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A blog on the current crises in the Middle East and news accounts unpublished by the US press.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

Sunday, February 06, 2005

February 6 Events in Iraq

Najaf. Two Iraqi grand ayatollahs have demanded a Constitution based on Islam. The Shi'ite Marjaïya (models of emulation) and most Iraqis want Sharia law, says Sheik Ibrahim Ibrahimi, spokesman for Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Ishaq al-Fayad. A spokesman for Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani confirmed the same position. Islam is the religion of the state and must be considered the basis for jurisprudence. No law contradicting the universally recognized precepts of Islam is acceptable in the Constitution. We counsel the government to take no decision shocking to Muslim sensibilities, such as conscripting Muslim girls or publishing their photographs in the company of foreign instructors. We warn officials against separation of religion and state because this is completely unacceptable to the Ulema and Marjaïya alike. We will accept no compromise on this question. Together with Grand Ayatollahs Bachir al-Najafi and Mohammad Saïd al-Hakim, Sistani and Fayad make up the Marjaïya, based in Najaf.

Baghdad. Iraqi Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Hamed Al-Bayati, member of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, says the Shi'ite majority will claim the post of Prime Minister in the new government, removing any possibility of the continuation of Iyad Allawi.

Erbil. The vast majority of Kurds want independence for Kurdistan, says Asso Kassem, member of the Movement for a Referendum on Kurdistan. 1,973,412 Kurds, or 98,7 % of those surveyed in an exit poll following last Sunday's elections, are in favor of independence.

Baghdad. Nineveh residents protest in Baghdad to demand a revote in certain areas of northern Iraq where neither ballot boxes nor ballots were delivered.

Fallujah. Schools have reportedly reopened after four months of closure.

Abu Ghraib. Unqualified personnel performed amputations. Unqualifed US military personnel performed amputations in Abu Ghraib prision and reused breathing tubes, says Time Magazine. US National Guard Captain Kelly Parrson, a medic, says that she and other personnel practiced amputations and other medical procedures for which they were not qualified. Capt. Parrson admitted she personally performed the amputation of an ankle and of one leg. She also said that when a patient died, the breathing tube was detached and transferred to another patient. The US ran a 52-bed clinic inside the prison, staffed by 200 personnel.

Abu Ghraib. 350 prisoners released.

Baghdad. Sunni clerics attempt to find common ground to challenge Shi'ites. The Committee of Iraqi Ulema, which runs 3,000 mosques across Iraq, met on Saturday to find a shared position vis-a-vis the drafting the new Iraqi Consitution.

Washington. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says security in Iraq depends on Iran and Syria. Rumsfeld claims that the insurgency is comprised of Ba'athists, Zarqawi Jihadists and for-hire suicide bombers. Rumsfeld claims that a cutoff of funds by Iran and Syria would end the insurgency.

Fallujah. Police corps purged. The 800-member Fallujah police force has been reduced by 3/4 and purged of rebel sympathizers, says an Iraqi police spokesman.

New York. Oil-for-Food investigators want to question Tariq Aziz.

Baghdad. Government claims it has arrested insurgency financier. The Iraqi caretaker government has arrested Khamis Massine Farhan al-Ougaïdi, 51, known as Abu Sabaa, suspected of financing the rebels. Al-Ougaïdi is thought to have links to Mohammad Rijab al-Hadoushi and Sabawi Ibrahim Hassan, former collaborators of Saddam Hussein

23:44 Mahawil. Rebels raid police barracks: 22 police killed. At least 22 Iraqi police officers were killed and 18 wounded in Mahawil, 80 km south of Baghdad. Rebels attacked with machine guns and RPGs; 14 insurgents were also killed.

22:07 Baghdad. Kidnappers issue new communiqué. The kidnappers of Italian reporter Giuliana Sgrena have issued a "final" ultimatum before she is judged by a "Justice Commission" of the Jihadi Brigades.

18:14 Paris. Display to include Giuliana Sgrena. A giant portrait of Italian reporter Giuliana Sgrena will be displayed next to that of French journalist Florence Aubenas of the French daily Libération in the Place de la République in Paris.

14:44 Baghdad. Three Iraqis killed; corpse discovered. An Iraqi soldier and one civilian were killed in a rebel ambush near Samarra. Another Iraqi solider was wounded. There were further clashes in Samarra between Iraqi troops and rebels, wounding seven civilians--four children and three adults. In Balad, 70 km north of Baghdad, a civilian was killed and four soldiers wounded by a roadside bomb. In Tuz, outside Tikrit, the body of a businessman, Ahmad Abdelkader Abed, was found shot through of bullets.

13:56 Baghdad. Sgrena's chauffeur held by police. Muhannad Nejim, the chauffeur for Italian reporter Giuliana Sgrena, has been arrested by US troops and turned over to Iraqi authorities

13:42 Najaf. Sistani and Shi'ite religious leaders say Koran will be the base of justice system. In a surprise move, Shi'ite religious leaders says the "sharja" will be the law of the land in the future Constitution.

12:59 Baghdad, four dead and nine wounded in clashes with Iraqi security forces. Clashes in the village of Abu Mustapha, 20 km northwest of Hilla, killed two Iraqi soldiers, one police official and one rebel. Four soliders and five rebels were wounded.

12:41 Doha. Al Jazeera broadcasts Manifesto plea. Co-workers of Giuliana Sgrena of the Italian daily Il Manifesto prepared a group plea to insurgents to release the reporter. The video was broadcast by al Jazeera.

11:21 Cairo. Names of kidnapped Egyptians released. Four employees of MobiService Company, a subsidiary of Orascom Telecom, were kidnapped in Baghdad: Sayed Shaaban, Mohamed El Saadi, Walid Ismail and Hosni Ashur.

11:18 Cairo. Egyptian Foreign Ministry confirms kidnapping of four Egyptians in Baghdad.

10:50 Baghdad. Four Egyptians kidnapped in front of residence. An Orascom spokesman says four of its employees have been kidnapped in Baghdad.

10:09 Baghdad, US marine killed. US KIA total climbs to 1,443.

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