Nur al-Cubicle

A blog on the current crises in the Middle East and news accounts unpublished by the US press. Daily timeline of events in Iraq as collected from stories and dispatches in the French and Italian media: Le Monde (Paris), Il Corriere della Sera (Milan), La Repubblica (Rome), L'Orient-Le Jour (Beirut) and occasionally from El Mundo (Madrid).

Friday, July 16, 2004

16 June 2004 Events in Iraq

18.00 Nassiriya. ITALIAN TROOPS REPAIR HOSPITAL. Italian troops have repaired the civilian hospital in Suq Ash Shuyukh, 30 km southeast of Nassiriya.

17.55 Balad. TWO US TROOPS DIE IN MORTAR ATTACK NORTH OF BAGHDAD. 2 US troops die and 23 are wounded in a attack on thier base in Balad, 75 km north of Baghdad

17.30 Baghdad. ITALIAN EMBASSY TO REOPEN ON 1 JULY. The embassy had been closed since 1 February 1991. [After today's news, that is a big maybe]

17.14 Baghdad. OIL MINISTER, BASRAH PIPELINE TO BE OUT OF SERVICE FOR AT LEAST 2 DAYS. Repairs to be completed within 48 hours.

17.01 Baghdad. US FORCES TO RELINQUISH CONTROL OF BAGHDAD AIRPORT ON 30 JUNE. US forces will transfer a portion of the Baghdad Airport to the Iraqi government on 30 June but will continue to occupy the remainder of the ground until August 15, according to the Iraqi Transportation Minister.

16.59 Basrah. DEMONSTRATION IN BASRAH AGAINST LOCAL AUTHORITIES. A big demonstration is ongoing in Basrah against Salim Matshar al-Taqi, City Council President, and Hasan al-Rashid, the city's Vice Governor, both members of the Badr Brigades, the militant wing of SCIRI. At least 2,000 protesters are demanding the dissolution of the municipal government.

16.40 Washington. 9-11 COMMISSION, IRAQ DID NOT REPLY TO OFFERS FROM BIN LADEN. The link between Iraq and al Qaeda claimed by President George W. Bush again yesterday but never explicitly proven has been dismissed by the 9-11 Commission. If anything AQ may have sponsored a terrorist bombing in Kurdistan against Saddam Hussein.

16.15 Washington. 9-11 COMMISSION: NO SADDAM-AL QAEDA LINK.

15.40 Basrah. SOUTHERN PIPELINE SABOTAGED [AGAIN]. Saboteurs bomb one of two pipelines in southern Iraq for the second time in 48 hours.

14.05 Amman. MULLAH KREKAR SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS HARD LABOR. Amman's national security court sentenced Ansar al-Islam's founder mullah Krekar to 15 years hard labor in abstentia. The group operates in Northern Iraq and is believed to have links to Al Qaeda.

13.57 Beirut. LEBANESE HOSTAGE FREED. Lebanese citizen Habib Samour was liberated today as reported by Lebanon TV.

13.29 Cairo. OIC SUPPORTS SOVEREIGNTY AND INDEPENDENCE FOR IRAQ. The organization of Islamic Conferences supports "complete sovereignty over all its territory and independence" for Iraq and has called for the formation of a government with a widened popular base and founded on full and complete representation as well as a constitution which has been accepted by the people.

12.50 Ramadi NINE DEAD IN BOMBING. Nine dead, including four foreigners, is the death toll from this morning's car bombing in Ramadi, 100 km west of Baghdad. 10 people were wounded in the carbombing of a convoy escorted by police.

12.20 Latifiya. 18 CIVILIANS STRUCK BY LIGHTNING IN RIVER. 18 teenagers working for the Coalition by clearing river grass obstructing flow were killed by lightning in Latifiya, 30 km south of Baghdad.

12.02 Baghdad. SIX MEMBERS OF IRAQI DEFENSE FORCE ARRESTED. Six members of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps were arrested by US troops. There are suspected of complicity in a bombing which took the lives of 5 locals in western Iraq.

11.50 Teheran. IRANIAN PRESIDENT REQUESTS CLEMENCY FOR SADDAM. Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has demanded a fair trial for Saddam Hussein, responsible for "terrible oppression against his people and the region". But Khatami added that "even oppressors deserve some clemency."

10.33 Bangkok. THAI TROOPS TO LEAVE IRAQ IN SEPTEMBER. The Thai humanitarian mission in Karbala will end in September, as planned.

10.12 Najaf. AL SADR ORDERS HIS MILITIA OUT OF NAJAF. Al Sadr has asked his followers to return to their homes.

10.04 Baghdad. WOLFOWITZ IN CAPITAL TO MEET WITH COALITION OFFICIALS Undersecretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz is in Baghdad for meetings.

09.41 Ramadi CARBOMBING IN CITY, 4 DEAD AND 5 WOUNDED. Four Iraqis, including 5 policemen, were killed and five wounded when a car bomb went off next ot a US civilian vehicle near the Grand Mosque located in eastern Ramadi.

09.23 Kirkuk. CHIEF OF OILFIED SECURITY SLAIN IN KIRKUK. Ghazi al-Talabani, head of oilfield security in Kirkuk, was assassinated in front of his house this morning.

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