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A blog on the current crises in the Middle East and news accounts unpublished by the US press.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).

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

December 14 Events in Iraq

A convoy in which the Deputy Minister of State for the Interior, Hussein Ali Kamal, was travelling was targeted by a bomb. The device killed one member of his escort.

In Mossul, one member of the Nineveh Provincial Council, Sinan Salem Sello, was assassinated while another, Mrs. Nahla Aziz al-Issa, a veterinarian, was kidnapped.

General Myers admits that there are still pockets of resistance in Falluja.

Return of residents to Fallujah. The return of residents to Fallujah has been postponed one week to 22 December after Sunday's violent clashes in the northeast of the city killed five Marines and wounded 17 others. One out of three homes is beyond repair and all homes have been seriously damaged by street fighting. Most residents will not be able to return due to the state of their homes.

Islamic Party registers a slate of candidates for the elections. A slate of candidates representing the Iraqi Islamic Party, a major Sunni block which had threatened to boycott the elections, has been registered with the elections commission.


British Royal Navy captain relieved of duty. A captain of the Royal Navy returning home from Iraq was relieved of duty due to mistreatment of a junior officer. Frigate Captain David Axon of the vessel Somerset was removed to prevent a mutiny by the crew. Axon, a specialist of anti-aircraft defense, had taken command of the vessel in September 2003. The frigate spent more than six months patrolling the northern Gulf to defend Iraqi offshore oil installations. The removal was made after a complaint was lodged against the captain by junior officers for brutality and intimidation.

19:40 Hafria. Guerrillas kill two policemen. An machinegun attack by guerrillas on a police convoy in Hafria, south of Baghdad, killed 2 policemen and wounded 2 others.

19:35 Salman Pak. Attack east of Baghdad, four police killed. At least four police are dead and several others wounded when insurgents attacked a police convoy near the city of Salman Pak. Insurgents destroyed a bus and two cars with Basrah plates. The casualty toll is expected to rise.

18:40 Washington. Military requests an additional $80 billion. The Pentagon requests an additional $80 billion for the "War on Terror" in Iraq and Afghanistan. The request is $75 billion more than that discussed during the US presidential election campaign.

17:58 Baghdad. Allawi: Violence to increase after elections. Premier Iyad Allawi tells the provisional national assembly that violence in Iraq will increase after the elections. Terrorist attacks will not cease after the elections., warns Allawi. After announcing that daily insurgent attacks have decreased from 80 per day to 50 per day, the Premier then blamed Syria for allowing guerrillas to cross the frontier into Iraq.

17:51 Fallujah. Allawi: Relative of Saddam captured. Ezzedin al-Majid al-Tikriti, a cousin of Saddam Hussein captured in Fallujah, will face trial next week, says Premier Iyad Allawi, who claims al-Tikriti was a rebel combattant in Fallujah.

17:32 Baghdad. Elections, 60 million ballots needed. The final number of candidates running in the upcoming elections is unknown, but the Iraqi Elections Commission has requested the printing of 60 million ballots. Votesr may select either a party list or individual candidates.

16:55 Warsaw. Poland to withdraw one-third of its troops in February. Poland will pull out one-third of its troops in mid-February, reducing the size of its contingent from 2,500 to 1,700, says Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski.

16:12 Iraqi insurgents produce English-language video. For the first time, Iraqi insurgents have produced an English-language video for the Internet. We did not cross oceans and seas to conquer Great Britain or the United States and we are not responsible for 9-11. What you hear are lies which those criminals have invented to obscure their real aims--to control the world's supply of energy and to keep emerging China and the powerful European Union down. The video was made by a group calling itself the Jihad Islamic Army.

15:33 Common grave, estimate rises to 900. The common grave discovered in Kurdistan could hold 900 dead.

15:23 Fallujah. Saddam collaborator found. Izzi-Din Mohammed Hassan al Majid, a collaborator and cousin of Saddam Hussein, was arrested in Fallujah.

15:18 Baghdad. Al-Sadr places conditions on participation in elections. Rebel Shi'a imam Moqtada Al-Sadr has announced the conditions for the participation of his followers in the elections. In an communique broadcast by al Jazeera, Al-Sadr says that without a promise from the Americans for withdrawal of their troops immediately following the elections, participation is impossible. Despite al Sadr's public stand, a number of members of his movement are registered as independent candidates on the Shi'ite slate, says Lebanese newspaper 'Al-Mustaqbal' .

14:35 Geneva. Saddam held in US base near airport. Saddam's whereabouts are no longer a secret; the Iraqi ex-President is held in Camp Cropper, a US base near Baghdad Airport. The revelation was made by the Iraqi Minister for Human Rights, Bakhtiar Amin, who had been pressured by the International Red Cross to divulge the location.

14:12 Mossul, 14 corpses found. The bodies of fourteen Iraqi youths, executed by gunshot, were found in a cemetery near Mossul. Their identities remain unknown. The execution took place approximately 15 hours ago in the area of Wadi Ekab, north of the city, where more than 60 bodies have been found since the beginning of December.

13:42 Common grave with 500 corpses uncovered. Investigators have found a common grave which may contain 500 bodies, says Premier Iyad Allawi. The site is near Sulaimaniya, in Iraqi Kurdistan.

13:41 Allawi: Zarqawi collaborator killed. One of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi closest collaborators was killed by Iraqi security forces, says Premier Iyad Allawi. Hassan Ibrahim Farhan was killed and two al Qaeda terrorists arrested, says Allawi, without indicating the date or location.

13:32 Saddam's henchmen to be tried. The trial of Saddam Hussein's closest collaborators will begin next week, says Premier Iyad Allawi.

11:55 Four Kuwaitis kidnapped. Four Kuwaiti citizens were kidnapped by an armed militia at the border, says Iranian TV Al-Alam. The four had been on a hunting outing when they were captured.

11:26 Fallujah, $500 indemnity to returning residents. Each family returning to Fallujah will receive an indemnity, say the US military. Each family will receive a $500 consolation payment; it is to say that were are sorry for what has happened to the city, says Marine Capt. Paul Batty.

11:22 Elections, 79 lists are filed. Iraqi Election Committee says there are 70 party slates and 9 coaltion slates which have been filed for the upcoming elections.

11:18 UK: High court to investigate slaying of an Iraqi civilian. The London High Court will lead an independent investigation into the slaying of an Iraqi civilian by British troops. Five requests from other Iraqi families were rejected. The decision was pronounced in favor of the family of Baha Moussa, 26, who worked as a receptionist in Basrah and was arrested September 14, 2003 by British troops. His body, which was returned to the family several days later, was severely bruised without explanation. The judges of the High Court found that jurisdiction of the British state is territorial and could be extended to "outposts of authority of the State in foreign lands." Tony Blair's government was embarrassed by the decision and will seek an appeal in the House of Lords.

11:04 Kirkuk. Pipeline sabotaged. Rebels set a portion of an oil pipeline ablaze 70 km southwest of Kirkuk.

10:41 Mosul, eight bodies discovered. The bodies of eight young men were discovered in a Mossul cemetery. All were shot in the head. All were in civilian clothes; none have been identified.

10:11 Baghdad, two police officials assassinated. Two high-ranking police officials were killed by gunshot. The assassinations took place in the Ur district, at 8:15 this morning. The dead are Colonels Khayoum and Ali Hassan, of the Criminal Investigations Department. A third official, Capt. Imad Jassem, was wounded in the attack.

09:44 General Myers arrives with celebrity stars and champions. Gen. Richard Myers, in a suprise visit to Iraq, has arrived in Baghdad accompanied by celebrities of the stage and the sports arena, including comedian Robin Williams, football player John Elway and supermodel Leeann Tweeden.

07:31 Baghdad, one dead and twelve wounded. An Iraqi National Guardsman was killed and 12 others wounded in a suicide car bombing near the Green Zone.

07:29 Baghdad. Suicide carbomb. A suicide carbomb exploded at an entrance to the Green Zone, where Iraqi employees enter. The car exploded as it was being searched.

07:19 Blast in Baghdad. Carbomb kills one near the site of yesterday's car bombing which killed seven Iraqis.

07:16 Bagdad, blast near Green Zone.

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