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A blog on the current crises in the Middle East and news accounts unpublished by the US press.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

Saturday, June 25, 2005

25 June 2005 Events in Iraq

Mosul. A gunbattle between US troops and rebels is reported as lasting three hours.

Tal Afar. Three bombings reported. US tanks and helicopters are involved in the clashes following the detonations. Al-Zarqawi claims five US troops were killed.

Mosul. A suicide carbomb targeted a convoy escorting the provincial police chief. Four escorts were killed.

22:42 Ramadi. Rebels seized control of a police station in Ramadi, killing 8 police.

Kirkuk. Four police were killed by a suicide carbomb. Meanwhile, a woman and her two children died when a mortar shell landed on her house.

Ramadi. The bodies of eight police officers were found this morning. They had been abducted the day before.

Baghdad. The body of Fadel Awda al-Louaibi, a member of the Sadr City municipal council, was found dead. He was abducted yesterday.

Baghdad. Gangs of thieves and insurgents have installed a reign of terror south of the city. The bodies of five Shi'ite shop owners were found near a creek.

Baghdad. The Oil Ministry has announced the sabotage of an oil pipeline linking southern oilfields with the refinery at Doura in south Baghdad, provoking a blaze which was extinguished Saturday afternoon.

21:50 Baghdad. A group linked to Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi claims that the "muhajedeen are stronger than ever" as al-Jaafari meets Bush in Washington.

21:19 Baghdad. Five die and seven wounded in mortar attack on a marketplace in the Shola quarter of Baghdad.

21:15 Baghdad. US forces have arrested Ezzat Ibrahim, Saddam's former right-hand man.

22:21 Cairo. Former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has urged Egypt to expand its role in supporting Iraq on a visit to the Egyptian capital.

20:59 Riyadh. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf met with Saudi Crown Prince Abdallah ben Abdel Aziz, before travelling to Mecca on a pilgrimage. Musharraf is proposing reforms to the Organization of Islamic Conferences.

20:28 Baquba. The governor of a Kurdish provinces has proposed deploying Peshmerga guerrilla fighters to combat Sunni extremists. The proposal was made during a governors' conference in Baquba, capital of Diyala Province.

19:56 Rafah. More than 2,500 Palestinians are blocked on the Egyptian side of the border with Israel in the Gaza Strip. Israel claims there is a threat of suicide bombings.

17:12 Samarra. At least 11 are dead and 20 wounded in two suicide carbombs. One carbomb detonated in front of the home of an officer of the Iraqi Security Forces. A second detonated in the same area.

17:21 Teheran. The Teheran stock market is hopeful that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, once in power, will adopt policies favorable to investment.

17:11 Istanbul. The World Tribunal on Iraq established by NGOs to protest the war and occupation in Iraq continued its sessions on Saturday in Istanbul with testimony from Iraqis which painted a somber portrait of the attitude of US troops. "Today Iraq is a vast prison" said Iraqi lawyer Amal Sawadi, before describing in detail the arrest procedure used by US troops. They come into your house at night when everyone is asleep, blow open the door with explosives. They point their gunbarrels in people's faces. They frisk women in front of their families and break everything inside the home. Lawyers cite difficulties in obtaining information on imprisoned women. Ms. Sawadi narrated numerous instances of rape and humiliation inside US detention camps. Ms. Sawadi says torture is systematic. The fifteen jurors heard live and recorded testimony and viewed shocking photos of pockets of resistance such as Fallujah. At night, there was so much bombardment that it could have been daylight, recounts Fadhil Al Bedrani, correspondant for al-Jazeera TV and the only journalist to have been on the scene during two US assaults on Fallujah in April and November 2004. Al-Bedrani told the story of a 70 year-old woman who died because it was impossible to find medication inside the besieged city, suffocating in the stink of abandoned corpses, half-devoured by animals. Al-Bedrani called the assault on the city of 150,000 "genocide". Participants in the World Tribunal on Iraq observed two minutes of silence for the victims of the occupation in Iraq, while militants unfurled a banner hundreds of meters long with photos of Iraqi children killed or wounded in the war. Established by 200 NGOs and intellectuals after the start of the war in 2003, the WTI has organized twenty sessions throughout the world. The session in Istanbul began on Thursday.

16:41 Baghdad. Baghdad Airport has been closed indefinitely in a dispute over payment for security. The British company that provides security to the airport, Global, has withdrawn its services in what it says is a contractual dispute. Military flights, however, are not affected.

07:01 Fallujah. A suicide car bomber and gunmen ambushed a convoy carrying female U.S. Marines in Fallujah, killing two Marines and leaving another four American troops presumed dead. At least one woman was killed and 11 of 13 wounded were female. The terror group al-Qaida in Iraq on Friday claimed it carried out the bombing, one of the single deadliest attacks against the Marines and against women in this country. The Marines were returning to their base, Camp Fallujah, when the ambush took place Thursday night near the eastern entrance to the city, 40 miles west of Baghdad. Lance Cpl. Holly A. Charette, 21, from Cranston, Rhode Island, died in the attack, the Defense Department said Friday. Cpl. Chad Powell, 22, from northern Louisiana also perished in the attack. Powell s leaves behind a wife and a 3-year-old son, Elijah.

06:30 Teheran. Ultraconservative Ahmadinejad has been elected President of Iran. He is the first non-cleric to hold the office.

06:14 Washington. President George W. Bush is camped on his positions and promises military and political support to the Iraq government. The President foresees determined combat in the months to come.

05:47 Washington. US State Department says Iran is out of step with freedom on the march across the Middle East.

05:26 Teheran. Mayor of the capital wins Iranian presidential election. 48 year-old Mahmoud Ahmadinejad beats Akbar Hashemi Rafsandjani in runoff election.

04:43 London. The Anglican Church has adopted a motion to review its investments in Israel. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, proposed the unanimous motion. The resolution requires Anglican churches to pressure firms with holdings in Israel and in the Gaza Strip to reconsider their actions.

04:36 Teheran. Ultra-conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expected to adopt "pure" and hardened stance concerning individual freedoms, the USA, and the nuclear question. USA: The Americans broke of diplomatic relations to pressure Iran and now want to renew them for the same reason. Nuclear question: Iran will not abandon its rights under imperialistic pressures. Women: Women have the right to veil or not. We prefer not to have a sexist attitude. Individual liberty: We didn't fight a revolution in the name of democracy. Economics: Our government will aid the disadvantaged. Institutions. A courageous government, faithful to God, is what we should have. Personal enrichment. I live on a schoolteacher's salary and that is enough for me.

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