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A blog on the current crises in the Middle East and news accounts unpublished by the US press.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, May 25, 2005

25 May 2005 Events in Iraq

Baghdad. The Grand Mufti of Australia, Sheik Taj Eldin Al Hilali, announced that he would be willing to take the place of Australian hostage Douglas Wood.

23:57 Rome. Corriere della Sera offices searched by police. A Corriere article reported that US intelligence claimed that rebels were in possession of a thousands of Series 92 9-mm Beretta pistols with no serial numbers of recent manufacture. Editorial staff protested infringement of freedom of the press as police attempted to seize a draft of the article .

23:56 Washington. Donald Rumsfeld says that despite "successes" the US cannot defeat terrorism unassisted. [Duh...so this is news?--Nur]

23:55 Washington. The Washington Post suggest that wounded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi will be replaced by a lieutenant named Abu Karrar.

23:54 Haditha. Violent combat during "Operation Newmarket" along the banks of the Euphrates.

23:53 Washington. US officials admit that Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi may have been wounded but are unable to confirm.

23:52 Baghdad. Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini invites Premier Ibrahim Jafaari to Rome.

23:46 Washington. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he is in Washington to "convince" George W. Bush to end the Israeli occupation.

23:37 Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during his first visit to Washington following his election in January pleaded for the Palestinian cause before Congress. Abbas also met with Senate majority leader Bill Frist and Chairman Henry Hyde of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Meanwhile [uber-hawk and Israeli tool--Nur] Congressman Tom Lantos criticized Abbas for his "reticence" on disarming all radical groups.

22:46 Ramallah. Hamas agress to negotiate directly with Fatah to reduce tensions among Palestinian factions. Hamas officials met with Egyptian mediators dispatched by the intelligence service. It is our aim to end the crisis, says Hamas official Saïd Seyam.

22:26 Riyadh. King Fahd reportedly on deathbed. Saudi stock market crashes.

23:49 Guantanamo: FBI confirms desecration of the Koran. A 2002 FBI report confirms profanation of Koran by US guards in Guantanamo.

21:40 Washington. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) complains of improper behavior of US guards in Guantanmo towards the Koran.

21:15 Baghdad. Eleven Iraqis were killed in a series of attacks, including five bombings in Bahgdad which also wounded 20 persons, including 11 police. Three police were killed in a suicide bombing in the Dura quarter of Baghdad.

21:13 Washington. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice tells Agence France Press the the US will oppose any compromise on Iran's nuclear program. Nothing less than a permanent end to activities is acceptable to Washington.

21:01 Cairo. Egyptian Foreign Ministry will host a on June 2 coordination meeting in Cairo ahead of the EU-sponsored 22 June international conference on Iraq.

18:35 Geneva. EU to propose new agreement on Iranian nuclar activities. Iranian negotiator Hassan Rowhani says he expects an accord within a short period of time.

18:13 Tel Aviv. Protesters opposed to Gaza Strip pullout block traffic resulting in huge traffic jams.

18:10 Beirut: Hezbollah, "We have 12,000 missiles." Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary-General of Lebanese Hezbollah, claims to possess 12,000 missiles able to strike northern Israel. All of occupied North Palestine, with its settler colonies, airports, fields and farms is within the range of fire of the Islamic Resistance....We do not want to drag the region into war; we want to defend our country and we shall keep our weapons.

18:00 London. UK to deploy additional 400 troops to Iraq as trainers.

17:15 Ramadi. US anti-rebel operation kills 10 rebels.

15:37 Washington: Rumsfeld says he ordered Cessna shot down as it entered forbidden airspace of US capital on 11 May.

15:18 Teheran. President Khatami intervenes with Iranian judiciary to seek the release Akbar Ganji, a dissident journalist who has been in jail for the last five years.

14:29 Najaf. Thousands of Shi'a demonstrate against Sheik Harith al Dhari of the Committee of Iraqi Ulema. Al Dhari accused the Badr Brigades of the murder of several Sunni clerics.

14:22 Kabul. Negotiations for release of Italian hostage in hands of tribal leaders.

13:08 Baghdad. Al Zarqawi wounded in lung and taken to neighboring country. The Jihadist website Al Tajdeed says al-Zarqawi has undergone surgery outside Iraq after a bullet passed through his lung.

11:14 Paris. Prime Minister Raffarin says there is new information on kidnapped reporter Florence Aubenas but refused to provide the details.

09:35 Cairo. Referendum on electoral reform. 32.5 million Egyptian voters called to polls to approve electoral reform. The Mubarek government must win 51 percent of the vote to ratify the new elections law.

09:07 Baghdad: Fini to inaugurate memorial to Nicola Calipari. [Does he think we're dumb enough to be content with this sop? Yes, I guess he does.--Nur] Fini will also meet with Premier Ibrahim al Jafaari and Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.

07:06 Baghdad. Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini makes surprise visit to Iraq.

06:53 New York. ABC's Nightline will broadcast the names of US soldiers killed in Iraq and in Afghanistan. A photographic portrait of each fallen GI will be broadcast nationally.

06:39 Haditha. New US offensive. Three guerrillas killed and two US marines wounded.

06:16 Washington. The President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas has arrived in Washington for talks with President Bush.

04:14 Washington. Charles Duelfer says Saddam Hussein probably lied about his unconventional weapons arsenal to prevent Iranian aggression.

02:06 New York. The Iraqi government has asked the UN to authorize an extension to the mandate of the "multinational force". According to the provisions of Resolution 1546 of June 8, 2004, the Security Council would reexamine an extension within 12 months. The Security Council will meet on May 31 to consider the extension.

3 Comments:

Blogger Nur-al-Cubicle said...

Yeah. Sheesh what did the police expect to find in the reporter's notes.

Anyway the Brescia magistrate who issued the warrant is a fascist, I believe.

11:33 AM  
Blogger ziz said...

Thursday, May 26
Yeah...yeah ..Whatever Part II

The Washington Post on May 12th reported -"Abu Karrar, 41, who said he was an Iraqi member of the insurgent group al-Qaida in Iraq, told a reporter near the town of Karabilah, where Marines were operating, that "we use the same method they use. They use what they call multinational forces, and we use our brothers, the Arabs and Muslims." (see recent pic enhanced by NASA of Abu Karrar)

Now today this guy is named by the Washington Post as replacing the mysterious Jordanian (1 or 2 legged) leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

So let's set up a Google search on "Abu Karrar", I guess it's going to be busy. By the way that's his "nom de guerre" so he actually might be someone else, or not exist, or be Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in a cunning disguise, or made up...or...

posted by PostmansKnock | 5/26/2005 08:54:00 PM | 0 comments

1:16 PM  
Blogger Nur-al-Cubicle said...

Abu Karrar seems to have been a go-between for the Italian Red Cross in August 2004.

9:42 PM  

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