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A blog on the current crises in the Middle East and news accounts unpublished by the US press.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

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

February 9 Events in Iraq

Washington. US to disburse $400 million to Coalition partners. US will pay its Coalition partners $400 million for services rendered in Iraq and in Afghanistan. The payout has been dubbed, The Solidarity Initiative. Also, President Bush told Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski that the US would grant Poland $100 million for the modernization of its armed forces.

Washington. Donald Rumsfeld says there is a "bumpy road" ahead for Iraq while aboard the USS O’Bannon, headed to Nice, France, for an ongoing NATO conference.

Ankara. Turkey calls on Iraq to remedy voting irregularities and sparse turnout during the 30 January elections.

Ramadi. Armed men kidnapped the Director for Agricultural Equipment and the Director of Finance for the city of Ramadi.

Baghdad. Trials of Saddam Hussein and his lieutenants to begin before end of February.

20:19 Rome. Mayor of Rome and Manifesto Editor-in-Chief to visit moque. Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni and Manifesto Editor-in-Chief Gabriele Polo have been invited by Imam Mahmoud Ahmed Shewmita to Rome's main mosque on Friday to discuss actions to be taken to encourage the release of Italian hostage Giuliana Sgrena.

19:27 Rome. Worldwide sit-in on behalf of kidnapped journalists. The International House for Women will organize a sit-in in Serbia, Belgium, UK, Australia, Mexico, USA and several other countries on behalf of missing reporters Giuliana Sgrena and Florence Aubenas.

18:46 Baghdad. Two blasts near Green Zone.

18:26 Washington: "British transport downed by enemy fire". The British C-130 downed north of Baghdad on 30 January was shot down by insurgents.

18:24 Cairo. Pleas for release of reporter Giuliana Sgrena made by Arab journalists. Columnist Mrs. Farida El Nakash writing for the Marxist weekly Al Ahaly and the Union of Arab Journalists call for the release of Giuliana Sgrena.

17:59 Brussels. Rice says divergences are over. Condoleezza Rice says she believes that the EU and the USA now share a common agenda for Iraq.

17:41 Rome. Combat helicopters sent to Iraq. Three Mangusta combat helicopters have been dispatched to the Italian contingent in Nassiriya via an Antonov transport aircraft flying to Tallil Air Base.

17:04 Baghdad. Ministry official assassinted. A Housing Ministry official has been shot while driving in his car.

16:25 Nato, Scheffer: Corner has been turned. NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer says the corner has been turned on Iraq. Hoop Scheffer says all 26 NATO members will contribute to the training of Iraqi security personnel.

15:40 Ramadi: Five dead and 11 kidnapped. Five Iraqi soldiers were found dead in Sufiya, east of the city. Eleven others, including eight soldiers and one policeman were kidnapped when armed men attacked various government buildings in the city. Two government workers were also kidnapped.

14:13 Basrah. Murder of TV reporter and son. The Imam al-Hassan al-Basri Brigades claimed credit in the murder of al Hurra TV reporter Abdel Hussein Khazaal, 40, and his son, 4.

14:11 Bagdad, Manager of al Rashid Hotel murdered. Ghazi ali Ismail was murdered in an ambush in the Habibiya district in east Baghdad. The al Rashid Hotel houses American visitors.

13:56 Rome. Italian journalist Stefano Chiarini repatriated. Manifesto reporter Stefano Chiarini has returned to Italy for his safety.

12:34 Geneva. UNESCO pleas for release of journalists. UNESCO Director Koichiro Matsuura, pleads for release of Giuliana Sgrena and Florence Aubenas.

12:27 Baghdad. US soldier killed. A US soldier was shot dead in Balad, north of the capital.

12:24 Basrah, television network employee and son murdered. Abdel Hussein Khazal, who worked for the US-financed TV network al Hurra, and his four year-old son were killed in a driveby shooting. Kahzal was press service director for the Governate of Basrah.

11:41 Baghdad. Election results delayed again. Elections Commission to reexamine 300 ballot boxes. Results to be released at the end of the month.

11:20 Rome. Italian helicopter pilots found innocent. A court martial exonerated four Italian helicopter pilots for refusing to fly missions due to inadequate protective equipment.

10:51 Baghdad. 18 Hezbollah militants arrested. Interior Minister Falah Al Naqib announces arrest of 18 Hezbollah militants.

09:59 Mosul. US soldier killed.

08:47 Baghdad. Election results to be released after 10 February.

08:44 Baghdad. Oil Ministry official kidnapped. Col Ryad Gattah al-Allawi was forced out of his car and kidnapped in Baghdad. Allawi worked for the Oil Ministry security services.

08:42 Baghdad. The Committee of Iraqi Ulema say hostage taking "defames" the resistance. Sheik Abdul Salam al Kubaisi condemns kidnappings.

07:33 Samarra. Four police dead and two wounded. A roadside bomb near Samarra destroyed police convoy vehicles, killing four police and wounded two.

07:33 Tikrit. Croatian truck driver killed by an RPG. Insurgents ambushed truck delivering supplies to US military and killed the driver.

07:30 Kirkuk. Rocket fired at natural gas pipeline. A pipeline transporting natural gas from Kirkuk to Baiji was struck by rocket fire and set ablaze.

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