different approach with these three defendants, arguing that they were not involved at all in the arrest of people from Dujail, AP reported.
11 Killed in Latest Violence:
A bombing and shooting attack killed four people and wounded 11 in the religiously mixed city of Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, police said.
http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticl...oryId=L17159702
===
Basra carnage escalates as one person killed every hour :
One person is being assassinated in Basra every hour, as order in Iraq's second city disintegrates, according to an Iraqi Defence Ministry official.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle...ticle485489.ece
===
UK: Browne signals Iraq withdrawal:
Speaking on his first visit to the embattled country since becoming defence secretary, Mr Browne dismissed claims that Basra and the rest of the UK's military command in the south of Iraq were unstable as "ridiculous".
http://news.viewlondon.co.uk/Browne_signal...l_17119494.html
===
Baghdad mortuary overwhelmed by rising numbers of dead:
An average of 70 civilians are killed in Baghdad every day
http://tinyurl.com/fdwy9
===
Iraqis to Present Cabinet on Saturday :
Prime Minister-designate Nouri al-Maliki will present his Cabinet to parliament on Saturday, signaling a possible end to months of uncertainty after legislative elections, Shiite and Sunni deputies said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060517/ap_on_...ea/iraq_cabinet
===
''Iraq's Impending Fracture to Produce Political Earthquake in Turkey'':
The birth of an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq will end Turkey's E.U. accession hopes. The collapse of the accession process will strongly undermine the legitimacy of the ruling Justice and Development Party (A.K.P.), making it increasingly vulnerable to political attacks from Turkey's secular establishment. These attacks could prompt the disintegration of the Erdogan government as soon as the end of 2006.
http://tinyurl.com/fv9on
===
Murtha Renews Call for U.S. Troop Withdrawal from Iraq:
Congressman John Murtha says President Bush has no plan for victory in Iraq, and U.S. troops should leave.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13087.htm
===
A blast from the past:
Pete Seeger: Bring Them Home:
3 Minute Video: If you love your uncle Sam? Bring them home, bring them home.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13085.htm
A bombing and shooting attack killed four people and wounded 11 in the religiously mixed city of Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, police said.
http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticl...oryId=L17159702
===
Basra carnage escalates as one person killed every hour :
One person is being assassinated in Basra every hour, as order in Iraq's second city disintegrates, according to an Iraqi Defence Ministry official.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle...ticle485489.ece
===
UK: Browne signals Iraq withdrawal:
Speaking on his first visit to the embattled country since becoming defence secretary, Mr Browne dismissed claims that Basra and the rest of the UK's military command in the south of Iraq were unstable as "ridiculous".
http://news.viewlondon.co.uk/Browne_signal...l_17119494.html
===
Baghdad mortuary overwhelmed by rising numbers of dead:
An average of 70 civilians are killed in Baghdad every day
http://tinyurl.com/fdwy9
===
Iraqis to Present Cabinet on Saturday :
Prime Minister-designate Nouri al-Maliki will present his Cabinet to parliament on Saturday, signaling a possible end to months of uncertainty after legislative elections, Shiite and Sunni deputies said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060517/ap_on_...ea/iraq_cabinet
===
''Iraq's Impending Fracture to Produce Political Earthquake in Turkey'':
The birth of an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq will end Turkey's E.U. accession hopes. The collapse of the accession process will strongly undermine the legitimacy of the ruling Justice and Development Party (A.K.P.), making it increasingly vulnerable to political attacks from Turkey's secular establishment. These attacks could prompt the disintegration of the Erdogan government as soon as the end of 2006.
http://tinyurl.com/fv9on
===
Murtha Renews Call for U.S. Troop Withdrawal from Iraq:
Congressman John Murtha says President Bush has no plan for victory in Iraq, and U.S. troops should leave.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13087.htm
===
A blast from the past:
Pete Seeger: Bring Them Home:
3 Minute Video: If you love your uncle Sam? Bring them home, bring them home.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13085.htm
- US forces cannot withdraw yet from any Iraqi province: general
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/US_forces_...ce_general.html
Washington (AFP) May 17, 2006 - US and coalition forces cannot yet be withdrawn from even Iraq's most stable regions, despite progress made in building up Iraqi security forces, the US military chief said Wednesday.
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/US_forces_...ce_general.html
Washington (AFP) May 17, 2006 - US and coalition forces cannot yet be withdrawn from even Iraq's most stable regions, despite progress made in building up Iraqi security forces, the US military chief said Wednesday.
Shooting and bombing kill 13 in Baghdad: police Yahoo! News
Thirteen people died in a shooting and a bombing in Baghdad on Thursday, including four Iraqi policemen, police said. Gunmen opened fire on a minibus taking labourers to work in southwestern Baghdad, killing six. In northern Baghdad, seven people were killed and four others wounded in a car bomb apparently targeting a police patrol. Of those killed, four were police and three civilians. The latest violence came as Prime Minister-designate Nuri al-Maliki was expected soon to unveil a unity government in which the country's main ethnic and religious groups share power, ending five months of political paralysis. The United States, which has 133,000 troops in Iraq suffering daily casualties three years after Saddam Hussein's overthrow, hopes a broad-based coalition will help end sectarian and guerrilla violence.
Thirteen people died in a shooting and a bombing in Baghdad on Thursday, including four Iraqi policemen, police said. Gunmen opened fire on a minibus taking labourers to work in southwestern Baghdad, killing six. In northern Baghdad, seven people were killed and four others wounded in a car bomb apparently targeting a police patrol. Of those killed, four were police and three civilians. The latest violence came as Prime Minister-designate Nuri al-Maliki was expected soon to unveil a unity government in which the country's main ethnic and religious groups share power, ending five months of political paralysis. The United States, which has 133,000 troops in Iraq suffering daily casualties three years after Saddam Hussein's overthrow, hopes a broad-based coalition will help end sectarian and guerrilla violence.
Prodi calls for Iraq withdrawal BBC News
Romano Prodi has said the war in Iraq was a "grave error" in his first speech to Italy's Senate as prime minister. "It is the intention of this government to propose to parliament the return of our troops from Iraq," he said. The previous government of centre-right PM Silvio Berlusconi had decided to withdraw Italy's 2,600 troops from Iraq by the end of 2006. Mr Prodi, whose centre-left bloc beat Mr Berlusconi in April's elections, did not confirm that deadline. The new cabinet was sworn in on Wednesday.
Uproar
The BBC's David Willey in Rome says Mr Prodi's comments on the Iraq war caused uproar among opposition politicians in the upper house. "We consider the war and occupation in Iraq a grave error that hasn't solved - but has complicated - the problem of security," Mr Prodi said.
Objectives
He added that most importantly, the international community should not be "indulgent to suggestions of fundamentalism of the opposing strain, which preach crusades and indiscriminately advocate clashes of civilisations." Mr Prodi said his coalition was ready to govern Italy for the next five years, in order to carry out their objectives. These include tackling economic stagnation and cancelling constitutional changes carried out by Mr Berlusconi's government. The Senate will hold a vote of confidence in Mr Prodi and his cabinet on Friday.
Romano Prodi has said the war in Iraq was a "grave error" in his first speech to Italy's Senate as prime minister. "It is the intention of this government to propose to parliament the return of our troops from Iraq," he said. The previous government of centre-right PM Silvio Berlusconi had decided to withdraw Italy's 2,600 troops from Iraq by the end of 2006. Mr Prodi, whose centre-left bloc beat Mr Berlusconi in April's elections, did not confirm that deadline. The new cabinet was sworn in on Wednesday.
Uproar
The BBC's David Willey in Rome says Mr Prodi's comments on the Iraq war caused uproar among opposition politicians in the upper house. "We consider the war and occupation in Iraq a grave error that hasn't solved - but has complicated - the problem of security," Mr Prodi said.
QUOTE("Romano Prodi")
A strong and constant commitment... is necessary in the fight against international terrorism
"It is therefore the government's intention to propose to parliament the withdrawal of our troops, even if we are proud of the display of professional ability, courage and humanity they have been giving." Mr Prodi was shouted down by cries of "shame" from right-wing opposition MPs and it took several minutes to restore order. Mr Prodi gave no date for the withdrawal and said a technical time frame would have to be worked out with the Iraqi authorities and with the UK and United States. He said his government condemned international terrorism, but he also warned against "fundamentalism" in Western reactions. His government was convinced that "the fight against terrorism must be conducted with political and intelligence tools and opposition to terrorist organisations - without ever restricting either our freedoms or our rights".Objectives
He added that most importantly, the international community should not be "indulgent to suggestions of fundamentalism of the opposing strain, which preach crusades and indiscriminately advocate clashes of civilisations." Mr Prodi said his coalition was ready to govern Italy for the next five years, in order to carry out their objectives. These include tackling economic stagnation and cancelling constitutional changes carried out by Mr Berlusconi's government. The Senate will hold a vote of confidence in Mr Prodi and his cabinet on Friday.
Australian firm 'bribed Saddam' BBC News
An Australian wheat exporter has admitted paying money to Saddam Hussein's former regime in Iraq in violation of United Nations sanctions. An inquiry into claims that the former Australian Wheat Board paid bribes for contracts released a statement in which the board apologised for its actions. The board said it was "truly sorry" and regretted any damage it had caused. Australian Prime Minister John Howard has been among officials questioned by the inquiry, which will report in June.
'Warning signs'
The draft statement was submitted to the inquiry in March but only made public on Thursday. In it, the wheat board's former managing director Andrew Lindberg, acknowledges that money was paid to the former Iraqi regime in contravention of UN sanctions. "Even though there were warning signs to some employees that this may have been occurring, AWB [former Australian Wheat Board] did not challenge these payments and was not alert to the potential consequences of making these payments," the statement said. "For this we are truly sorry and deeply regret any damage this may have caused to Australia's trading reputation, the Australian government or the United Nations." A UN report in 2005 said the board paid about $220m to Saddam Hussein's regime to secure $2.3bn in wheat contracts under the UN's oil-for-food programme. The report said the bribes were channelled into Iraq in bogus transport fees to a Jordanian company, which was partially owned by the Iraqi government.
Repercussions
The scandal has had political repercussions, reaching the highest levels of the Australian government. Prime Minister Howard and his foreign and trade ministers have testified before the inquiry, denying having seen more than 20 diplomatic cables warning that AWB might be paying kickbacks. Mr Howard has told investigators: "There was absolutely no belief, anywhere in the government, at that time that AWB was anything other than a company of high reputation." The inquiry, led by retired judge Terence Cole, can recommend the prosecution of individuals who violated Australian law, but not politicians. The new Iraqi government has suspended trading with the AWB until the outcome of the inquiry is known.
An Australian wheat exporter has admitted paying money to Saddam Hussein's former regime in Iraq in violation of United Nations sanctions. An inquiry into claims that the former Australian Wheat Board paid bribes for contracts released a statement in which the board apologised for its actions. The board said it was "truly sorry" and regretted any damage it had caused. Australian Prime Minister John Howard has been among officials questioned by the inquiry, which will report in June.
'Warning signs'
The draft statement was submitted to the inquiry in March but only made public on Thursday. In it, the wheat board's former managing director Andrew Lindberg, acknowledges that money was paid to the former Iraqi regime in contravention of UN sanctions. "Even though there were warning signs to some employees that this may have been occurring, AWB [former Australian Wheat Board] did not challenge these payments and was not alert to the potential consequences of making these payments," the statement said. "For this we are truly sorry and deeply regret any damage this may have caused to Australia's trading reputation, the Australian government or the United Nations." A UN report in 2005 said the board paid about $220m to Saddam Hussein's regime to secure $2.3bn in wheat contracts under the UN's oil-for-food programme. The report said the bribes were channelled into Iraq in bogus transport fees to a Jordanian company, which was partially owned by the Iraqi government.
Repercussions
The scandal has had political repercussions, reaching the highest levels of the Australian government. Prime Minister Howard and his foreign and trade ministers have testified before the inquiry, denying having seen more than 20 diplomatic cables warning that AWB might be paying kickbacks. Mr Howard has told investigators: "There was absolutely no belief, anywhere in the government, at that time that AWB was anything other than a company of high reputation." The inquiry, led by retired judge Terence Cole, can recommend the prosecution of individuals who violated Australian law, but not politicians. The new Iraqi government has suspended trading with the AWB until the outcome of the inquiry is known.
THE IRAQI RESISTANCE: 'WHY WE FIGHT' - BRIAN CONLEY AND MUHAMMAD ZAHER (ASIA TIMES, MAY 19): Call them terrorists, call them resistance fighters. By whatever their name, they have their own reasons for fighting the Americans in Iraq.
http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HE19Ak03.html
http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HE19Ak03.html
FEAR, PARALYSIS SEIZE BAGHDAD: THE CITY'S CONSTANT KILLINGS LEAVE NEIGHBORHOODS BARRICADED AND MANY RESIDENTS RUNNING FOR THEIR LIVES - ANNA BADKHEN (SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, MAY 18)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...MNG7JITSJC1.DTL
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...MNG7JITSJC1.DTL
INK BLOTS AND SUPER FORTRESSES: MORE CONTRADICTIONS FROM THE IRAQ WAR - WILLIAM S. LIND (COUNTERPUNCH, MAY 17): U.S. forces are being pulled back into fortresses not because fortresses are effective against insurgents, but because at the strategic level, the Bush administration is desperate to reduce causalities and get the American people thinking about something other than the war in Iraq.
http://www.counterpunch.org/lind05172006.html
http://www.counterpunch.org/lind05172006.html
===
Iraq Attacks Kill at Least 24 :
Attacks by insurgents Thursday killed at least two dozen people, including four U.S. soldiers, while an Iraqi police chief narrowly escaped an assassination attempt.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060518/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq
===
Marines killed Iraqi civilians 'in cold blood'::
A US lawmaker and former Marine colonel accused US Marines of killing innocent Iraqi civilians after a Marine comrade had been killed by a roadside bomb.
http://tinyurl.com/lq8a5
===
Rumsfeld won't promise Iraq troop cut :
Rumsfeld, testifying before a Senate appropriations subcommittee, faced questions from senators about when the Pentagon planned to reduce the U.S. military presence in Iraq more than 3 years into a war in which about 2,450 U.S. troops have died.
http://tinyurl.com/z6zhb
===
'Why did my son die in vain?':
In Iraq, a soldier is killed; in Baltimore, his father is angry
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13097.htm
===
In case you missed it:
Video: A Message From The "Iraq Resistance" :
"We are simple people who chose principles over fear."
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article7468.htm
===
Prodi says Iraq war 'grave mistake', pledges troop withdrawal :
Italy's new Prime Minister Romano Prodi has told lawmakers in the Senate that the war in Iraq was a "grave mistake", pledging his centre-left government would withdraw Rome's troops from the country he described as under "occupation".
http://tinyurl.com/heyx6
===
Rumsfeld Seeks Extra Funds for War Bills :
With war bills to pay, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld is calling on Congress to pass President Bush's request for an extra $65 billion to cover costs in Iraq and Afghanistan this year.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/stor...5827250,00.html
Iraq Attacks Kill at Least 24 :
Attacks by insurgents Thursday killed at least two dozen people, including four U.S. soldiers, while an Iraqi police chief narrowly escaped an assassination attempt.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060518/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq
===
Marines killed Iraqi civilians 'in cold blood'::
A US lawmaker and former Marine colonel accused US Marines of killing innocent Iraqi civilians after a Marine comrade had been killed by a roadside bomb.
http://tinyurl.com/lq8a5
===
Rumsfeld won't promise Iraq troop cut :
Rumsfeld, testifying before a Senate appropriations subcommittee, faced questions from senators about when the Pentagon planned to reduce the U.S. military presence in Iraq more than 3 years into a war in which about 2,450 U.S. troops have died.
http://tinyurl.com/z6zhb
===
'Why did my son die in vain?':
In Iraq, a soldier is killed; in Baltimore, his father is angry
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13097.htm
===
In case you missed it:
Video: A Message From The "Iraq Resistance" :
"We are simple people who chose principles over fear."
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article7468.htm
===
Prodi says Iraq war 'grave mistake', pledges troop withdrawal :
Italy's new Prime Minister Romano Prodi has told lawmakers in the Senate that the war in Iraq was a "grave mistake", pledging his centre-left government would withdraw Rome's troops from the country he described as under "occupation".
http://tinyurl.com/heyx6
===
Rumsfeld Seeks Extra Funds for War Bills :
With war bills to pay, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld is calling on Congress to pass President Bush's request for an extra $65 billion to cover costs in Iraq and Afghanistan this year.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/stor...5827250,00.html
- Iraq's Militia Problem
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Iraqs_Militia_Problem.html
Washington (UPI) May 19, 2006 - During April, the problem of Iraq's ethnic and sectarian militias has gained more and more attention. Some articles have claimed they have become as serious a problem as the insurgency, or an even more serious prelude to civil war.
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Iraqs_Militia_Problem.html
Washington (UPI) May 19, 2006 - During April, the problem of Iraq's ethnic and sectarian militias has gained more and more attention. Some articles have claimed they have become as serious a problem as the insurgency, or an even more serious prelude to civil war.
IRAQI JOURNALISTS RISK THEIR LIVES TO GET THE STORY - SHARON BEHN WASHINGTON TIMES, MAY 19): Today, there are roughly 20 newspapers, some 12 radio stations and about 18 television stations in Iraq, including international satellite channels. But each newspaper and local radio and television channel is owned by a political party or religious group, serving as a mouthpiece for its owners.
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20060518-104309-4265r.htm
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20060518-104309-4265r.htm
LONE BAGHDAD MORTUARY UNABLE TO HAND ALL OF THE CIVILIAN CORPSES ? DIANE E. DEES (MOTHER JONES, MAY 18)
http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archiv...html#trackbacks
http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archiv...html#trackbacks
AS DEATH STALKS IRAQ, MIDDLE-CLASS EXODUS BEGINS - SABRINA TAVERNISE (NEW YORK TIMES, MAY 19): In the last 10 months, the state has issued new passports to 1.85 million Iraqis, 7 percent of the population and a quarter of the country's estimated middle class.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/19/world/mi...r=1&oref=slogin
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/19/world/mi...r=1&oref=slogin
ITALY CALLS IRAQ WAR 'GRAVE ERROR' - IAN FISHER (NEW YORK TIMES, MAY 19)
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/19/world/europe/19italy.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/19/world/europe/19italy.html
Bomb kills Baghdad laborers as new govt ready Reuters
A bomb killed at least 10 people in east Baghdad among a crowd of poor Shi'ite labourers gathering for work on Saturday, hours before Iraq's parliament prepared to confirm a new, national unity government in office. Initial casualty reports from police and medical sources said at least 28 others were wounded. The attack in the Sadr City neighborhood was typical of bombings by minority Sunni Islamist groups like Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al Qaeda in Iraq. Witnesses and police said the bomb appeared to have been planted in a spot where the attackers knew large crowds of men would gather, hoping to be hired for a day's casual labor. Such spots have been targeted in the past. Parliament is due to sit at 11 a.m. (0700 GMT) to approve a government that may hold full sovereign powers for the four-year term of the legislature, ending months of inertia that have seen sectarian bloodshed mount. Launching a crucial new phase in the U.S.-backed project to install democracy, Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki struck a basic deal on Friday that left the key posts of interior and defense minister vacant, aides and top negotiators said. There may be some fine-tuning at the last minute but, with jobs for nearly all parliamentary groups barring small Shi'ite and Sunni parties that refused to join, parliamentary approval for Maliki's ministers is likely to be a formality. The government can be sure of an enthusiastic welcome in Washington, where frustration with Iraqis' sectarian and ethnic haggling has grown over the five months since an election hailed as a final step from Saddam Hussein's dictatorship to democracy. "For the first time, Sunnis, Kurds and Shias participate with a four-year mandate," a senior U.S. official said in Washington. "This is an opportunity to make some changes." For President George W. Bush, who launched the invasion in 2003 in the name of Iraqi freedom and ending a perceived threat from Saddam, stability is key to bringing home 130,000 American troops -- a move that might stem his falling approval ratings. Iraqis too, who turned out in large numbers across all the rival communities, have been growing impatient for a leadership that can address their massive problems -- security certainly, but also a devastated economy and poor basic public services.
VACANCIES
Under a constitutional timetable, Maliki's 30 days to form a government end on Monday. Despite confident assertions last month that he would need only a week or two, wrangling among and within Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish blocs came close to thwarting him, as it did his ally and predecessor Ibrahim al-Jaafari. Still, the key security posts at interior and defense have eluded his dealmaking skills, even though all parties are agreed that the jobs should go to a Shi'ite and Sunni respectively. If no 11th-hour solution is found before the 275 members of the Council of Representatives vote in the fortified Green Zone on Saturday, Maliki will occupy the interior ministry for a week and Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi will run defense. Complaints among Saddam's once dominant Sunni minority that the Shi'ite majority brought to power by the U.S. invasion was abusing its control of the interior ministry by running death squads within the police focused attention on the interior post. An upsurge in sectarian killings, some carried out by men in uniform, after February's bombing of a major Shi'ite shrine has prompted growing alarm about the threat of civil war. Hundreds of people are being killed every month in Baghdad alone and tens of thousands have fled their homes. Some fear the communal violence may have gone too far to reverse. Maliki, a tough-talking defender of Shi'ite interests since his return from exile in 2003, has won praise from Sunnis for his willingness to seek consensus. But many question whether a government cobbled together according to religious and ethnic labeling can overcome centrifugal forces tearing Iraq apart.
By Mariam Karouny and Lutfi Abu Oun. BAGHDAD (Reuters)
Two Cabinet Posts Yet Undecided Washington Post
Iraq's leaders agree on government ABC Online
Chicago Tribune - New York Times - OhmyNews International - China Daily - all 692 related »
A bomb killed at least 10 people in east Baghdad among a crowd of poor Shi'ite labourers gathering for work on Saturday, hours before Iraq's parliament prepared to confirm a new, national unity government in office. Initial casualty reports from police and medical sources said at least 28 others were wounded. The attack in the Sadr City neighborhood was typical of bombings by minority Sunni Islamist groups like Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al Qaeda in Iraq. Witnesses and police said the bomb appeared to have been planted in a spot where the attackers knew large crowds of men would gather, hoping to be hired for a day's casual labor. Such spots have been targeted in the past. Parliament is due to sit at 11 a.m. (0700 GMT) to approve a government that may hold full sovereign powers for the four-year term of the legislature, ending months of inertia that have seen sectarian bloodshed mount. Launching a crucial new phase in the U.S.-backed project to install democracy, Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki struck a basic deal on Friday that left the key posts of interior and defense minister vacant, aides and top negotiators said. There may be some fine-tuning at the last minute but, with jobs for nearly all parliamentary groups barring small Shi'ite and Sunni parties that refused to join, parliamentary approval for Maliki's ministers is likely to be a formality. The government can be sure of an enthusiastic welcome in Washington, where frustration with Iraqis' sectarian and ethnic haggling has grown over the five months since an election hailed as a final step from Saddam Hussein's dictatorship to democracy. "For the first time, Sunnis, Kurds and Shias participate with a four-year mandate," a senior U.S. official said in Washington. "This is an opportunity to make some changes." For President George W. Bush, who launched the invasion in 2003 in the name of Iraqi freedom and ending a perceived threat from Saddam, stability is key to bringing home 130,000 American troops -- a move that might stem his falling approval ratings. Iraqis too, who turned out in large numbers across all the rival communities, have been growing impatient for a leadership that can address their massive problems -- security certainly, but also a devastated economy and poor basic public services.
VACANCIES
Under a constitutional timetable, Maliki's 30 days to form a government end on Monday. Despite confident assertions last month that he would need only a week or two, wrangling among and within Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish blocs came close to thwarting him, as it did his ally and predecessor Ibrahim al-Jaafari. Still, the key security posts at interior and defense have eluded his dealmaking skills, even though all parties are agreed that the jobs should go to a Shi'ite and Sunni respectively. If no 11th-hour solution is found before the 275 members of the Council of Representatives vote in the fortified Green Zone on Saturday, Maliki will occupy the interior ministry for a week and Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi will run defense. Complaints among Saddam's once dominant Sunni minority that the Shi'ite majority brought to power by the U.S. invasion was abusing its control of the interior ministry by running death squads within the police focused attention on the interior post. An upsurge in sectarian killings, some carried out by men in uniform, after February's bombing of a major Shi'ite shrine has prompted growing alarm about the threat of civil war. Hundreds of people are being killed every month in Baghdad alone and tens of thousands have fled their homes. Some fear the communal violence may have gone too far to reverse. Maliki, a tough-talking defender of Shi'ite interests since his return from exile in 2003, has won praise from Sunnis for his willingness to seek consensus. But many question whether a government cobbled together according to religious and ethnic labeling can overcome centrifugal forces tearing Iraq apart.
By Mariam Karouny and Lutfi Abu Oun. BAGHDAD (Reuters)
Two Cabinet Posts Yet Undecided Washington Post
Iraq's leaders agree on government ABC Online
Chicago Tribune - New York Times - OhmyNews International - China Daily - all 692 related »
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2188863,00.html
The Times May 20, 2006
Exit route for allies after new Iraq deal
By Ned Parker in Baghdad and Philip Webster
TONY BLAIR and President Bush are preparing to hail the formation of Iraq’s first permanent government since the fall of Saddam Hussein today — a development that should finally allow them to begin withdrawing their 140,000 troops from an ever more hostile country.
The two leaders are desperate for a breakthrough after months of relentlessly grim news from Iraq, and hope that a government of national unity will have the strength to take on the Sunni insurgents responsible for thousands of deaths over the past three years.
As darkness fell in Baghdad last night Sunni, Shia and Kurdish politicians were still arguing over the Defence and Interior portfolios, both essential in tackling Iraq’s massive security problem.
But Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister, said that despite the wrangling he would still unveil a government of national unity.
After hours of talks in a heavily fortified compound in Baghdad, a senior aide to Mr al-Maliki disclosed that the Prime Minister had decided to act as temporary Interior Minister for a week and that Tareq al-Hashemi, the Sunni Vice-President, would take over Defence, also for a week.
Anticipating today’s announcement on the formation of a government, Downing Street said that it would be a “defining moment” for Iraq, and all the more remarkable because “it has been done against the background of a terrorist campaign which is specifically designed to stop such a government taking shape”.
More than five months have passed since 12 million Iraqis braved insurgent threats to vote for a new parliament in last December’s general election.
In that time the political vacuum created by the failure of deeply distrustful Shia, Sunni and Kurdish politicians to agree a government has been filled by escalating violence.
An estimated 3,743 civilians, 942 security forces and 323 coalition soldiers have been killed, and tit-for-tat sectarian killings by rampant militias have brought Iraq to the verge of civil war.
The conflict has also helped to drag Mr Blair and Mr Bush’s opinion poll ratings down to record lows, while making it all but impossible for them to begin withdrawing their troops.
Britain and the United States have put intense pressure on Iraq’s rival groupings to agree a new government.Jack Straw, then the Foreign Secretary, and Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, made an unprecedented joint visit to Baghdad last month to bang heads together.
A major obstacle was overcome when Ibrahim Jaafari, the Shias’ first-choice prime minister, was persuaded to step down in the face of Sunni and Kurdish opposition.
Today’s announcement will be greeted with relief in Downing Street and the White House. As reported in The Times this week, Mr Blair is expected to fly to Washington for a summit with Mr Bush within days.
There was still time for an agreement to fall apart last night. But despite the continuing disagreement over the Defence and Interior portfolios, invitations have been issued to the press to attend the parliament session at which the Prime Minister will introduce his Cabinet. The parliament’s 275 MPs will then vote to approve each nominee, with an absolute majority required in each case. Qassim Daoud, a Shia MP, said: “These two ministries (Defence and Interior) are going to play an important role in the society so they should be headed by non-sectarian, nationalist ministers.”
Saleh Mutlak, a prominent Sunni politician, said: “We need independent people to run these ministries in a real Iraqi way, not a sectarian one.”
A Downing Street spokesman said that if a new government was formed it would be “representative of the country as a whole and the ethnic grouping of the country as a whole”.
The Times May 20, 2006
Exit route for allies after new Iraq deal
By Ned Parker in Baghdad and Philip Webster
TONY BLAIR and President Bush are preparing to hail the formation of Iraq’s first permanent government since the fall of Saddam Hussein today — a development that should finally allow them to begin withdrawing their 140,000 troops from an ever more hostile country.
The two leaders are desperate for a breakthrough after months of relentlessly grim news from Iraq, and hope that a government of national unity will have the strength to take on the Sunni insurgents responsible for thousands of deaths over the past three years.
As darkness fell in Baghdad last night Sunni, Shia and Kurdish politicians were still arguing over the Defence and Interior portfolios, both essential in tackling Iraq’s massive security problem.
But Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister, said that despite the wrangling he would still unveil a government of national unity.
After hours of talks in a heavily fortified compound in Baghdad, a senior aide to Mr al-Maliki disclosed that the Prime Minister had decided to act as temporary Interior Minister for a week and that Tareq al-Hashemi, the Sunni Vice-President, would take over Defence, also for a week.
Anticipating today’s announcement on the formation of a government, Downing Street said that it would be a “defining moment” for Iraq, and all the more remarkable because “it has been done against the background of a terrorist campaign which is specifically designed to stop such a government taking shape”.
More than five months have passed since 12 million Iraqis braved insurgent threats to vote for a new parliament in last December’s general election.
In that time the political vacuum created by the failure of deeply distrustful Shia, Sunni and Kurdish politicians to agree a government has been filled by escalating violence.
An estimated 3,743 civilians, 942 security forces and 323 coalition soldiers have been killed, and tit-for-tat sectarian killings by rampant militias have brought Iraq to the verge of civil war.
The conflict has also helped to drag Mr Blair and Mr Bush’s opinion poll ratings down to record lows, while making it all but impossible for them to begin withdrawing their troops.
Britain and the United States have put intense pressure on Iraq’s rival groupings to agree a new government.Jack Straw, then the Foreign Secretary, and Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, made an unprecedented joint visit to Baghdad last month to bang heads together.
A major obstacle was overcome when Ibrahim Jaafari, the Shias’ first-choice prime minister, was persuaded to step down in the face of Sunni and Kurdish opposition.
Today’s announcement will be greeted with relief in Downing Street and the White House. As reported in The Times this week, Mr Blair is expected to fly to Washington for a summit with Mr Bush within days.
There was still time for an agreement to fall apart last night. But despite the continuing disagreement over the Defence and Interior portfolios, invitations have been issued to the press to attend the parliament session at which the Prime Minister will introduce his Cabinet. The parliament’s 275 MPs will then vote to approve each nominee, with an absolute majority required in each case. Qassim Daoud, a Shia MP, said: “These two ministries (Defence and Interior) are going to play an important role in the society so they should be headed by non-sectarian, nationalist ministers.”
Saleh Mutlak, a prominent Sunni politician, said: “We need independent people to run these ministries in a real Iraqi way, not a sectarian one.”
A Downing Street spokesman said that if a new government was formed it would be “representative of the country as a whole and the ethnic grouping of the country as a whole”.
Iraqi parliament approves Cabinet BBC News
Iraq's parliament has approved a new government, including members of the main Shia, Kurd and Sunni parties. However three crucial ministries - national security, interior and defence - have still not been agreed. In a keynote speech PM Nouri Maliki said Iraqis must "denounce terrorism" and find an "objective timetable" for international forces to leave. It is hoped the 37-minister team, the first full-term government since the 2003 invasion, can curb Iraq's unrest.
Messy start
Mr Maliki told parliament that Iraqis needed to unite in a spirit of love and tolerance. He laid out a 34-point government programme that included tackling terrorism, integrating militias into the security structure and getting electricity and water back on line.
President Jalal Talabani, in a speech broadcast live on TV, said the new government was both a good omen and a warning. "It provides a good omen to our people that the government will achieve for them security, stability, peace and prosperity. "It also provides a warning to the... terrorists and the murderous criminals that the hand of justice will get them, sooner or later." However, the BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says the new unity government got off to a messy start. Before Mr Maliki could begin announcing his team, the leader of the Dialogue party - the smaller of the two main Sunni factions - seized the microphone to complain about how negotiations over the distribution of roles had been conducted. Once Mr Maliki was able to speak, members of the 275-seat parliament - the Council of Representatives - applauded as each new member of the Cabinet was named and took their seat.
Continuing violence
But with security the key issue, BBC defence correspondent, Rob Watson, says in the short term the new government is unlikely to affect what is a complex breakdown of law and order, involving Sunni insurgent groups, Shia militias and mafia-style criminality. Just hours before the parliament began its session, at least 19 people were killed and 58 wounded in a bomb attack in a Shia district of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
The labourers were having breakfast when the blast hit
Witnesses said that the blast in Sadr City happened at about 0700 (0300 GMT) near a food stand where day labourers seeking work were having breakfast. In other violence, a suicide bomber killed at least five people and injured 10 in an attack on a police station in the western border town of Qaim. Sectarian violence has spiralled in recent months. The latest cycle of attacks began with the bombing in February of a Shia shrine in the town of Samarra. It was followed by the regular reports of the discovery of dumped bodies, bearing marks of torture and execution. Sunni politicians said Shia death squads operating within the security forces were behind the killings. The new unity government is the result of five months of arduous negotiations, following December's general elections, in which the Shia alliance emerged as the largest single bloc. It is the first to include the main Sunni Muslim factions, which had boycotted the interim elections and cabinet.
Iraq's parliament has approved a new government, including members of the main Shia, Kurd and Sunni parties. However three crucial ministries - national security, interior and defence - have still not been agreed. In a keynote speech PM Nouri Maliki said Iraqis must "denounce terrorism" and find an "objective timetable" for international forces to leave. It is hoped the 37-minister team, the first full-term government since the 2003 invasion, can curb Iraq's unrest.
Messy start
Mr Maliki told parliament that Iraqis needed to unite in a spirit of love and tolerance. He laid out a 34-point government programme that included tackling terrorism, integrating militias into the security structure and getting electricity and water back on line.
- PM & acting interior minister - Nouri Maliki, Shia Deputy PM & acting defence minister - Salam Zaubai, Sunni
- Oil minister - Hussain al-Shahristani, Shia, ex-deputy parliamentary speaker
- Foreign minister - Hoshiyar Zebari, Kurd. Held post since 2003
- Finance minister - Bayan Jabor, Shia, former interior minister
President Jalal Talabani, in a speech broadcast live on TV, said the new government was both a good omen and a warning. "It provides a good omen to our people that the government will achieve for them security, stability, peace and prosperity. "It also provides a warning to the... terrorists and the murderous criminals that the hand of justice will get them, sooner or later." However, the BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says the new unity government got off to a messy start. Before Mr Maliki could begin announcing his team, the leader of the Dialogue party - the smaller of the two main Sunni factions - seized the microphone to complain about how negotiations over the distribution of roles had been conducted. Once Mr Maliki was able to speak, members of the 275-seat parliament - the Council of Representatives - applauded as each new member of the Cabinet was named and took their seat.
QUOTE("Margaret Beckett @ UK foreign secretary")
The future of democracy in Iraq now lies in the hands of the Iraqi people
But then a member of the biggest Sunni faction, which is included in the government, angry about the defence and interior ministry roles being left open, led a walk-out. Mr Maliki will for now run the interior ministry and Deputy Prime Minister Salam Zaubai, a Sunni, will run defence. Another key post is oil minister, which has been taken by Hussain al-Shahristani, a Shia nuclear physicist jailed and tortured by former leader Saddam Hussein. Mr Shahristani immediately vowed to crack down on corruption and the smuggling of state oil outside Iraq. He also pledged to increase production.Continuing violence
But with security the key issue, BBC defence correspondent, Rob Watson, says in the short term the new government is unlikely to affect what is a complex breakdown of law and order, involving Sunni insurgent groups, Shia militias and mafia-style criminality. Just hours before the parliament began its session, at least 19 people were killed and 58 wounded in a bomb attack in a Shia district of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
The labourers were having breakfast when the blast hit
Witnesses said that the blast in Sadr City happened at about 0700 (0300 GMT) near a food stand where day labourers seeking work were having breakfast. In other violence, a suicide bomber killed at least five people and injured 10 in an attack on a police station in the western border town of Qaim. Sectarian violence has spiralled in recent months. The latest cycle of attacks began with the bombing in February of a Shia shrine in the town of Samarra. It was followed by the regular reports of the discovery of dumped bodies, bearing marks of torture and execution. Sunni politicians said Shia death squads operating within the security forces were behind the killings. The new unity government is the result of five months of arduous negotiations, following December's general elections, in which the Shia alliance emerged as the largest single bloc. It is the first to include the main Sunni Muslim factions, which had boycotted the interim elections and cabinet.
Iraq gets new government as bombs kill 24 Yahoo! News
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vowed to rein in violence and heal Iraq's sectarian wounds after parliament approved his national unity government on Saturday to end months of stalemate that have raised fears of civil war. Hours after bombs killed 24 people, underlining the scale of his task, Maliki said restoring stability was the top priority of a broad coalition whose formation gave Iraq its first fully sovereign government since U.S. troops overthrew Saddam Hussein. Two days short of a deadline set with Maliki's nomination a month ago, a deal struck late on Friday was backed by most sectarian and ethnic groups. It gave another week for agreement on ministers for the key interior and defense portfolios, as well as a less powerful national security minister. "We will work (to) ... preserve the unity of the Iraqi people," said Maliki, a no-nonsense Shi'ite Islamist who vowed to "close up divisions that have emerged through sectarianism." President Bush vowed that the United States would stand by Iraq's new government of national unity. "Iraqis now have a fully constitutional government, marking the end of a democratic transitional process in Iraq that has been both difficult and inspiring," Bush said in a written statement. British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who like Bush has invested massive personal political capital in the now widely unpopular war to topple Saddam, said: "I'm obviously deeply relieved we've got a government. "It's been six months of agonizing wait to get one." Running briskly through a 33-point government program that highlighted security and the economy, Maliki said he would beef up Iraq's army and police so that foreign troops could "go back to their countries" on an "objective timetable." The United States, which has 130,000 troops suffering almost daily casualties in Iraq, is training Iraqi forces to take over security and allow it to send troops home. Washington has refused to publish a timetable for withdrawal.
SUNNI WALKOUT
The cabinet was approved by a show of hands, minister by minister, after a turbulent start to the parliamentary session, when more than a dozen minority Sunni leaders walked out. The main Sunni Arab leadership, which controls the bulk of the Sunnis' 50-odd seats in the 275-member chamber, held firm after the walkout by the dissidents. Washington says a Sunni presence at last in a full, sovereign government can draw Saddam Hussein's once-dominant minority away from revolt into politics. Sectarian wrangling has delayed formation of a government since an election in December. In-fighting within Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish groups, added to Maliki's difficulties. Days more arguing are likely over the interior and defense jobs, filled respectively for now by Maliki and a Sunni deputy premier. The prime minister, who fled Iraq in 1980 under sentence of death, has impressed some by the way has appeared to transform himself from a pugnacious backroom defender of Shi'ite majority interests into a consensus-building statesman within a month. But fellow negotiators question how far he will be able to impose team spirit on ministers reporting back to powerful leaders of rival parties, who sit outside the government. "Tremendous challenges still lie ahead," said U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, a prime mover behind the scenes. "The future of Iraq will set the course of the future of the greater Middle East. The future of this region will determine the future of the world over the next century." Washington has grown frustrated with Iraqi leaders' haggling over the five months since an election hailed as a final step from Saddam's dictatorship to democracy. Iraqis too, who turned out in large numbers to vote in December, have been growing impatient for a leadership that can address their massive problems -- security certainly, but also a devastated economy and poor basic public services. "No matter who rules, he must lead us to safety. The country is devastated. We hope the government can save what's left," said Jabbar Isho Gorgis, a 42-year-old photographer in Baghdad. Hundreds of people are being killed every month in Baghdad alone -- 12 bodies were found on Saturday, all bound and shot in the head -- and 100,000 or more have fled homes in fear since the bombing of a Shi'ite shrine in February. Sunni Islamists like al Qaeda's Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and other rebel groups from the minority Sunni community are waging a relentless campaign of violence. Militias tied to political parties have tens of thousands of men under arms and Iraq's oil sector is crippled after years of war, international sanctions and more recently rebel sabotage. Just hours before parliament sat in the heavily fortified Green Zone, protected by U.S. military firepower, a bomb killed at least 19 people in Baghdad's Shi'ite Sadr City slum. In the Sunni town of Qaim, near the Syrian border, a suicide bomber killed five policemen inside a police station. A further 58 people were wounded in the Baghdad blast, which was typical of al Qaeda. Baghdad and, especially, mostly Shi'ite southern Iraq have also seen violence between Shi'ite factions. The bomb targeted men gathered after dawn hoping to be hired for casual labor: "When will this end?" one teenager sobbed as he stood amid pools of blood. "Where is the government?"
By Mariam Karouny and Ahmed Rasheed
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vowed to rein in violence and heal Iraq's sectarian wounds after parliament approved his national unity government on Saturday to end months of stalemate that have raised fears of civil war. Hours after bombs killed 24 people, underlining the scale of his task, Maliki said restoring stability was the top priority of a broad coalition whose formation gave Iraq its first fully sovereign government since U.S. troops overthrew Saddam Hussein. Two days short of a deadline set with Maliki's nomination a month ago, a deal struck late on Friday was backed by most sectarian and ethnic groups. It gave another week for agreement on ministers for the key interior and defense portfolios, as well as a less powerful national security minister. "We will work (to) ... preserve the unity of the Iraqi people," said Maliki, a no-nonsense Shi'ite Islamist who vowed to "close up divisions that have emerged through sectarianism." President Bush vowed that the United States would stand by Iraq's new government of national unity. "Iraqis now have a fully constitutional government, marking the end of a democratic transitional process in Iraq that has been both difficult and inspiring," Bush said in a written statement. British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who like Bush has invested massive personal political capital in the now widely unpopular war to topple Saddam, said: "I'm obviously deeply relieved we've got a government. "It's been six months of agonizing wait to get one." Running briskly through a 33-point government program that highlighted security and the economy, Maliki said he would beef up Iraq's army and police so that foreign troops could "go back to their countries" on an "objective timetable." The United States, which has 130,000 troops suffering almost daily casualties in Iraq, is training Iraqi forces to take over security and allow it to send troops home. Washington has refused to publish a timetable for withdrawal.
SUNNI WALKOUT
The cabinet was approved by a show of hands, minister by minister, after a turbulent start to the parliamentary session, when more than a dozen minority Sunni leaders walked out. The main Sunni Arab leadership, which controls the bulk of the Sunnis' 50-odd seats in the 275-member chamber, held firm after the walkout by the dissidents. Washington says a Sunni presence at last in a full, sovereign government can draw Saddam Hussein's once-dominant minority away from revolt into politics. Sectarian wrangling has delayed formation of a government since an election in December. In-fighting within Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish groups, added to Maliki's difficulties. Days more arguing are likely over the interior and defense jobs, filled respectively for now by Maliki and a Sunni deputy premier. The prime minister, who fled Iraq in 1980 under sentence of death, has impressed some by the way has appeared to transform himself from a pugnacious backroom defender of Shi'ite majority interests into a consensus-building statesman within a month. But fellow negotiators question how far he will be able to impose team spirit on ministers reporting back to powerful leaders of rival parties, who sit outside the government. "Tremendous challenges still lie ahead," said U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, a prime mover behind the scenes. "The future of Iraq will set the course of the future of the greater Middle East. The future of this region will determine the future of the world over the next century." Washington has grown frustrated with Iraqi leaders' haggling over the five months since an election hailed as a final step from Saddam's dictatorship to democracy. Iraqis too, who turned out in large numbers to vote in December, have been growing impatient for a leadership that can address their massive problems -- security certainly, but also a devastated economy and poor basic public services. "No matter who rules, he must lead us to safety. The country is devastated. We hope the government can save what's left," said Jabbar Isho Gorgis, a 42-year-old photographer in Baghdad. Hundreds of people are being killed every month in Baghdad alone -- 12 bodies were found on Saturday, all bound and shot in the head -- and 100,000 or more have fled homes in fear since the bombing of a Shi'ite shrine in February. Sunni Islamists like al Qaeda's Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and other rebel groups from the minority Sunni community are waging a relentless campaign of violence. Militias tied to political parties have tens of thousands of men under arms and Iraq's oil sector is crippled after years of war, international sanctions and more recently rebel sabotage. Just hours before parliament sat in the heavily fortified Green Zone, protected by U.S. military firepower, a bomb killed at least 19 people in Baghdad's Shi'ite Sadr City slum. In the Sunni town of Qaim, near the Syrian border, a suicide bomber killed five policemen inside a police station. A further 58 people were wounded in the Baghdad blast, which was typical of al Qaeda. Baghdad and, especially, mostly Shi'ite southern Iraq have also seen violence between Shi'ite factions. The bomb targeted men gathered after dawn hoping to be hired for casual labor: "When will this end?" one teenager sobbed as he stood amid pools of blood. "Where is the government?"
By Mariam Karouny and Ahmed Rasheed
Iraqi Prime Minister Vows to End Violence Ask News
Iraq's new prime minister promised Sunday to use "maximum force" if necessary to end the brutal insurgent and sectarian violence wracking the country, while a suicide bomber killed more than a dozen people at a restaurant in downtown Baghdad. Although he focused on the need to end bloodshed, Nouri al-Maliki also had to address unfinished political negotiations at a Cabinet meeting on the government's first full day in office. Al-Maliki said the appointment of chiefs for the key Defense and Interior ministries should not "take more than two or three days." He is seeking candidates who are independent and have no ties to Iraq's myriad armed groups. The two ministries, which oversee the army and the police, are crucial for restoring stability, and al-Maliki needs to find candidates with wide acceptance from his broad-based governing coalition of Shiites, Sunni Arabs and Kurds. Failure to set the right tone could further alienate the disaffected Sunni Arab minority, which is the backbone of the insurgency. Or it could anger Shiite militias, some of which are thought to number in the thousands. "We are aware of the security challenge and its effects. So we believe that facing this challenge cannot be achieved through the use of force only, despite the fact that we are going to use the maximum force in confronting the terrorists and the killers who are shedding blood," al-Maliki said. Disarming militias, whose members are believed to have infiltrated the security services, will be a priority, he said, along with promoting national reconciliation, improving the country's collapsing infrastructure and setting up a special protection force for Baghdad. It is unclear if al-Maliki, a Shiite with the conservative Islamic Dawa party, will be able to persuade others in the religious United Iraqi Alliance to use their influence to try to disarm Shiite armed groups. Many Sunni Arabs think some Shiite militias are behind death squads blamed for sectarian violence that has escalated in recent months, leaving dozens of bodies to be found scattered around Iraq every day. Al-Maliki decried what he called "sectarian cleansing." "The militias, death squads and the killings are all abnormal phenomena," he said. "We should finish the issue of militias because we cannot imagine a stability and security in this country with the presence of militias that kill and kidnap." The new government was welcomed by several Arab leaders, many of whom worry that the violence in Iraq could spill over to its neighbors and that their own extremists might find fertile training ground in Iraq and eventually return to their homelands to wreak havoc. In neighboring Jordan, King Abdullah II said he hoped the seating of al-Maliki's government proves a "significant step toward building a new Iraq that would be able to fulfill the aspirations of its people for a better life, democracy, (political) pluralism and stronger national unity." Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said the new Cabinet could open the way for a conference in Iraq bringing together representatives of the country's diverse ethnic and political forces, possibly as early as next month. Kuwait's leader, Emir Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, whose country was invaded by Saddam Hussein's army in 1990, expressed hope the Cabinet members will succeed in "closing their ranks and using their capabilities in building Iraq." Political infighting, however, kept al-Maliki from filling the defense and interior posts before the Cabinet was sworn in Saturday. Sunni Arabs are demanding the defense ministry, which controls Iraq's army, to counterbalance the Shiite-controlled interior ministry, which is responsible for the police. Al-Maliki has said he wants to accelerate the pace at which army and police recruits are trained in an effort to speed up the withdrawal of U.S.-led international troops from Iraq. U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the new government must "get the security ministries to transform in such a way that they will have the confidence of the Iraqi peoples." "The next six months will be truly critical for Iraq," he said in an interview with The Associated Press. In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said al-Maliki needed five or six days to pick the two men to head those two ministries. "The prime minister has made very clear to us and to the people in the other parties that he wants to have people in whom he has supreme confidence because of the importance of this," she told Fox News. She said al-Maliki told her during a visit in late April about the need "to re-establish confidence in the police, to re-establish confidence in the ability of the government to deal with this." President Bush telephoned al-Maliki on Sunday to assure him the Untied States would support his government. "I fully understand that a free Iraq will be an important ally in the war on terror, will serve as a devastating defeat for the terrorists and Al-Qaida, and will serve as an example for others in the region who desire to be free," Bush said. Shortly after the first Cabinet meeting, a suicide bomber killed at least 13 people and wounded 17 by blowing himself up among filled lunch tables in a downtown Baghdad restaurant popular with police officers. Three of the dead were policemen. The attack at the Safar restaurant was part of a spree of bombing that killed at least 19 Iraqis and wounded dozens Sunday. One bomb attack hit a busy fruit market in New Baghdad, a mixed Shiite, Sunni Arab and Christian area in an eastern part of the capital. Police found one bomb and detonated it after trying to evacuate the market, but a second, undiscovered bomb exploded moments later, killing three civilians and wounding 23. A car bomb targeting a police patrol in northwestern Baghdad killed a bystander and injured 15 people.
By PATRICK QUINN
Iraq's new prime minister promised Sunday to use "maximum force" if necessary to end the brutal insurgent and sectarian violence wracking the country, while a suicide bomber killed more than a dozen people at a restaurant in downtown Baghdad. Although he focused on the need to end bloodshed, Nouri al-Maliki also had to address unfinished political negotiations at a Cabinet meeting on the government's first full day in office. Al-Maliki said the appointment of chiefs for the key Defense and Interior ministries should not "take more than two or three days." He is seeking candidates who are independent and have no ties to Iraq's myriad armed groups. The two ministries, which oversee the army and the police, are crucial for restoring stability, and al-Maliki needs to find candidates with wide acceptance from his broad-based governing coalition of Shiites, Sunni Arabs and Kurds. Failure to set the right tone could further alienate the disaffected Sunni Arab minority, which is the backbone of the insurgency. Or it could anger Shiite militias, some of which are thought to number in the thousands. "We are aware of the security challenge and its effects. So we believe that facing this challenge cannot be achieved through the use of force only, despite the fact that we are going to use the maximum force in confronting the terrorists and the killers who are shedding blood," al-Maliki said. Disarming militias, whose members are believed to have infiltrated the security services, will be a priority, he said, along with promoting national reconciliation, improving the country's collapsing infrastructure and setting up a special protection force for Baghdad. It is unclear if al-Maliki, a Shiite with the conservative Islamic Dawa party, will be able to persuade others in the religious United Iraqi Alliance to use their influence to try to disarm Shiite armed groups. Many Sunni Arabs think some Shiite militias are behind death squads blamed for sectarian violence that has escalated in recent months, leaving dozens of bodies to be found scattered around Iraq every day. Al-Maliki decried what he called "sectarian cleansing." "The militias, death squads and the killings are all abnormal phenomena," he said. "We should finish the issue of militias because we cannot imagine a stability and security in this country with the presence of militias that kill and kidnap." The new government was welcomed by several Arab leaders, many of whom worry that the violence in Iraq could spill over to its neighbors and that their own extremists might find fertile training ground in Iraq and eventually return to their homelands to wreak havoc. In neighboring Jordan, King Abdullah II said he hoped the seating of al-Maliki's government proves a "significant step toward building a new Iraq that would be able to fulfill the aspirations of its people for a better life, democracy, (political) pluralism and stronger national unity." Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said the new Cabinet could open the way for a conference in Iraq bringing together representatives of the country's diverse ethnic and political forces, possibly as early as next month. Kuwait's leader, Emir Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, whose country was invaded by Saddam Hussein's army in 1990, expressed hope the Cabinet members will succeed in "closing their ranks and using their capabilities in building Iraq." Political infighting, however, kept al-Maliki from filling the defense and interior posts before the Cabinet was sworn in Saturday. Sunni Arabs are demanding the defense ministry, which controls Iraq's army, to counterbalance the Shiite-controlled interior ministry, which is responsible for the police. Al-Maliki has said he wants to accelerate the pace at which army and police recruits are trained in an effort to speed up the withdrawal of U.S.-led international troops from Iraq. U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the new government must "get the security ministries to transform in such a way that they will have the confidence of the Iraqi peoples." "The next six months will be truly critical for Iraq," he said in an interview with The Associated Press. In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said al-Maliki needed five or six days to pick the two men to head those two ministries. "The prime minister has made very clear to us and to the people in the other parties that he wants to have people in whom he has supreme confidence because of the importance of this," she told Fox News. She said al-Maliki told her during a visit in late April about the need "to re-establish confidence in the police, to re-establish confidence in the ability of the government to deal with this." President Bush telephoned al-Maliki on Sunday to assure him the Untied States would support his government. "I fully understand that a free Iraq will be an important ally in the war on terror, will serve as a devastating defeat for the terrorists and Al-Qaida, and will serve as an example for others in the region who desire to be free," Bush said. Shortly after the first Cabinet meeting, a suicide bomber killed at least 13 people and wounded 17 by blowing himself up among filled lunch tables in a downtown Baghdad restaurant popular with police officers. Three of the dead were policemen. The attack at the Safar restaurant was part of a spree of bombing that killed at least 19 Iraqis and wounded dozens Sunday. One bomb attack hit a busy fruit market in New Baghdad, a mixed Shiite, Sunni Arab and Christian area in an eastern part of the capital. Police found one bomb and detonated it after trying to evacuate the market, but a second, undiscovered bomb exploded moments later, killing three civilians and wounding 23. A car bomb targeting a police patrol in northwestern Baghdad killed a bystander and injured 15 people.
By PATRICK QUINN
Iraqi PM vows to tackle terrorism BBC News
Iraq's new Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has vowed that he will use "maximum force" against terrorism, while also promoting national reconciliation. Mr Maliki was speaking as the Iraqi cabinet met for the first time since it was approved by parliament on Saturday. His comments came as the Iraqi capital was hit by a series of bomb attacks. In the deadliest incident a suicide bomber killed 13 people and injured 18 in an attack on a crowded restaurant in Baghdad's central Karada district.
Maliki's pledge
Mr Maliki vowed to crack down on the militias blamed for much of Iraq's violence. "We will use maximum force against terrorism, but we also need a national initiative," Mr Maliki said. "Weapons should only be allowed in the hands of the government. Militias, death squads, terrorism, killings and assassinations are not normal and we should put an end to the militias," he said. But Mr Maliki also stressed the need for national reconciliation and other measures to restore normality. The new Iraqi cabinet unites members of the major Shia, Kurd and Sunni parties, but three crucial ministries - national security, interior and defence - have still to be agreed. Mr Maliki said he hoped ministers to head these departments would be agreed within the next two or three days. He also outlined plans for a special force to protect Baghdad. Responding to the new government's taking office, US President George W Bush said it marked a "a new day for the millions of Iraqis who want to live in freedom". "I assured them that the United States will continue to assist the Iraqis in the formation of a free country," Mr Bush said after he had spoken by telephone with Iraq's leaders. UK Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said the formation of the new Iraqi government was an encouraging sign, adding that any decision to hand over some key responsibilities to Iraqi troops would be made on "a case-by-case basis". "We are making some progress in both training and putting into place an Iraqi army, Iraqi police force who will gradually, increasingly take over some of these responsibilities," Ms Becket told the BBC. "But I would envisage that even when responsibility is handed over to those Iraqi forces, they'll probably want some outside support for quite a while," she said.
Iraq's new Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has vowed that he will use "maximum force" against terrorism, while also promoting national reconciliation. Mr Maliki was speaking as the Iraqi cabinet met for the first time since it was approved by parliament on Saturday. His comments came as the Iraqi capital was hit by a series of bomb attacks. In the deadliest incident a suicide bomber killed 13 people and injured 18 in an attack on a crowded restaurant in Baghdad's central Karada district.
QUOTE("US President George W Bush")
The formation of the unity government in Iraq... begins a new chapter in our relationship with Iraq
The attack on the restaurant near a police station took place at 1320 local time (0920 GMT), police said. Police said they believed the bomber was wearing an explosives vest. The dead included several police officers. In other Sunday's attacks in Baghdad:- three people are killed and at least 17 are injured in a roadside bomb blast in a crowded market in the eastern New Baghdad district
- at least one person is killed and 15 are injured in a car bomb attack in the western Shula district
- five people are injured when a bomb - targeting a police patrol - goes off in the south-western Saydiya district. The bomb missed its intended target.
Maliki's pledge
Mr Maliki vowed to crack down on the militias blamed for much of Iraq's violence. "We will use maximum force against terrorism, but we also need a national initiative," Mr Maliki said. "Weapons should only be allowed in the hands of the government. Militias, death squads, terrorism, killings and assassinations are not normal and we should put an end to the militias," he said. But Mr Maliki also stressed the need for national reconciliation and other measures to restore normality. The new Iraqi cabinet unites members of the major Shia, Kurd and Sunni parties, but three crucial ministries - national security, interior and defence - have still to be agreed. Mr Maliki said he hoped ministers to head these departments would be agreed within the next two or three days. He also outlined plans for a special force to protect Baghdad. Responding to the new government's taking office, US President George W Bush said it marked a "a new day for the millions of Iraqis who want to live in freedom". "I assured them that the United States will continue to assist the Iraqis in the formation of a free country," Mr Bush said after he had spoken by telephone with Iraq's leaders. UK Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said the formation of the new Iraqi government was an encouraging sign, adding that any decision to hand over some key responsibilities to Iraqi troops would be made on "a case-by-case basis". "We are making some progress in both training and putting into place an Iraqi army, Iraqi police force who will gradually, increasingly take over some of these responsibilities," Ms Becket told the BBC. "But I would envisage that even when responsibility is handed over to those Iraqi forces, they'll probably want some outside support for quite a while," she said.
Blair welcomes Iraq's 'new start' BBC News
Prime Minister Tony Blair has said there is no "no vestige of an excuse" for the bloodshed to continue in Iraq with the formation of a new government. Mr Blair said this was a "new beginning" which would allow Iraqis to "take charge of their own destiny". He was speaking in a news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki after landing in Baghdad on Monday. The new government has vowed to crack down on terrorism - but key ministries still remain unfilled. Mr Blair's arrival in Baghdad from Kuwait was shrouded in secrecy, and comes amid continuing violence, including an attack which injured two UK soldiers. He has held talks with Mr Maliki, and will meet President Jalal Talabani.
'Violence keeps us here'
Mr Blair said it had taken "three years of struggle" to reach the formation of a government. "For the first time, we have a government of national unity... directly elected by the votes of millions of Iraqi people."
Security risk
This is the second time the British prime minister has visited Baghdad's heavily-fortified Green Zone, and he is the first world leader to visit the new government. His show of support for the new national unity government indicates how important he considers it for Iraq's future - and perhaps too his own legacy, says the BBC's political correspondent James Landale, who is travelling with the prime minister. His helicopter trip into the capital comes after a number of suicide and roadside bombs, plus drive-by shootings which have resulted in dozens being killed and injured. A senior British official travelling with the prime minister said the withdrawal of the present multinational force should be accomplished within four years, with a handover of power to civilian forces in several provinces during the summer. He insisted this was not a timetable for troop withdrawal and did not automatically mean the swift repatriation of large numbers of UK troops.
Prime Minister Tony Blair has said there is no "no vestige of an excuse" for the bloodshed to continue in Iraq with the formation of a new government. Mr Blair said this was a "new beginning" which would allow Iraqis to "take charge of their own destiny". He was speaking in a news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki after landing in Baghdad on Monday. The new government has vowed to crack down on terrorism - but key ministries still remain unfilled. Mr Blair's arrival in Baghdad from Kuwait was shrouded in secrecy, and comes amid continuing violence, including an attack which injured two UK soldiers. He has held talks with Mr Maliki, and will meet President Jalal Talabani.
'Violence keeps us here'
Mr Blair said it had taken "three years of struggle" to reach the formation of a government. "For the first time, we have a government of national unity... directly elected by the votes of millions of Iraqi people."
QUOTE("Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki")
There is no civil war in Iraq. There are groups committing terrorism but there is no sectarian civil war
He said there was no excuse for the "terrorism and bloodshed" to continue. "If the worry of people is the presence of the multinational forces, it is the violence that keeps us here. It is the peace that allows us to go". He sharply dismissed reporters who questioned the worth of the invasion of Iraq. "Here we are at a press conference where you are able to put me, the British prime minister and this, the new Iraqi prime minister, under pressure. That is what has happened in Iraq," he said. Mr Maliki said the plan was for Iraqi forces to take over control of operations from the multi-national forces as they become ready, province by province. He said reconstruction was a priority, and that talks were continuing to appoint the ministers of defence and the interior. Mr Maliki denied there was a civil war - only "groups committing terrorism".Security risk
This is the second time the British prime minister has visited Baghdad's heavily-fortified Green Zone, and he is the first world leader to visit the new government. His show of support for the new national unity government indicates how important he considers it for Iraq's future - and perhaps too his own legacy, says the BBC's political correspondent James Landale, who is travelling with the prime minister. His helicopter trip into the capital comes after a number of suicide and roadside bombs, plus drive-by shootings which have resulted in dozens being killed and injured. A senior British official travelling with the prime minister said the withdrawal of the present multinational force should be accomplished within four years, with a handover of power to civilian forces in several provinces during the summer. He insisted this was not a timetable for troop withdrawal and did not automatically mean the swift repatriation of large numbers of UK troops.
Saddam lawyer thrown out of court BBC News
There have been angry outbursts at the trial of Saddam Hussein. Chief Judge Raouf Abdel Rahman ordered guards to remove one of the defence lawyers from the courtroom. Bushra Khalil and the judge argued when he told her to wait for her turn to speak. When she persisted, court guards threw her out. Deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and seven others face charges in connection with the killing of almost 150 Iraqi Shias in the town of Dujail. They were killed after a 1982 assassination attempt on the-then president. The defence began presenting its case last week.
Saddam protest
Ms Khalil, a Lebanese lawyer, had previously been thrown out of the court by the chief Judge in April. Monday's court appearance was her first since then. Ms Khalil tried to make a statement, she was told to sit down by the judge. When she insisted, the judge ordered guards to remove her from the court. As she was escorted away, Ms Khalil flung her lawyer's robe onto the floor. Saddam Hussein protested to the judge about the lawyer's removal, but he too was told to be quiet. "I am Saddam Hussein, president of Iraq. I am above all," the former Iraqi leader shouted back. "You are a defendant, not a president," Judge Abdel Rahman said.
There have been angry outbursts at the trial of Saddam Hussein. Chief Judge Raouf Abdel Rahman ordered guards to remove one of the defence lawyers from the courtroom. Bushra Khalil and the judge argued when he told her to wait for her turn to speak. When she persisted, court guards threw her out. Deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and seven others face charges in connection with the killing of almost 150 Iraqi Shias in the town of Dujail. They were killed after a 1982 assassination attempt on the-then president. The defence began presenting its case last week.
Saddam protest
Ms Khalil, a Lebanese lawyer, had previously been thrown out of the court by the chief Judge in April. Monday's court appearance was her first since then. Ms Khalil tried to make a statement, she was told to sit down by the judge. When she insisted, the judge ordered guards to remove her from the court. As she was escorted away, Ms Khalil flung her lawyer's robe onto the floor. Saddam Hussein protested to the judge about the lawyer's removal, but he too was told to be quiet. "I am Saddam Hussein, president of Iraq. I am above all," the former Iraqi leader shouted back. "You are a defendant, not a president," Judge Abdel Rahman said.
Bush sees US taking more of a support role in Iraq Yahoo! News
President George W. Bush, under pressure to show progress in Iraq, said on Monday the United States will increasingly play a supporting role in Iraq as Baghdad's new unity government gains confidence. Bush made no pledges about withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq in the wake of Saturday's formation of a new unity government after months of sectarian argument. But he said to take advantage of a moment of opportunity, "the United States and our coalition partners will work with the new Iraqi government to adjust our methods and strengthen our mutual efforts to achieve victory over our common enemies." "As the new Iraqi government grows in confidence and capability, America will play an increasingly supporting role," Bush said. He said in a speech to an association of restaurant operators that he had instructed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to engage Iraq's new leaders to assess their needs and capabilities, "so we'll be in the best position to help them succeed." Bush said he saw the new government of Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurds as a possible turning point in Iraq three years after Saddam Hussein was toppled from power. "The main reason I've come today is to talk to you about a watershed event that took place in Iraq. On Saturday in Baghdad, Iraqis formed a new government, and the world saw the beginning of something new -- constitutional democracy at the heart of the Middle East," Bush said. Bush is trying to rebound from sagging poll numbers driven largely by a loss of American confidence in his handling of the Iraq war, where more than 2,400 Americans have been killed. The United States has about 133,000 troops in Iraq three years after it invaded to oust Saddam Hussein. Bush heaped praise on the new Iraqi prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, and other leaders, while noting that the new government is still a work in progress and that it must work to represent all Iraqis, improve security and work for peace. "The unity government must now seize this moment," Bush said.
President George W. Bush, under pressure to show progress in Iraq, said on Monday the United States will increasingly play a supporting role in Iraq as Baghdad's new unity government gains confidence. Bush made no pledges about withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq in the wake of Saturday's formation of a new unity government after months of sectarian argument. But he said to take advantage of a moment of opportunity, "the United States and our coalition partners will work with the new Iraqi government to adjust our methods and strengthen our mutual efforts to achieve victory over our common enemies." "As the new Iraqi government grows in confidence and capability, America will play an increasingly supporting role," Bush said. He said in a speech to an association of restaurant operators that he had instructed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to engage Iraq's new leaders to assess their needs and capabilities, "so we'll be in the best position to help them succeed." Bush said he saw the new government of Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurds as a possible turning point in Iraq three years after Saddam Hussein was toppled from power. "The main reason I've come today is to talk to you about a watershed event that took place in Iraq. On Saturday in Baghdad, Iraqis formed a new government, and the world saw the beginning of something new -- constitutional democracy at the heart of the Middle East," Bush said. Bush is trying to rebound from sagging poll numbers driven largely by a loss of American confidence in his handling of the Iraq war, where more than 2,400 Americans have been killed. The United States has about 133,000 troops in Iraq three years after it invaded to oust Saddam Hussein. Bush heaped praise on the new Iraqi prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, and other leaders, while noting that the new government is still a work in progress and that it must work to represent all Iraqis, improve security and work for peace. "The unity government must now seize this moment," Bush said.
Abu Ghraib dog handler on trial BBC News
A US Army dog handler accused of abusing inmates at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison in 2003 and 2004 has gone on trial at a military court in Maryland. Sgt Santos Cardona, 32, faces several charges including dereliction of duty, conspiracy and assault for allowing his dog to intimidate two detainees. His defence team is expected to argue that his use of the dog was condoned. A seven-member jury was selected, but further proceedings were suspended when a witness failed to appear. The witness, Megan Ambuhl Graner, is a former Abu Ghraib guard who pleaded guilty in November 2004 to failing to prevent or report maltreatment of prisoners. She is married to Charles Graner, currently serving a 10-year prison sentence as the ringleader of the group of soldiers who abused prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Mrs Graner had not answered a subpoena to appear before the court, a prosecution lawyer said. The prosecution would seek a federal court writ to secure her appearance, he said.
Senior officer
The court is expected to hear testimony from the highest ranking officer ever to take the stand in any of the prosecutions arising from the abuse at Abu Ghraib. A senior army officer, Maj Gen Geoffrey Miller, has been ordered to testify on US interrogation policies. Sgt Cardona's lawyers say they will press him for information about a trip he made to Iraq to advise US officials on how to get better intelligence from detainees. They say that shortly after his trip, military dogs were shipped to Abu Ghraib and approved for use in interrogations. The prosecution, however, say there is no evidence to suggest that orders came to use dogs in this way. The trial is taking place at Fort Meade military base. If convicted, Sgt Cardona could face up to 16 years in jail. Of the two detainees Sgt Cardona is accused of intimidating with a dog, one was an Iraqi general, the other was believed to be an al-Qaeda operative. A total of 10 US soldiers have already been found guilty of abuses at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison.
A US Army dog handler accused of abusing inmates at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison in 2003 and 2004 has gone on trial at a military court in Maryland. Sgt Santos Cardona, 32, faces several charges including dereliction of duty, conspiracy and assault for allowing his dog to intimidate two detainees. His defence team is expected to argue that his use of the dog was condoned. A seven-member jury was selected, but further proceedings were suspended when a witness failed to appear. The witness, Megan Ambuhl Graner, is a former Abu Ghraib guard who pleaded guilty in November 2004 to failing to prevent or report maltreatment of prisoners. She is married to Charles Graner, currently serving a 10-year prison sentence as the ringleader of the group of soldiers who abused prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Mrs Graner had not answered a subpoena to appear before the court, a prosecution lawyer said. The prosecution would seek a federal court writ to secure her appearance, he said.
Senior officer
The court is expected to hear testimony from the highest ranking officer ever to take the stand in any of the prosecutions arising from the abuse at Abu Ghraib. A senior army officer, Maj Gen Geoffrey Miller, has been ordered to testify on US interrogation policies. Sgt Cardona's lawyers say they will press him for information about a trip he made to Iraq to advise US officials on how to get better intelligence from detainees. They say that shortly after his trip, military dogs were shipped to Abu Ghraib and approved for use in interrogations. The prosecution, however, say there is no evidence to suggest that orders came to use dogs in this way. The trial is taking place at Fort Meade military base. If convicted, Sgt Cardona could face up to 16 years in jail. Of the two detainees Sgt Cardona is accused of intimidating with a dog, one was an Iraqi general, the other was believed to be an al-Qaeda operative. A total of 10 US soldiers have already been found guilty of abuses at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison.
Car bomb aimed at police kills five in Baghdad
A car bomb aimed at Iraqi police commandos killed at least five people in Baghdad on Tuesday, police said, in an attack that underlined the security challenge facing Iraq's still incomplete government. Police said civilians and police officers were among those who died in the blast, which also wounded five people. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki sought to fill the interior and defense ministry posts to complete a government announced on Saturday which he hopes can avert a sectarian civil war. Political sources said the main Shi'ite and Sunni Arab alliances were exchanging lists of their candidates during talks. The Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front denied media reports that the new culture minister from their bloc had already quit. Maliki, a tough-talking Shi'ite Islamist, has vowed to use "maximum force" to wipe out Sunni insurgents fighting to topple Iraq's U.S.-backed leaders. He has also opened a door to negotiations with those willing to join the political process. Maliki will be hard-pressed to convince Iraqis that he can make quick progress in the fight against guerillas comprised mostly of Saddam Hussein loyalists and al Qaeda militants led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The car bomb left an all too familiar scene. Shaken Iraqis stood around examining burned-out cars and shops. "The bomb exploded and flipped a minibus. What can we do? We just try to earn a living," said a shopkeeper who gave his name as Abu Mohammad. Elsewhere, in an apparently sectarian attack, gunmen in a car killed three men and wounded seven among a crowd of day laborers seeking work on farms north of Baghdad. The attack occurred at Aswad, a mainly Sunni town near Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of the capital. The laborers were mostly from nearby Huwaider, a Shi'ite town.
SENSITIVE CHOICES
Maliki faces a highly sensitive task in choosing interior and defense ministers whose main mission will be to combat Sunni insurgents and check the sectarian violence which exploded after a Shi'ite shrine was bombed in February. Sunni leaders have accused the Shi'ite-run Interior Ministry of supporting militia death squads, a charge it denies. The killing of a 12-year-old Shi'ite boy suggests communal passions will keep burning. Gunmen in three cars cornered Hani Saadoun at a checkpoint on Monday. His body was found on Tuesday, dumped in an empty lot in the troubled Sunni district of Dora in southern Baghdad. Interior Ministry sources said he was bound, blindfolded and had been shot in the head and chest. His body showed signs of torture with electric drills and cables. While young children have been kidnapped for ransom or blown up in bombings, relatively few appear so far to have been caught up in tit-for-tat sectarian abductions and killings. Saadoun's uncle, a respected freelance journalist, said police and Iraqi soldiers had refused to help retrieve his body on the grounds that Dora was too dangerous. "He had nothing to do with sectarianism or politics," said the uncle, asking that his name not be used for fear of reprisals. "He was just a boy." The Baghdad government's closest allies, the United States and Britain, are eager to see Iraqi forces show they can handle security on their own so that their own troops can withdraw. Maliki said on Monday Iraqi forces could take charge of most of the country by December. Aides of visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair said all foreign troops may be gone within four years. Blair himself, while showing support for Maliki by flying in two days after a unity government of Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurds was sworn in, would not be drawn on withdrawal deadlines. President Bush, facing the lowest domestic approval ratings for his Iraq intervention, has also offered no timetable for a pullout of the 133,000 American troops. Maliki said Iraqis needed more training and equipment and conceded that a profusion of forces posed a risk of civil war, an outcome that would greatly complicate any foreign withdrawal. But he said two British-run southern provinces, Muthanna and Amara, could be handed to Iraqi security forces next month.
By Lutfi Abu Oun and Michael Georgy
A car bomb aimed at Iraqi police commandos killed at least five people in Baghdad on Tuesday, police said, in an attack that underlined the security challenge facing Iraq's still incomplete government. Police said civilians and police officers were among those who died in the blast, which also wounded five people. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki sought to fill the interior and defense ministry posts to complete a government announced on Saturday which he hopes can avert a sectarian civil war. Political sources said the main Shi'ite and Sunni Arab alliances were exchanging lists of their candidates during talks. The Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front denied media reports that the new culture minister from their bloc had already quit. Maliki, a tough-talking Shi'ite Islamist, has vowed to use "maximum force" to wipe out Sunni insurgents fighting to topple Iraq's U.S.-backed leaders. He has also opened a door to negotiations with those willing to join the political process. Maliki will be hard-pressed to convince Iraqis that he can make quick progress in the fight against guerillas comprised mostly of Saddam Hussein loyalists and al Qaeda militants led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The car bomb left an all too familiar scene. Shaken Iraqis stood around examining burned-out cars and shops. "The bomb exploded and flipped a minibus. What can we do? We just try to earn a living," said a shopkeeper who gave his name as Abu Mohammad. Elsewhere, in an apparently sectarian attack, gunmen in a car killed three men and wounded seven among a crowd of day laborers seeking work on farms north of Baghdad. The attack occurred at Aswad, a mainly Sunni town near Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of the capital. The laborers were mostly from nearby Huwaider, a Shi'ite town.
SENSITIVE CHOICES
Maliki faces a highly sensitive task in choosing interior and defense ministers whose main mission will be to combat Sunni insurgents and check the sectarian violence which exploded after a Shi'ite shrine was bombed in February. Sunni leaders have accused the Shi'ite-run Interior Ministry of supporting militia death squads, a charge it denies. The killing of a 12-year-old Shi'ite boy suggests communal passions will keep burning. Gunmen in three cars cornered Hani Saadoun at a checkpoint on Monday. His body was found on Tuesday, dumped in an empty lot in the troubled Sunni district of Dora in southern Baghdad. Interior Ministry sources said he was bound, blindfolded and had been shot in the head and chest. His body showed signs of torture with electric drills and cables. While young children have been kidnapped for ransom or blown up in bombings, relatively few appear so far to have been caught up in tit-for-tat sectarian abductions and killings. Saadoun's uncle, a respected freelance journalist, said police and Iraqi soldiers had refused to help retrieve his body on the grounds that Dora was too dangerous. "He had nothing to do with sectarianism or politics," said the uncle, asking that his name not be used for fear of reprisals. "He was just a boy." The Baghdad government's closest allies, the United States and Britain, are eager to see Iraqi forces show they can handle security on their own so that their own troops can withdraw. Maliki said on Monday Iraqi forces could take charge of most of the country by December. Aides of visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair said all foreign troops may be gone within four years. Blair himself, while showing support for Maliki by flying in two days after a unity government of Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurds was sworn in, would not be drawn on withdrawal deadlines. President Bush, facing the lowest domestic approval ratings for his Iraq intervention, has also offered no timetable for a pullout of the 133,000 American troops. Maliki said Iraqis needed more training and equipment and conceded that a profusion of forces posed a risk of civil war, an outcome that would greatly complicate any foreign withdrawal. But he said two British-run southern provinces, Muthanna and Amara, could be handed to Iraqi security forces next month.
By Lutfi Abu Oun and Michael Georgy
Kerry calls for international summit to quell Iraqi insurgency The Boston Grlobe
Sen. John Kerry on Monday called for an international summit to help stabilize Iraq and end the insurgency that has been killing Iraqis and American troops in the aftermath of the U.S.-led invasion. The Massachusetts Democrat, his party's 2004 presidential nominee and among those who voted for a congressional resolution authorizing military action, said: "It's long overdue for a Congress that shares some of the responsibility for getting us into Iraq to help get us out." Over the weekend, Iraq swore in a permanent government and a new prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki. On Monday in Chicago, President Bush told the National Restaurant Association: "The progress we've made has been hard-fought, and it's been incremental. ...Yet we have now reached a turning point in the struggle between freedom and terror." Kerry, speaking with reporters after touring areas flooded last week by heavy rain, said the summit should include representatives of warring factions in Iraq, as well as Europeans, Iranians, Syrians and other Middle Eastern players. The goal should be to stabilize Iraq so Iraqi forces can assume control and the U.S. military can stand down by the end of the year, he said. Kerry accused the administration of engaging in "platitudes" rather than a dispassionate assessment of the military and social reality in Iraq. "I think that what we need is pressure on the Iraqis to move forward in these next days," said Kerry, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "We cannot tolerate delays, jockeying for position and the playing of political games while our troops are putting their lives and their limbs on the line for Iraqis. Iraqi leaders, so far, have only responded to deadlines."
Sen. John Kerry on Monday called for an international summit to help stabilize Iraq and end the insurgency that has been killing Iraqis and American troops in the aftermath of the U.S.-led invasion. The Massachusetts Democrat, his party's 2004 presidential nominee and among those who voted for a congressional resolution authorizing military action, said: "It's long overdue for a Congress that shares some of the responsibility for getting us into Iraq to help get us out." Over the weekend, Iraq swore in a permanent government and a new prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki. On Monday in Chicago, President Bush told the National Restaurant Association: "The progress we've made has been hard-fought, and it's been incremental. ...Yet we have now reached a turning point in the struggle between freedom and terror." Kerry, speaking with reporters after touring areas flooded last week by heavy rain, said the summit should include representatives of warring factions in Iraq, as well as Europeans, Iranians, Syrians and other Middle Eastern players. The goal should be to stabilize Iraq so Iraqi forces can assume control and the U.S. military can stand down by the end of the year, he said. Kerry accused the administration of engaging in "platitudes" rather than a dispassionate assessment of the military and social reality in Iraq. "I think that what we need is pressure on the Iraqis to move forward in these next days," said Kerry, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "We cannot tolerate delays, jockeying for position and the playing of political games while our troops are putting their lives and their limbs on the line for Iraqis. Iraqi leaders, so far, have only responded to deadlines."
Aziz testifies for Saddam defence BBC News
Former Iraqi Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz has been testifying for the defence at the trial of ousted leader Saddam Hussein. Saddam Hussein and seven co-defendants are on trial over the deaths of 148 Shia men from Dujail following a 1982 assassination attempt against Saddam. Mr Aziz said none of them were guilty "because they punished those who tried to assassinate the head of state". Mr Aziz, once the international face of the Iraq regime, is not on trial. He appeared in court looking pale and wearing pyjamas. He has complained of ill health and has been demanding that he is temporarily released from US custody to seek medical treatment. Although not involved in the Dujail deaths, Mr Aziz said: "The Dujail case is part of a chain of assassination operations against officials and I am one of the victims."
Former Iraqi Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz has been testifying for the defence at the trial of ousted leader Saddam Hussein. Saddam Hussein and seven co-defendants are on trial over the deaths of 148 Shia men from Dujail following a 1982 assassination attempt against Saddam. Mr Aziz said none of them were guilty "because they punished those who tried to assassinate the head of state". Mr Aziz, once the international face of the Iraq regime, is not on trial. He appeared in court looking pale and wearing pyjamas. He has complained of ill health and has been demanding that he is temporarily released from US custody to seek medical treatment. Although not involved in the Dujail deaths, Mr Aziz said: "The Dujail case is part of a chain of assassination operations against officials and I am one of the victims."
QUOTE("Tariq Aziz")
The president of the state in any country, if faced with an assassination attempt, should take procedures to punish those who conduct and help this operation
"The president of the state in any country, if faced with an assassination attempt, should take procedures to punish those who conduct and help this operation," he added. "According to the law, people who support this assassination can also be convicted." In 1980, Mr Aziz was attacked by militants who threw grenades at him at Mustansiriyah University in Baghdad, killing civilians surrounding him. Mr Aziz said he was testifying on behalf of Saddam Hussein, and also the former president's half brother and former head of intelligence Barzan al-Tikiriti and former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan. "