30 April 2005 Events in Iraq

Baghdad. The U.S. military announced Saturday that four U.S. soldiers were killed and two wounded Thursday when a Task Force Freedom convoy was hit by a roadside bomb in Tal Afar.

Baghdad. Four U.S. soldiers in a convoy were wounded when their Humvee rolled into a ditch late Friday night near Abu Ghraib prison.

23:52 London. OT: 23:52 London. British Prime Minister Tony Blair agreed in July 2002 to the participation of the UK in the invasion of Iraq led by the United States, according to a Foreign Office memorandum leaked to the Sunday Times. The publication of the secret document will provide more ammunition to Mr. Blair's enemies just before the legislative elections next week. The Prime Minister and his advisors discussed the question of the invasion of Iraq on 23 July 2002 during a foreign intelligence meeting presided by Sir Richard Dearlove. Military action was now seen as inevitable...We should work on the assumption that the UK would take part in any military action...The CDS (Admiral Michael Boyce) should tell the US military that we were considering a range of options.... Admiral Boyce should prepare all the details necessary concerning the British military contribution...We should not ignore legal questions. We must not ignore the legal issues: the Attorney-General would consider legal advice with FCO/MOD legal advisers

Read the memo as published in The Sunday Times - Britain.

23:46 Washington. The US miltiary has published a report confirming that it will not sanction the patrol responsible for the shooting of Major-General Nicola Calipari. Meanwhile, Italian Minister for Reforms Roberto Calderoli saidthe time has come to talk about accelerating Italy's timetable for pullout from Iraq. If the US patrol really observed the rules of engagement, given what happened it means that committing such "mistakes" is part of those rules. In any case, with the divergences surfacing in the report of the Joint Commission of Inquiry, the time has come for the majority government for careful and deep reflexion on the timetable for the withdrawal of our troops deployed to Iraq in a peacekeeping mission. In my house we say, "What's good for the goose is good for the gander."

23:34 Istanbul. Iraq has asked its neighbors to support the new government in Baghdad and to increase border security.

22:18 Mosul. Six carbombings in Mosul. Five are dead and twelve wounded, including two US soldiers.

19:46 Khalidiyah: Marine killed.

18:58 Rome. Unable to find consensus on the conclusions of a joint US-Italian commission, the Italian authorities have asked the Rome prosecutor to accelerate its own investigation on the shooting of Nicola Calipari.

18:50 Washington. The US general staff confirmed that the troops responsible for the shooting of Nicola Calipari will not be disciplined.

17:42. Teheran. Iran opens new international airport. Imam Khomeini airport has been opened and welcomed its first flight from Dubai. Meanwhile, the British Foreign Offices says the runways are unsafe.

17:38 Baghdad. 30 people are wounded, including soldiers and police commandos, in car bombings around Baghdad.

17:26 Baghdad. Three booby-trapped cars targeting military convoys killed four and wounded 16 in Baghdad. Insurgents blew up a car when a joint Iraqi-US convoy passsed by near a police station in the Zayouna district in east Baghdad. Two passers-by, including a child, were kiled and ten others wounded. A second car exploded in west Baghdad, near a US military convoy. A third vehicle killed two civilians and wounded six others near a US patrol in east Baghdad.

17:05 Baghdad. Carbomb explodes near the headquarters of a Sunni group, the Council for National Dialog, killing 5 civilians and wounding 26 in the Khadra district of west Baghdad. Near Chaab Stadium a carbomb killed two civilians and wounded six others. It also destroyed several automobiles.

17:02 Baghdad. The Committee of Iraqi Ulema says police commandos raided several mosques, residences and Islamic institutions and arrested 30 clerics and worshipers.

16:53 Beirut. Hundreds of supporters of General Michel Aoun, a Lebaneses opposition figure in exile, gather to celebrate his return planned for 7 May. The celebration caused a monstrous traffic jam on the Beirut-Damascus highway.

16:50 Cairo. Tourists killed and injured attacks. Iab Yassin, 47, jumped off the Sixth of October bridge holding a bomb into Abdel Muneim Riad square, near the Ramses Hilton and the Egyptian Museum at 3:00 pm. The bomb decapitated Yassin and wounded a Swedish physician returning from Darfur and his Italian fiancee, two Israelis and four Egyptians. One of the victims is dead. Two hours later, his sister and his wife, dressed in niqabs, opened fire on a tour bus in the Sayeda Aisha quarter near the Saladin District at the entrance into Cairo's Old City, wounding three persons. One woman shot her companion then shot herself after being surrounded by police.

16:29 Baghdad. Two soliders of Task Force Baghdad were killed by a bomb.

The censored pictures of US military dead

The Madrid newspaper El Mundo has the photos the US military did not want you to see.

Italians angered by Pentagon leak re: Calipari

Update III. La Repubblica has a .pdf file of US version of the report. Calipari, btw, had the rank of Major-General.

Update II. A question...I thought satellite cameras could not "see" through cloud cover so who is doing the bad job of lying at the Pentagon? It's so dumb, it could only have come from Rummy.

Update: The Casa delle Libertà, the coalition lead by Berlusconi's Forza Italia party, is now talking about a pullout:

ROME - Italian Minister for Reforms Roberto Calderoli says the time has come to talk about accelerating Italy's timetable for pullout from Iraq. If the US patrol really observed the rules of engagement, given what happened it means that committing such "mistakes" is part of those rules. In any case, with the divergences surfacing in the report of the Joint Commission of Inquiry, the time has come for the majority government for careful and deep reflexion on the timetable for the withdrawal of our troops deployed to Iraq in a peacekeeping mission. In my house we say, "What's good for the goose is good for the gander."

Got to run...this translation from Il Corriere della Sera is on the fly.

ROME – Frustration, shock and rage. An explosive news report by the US TV network, CBS, citing anonymous sources at the Pentagon revealing the existence of a military satellite which is said to have captured and stored images of the incident in which Nicola Calipari was killed has stuck in the craw of officials in Italian government and intelligence. If these sources are genuine, then the information should be shared with Italian intelligence. They are fundamental pieces of evidence for the joint US-Italian commission of inquest. In the leak of secret intelligence passed to CBS, there was the claim that Calipari’s car was traveling at nearly 60 MPH. [Swift car liars for truth.] The Italian intelligence service SISMI rejects the claim.

Italian government officials, intelligence agents and diplomats says they are “in shock” by the “surprising coincidence” of the leak of secret information to the network by anonymous Pentagon sources with the precision of a chronometer ahead of the release of the official report of the joint commission, which had been working in harmony and “on the same page.”

What particularly surprised us is the scant attention paid to the fact that the source was anonymous. If the information is true, then it delegitimizes the purpose of the Joint Commission of Inquiry. Italians remain extremely perplexed by what represents a personal attack on Italian government and its intelligence officers.

29 April 2005 Events in Iraq

Baquba. Suicide carbomb kills one policeman and wounds eleven others, including four civilians

Baghdad. Seven soldiers, two police and four civilians were killed and 35 civlians, 13 soldiers and 2 police were wounded in separate bombings in the Adhamia and Saligh districts in the capital. In the Adhamia district at least once suicide bombing shattered windows and destroyed several cars.

Baghdad. Two booby-trapped cars exploded in succession. The first detonated targeting an Iraqi army convoy and the second went off when police rushed to the scene. The two bombings resulted in one killed and eight wounded, including two police.

Madaïen. Three carbombings. At least one carbomb targeted a police patrol, killing nine persons including one police and two Interior Ministry commandos. Thirty-five were wounded.

Baghdad. A carbomb detonated in the suburbs of the capital during prayers at a Shi'ite mosque, wounding one.

Erbil. Two people were killed, a bomb defuser and a civilian, in a bomb blast.

Basrah. A border guard was killed and two others wounded when a bomb targeted their patrol.

Baquba. An Imam committed suicide by falling on a grenade when US and Iraqi troops surrounded his mosque.

Baghdad. US troops arrested seven suspected rebels.

Baghdad. Mouaffak al-Roubaïe, an Iraqi security advisor, sees another attempt to set off sectarian war.

Baghdad. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has claimed the credit for most of today's carbombings in Baghdad and Madaïen.

Brussels. Belgian physicians send medical bill to Washington. Belgian doctors saved the leg of Hiba Kassim, a 15 year-old Iraqi girl whose leg was injured by a US bomb. The doctors sent a 52,570 euro medical bill to the US Embassy in Brussels. We haven't received an acknowledgement, says Dr. Bert de Belder, coordinator for the NGO Medical Aid. International law requires occupying forces to look after the well-being of the population.

Istanbul. The foreign ministers of Iraq's neighbors prepare to meet to urge the new Iraqi government to include the country's Sunnis. Turkey, Iran, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, as well as Egypt and Bahrain, worked behind closed doors.

Kirkuk. A founder of the dissident Islamist group Ansar al-Islam was cheered by thousands of people in a town north of Kirkuk after he was freed by the US military because of insufficient evidence. Ali Babir addressed the crowd in the town of Bab Al-Maqam after two years in detention. I am free today and I am going to work to bring Islam to triumph and to unite all Muslims and Iraqis. Ali Babir says he was mistreated during his emprisonment by US prison guards. Sources say Iraqi President Jalal Talabani arranged the release. Ali Babir founded Ansar al-Islam in 2001 together with Mullah Krekar.

Washington. US Department of State says Calipari investigation closed.

Cairo. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit welcomes new Iraqi government.

Tamiyah. Two army recruits and an interpreter were killed and seven other recruits wounded when a mortar was fired at a military camp.

Doujail. A soldier was killed and three others wounded by a roadside bomb which targeted their convoy. Meanwhile two civilians were killed in a separate bombing and soldier was killed and another kidnapped in a rebel ambush.

Chorgat. One soldier and one rebel was killed while a truck driver was slain.

20:36 Baghdad. Three US troops were killed and two wounded by two booby-trapped cars, one in western Iraq and the other north of Baghdad.

18:20 Rome. Italian intelligence community insists Calipari's car was was travelling between 25 and 30 MPH when it was fired upon by US troops.

13:00 Baghdad. Mass grave uncovered. A mass grave was discovered in Kurdistan containing the remains of women and children.

12:42 Ramallah. Putin cheered by Palestinian crowds before placing flowers on Yassir Arafat's tomb.

11:27 Dubai. Al Zarqawi promises no let-up to the Bush administration during an internet chat session.

10:30 Baghdad. Nine carbombs detonate in the capital.

09:06 Erbil. Two civilians killed by bomb.

08:31 Seven carbombs detonate in capital and in Madaïen, 30 km to the south. 18 are dead and 64 are wounded.

07:44 Baghdad. Carbombing kill 10 and wound 30.

07:15 Baghdad. Four carbombings claim 10 lives. Ten police and national guard are dead.

05:45 Ft. Bragg. Sgt. Hasan Akbar received the death penalty in a court-martial for having tossed grenades into three tents in Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait. Akbar is the first US soldier to get the death penalty since Viet-Nam. Two were killed and 14 wounded by the grenades.

02:03 Hawija. One US soldier is dead and four wounded in when their vehicle was struck by a bomb.

The Lying Game

It's clear to me that a maverick interdiction operation was launched by the US military against Italian intelligence on the night of 4 March 2005. To punish its ally, Italy, for ransoming its kidnapped nationals, the US military was prepared to shoot dead everyone in the rented Toyota Corolla.

We know that Silvio Berluconi is a disgrace and that he betrayed the Italian people in taking them to war with George W. Bush based on evidence he knew to be false. Not only that, but he ordered his intelligence operatives to plant false evidence inside the safe of the Niger Embassy in Rome that would show that Saddam Hussein had purchased yellowcake from the African country. In the Sgrena affair, Berlusconi ordered the ransom of a Rome reporter because her execution would hurt him at the polls. But now his has lowered himself further to permit the US military to get away with the murder of one of Italy's most experienced, competent and valuable Middle East intelligence agents. In a masculine culture like Italy this should hurt him irreversibly, even among the fascists whom he has ressurected and brought to power.

La Repubblica reports that the investigation into Calipari's death will be concluded without a consensus of its findings, because the US Military is willing to prevaricate and to issue disinformation to the US press to distort the facts further.
:::
ROME. The Italian and US versions of the Calipari investigation vary on several different points as to what took place on the highway to Baghdad airport where Italian intelligence agent Nicola Calipari was killed and Guiliana Sgrena, a reporter freed after one month after being kidnapped by rebels, was wounded. Below are the major divergences:

Coordination: The Italians say that the US military in Baghdad was informed of Calipari’s imminent arrival at Baghdad airport. Not only that, a CIA agent was waiting at the airport with safe conducts for the party. US General George Casey, commander of the multinational forces in Iraq, has always maintained that he had no information of communications between the Italians and the US military. Casey also says he knew nothing about Sgrena’s release. The checkpoint was a “rolling” checkpoint which according to US press accounts [not the Military’s!—Nur] had been deployed to defend Ambassador John Negroponte, who was expected to be on the road at about the same time. The US patrol was not informed of the passage of the Italians.

Warnings. The Carabinieri major affirmed that halfway through a dangerous curve, a light, probably a spotlight, lit up unexpectedly in front of the car and he stopped. The car then came under automatic weapons fire immediately which lasted from 10 to 15 seconds. The USA claims that the patrol obeyed the rules of engagement with lights, handsignals and warning shots fired into the air, then at the ground.

Speed of the automobile. Both the Carabiniere assigned to SISMI and Mrs. Sgrena affirm that the Toyoto Corolla in which they were riding was going slowly--at about 40 km/hour(25 MPH), given the hazardous road conditions: a wet and uneven road and a dangerous curve. The interior passenger light was kept on because Calipari was making phone calls and because the group wanted to identify themselves at any possible checkpoint. The United States continues to claim that the headlights were turned off and that the vehicle was speeding. US press accounts say that the Toyota was doing between 90 km/hour (50 MPH) and 160 km/hour(100 MPH) and that the driver was out of control of his vehicle several times along the highway.

Interview with a Muslim Brother

Founded in 1928 by Hassan Al-Banna, the Muslim Brotherhood was officially banned by the Egyptian government in 1954 and continued to be repressed more or less ferociously by successive régimes. Today the organization is tolerated. The Muslim Brotherhood runs a vast network of social services and schools, and is very active within professional organizations. In 2000, 17 Muslim Brothers won parliamentary seats running as independents. Despite the expulsion of two MPs in 2004, the Brotherhood represents Egypt's largest opposition block. It is expected that they could win between 30% and 50% of the vote in the next legislative election.

Le Monde's reporter Cécile Hennion interviews Mohammed Mahdi Al-Akef, Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood.

1. You are the Supreme Guide of the Brotherhood. What are your political plans? Our plans extend to all parts of life: politics, the economy, culture, education and even sports. We also respect the Constitution and Egyptian law. Together with other opposition groups, we represent a mouthpiece for the Egyptian people and their desire for free and fair presidential and legislative elections, democracy, multi-partisanship, lifting of the state of emergency, the release of all political prisoners and respect for human rights.

2. For once, is the Muslim Brotherhood on the same page as the United States? Rumors which suggest that I have been in negotiations with the Americans are lies. When I’m told that the US Ambassador wants to meet with me, I always reply that I am happy to do so on the condition that they respect protocol. That is, that a member of the Egyptian Foreign Minstry is present during any conversation. We reject all pressure or interference from abroad. The intervention of the United States in Afghanistan and in Iraq and their policies toward the Palestinians serve either their own interests or those of Israelis. The Egyptian people are perfectly capable of changing their government on their own.

3. Is the establishment of an Islamic republic one of your long-term goals? I’ve never discriminated between Muslims and Copts. Today the Copts have joined the fight for reforms alongside us. Of all religions, no one respects women more than Islam as sisters, mothers and daughters. We consider them as independent persons who can dispose of their property as they like, just as men. There is no country which applies the laws of the Sunna and of the Koran, the only sources of law recognized by the Muslim Brotherhood, as it should. Islam in the political sphere should not be judged according to the current circumstances in which most Muslims today live—under dictatorships sponsored by the West. The Islam which we practice is modern and civilized.

28 April 2005 Events in Iraq

Baghdad. 17 Iraqis, including an Interior Ministry general, were slain in or near Baghdad. Four civilians were killed in a rocket attack on the capital. A police commander was killed as well as several soldiers and civilians killed in attacks north of the capital.

Fallujah. US forces claim they killed two insurgents in the city.

Baghdad. Islamic Party demands release of Romanian hostages.

Paris. Five alleged radical Islamists who had been sought for several years were arrested in Paris and Marseille. One of the arrested is Moroccan Saïd al-Maghrebi, 39. The quintet are thought to have been recruiting young Muslim men for battle in Iraq.

Paris. French ex-minister to be investigated. Former Internior Minister Charles Pasqua and his right arm Bernard Guillet are being investigated for receiving kickback coupons for up to 10.8 million barrels of oil in the Oil for Food scandal.

Nassiriyah. Mortar fire targets Italian patrol 50 km north of Nassiriya. The rounds exploded in front of their convoy. Some vehicles were slightly damaged.

22:54 Dubai. Ansar al-Sunna claims it executed nine Sudanese working for the US military.

21:57 Paris. Former advisor to French ex-Interior Minister Charles Pasqua, Bernard Guillet, has been released on bail in the Oil for Food investigation. Guillet was previously investigated for arm sales to Angola in 2001 and in the Sofremi Affair in 2002.

21:30 Paris. Former Interior Minister Charles Pasqua is under investigation for have received and cashed in on suspect "commissions" in Oil for Food scandal.

20:40 Baghdad. Two police wounded by a blast in the Zayouna district in Baghdad.

15:18 Najaf. Body of police chief found in Tigris. The body of nMajor Bassim Mohammed, a Najaf police chief, was found floating in the Tigris according to Radio Sawa. Three other obdies showing signs of torture and gunshot wounds were also recovered.

11:46 Baghdad. New cabinet approved by assent of 180 MPS out of 275, says Assembly Speaker Hajem al-Hassani, a Sunni. Only 185 MPs were present during the vote. However the portfolios for Defense, Oil, Indusry, Power and Human Rights was not been attributed. Vice President Ghazi al-Yawar demands that the cabinet be complete within two days. Meanwhile Sunni MPs Mishaan Juburi and Modhar Shawkat says the Sunnis are under-represented. Meanwhile, the interim Minister of Defense is Premier Jafaari and the interim Minister for Oil is Ahmed Chalabi. The block led by ex-Premier Iyad Allawii, which has 40 MPs, will not be represented in the new cabinet. However, MP Hussein Sadr wished the new government well.

09:50 Washington. Anniverary of the breaking of the Abu Ghraib scandal by CBS. The US military has issued new guidelines on prisoner treatment.

08:18 Baghdad. Iraqi General assassinated. An Iraqi general serving as advisor to the Ministry of Interior, Mohsen Abdel Sada, has been shot dead behind the wheel of his car by three unknown gunmen in the Dura district of the capital. Sada was on his way to work.

08:00 Tikrit. Two Iraqi soldiers killed.

Sgrena VI: Italy Contests the Pentagon

There is a failure to agree on the findings of the Report of the Joint Italian-American Commission investigating the shooting of Italian intelligence officer Nicola Calipari. The Pentagon has been proven to be stonewalling. This is today's account on the latest by reporter Fiorenza Sarzanini of Milan's Corriere della Sera:

ROME: According to the SISMI officer at the wheel of the Toyota Corolla when struck by “friendly fire”, the US patrol admitted their mistake just after the fusillade. Nicola Calipari was dead, Guiliana Sgrena was wounded and the driver was being patted down by US troops. In his deposition to Rome magistrates investigating the charge of voluntary homicide, the officer states: I knew some Spanish so I asked if someone spoke the language. A Hispanic soldier walked over and asked me why we were not traveling in a military convoy. He told me that’s why they fired on us. The magistrates asked him if he believed that the Americans were recognizant of their mistake, and the agent responded, Yes, I believe they were.

Today, it remains the admission of error which continues to divide the USA and the Italy--and it is this division which prevents the work of the joint commission investigating the March 4th incident from reaching its conclusion. Meetings and contacts continued yesterday to establish a finding which is acceptable to both sides. But the statements made to Roman magistrates by the SISMI agent who survived the incident continue to raise questions and doubts on the modus operandi chosen by Italian intelligence after Sgrena’s release. The decision to head for the airport without escort and without intermediate stops meant to ensure a low profile was taken in the field and approved by Italian officials, the Berlusconi administration included. The Hispanic US soldier told the SISMI major that the lack of an escort instigated the shooting. And just afterwards, the patrol admitted that it had made a mistake. And it wasn’t the only mistake, the SISMI officer recalls. The two young soldiers approached without pointing their weapons at me; they seemed sheepish and repeatedly asked my forgiveness for what happened. But their commanding officer ordered them away.

Based on the testimony they’ve heard, the Rome investigating magistrates are convinced that there was no shoddiness in Nicola Calipari’s work. For the last two days, the Toyota Corolla has been inside a hangar at the Pratica di Mare military airbase, where the remains of the civilian airliner shot down over Ustica 25 year ago are kept [The airliner was shot down by a US Sparrow missile in an attempt to assassinate Ghedaffi. The incident (definitely state-sponsored terrorism on the part of the USA) was covered up—Nur]. The magistrates were given photographs taken in Baghdad after the handover of the crime scene investigation report by the Carabinieri of the ROS the day after the incident to the chairman of the joint commission. The results of the investigation are considered “technical evidence” which Italy is attempting to get the US to accept in negotiations. In the report, there is evidence that the presence of three barriers in the road meant to narrow the passage certainly caused the car to slow down. The Italians underscore that along the road at the bend there is thick vegetation, restricting visibility. It was there at the US patrol was placed. It was 8:55 PM and raining—it was dark in Baghdad. The Italian investigators went to the scene at lunchtime the next day and returned in the evening. It has been established, they write, that the highway illumination system was not functioning. The hypothesis is clear: the decision to place the patrol at the end of the curve and hidden in the vegetation was a violation of the rules of engagement, according to which checkpoints must be visible.

:::Meanwhile:::

ROME: If there are differing opinions, we will never put our signature on things which are not factual, answered Premier Silvio Berlusconi to questions from the press on the the joint Italian-American commission investigating the death of Nicola Calipari. We are working with the US Ambassador, who has to take it up with the Pentagon, added Berlusconi. He added:

"If the versions dissimilar, then we are heading for dissimilar conclusions. The US Administration has internal problems at the Pentagon. The Pentagon has taken a position and the Bush Administration wants this position to be less inflexible.", Berlusconi explains. "We are in negotiations with [US Ambassador] Sembler, who represents the US Administration which has to take it up with the Pentagon. It’s not an easy thing to do. We’re working on it, we hope to get to the end of it and we understand the difficulties on both sides.

Berlusconi's firm statement immediately undercut by his lamentable poodle-style real-time apologetics. Do you agree, readers?

Abu Ghraib Scandal Anniversary

Shalal 

One year a go today, CBS broke the Abu Ghraib story, now an indelible stain upon our military and on our country. Agence France Press reporter Samy Ketz interviews the ex-detainee who has become an icon of the shameful saga--the hooded man standing on a carton whose fingers are attached to electrodes: Ali Shalal.

Ali Shalal, 42, remains haunted by the memory of abuse and torture to which he was subjected from October 2003 to January 2004 in Abu Ghraib prison, the images of which scandalized the world one year ago. I was happy to see the photos published—they convinced the skeptics. Before, most people didn’t believe me, especially Iraqi officials, who accused me of lying, Shalal explains. It was the American network CBS which broadcast the first photos of GI’s mistreating detainees inside the notorious prison west of Baghdad.

Arrested on 13 October 2003 in the capital, Mr. Shalal was brought the next day to Abu Ghraib. He was placed in a tent before being transferred nine days later to a place which he describes as hell on earth.

They accused me of attacking Coalition forces but I told them to look at me, Shalal explains while showing me his left land, mutilated in a hunting accident in January 2003. Well then, they said, you encouraged people to attack us. You know lots of people and you can help us, relates Shalal, saying that he inherited the post of Mukhtar (Chieftain) of his district from his father. At the start of interrogation, they asked him to strip. They put a pistol to my temple and to my penis, shouting "Edaam" (Execute him!). They had an Egyptian translator-interrogator, Adel Nahla Abu Hamad, who put his foot on Shalal’s handcuffed hands behind his back and shouted at him: Give us names, or I’ll make sure your hands go gangrene! So that was the welcoming ceremony, during which he fell down a staircase with shackled feet before being beaten and placed in a cell.

His hands bound, he was forced to listen to a loudspeaker blaring [Boney M’s] Rivers of Bablyon. It was inhuman, it was intolerable. They took photos of me naked and covered in urine. I recited verses of the Koran to myself and I hoped they’d kill me instead of leaving me there, Shalal recalls in tears.

The soldiers gave everyone a nickname from films or TV series they’d watched back home except for one prisoner, whom they called Colin Powell, the former US Secretary of State. To this fellow, Corp. Charles Graner, 36, sentenced to 10 years in prison in January 2005 following a court-martial in Texas, was pitiless. In the morning a black soldier named Junior was on duty. He was nicer than Graner but I even saw him beat prisoners one day.

Ali Shalal was in Cell 49. Across the hallway was a prisoner named Jalil, whom the guards called Wolfman. They'd made him howl all day long. Next door was an imam from Mahmoudiyah, Sheik Abu Abdallah. I was so ashamed of being naked but the Sheik told me, "Don’t be ashamed...I’ve been naked for three months. Believe in God and pray.". We had the impression that the guards were less interested in extracting information from us than the were in humiliating us. They had cameras and they told us they were going to blow up the prints and send them to our friends and family.

According to Shalal, not only did the doctors refuse to treat his injured hand, but during an interrogation session, if a prisoner fainted, they’d stand at his feet, throw water on his face and tell the torturers, "Go ahead, boys.". A month later, joy! They gave Shalal a blanket. But three days later they subjected him to electric torture. "You’d better tell us everything, or else.", Abu Hamad growled at me. They sent current down my fingers and it felt like my eyes were going to pop out of their sockets. I fell down. They laughed at me and took some photos. They started again and I fainted. The worst was when a father and son were obliged to strip while hooded. They ordered the son to piss on his father then took off his hood to let him see what he’d done. The solders then took photos and laughed uncontrolably.

27 April 2005 Events in Iraq

Baghdad. Rebels attempt assassination of Interior Ministry general. Gen. Jihad Làeebee was mortally wounded and two assistants killed in an attack on ministerial convoy.

Baghdad. Two Iraqi soldiers and one civilian were killed in separate attacks. One attack targeted a power station south of Baghdad.

Copenhagen. Denmark to up reconstruction aid to Iraq by 13.44 million euros, bringing its total to 80.6 million euros for the period 2003-2008.

Baghdad. Iraqi government offers $1 million bounty for ex-Ba'ath party official Abdel Baqi Abdel Karim Saadoon. Saadoon is accused of a massacre in Basrah on 1991 and of recruiting terrorist for Iraq in 2004.

23:25 Washington. US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld again claims US troop levels in Iraq are sufficient to stabilize the country. The Soviets had 300,000 troops in Afghanistan and they lost. We had 20 to 30 thousand troops in the country and we won [against the Taliban] --[Could that be because the Northern Alliance was on "our" side?]

23: 23 Abu Dhabi. The UAE and Morocco have announced their support of new Iraqi as King Mohammed VI visits Abu Dhabi. The UAE President, Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and the Moroccoan sovereign also back the Road Map for Palestine. King Mohammed VI is also to visit Singapore President Sellapan Rama Nathan soon.

22:09 Kirkuk. Oilfield security guard shot in head.

21:32 Washington. Terrorist attacks in Iraq on the increase. 625 died in 2003 in terrorist attacks in Iraq. In 2004, the figure was 1,907.

21:06 Baghdad. On the eve of his 68th birthday, Saddam Hussein met with his lawyer, whom he hasn't seen for four months. The spokesman for Saddam's legal team, Ziad Khasawneh, says Saddam met for six hours with one of his attorneys, Khalil Duleimi.

20:58 Washington. The US Adminstration rejects the Middle East conference proposed by Russian President Vladimir Poutin.

18:50 Rome. Italy to perform ballistics test on Toyota Corolla which transported Giuliana Sgrena to the proximity of Baghdad airport.

17:32 Teheran. Iran awaits unequivocal reply from the European Union concerning its uranimum enrichment program. EU to meet 29 April to decide stance. According to diplomatic sources, Iran has proposed a reduced enrichment program requiring the assembly, installation and operation of 3,000 centrifuges in the Natanz plant in central Iran.

17:23 Premier-designate Ibrahim al-Jaafari announces formation of new government. The new goverment will be composed of 32 ministerial portfolios, including seven reserved for women.

16:32 Jerusalem. Israel cautiously reacts to Putin's proposal for Middle East conference.

14:50 Baghdad. Bucharest asked for an extension of ultimatum for kidnapped journalists. The Romanian government has asked the Committee of Iraqi Ulema to assist in release of reporters.

14:14 Baghad. Member of Parliament assassinated in front of resident. Mrs. Lamiya Abed Khadduri, an Iraqi MP and a member of Iyad Allawi's political party, was assassinated by unknown gunman as she answered the door of her residence.

14:12 Baghdad. Another 24 hours required before new government can be named.

13:34 Rome. Calipari's Toyota Corolla has six or seven bullet holes in rear of car. Italian Carabinieri inspect car, now in Italy, and make discovery.

13:17 Rome. Rumor alleges Calipari assassinated by private contractors. A website named Polizia e Democrazia (www.poliziaedemocrazia.it) claims Negroponte's March 4 escort was comprised of foreign contractors, who shot dead Italian intelligence agent Nicola Calipari on the Baghdad airport road.

12:38 Cairo. Putin calls for conference in Moscow. Visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin calls for an autumn peace conference in Moscow involving Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and the Quartet.

12:21 Istanbul: Two terrorist attacks foiled. Two bombs defused in Instanbul parking lot in the suburban Kucukcekmece district and under a bridge over the Golden Horn. Horn.

10:44 Basrah. Five Australian cargo ships anchored offshore. Five Australian container ships have been refused entry due to alleged iron contamination. Australian exporters accuse US of pressuring Iraq into favoring US grain imports.

10:15 Teheran. Activist student faces flogging an imprisonment. Farab Samini, a student in Teheran, faces stiff sentence to be handed out by the Revolutionary Court.

09:29 Tel Aviv. Powerful blast. Israeli military sources report a powerful blast targeting an Israeli military vehicle near the settlement of Morag in the southern Gaza Strip.

09:38 Beirut. National legislative elections scheduled for 29 May, says Assenbly Speaker Nabih Berri. The legislative races in Lebanon occur over several weeks because each district votes on an independent schedule.

07:24 Washington. Bush wants to transform old US military bases into oil refineries. [The NIMBY effect! Bush is a loser--Nur]

02:14 Cairo. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak plays coy; says he may bow out of president race. However, since 1953 Egyptian parliament has confirmed only a single candidate to run for president and it has taken no action to set up the prerequisites for a race involving several candidates.

26 April 2005 Events in Iraq.

Baghdad. Formation of a new government is near after three months of haggling among ethnic groups under US pressure. Prime Minister designate handed his list of ministers to President Jalal Talabani, reports Iraqia TV. However there is no indication that the list has been approved and appointments for the Oil and Interior ministries remain to be decided. The network also reports that Rouj Shaouiss, a Kurd, Ahmed Chalabi, a Shi'a and Saad al-Luhaïbi, a Sunni, will be Deputy Prime Ministers.

Baghdad. Three members of parliament defect from the Shia-dominated UIA, reducing its total to 143 out of 275 seats in the national assembly.

Baghdad. One Iraqi policeman was shot dead as four others are wounded by a roadside bomb.

New York. Paul Volcker, chairman of the independent committee investigating the Oil for Food scandal, says Kofi Annan has not been exonerated of wrongdoing.

Berlin. Richard Jones, the US State Department Coordinator for Iraq Policy, says the German Constitution would be a good model for Iraq. [Yeah, and they can download the pret-a-porter Swiss Constitution, in Arabic, available online now, too--Nur]

Dujail. Seven members of the same family, including three women and two children, were wounded by a roadside bomb.

Balad. Two Iraqi soldiers were wounded by a morning mortar attack near Balad and Dhoulouiyah, north of Baghdad

Balad. A truck driver was ambushed and shot dead.

Zouiyah. One Iraqi dies in a bombing targeting a US convoy.

24:00 Wahington. US State Dept. Spokesman Adam Ereli says that talk concerning the conclusion of the final report in the Calipari affair is premature.

23:58 Copenhagen. Denmark to extend deployment. Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller says parliament has approved mission through February 2006 with the help of the far-right parties.

23:48 Washington. Donald Rumsfeld admits insurgency cannot be defeated by either US or Iraqi forces. Rumsfeld also admits that the insurgency is just as strong as it was last year.

22:28 Jerusalem. Home-made Qassam rockets exploded near Sdérot in southern Israel, causing no damage or injuries. The rockets were said to be fabricated by the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed branch of Hamas. They can carry of 12-lb charge for a distance of 7 miles.

22:18 Beirut. Last remaining Syrian soldiers and intelligence officers leave Lebanon.

21:54 Moscow. Russian President to visit Egypt for the first time in 40 years.

21:16 Washington. Rumsfeld says work of commission of inquest not concluded. Meanwhile, Joint Chiefs Chairman Richard Myers confirms the same.

20:28 Rome. As soon as it arrives in Italy, the Toyota Corolla in which Nicola Calipari was slain will be subject to forensic examination ordered by Rome prosecutors Franco Ionta, Pietro Saviotti and Erminio Amelio. The ROS and DIGOS agencies will conduct the examination.

19:56 Rome. Berlusconi summons US Ambassador Mel Sembler for a second time today.

19:38 Rome. Sgrena's lawyer says forensic examination of Toyota will lead to important findings. Lawyer Alessandro Gamberini says the velocity and direction of the shots fired at Sgrena's car can be determined during forensic examination.

19:32 Rome. Berlusconi says commission has not concluded its work. The Italian-American commission of inquest has not yet concluded its work, says the Italian Premier before parliament.

19:00 Rome. Guiliana Sgrena says attack on Calipari was an ambush and that the details leaked by the Pentagon of the report by the commission of inquest "have nothing to do with the truth".

18:32 Berlusconi says Calipari dossier is not closed. Berlusconi tells the Italian lower house that the commission of inquest on the Calipari slaying has not concluded its work and deplores leaks by the Pentagon.

18:12. Rome. Berlusconi refuses to discuss Calipari affair with press.

17:17 Rome. Calipari affair: Italian politician demands briefing by Silvio Berlusconi. Luciano Violante demands a briefing to the lower house of parliament.

16:40 Amman. Jordanian government confirms the Sunday kidnapping of businessman Samir Rajab al-Suqi.

17:02 Washington. CIA warns against chemical weapons. After admitting that Saddam Hussein possessed no weapons of mass destruction when Iraq was invated, the CIA now claims that there is a risk of chemical attack by the insurgents. The agency claims that there is a series of secret chemical laboratories run by Sunni extremists known as the Al Abud network. Saddam's chemical plants were looted and missing equipment, says the agency, may contribute to the manufacture of chemical or biological weaspons. Of 1,000 Iraqi scientists working of WMDs before 1991, 105 are now in the custody of US forces.

17:09 Baghdad. New government to be announced. The announcement of the formation of a new Iraqi government is expected by the end of the day, says Haytham Husseini of SCIRI. The new goverment is comprised of 33 ministerial slots to be filled by 17 Shi'ites, 8 Kurds, 6 Sunnis, one Turkman and one Christian, says Jawad Maliki of the Dawa Party.

14:55 Rome. Ministerial Council avoids discussion of Calipari slaying. Minister for Reform Roberto Calderoli says the topic of the report on the Calipari slaying was not addressed.

14:36 New York. Italian politician condemns Sgrena report details leaked by Pentagon. Italian politician Marco Minniti says the Pentagon's leak is a sign of split with Italy. It is urgent that the government appear immediately before Parliament to brief the body on what it intends to do in response to, if confirmed, an unprecedented gesture of breakoff of ties with our country.

13:12 Rome. Toyota used in slaying of Italian intelligence agent Nicola Calipari to arrive tonight by C-130 cargo plane at Pratica di Mare airport.

11:09 Bucharest. Soccer player offers to exchange self for Romanian hostages. An Iraqi soccer player playing for the Gloria Buzau team in Romania offers himself in exchange for Romanian hostages, says sports daily, Pro Sport.

10:19 Kut. Iraqi security forces arrest 305 terrorism suspects in Madaïen and Al Wahda in Wāsit Province, including 11 foreigners: Egyptians, Palestinians and Sudanese. The are accused of membership in in Ansar al Sunna. Wāsit Provincial Police Chief says that 85 of the suspects were known terrorists.

09:28 Baghdad. Ansar Al-Sunna takes six Sudanese truck drivers hostage. The Sudanese worked as drivers for the US military delivering food, supplies and arms.

09:28 Baghdad. Al Zarqawi escapes US arrest. US troops conducted a February 20th raid in Ramadi but failed to capture al-Zarqawi. Soldiers found his laptop computer and cash. [Somehow, I don't think Zarqawi possess a laptop--Nur]

Giuliana Sgrena V: The Commissioners' Report

Update II: Just revealed by Il Corriere della Sera that when the Italian members of the investigating committee, diplomat Cesare Ragaglini and SISMI General Pierluigi Campregher, went to view the scene of the shooting of Mr. Calipari, someone tossed a hand grenade in their direction. It missed.

Update: Liberal Avenger is dialoging with a military blogger in Iraq, Dadmanly. In today's post, Dadmanly implies that the US military has taken on the mission of interdicting Italian ransom payments to the insurgents. Do you think he has just let the cat out of the bag? The statement, assuming Dadmanly is not a fraud or a Little Green Quarterback, seems rather damning to me.

If we can continue to be successful [at] both financial and supply interdiction (think Italian ransom payments...

The joint commission investigating the Sgrena affair could not agree on a conclusion. The US wants a whitewash and Italians get a political football. Fiorenza Sarzanini of Corriere della Sera reports on the details:

Rome. The ball is now in Italy’s court. Palazzo Chigi will have to establish what stance to take after the joint commission charged with investigating the death of Nicola Calipari was unable to reach a shared consensus on its conclusions. The two Italian delegates, Ambassador Ragaglini and General Campregher, returned to Rome yesterday night and may file their final conclusions today. In the report itself, contrasts and discrepancies are underscored between the versions of the two survivors of the incident – the SISMI major and reporter Giuliana Sgrena—and the US patrol which opened fire on the vehicle leased by the two intelligence officers, killing Nicola Calipari.

Tomorrow Presidential Undersecretary Gianni Letta is to meet US Ambassador Mel Sembler and deliver Italy’s decision on its course of action. The appraisals and investigations carried out during two months of work did not succeed in clearing the air over the major point of contention: the warnings issed by the US troops before opening fire. The SISMI major has always said that he saw a bright light “as I was in the middle of the curve” and that “at the same time, heard several gunshots”. Mrs. Sgrena backs up his version of events. The US soldiers claim that they first aimed the spotlight, then issued the order to halt and finally opened fire. For US Command, this would mean that the rules of engagement were implemented which can only lead to a single conclusion: “No responsibility can be placed on the members of the patrol”.

This is a finding which the two Italian delegates find unacceptable and will lead to the likelihood that the investigation will be concluded with the issue of two separate reports. The willingness on the part of the US Department of State and the CIA to lend assistance ran into pressure from top officials at the Pentagon, who were worried that a guilty verdict would have a negative impact on US troops deployed to Iraq. It stands to reason, experts underscore, that with morale in mind, the US Command will be absolved of all responsibility as it was in the Abu Ghraib torture scandal. Because all technical evaluations are in, the question is now keenly political. The Italian government must decide if it will accept the American version, thus setting aside the testimony of the SISMI major which served as the basis of the briefing to Parliament by Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini.

The alternative is to stick with the Italian version of events and to conclude the investigation with a report issued by the two Italian delegates. Several times this week, the pair met with representatives and diplomats from both countries in an attempt to reach an agreement which would not negate the work of the commission in ascertaining what transpired that night on the road between downtown Baghdad and the airport. On March 9, five days after the incident, Undersecretary Letta forwarded a request to the Rome Public Prosecutor, who is managing an investigation into dual charges of voluntary homicide and attempted homicide, “to proceed with the request of the automobile involved in the incident pending the start of the joint commission’s work.” This issue must be dealt with. And it is not the only one. In addition to the requested transfer of custody of the Toyota Corolla, Italian ministry officials requested the name of the twelve members of the US patrol which opened fire. Meanwhile, the automobile could be in Italian hands by next week.

It is even a more complicated matter to obtain the identity of the soldiers. In a letter sent last week to Rome Prosecutor Giovanni Ferrara, the US Department of Justice informed the Italians that “the request will be taken into consideration when the work of the commission has concluded.” But Italian magistrates entertain little hope that the request will be honored. It is likely that in the final report the United States will decide to omit the names, claiming military secrecy. To access the information, it would be necessary to question Ambassador Ragaglini and General Campregher as witnesses. But even in this case, it is impossible to know what the two delegates will decide: to violate military secrecy or accept the US imposition.

24 April Events in Iraq

Prime Minister Designate Ibrahim Jaafari is expected to present his list of ministers to Parliament tomorrow. The list will not include any member of Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's political party after the Shi'a-dominiate UIA rejected Alawi's demands. Hussain al-Shahristani, a high-ranking UIA official, says that 75% of the ministry posts will go to Shi'ites. The nominations may be approved by a simple majority. Meanwhile, a group linked to al-Zarqawi has threatened death to anyone participating in the new government.

Baghdad. A US solider was killed by a roadside bomb which struck its convoy in the east of the capital. A second soldier was killed yesterday in west Baghdad.

Baghdad. Two Iraqis were killed in a carbombing 20 km south of the capital which targeted a US miiltary convoy.

Baghdad. Sunni MP Mishaan Juburi escaped assassination in a suicide bombing of his convoy in north Baghdad which wounded eight persons.

Washington. The US Army has cleared Gen. Ricardo Sanchez of any responsibility in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal after an investigation by a commission of 10 military officers. Three other high-ranking offers were cleared of dereliction of duty. However, Gen. Janis Karpinski, commander of the 800th MP Brigade, has received a letter of reprimand and relieved of duty.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has requested the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the role of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, ex-CIA director George Tenet, Gen. Riccardo Sanchez and Gen. Geoffrey Miller in war crimes and the torture of detainees.

Mosul. An Associated Press, Saleh Ibrahim, was killed during clashes in Mosul. Meanwhile, a Reuters cameraman, Nabil Hussein, and his father were arrested by Iraqi police. Twenty police [probably Kurds--Nur] searched Hussein's home on Saturay morning, battering the cameraman's chauffeur and a fellow journalist. Police have denied the report as well as the arrest.

London. Tony Blair under attack. Conservative Michael Howard accused Blair of lying. Meanwhile The Mail on Sunday printed portions of report saying Blair was informed by Attorney General Lord Goldsmith that the war was illegal and that a second UN resolution was required. Liberal Democrat party leader Charles Kennedy has demanded the publication of the entire text.

Damascus. Syria dispatches humanitarian assisstance convoy to Iraq. Syria has sent 80 tons of food to Iraq toward the crossing at al-Tanaf for distribution in Iraq.

Lakeport. Funeral in California for slain NGO worker Marla Ruzicka, 28, director of Campaign for the Victims of Combat (CIVIC). Actor Sean Penn and Senator Barbara Boxer were among the mourners. Ruzicka sought to collect $10 million in damages from the US government for victims of the conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Bucharest. Demonstrations of solidarity and prayers for the Romanian hostages. Orthodox Patriarch Teoctist lead prayers for Marie-Jeanne Ion, Sorin Miscoci and Edward during Eastern Right Palm Sunday services. Other groups met at Bucharest University to show their solidarity.

Zafaranya. Roadside bomb strikes US military convoy west of Baghdad, wounding three Iraqis.

Baghdad. A bomb detonated in the Sunni Adhamiyah district in north Baghdad. No casualties.

Baghdad. An Iraqi was shot dead by unknown gunmen in the Doura district of the capital.

Baïji. Two Iraqi entrepreneurs working for the US Army were slain.

Chorgat. An Iraqi truckdriver and his rig were ambushed. The driver was killed in the attack.

23:21 Ramallah. Israel extends lockdown the entirety of the West Bank for six days surrounding the celebration of Passover.

22:13 Karachi. Pakistani Embassy employee released by his captors after being held hostage in Iraq for two weeks.

22:00 Baghdad. Sixteen people were killed and 57 wounded, including 8 police, in two explosions which rocked the Shoola sector of north Baghdad in the second attack on the Shi'ite community within three days. A bomb exploded in a b busy stret near the Husseiniya al-Albeit mosque; a second blast occurred as onlookers gathered to the scene. Two police cars and several other vehicles were demolished as well as storefrontsin this busy commercial and residential area. Residents report a dual blast went off near an ice cream stand at around 8:00 pm. Meanwhile, Sunnis claim that they are being driven out of the quarter. A funeral for Sheik Saddam al-Oukaïli, a muezzin shot dead by unknown gunmen, was held nearby. There are approximately 50,000 residents in the Shoola quarter, adjacent to Sadr City.

21:54 Dallas. Vice President Cheney meets Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah. The prince is enroute for the Presidential Ranch in Crawford.

20:26 Bucharest. Romanian Senator Dan Voiculescu of the Secular Humanism Party, included in the governing coalition, offered himself as hostage in exchange for the kidnapped Romanian reporters.

18:18 Algiers. Five killed in two attacks by radical Islamists in Algeria near Ain Defla (170 km west of Algiers) and Tebessa (at the frontier with Tunisia).

16:38 Teheran. Iranian Foreign Minister Hamid Reza Asefi has said his country will restart uranium enrichment for non-military purposes.

13:35 Kuwait City. Embassy of Bangladesh looted by Bangladeshi workers in Kuwaiti capital.

12:26 Fallujah. US sailor killed. A US sailor was killed as the convoy he was travelling with was struck by a roadside bomb.

12:08 Amarah. Roadside bomb strikes British military convoy. The driver of another car was wounded together with a woman and a child.

11:48 Dubai. Al Arabiya broadcasts plea for release of a dual US-Iraqi national by family members. The man was kidnapped together with three Romanian hostages.

08:01 Hillah. Four rebels were killed and a fifth wounded as they were placing charges along a highway.

07:51 Tikrit. Dual blasts kill 7 and wound 37. Two blasts were heard near a police academy. The second detonation was said to have occurred as rescuers were rushing to the scene. The attacks were launched 20 minutes apart and targeted a group of police departing for training in Jordan. At least a ton of explosive was used in both vehicles. The front of the academy and a liaison office were damaged.

07:09 Kabul. Afghan woman stoned to death for adultery. The stoning occurred in the northeast province of Badakhshan.

06:28 Bucharest. Romanian Presidential Advisor Saftoiu says contact has been made with the kidnappers of three Romanian journalists.

01:06 Beirut. Syria to complete its withdrawal from Lebanon by the end of the day.

23 April Events in Iraq

Baghdad. Nine members of the National Guards were killed and 20 others wounded by a suicide car bomb in the west of the capital near Abu Ghraib Prison.

Baghdad. Suicide carbomb targets US convoy. The explosion killed one US soldier and wounded 10, including three US troops. The blast demolished one US military vehicle and two civilian Iraqi cars. Responsibility was claimed by al-Zarqawi. Today, Saturday, a lion of the martyrs brigade carried out an heroic attack on a convoy of Jews and crusaders on the airport highway. He blew himself up and will merit Paradise.

Basrah. Two persons were killed when the car they were travelling in exploded. Two children playing nearby were killed by the blast in a village close to the southern city.

Baquba. A 10 year-old girl and a teacher were killed and four others wounded by bombs. A 10 year-old girl was killed by a bomb planted near the residence of the ex-Chairman of the city council who was assassinated at the end of January along with his brother. A second bomb detonated 100 yards away and killed a university sports coach.

Mouradia. Three soldiers and an assailant were wounded in an attack on an army checkpoint.

Dhoulouiyah. Two Iraqi soldiers were killed and four wounded when mortar fire was directed at their positions.

Samara. An Iraqi civilian killed by a roadside bome

Mosul. Three US troops were wounded by a a roadside bomb.

Baghdad. US troops arrest six persons suspected of downing a Bulgarian helicopter north of the city.

22:37 Mosul. A cameraman for the Associated Press, Saleh Ibrahim, was shot to death while covering combat in Mosul between US troops and insurgents.

21:22 Beirut. Saadeddin Hariri, son of assassinated ex-Premier Rafik Hariri, will run as a candidate for parliament in the legislative elections at the end of May.

19:40 Haswa. A US soldier is killed by a roadside bomb.

17:07 Bucharest. FIfty Romanian journalists rally to demand release of three colleagues held hostage in Iraq.

16:54 Najaf. The governor of the city of Najaf and a member of SCIRI, Assad Abu Qalal, warned that Shi'ite community might retaliate for Sunni-led attacks.

16:15 Beirut. Incoming Internior Minister Hassan Sabeh delivered a reprimand to General Jamil Sayyed, a powerful figure in charge of intelligence.

16:06 George W. Bush praises progress in building Iraq's security forces.

15:59 Baghdad. One woman was killed and seven Iraqi men wounded by an blast of unknown origin under a bridge in the Shoula district in west Baghdad. The wounded included two women and five men.

22 April 2005 Events in Iraq

Baghdad. Friday prayers were marred by the bombing of a Shi'ite mosque in the north of the capital and an accusation by Sheikh Hareth al-Obeidi, the imam of the Umm al-Qura mosque--the headquarters of the Committee of Iraqi Ulema--that the Sunni community is the victim of an eradication campaign. Meanwhile, in the Shaab district of north Baghdad, the imam of the Our mosque said that Iraq's Sunnis were the victims of an assassination campaign. 46 Sunni notables have been assassinated in the last few months.

Karbalā’. Sheikh Mohammed Hussein al-Omeidi, a cleric close to Ayatollah Ali Sistani, rebuffed accusations that the UIA was the responsible party for the delay in forming a goverment. Other parties are placing obstacles in the way as soon as discussions begin to make progress.

Washington. US doubts exoneration of Annan by Paul Volcker. Mark Lagon, a US State Dept. Undersecretary, says that Annan has exaggerated his innocence in the Oil for Food scandal.

Baghdad. Foreign security firms in Iraq employ close to 50,000 foreigners and Iraqis, attracted by extremely high-paying salaries. There are approximately 60 foreign security firms in Iraq. Meanwhile, six American security contractors and two Fijian security guards died in yesterday's downing of a Bulgarian helicopter.

Paris. French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier says the French goverment is still working for the release of French reporter Florence Aubenas and her guide, Hussein Hanoun, kidnapped 5 January. France also seeks information on the disappearance of French camerman Nérac.

Paris. The newspaper Libération, Reporters Without Borders and the Committee of Support plan a campaign every 10 days in support of the release of Aubenas and Hanoun. TF1, LCI and Radio-France have agreed air celebrity spots pleading for their release. Folamour [Heh, this means, "Strangelove"--Nur] Production Company and the Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. allied to air publicity spots featuring Arab artists and sports stars on behalf of hostages Aubenas and Hanoun eight times a day at prime time for two weeks, from April 5th to the 21st.

An Najaf. A Shi'ite dignitary congratulates Pope Benedict XVI on his election. During Friday prayers, Sheikh Sadreddin al-Kubbanji made three requests of the new pontiff: 1) To open up to the people and not to close himself in behind the walls of the Vatican; 2) to open up to other religions and to acknowledge their rightful existence and 3) to use his influence on the international political scene. The Shi'ite community was the first Muslim community to congratulate the Pope.

Baghdad. Two Iraqi soldiers killed by bomb.

Baghdad. An advisor to the Defense Ministry, General Sami Anbaki, escaped an assassination attempt. Armed gunmen opened fire on his vehicle as it came to a stop in the Doura district of west Baghdad. Retired General Tarek Abed Lifta, travelling with Anbaki, was wounded in the foot and stomach. A bystander and two bodyguards were also wounded

Baghdad. Iraqi President Talabani says he is frustrated by the inability to form a new government due to disputes over the distribution of ministerial portfolios. Talabani will meet with the New National Front, a Sunni movement, in an attempt to break the Sunni boycott of the government. Meanwhile, outgoing Premier Iyad Allawi added to the confusion by insisting that his party, The Iraqi List, will not join the goverment unless it receives the Vice Premiership and four out of the following ministerial portfolios: Defense, Interior, Trade, Oil, Transporation, Agriculture, Labor, Social Affairs or Urban Affairs.

Şadr al Yūsufīyah. Two Iraqi soldiers were killed and four others wounded by a roadside bomb.

Al Başrah. Four border patrolmen, including an officer, were wounded by a roadside bomb.

Baghdad. Iraqi security forces say a Saudi national and al Qaeda suspect was killed and a weapons cache uncovered.

Baghdad. One Saudi national was sentenced to 10 years in prison for illegal entry into Iraq and an Iranian national to six years for his links to the insurgency.

Sarajevo. Bosnia to deploy an ethnically mixed (Muslims, Serbs and Croats) demining squad to Iraq in June.

23:59 Washington. US killed in action reaches 1,564.

22:46 Doha. A video showing three kidnapped Romanian journalists was aired by al-Jazeera, as "proof that they are alive and well." A 4-day ultimatum by the kidnappers was issued to the Romanian government.

19:49 Strasbourg. The EU is expected to finalize its proposal for an international conference on Iraq at a meeting on Monday in Luxemburg. Luxemburg's Foreign Minister, Jean Asselborn, hopes the conference will take place in early June.

19:47 Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin confirms the sale of short-range missiles to Syria on eve of his visit to Israel.

19:41 Mosul. A prison warden was shot dead by armed gunmen. Colonel Khaled Najm Allah, warden of the Bidouch Prison housing common criminals, was shot in the head and chest behind the wheel of his vehicle in theYarmuk District of west Mosul. His wife and children were wounded in the attack. Meanwhile, five Iraqi soldiers were wounded by a roadside bomb near the city.

16:21 Washington Bush nominates Peter Pace, Marine Commandant-General, as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

19:01 New York. The AIEA says Iran is in complaince with international safety standards in the Russian-assisted construction of a nuclear power station in Bouchehr in the south of the country.

15:51 Ar Ramādi. US forces shot dead a women in an explosive-laden car. Her vehicle had been stopped following a prior bombing, which wounded a US soldier.

15:39 Baghdad. 11 are dead in an explosion inside the Shi'ite al-Subeih Mosque in east Baghdad. The attack took place during a prayer period in the New Baghdad district in the east of the capital, killing eleven worshipers and wounding 26. The mosque and two adjacent residences were damaged. A suicide bomber driving a white BMW rammed the structure. No organization has taken credit for the bombing.

08:15 Tall Afar. Two US soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb targeting their convoy.

07:41 Bayjī. Police say they have discovered the bodies of 19 Iraqi soldiers abandoned in the desert between Asainiya and Bayjī. All had been shot in the head and stomach. Their mini-bus had been hijacked three or four days ago. [What is up with the number 19? On 17 April, the bodies of 19 unidentified men were found floating in the Tigris near Al ‘Azīzīyah. Then on 20 April, the corpses of 19 soldiers were found outside a soccer stadum in Hadīthah. Now this? This is hard to believe--a moveable mass slaying of exactly 19 men? Are the same 19 bodies recycled? And consider this. What's 19+19+19? 57. This is the number of bodies that are said to be found in the Tigris after the alleged Al Madā’’in hostage massacre. Something is very fishy here.--Nur]

07:08 Ar Ramādi. Two marines killed by a roadside bomb.

21 April 2005 Events in Iraq

Baghdad. Seven Iraqis died in separate attacks today across the country. Meanwhile, an interpreter working in the Green Zone was kidnapped.

Ar Ramādi. US marines say they shot dead a woman who was planting a bomb near the town.

Baghdad. A roadside bomb on the airport highway killed an employee of the British firm Aegis and wounded another. An Iraqi civilian was also wounded.

An Najaf. The holy city is preparing the funeral for 17 of the victims found in the Tigris River. Crowds have been shouting slogans hostile to the Iraqi Interior Minister Falah Nakib. SCIRI say that some 70 bodies have been pulled out of the river.

Baghdad. Jalal Talibani did not announce the formation of a new goverment, which had been promised for Thursday as certain.

Paris. France is concerned by escalating violence in Iraq and calls for calm.

London. Blair to lose Muslim vote. British Muslims will likely not turn out for Blair in the May elections.

Washington. John Negroponte was confirmed as Director of National Intelligence by a Senate vote of 98 to 2.

21:14 Washington. The private security concer Blackwater confirmed that seven of its employee were killed in Iraq, six in the shoot-down of a helicopter north of the capital. A seventh was killed near Ar Ramādi by a roadside bomb

20:26 Mecca. Saudi security forces exchanged fire with radical Islamists in the mountains near Mecca. Inhabitants of the Oum al-Djoud sector southest of the holy city said rebels fired at low-flying helicopters and Red Cross ambulances headed to the scene. Armed gunmen attempted to cross through a checkpoint disguised as women. They have been surrounded in the mountains outside Mecca, says a source in the security forces.

19:57 Lannemezan. Lebanese terrorist Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, serving a life sentence for the assassination of two diplomats, has been hospitalized for a head wound. Abdallah was sentenced in 1987 for the murder of US diplomat Charles Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov in 1982 and for complicity in the 1984 assassination of the US Consul in Strasbourg, Robert Onan Homme.

19:36 New York. Oil for Food, two commission members quit. Two members of a panel investigating the Oil for Food program, Robert Patton and Miranda Duncan, are stepping down in protest of accusations that they were "two soft" on Kofi Annan.

18:31 Baghdad. Bulgarian helicopter shot down with 11 persons on board, including 6 Americans. Besides the Americans, the 3-man Bulgarian crew and two Philippino bodyguards were killed in the crash of a helicopter owned by the Bulgarian firm, Heliair. The Bulgarian Defense Minister stated that the helicopter had been brought down by a rocket near Tikrit, 180 km north of Baghdad.

18:26 Jerusalem. Gaza setters to resist evacuation, Israeli military officials predict.

18:17 Baghdad. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani says he will strive to improve relations between Baghdad and Ankara. Talabani also promised to remove Kurdish separatists from Turkey installed in northern Iraq.

18:16 Baghdad. Bombing kills a foreign security worker on the airport highway. The man worked for Aegis Defense services Ltd, a British company, says spokesperson Sarah Pearson in London. The blast destroyed the all-terrain vehicle in which he was riding.

18:46 London. Charges lodged against a British soldier for forgery of prison torture photos have been dropped. Stuart McKenzie, 25, of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment was accused of forging the photos which he turned over for publication in the Mirror. Piers Morgan, a Mirror editor, resigned after the publication.

15:02 Baghdad. Downed helicopter was Bulgarian.

13:47 Baghdad. US sources say no Americans were aboard the downed helicopter.

13:09 Baghdad. Helicopter is shot down north of the capital. Sources say the victims of the crash were all civilians.

10:40 Baghdad. One arrest in yesterday's attempted assassination of Premier.

09:17 Doha. Al Jazeera reports that a carbomb killed two American civilians in downtown Baghdad.

08:28 Baghdad. Bomb target security worker convoy.

08:01 Baghdad. Two blasts were heard coming from Baghdad airport.

02:30 The US senate approves the construction of a $592 million embassy in Baghdad. The vote passed 54 to 45. Earlier, the House had removed it from the budget as being too expensive.

Condi Dons Star Fleet Uniform

Star Fleet Academy Graduate 

Here it is, fresh from Vilnius, Lithuania. The Vulcan Princess, Federation Ambassador and Star Fleet Commander herself.

The Coming Egyptian Revolution

The Beirut newspaper L’Orient-Le Jour is a member of Project Syndicate, an international association of newspapers aiming to bring distinguished voices from across the world to local audiences everywhere” (with the possible exception of the USA—Nur). The paper has picked up this opinion piece by Egyptian MP Mona Makra-Ebeid on the impact of the United States on political reform in Egypt.

Mrs. Makra-Ebeid is a colleague of Egyptian politician Ayman Nour, who was recently arrested on charges of forging documents filed with the Egyptian Political Parties Commission to officially register his politicay party, Hizb al-Ghad.

Update 04/22:. Cairo Magazine reports an uproar within Hizb al-Ghad concerning foreign money. To tell the truth after sniffing the air, both Project Syndicate and the party seem to be liberal (economic sense) undertakings and suggest inspiration from The Economist.

"Al Ghad is founded on the margin of the liberal attitude in Egypt. It has no history or real liberal figures. Rather, it gathers underneath a big tent people from different attitudes. They unite around Ayman Nour's personality, not a central idea," said Dia Rashwan, a researcher at Al Ahram Center For Strategic Studies. He expects that there will be additional resignations in the future.

Before or after reading the article, be sure to visit Baheyya (on the left sidebar) and read her scathing article on the Egyptian régime and its attempts to maintain supremacy and control in Egyptian political life.

The article, printed in French, seems to have been originally in English but I am unable to find the source on Project Syndicate’s homepage, so I offer my own translation:

Will The Coming Revolution Be Egyptian?

The American President’s Greater Middle East Initiative was welcomed with little enthusiasm. Arab governments do not appreciate it when President Bush acted without consulting them. For this reason, Egypt supported an alternative proposal, The Alexandria Declaration, during the Arab Summit in May last year. President Mubarek has recently announced that the opposition would be permitted to run candidates against him in the upcoming presidential race. But we ask ourselves, is this as merely a cosmetic political maneuver or genuine reform?

It is clear that the recent elections in Iraq and in Palestine, as well as street demonstrations protesting Syrian influence in Lebanon, have regenerated the debate on political reform in Egypt. Some members of the opposition believe that the country must implement reforms on its own before change is imposed from the outside.

A certain newspaper editor has gone even further in pointing out that political and constitutional reforms are being held out as to the citizenry as if they were some kind of reward and not a right. According to this editor, Arab democracy is now a major priority of the United States and American presidents will ignore no longer ignore the abuses of friendly Arab régimes as they have done in the past.

In the Arab world, authoritarian governments have been depriving the population of political, social and intellectual freedoms for decades. For young citizens, especially the Islamists, ordinary means of political expression have been closed off to them; they are increasingly turning towards extremist clandestine movements. Poverty, favoritism and official corruption are reinforcing public resentment.

Against this backdrop, the reformist movement in Egypt is gaining momentum. We nostalgically recall our first experiences with liberation (from 1920 to the 1952 Revolution) which were a model for other Arab nations. During this period, the dynamism of political life, the press and our culture were supported by ideals of secular nationalism and religious harmony. Egypt was a multiparty parliamentary democracy with an independent judiciary and one of the world’s first women’s liberation movements.

Today, the accomplishments and the hopes of this period serve to unite reform-minded Egyptians. They have inspired the formation of a new political party, the Hizb al-Ghad (Party of Tomorrow), founded by a young parliamentarian, which rejects the argument that democracy has encouraged extremism. The party believes that lack of reform is our country’s greatest danger.

Hizb al-Ghad has recently prepared a 48-page Draft Constitution which aims to reinvigorate Egyptian political life. Its preamble, which begins with the words, We, the Egyptian people is an unbridled attack on the current régime and calls for the end to fear and despotism.

The document proposes to put an end to the ongoing state of emergency imposed in the aftermath of the assassination of President Sadat in 1981 which has become an emergency without end. It has led to the restriction, if not outright suspension, of individual and political freedoms. The Draft Constitution proposes to limit the extraordinary powers granted the president by the Constitution of 1971 and to introduce direct presidential elections with competing candidates. It will make Egypt a parliamentary republic.

The dominant National Democratic Party, NDP, does not see eye-to-eye with this opinion and maintains that political reform is possible without constitutional reform. The NDP seems convinced that democratization begins with a change in the political climate and the spread of democratic values. But these transformations must be preceded by concrete judicial and constitutional reforms like those proposed by Hizb al-Ghad.

Until now, NPD has never bothered with an attempt to garner popular support by offering an agenda of reforms designed to increase citizen participation. This is why statements by Mubarak in favor of multiparty participation in the presidential elections have made no impression whatsoever on the Egyptian electorate. In fact, the government prefers empty initiatives focusing on the economy.

The contrast in these opposing views must not rule out room for consensus. Wide-ranging reforms are necessary and have been delayed for too long. Moreover, the liberal voices being heard throughout Egypt are not in response to the democratizing initiatives of the United States. They represent a national protest against foot-dragging and will be recorded as an important chapter in our history.

20 April 2005 Events in Iraq

Baghdad. Five car bombings strike capital within 24 hours.

Baghdad. A chauffeur employed by the Health Ministry was shot dead by unknown gunmen in east Baghdad. Meanwhile, three Iraqis, including a woman and a Shi'ite dignitary were killed and a fourth person wounded in an attack in the south of the capital.

Baghdad. Three Iraqi soldiers and one Turkish truck driver were killed in separate attacks across Iraq.

23:20 Washington. The United States expressed its disappointment following a decision by Kofi Annan to delay the publication of a report on Syrian troop withdrawal from Lebanon by one week. State Dept. Spokesman Adam Ereli said that Condoleezza Rice had phoned the Secretary General saying immediate publication was "desireable and important".

22:33 Baghdad. Failed assassination attempt targets Allawi. Outgoing Premier Iyad Allawi narrowly escaped assassination when a suicide bomber driving a truck bomb attempted to ram his convoy as he returned home, says government spokesman Thaër al-Naqib. Allawi's residence is near his party headquarters. He had just attended a meeting concerning the alleged hostage execution in Al Madā’’in. Only President Talibani has linked the corpses found floating today in the Tigris River to events in Al Madā’’in.

22:18 Baghdad. Two police killed in truck bombing targeting Allawi. A suicide bomber rammed a truck into a checkpoint outside the headquarters of Iyad Allawi.

21:31 Baghdad. Truck bomb targets Allawi party headquarters. A suicide truck bomb exploded outside the offices of Premier Iyad Allawi's political party. The bomb struck a checkpoint protecting the entrance to party headquarters which is located a previously bombed building.

20:30 Tallinn. The Estonian parliament has decided to extend the stay of its 32-man peacekeeping contingent in Iraq until the end of 2005 with an option for renewal through 2006.

19:56 New York. An advisor on North Korean Affairs to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Canadian Maurice Strong, has been named in the Oil for Food scandal. Strong is connected to Tongsun Park, also named in the scandal for his connection to BayOil USA. Mr. Strong has stepped aside pending investigation by NY Prosecutor David Kelly.

16:41 Ar Ramādi. Two carbombs detonate in front of National Guard barracks. Gunfire was heard following the blasts.

15:33 Baghdad. Talabani, "Bodies of 50 hostages found". Al Iraqia TV reports that Iraqi President Jalal Talabani told Prime Minister-designate Ibrahim Jaafari in a private meeting that 57 lifeless corpses of men, women and children were pulled out of the Tigris River near As Suwayra, 50 km south of Baghdad and 30 km downstream from Al Madā’’in. The statement of the president reopened the polemic concerning Al Madā’’in. Outgoing Interior Minister Falah Nakib had denied that Sunni insurgents took 80 residents hostage over the weekend. Meanwhile, Mr. Talabani says that It's not true that there were not any hostages. There were indeed hostages and they were executed and thrown into the Tigris River and the bodies of more than fifty have been recovered. [Something is very odd about this story, which has not been confirmed.--Nur].

15:18 Baghdad. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said on Wednesday that there was a good chance a new government would be in place by tomorrow, Thursday, after a meeting with PM-designate Ibrahim Djaafari, outgoing Premier Iyad Allawi and other officials.

15:14 Hadīthah. Insurgents shot dead 19 Iraqi National Guards whom they had kidnapped and conducted to a soccer stadium in Hadīthah 200 km northwest of Baghdad. The 19 guards had just participated in anti-insurgent action alongside US troops and were returning to their base by bus, which was hijacked. [What military manual is this pulled from? Bus-in/bus-out needed brigades without escort in hostile territory? WTF? --Nur]

15:14 Ankara. Military chief of staff lashes out at the United States. General Hilmi Ozkok lashed out at the United States for its ineffectualness in controlling Kurdish separatists in Turkey. Ozkok complained of the growing influence of the PKK (Kurdish Workers' Party) in Turkey and in Northern Iraq. Ozkok claims the PKK is encouraged by US inaction and has intensified its actions in Turkey from the safety of sanctuaries within Iraq. According to Ankara, the PKK is on the list of terrorist organizations maintained by the United States.

15:11 Al Başrah A tribal chieftain known for his links to the ancien régime of Saddam Hussein but allied to the British following their entry into southern Iraq was assasinated on his farm in southern Iraq. Unknown gunmen dressed as Iraqi security forces entered the farmhouse of Sheikh Abdel Al al-Batat in Az Zubayr, 20 km south of Al Başrah and machine gunned him, killing him outright, says Police Lt. Col. Haidar Abdel Mehdi. This chieftain had escaped an assassination attempt not long ago. After having business connections to a general in Saddam Hussein's intelligence services, the sheik did not hesitate to ally himself with the British when their forces entered southern Iraq. He became a member of the Regional Executive Council established by the British but was subsequently arrested by them for links to Saddam Hussein. He was freed after a few months in detention.

14:41 Baghdad. The Islamic Army of Iraq claimed credit for today's car bombing on the airport highway which killed two American soldiers. An Islamic Army squad attacked two civilian vehicles (..) carrying American VIP's in the Amiriyah district on the highway leading to Baghdad Airport, killing all the occupants. According to a source in the Iraqi Interior Ministry, the bombing occurred at 6:00 am and killed two Iraqi civilians and wounded five others.

11:11 Baghdad. Fourth car bombing. A fourth car bombing takes place in south Baghdad, wounding three civilians. The bomb targeted an Iraqi police convoy in the Dura district of the capital.

10:36 Baghdad. Third Car bomb kills two civilians. A child and one adult were killed by a roadside bomb which targeted a US military convoy. The bombing follows yesterday's bombing of a recruiting station which killed six and wounded 44.

10:02 Baghdad. Second carbombing strikes the Dura district of Baghdad, wounding eight civilians.

09:08 Dubai. A group calling itself The Abu Bakr al Seddiq al Salafiya Brigades claims credit for the assassination of General Adnan Midhish Kharagoli,

08:51 Baghdad. Bomb kills two US soldiers. Two US soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb targeting their convoy detonated in west Baghdad. The incident took place on the airport highway. US KIA total reaches 1,182. Update: The bomb also killed a Candian, an American and an Australian working for foreign security firms.

19 April 2005 Events in Iraq

Baghdad. Negotiations on forming a new government are at a standstill due to outgoing Premier Allawi's insistance on retaining an important ministerial portfolio. Allawi's movement demands four ministerial portfolios, one of which must be important, such as the Interior Ministry. UIA MP Mrs. Maryam al-Rayès relates, But we are trying to convince him that he cannot have the Interior Ministry...it is going to the UIA. Defense is going to a Sunni. The Foreign Ministry will continue to be retained by Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurd.

Baghdad. Three Iraqi soldiers were killed in a rebel attack west of Baghdad.

Baghdad. A Baghdad University administrator and faculty member, Fouad Ibrahim al-Bayati, was shot dead behind the wheel of his car.

Tikrik. A civlian was killed by a roadside bomb, which destroyed his vehicle.

Dhoulouiyah. An Iraqi solider is killed.

Hilla. An insurgent was killed and another wounded by the premature detonation of a roadside bomb, which they were planting.

Baghdad. MPs complain of behavior of American GIs. MPs angrily denounced the rude treatment of one of its Assembly members by US forces and demand the explusion of the guilty troops in the incident. Debate was suspended for one hour in protest after a Shi'a MP, Fateh al-Sheikh was pulled over en route to the Green Zone. Al-Sheikh angrily declared that he was an MP and a US soldier grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and shook him. A resolution was passed demanding an apology from the US Embassy.

15:04 Teheran. Iranian authorities have decided to "temporarily close" the Teheran offices of al-Jazeera after its broadcasts on riots in the province of Khuzistan in southern Iran. We maintain an open-door policy and are ready to dialog with anyone, said al-Jazeera spokesman Jihad Ballout. Meanwhile, al-Jazeera's News and Content Editor Ahmed al-Sheikh expressed surprise at the decision. I don't know what crime we have committed: we repeatedly televised the Iranian government's reaction to the crisis. Since it's creation in 1996, al-Jazeera has been the CNN of the Middle East and is watched by tens of millions of Arabs. The Qatari network is despised by the régimes in Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait and Sudan, and has be unable to open bureaus in Saudi Arabia and in Tunisia. Al Jazeera is regularly denounced by Washington, which accuses the network of being a spokesman for radical Islamist groups. Its bureaus in Baghdad were closed down by the Iraqi authorities in August 2004.

14:49 Ramadi. Authorities claim they captured two members of a group linked to Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi. Hamza Ali Ahmed Alwadmiziar, alias Abu Majed, and Salam Aref Abdelkader Khwamrad Zardawi, alias Agha bou Sharif, were taken into custody.

14:25 Camp Bucca. A 51 year-old Iraqi prisoner has died in US custody, supposedly of "natural causes". The man was in convulsions and was brought to the prison infirmary, where he died. He had been held as a security prisoner since May 2004. A Red Cross delegation reported complaints of harsh conditions after an inspection of the desert camp in March.

10:49 Khaldiya. Rebels attack National Guard post, killing five persons.

10:24 Riyadh. OPEC raises production. Production will be upped by 500,000 per day, most of it to be pumped by Saudi Arabia. Riyadh is currently producing 9.5 million barrels per day.

09:55 New York. Price of oil climbs again. Light Crude climbs 23 cents to $50.60, 13% lower than its April 4 maximum of $58.28. June Brent futures are up 22 cents to $51.22.

09:47 Baghdad. An explosion in the Adhamiyah district in east Baghdad targeting an army recruitment center in one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces killed 6 and wounded 44, mostly soldiers and recruits. A suicide bomber drove a green minibus into the building. A group linked to Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi has taken credit for the bombing.

09:14 Baghdad. Two generals assassinated. General Adnan Faush Farawni, an advisor to the Defense Ministry and his son, Alladin, a captain in the intelligence services were assassinated at their home in southern Baghdad by gunmen wearing army uniforms. Another family member was wounded. In Amara, General Hussein Hato al-Jabeeri and his driver were shot to death. Jabeeri was the Interior Ministry Inspector-General for three provinces in southern Iraq.

A Generally Dangerous Profession

The last 60 days in Iraq have been dangerous for Iraqi generals, who despite armed escorts are dropping like flies. I don't know how many generals a country the size of Iraq should have...but this seems like a lengthy death roster for two months:

Unidentified Iraqi general in Kirkuk

Iraqi Christian police general in Kirkuk

General Deputy Commandant of al-Anbar Province (killed by US troops at rolling checkpoint).

Defense Ministry Advisor General Adnan Faush Farawni

Interior Ministry General Hussein Hato al-Jabeeri

Police General Galeb al-Jazeri (killed by US troops at rolling checkpoint per one AFP report, no confirmation).

Interior Ministry General Bassem Mohammed Kazem

Defense Ministry Advisor General Adnan Midhish Kharagoli

Commandant of the Taji Military Base General Jadaan Malih

Interior Ministry General Jalal Mohammad Salah

Highway Police General Karim Silawi

Police General Yunès Mohammed Sulaiman

18 April 2005 Events in Iraq

Ahvaz. Three people are dead and 200 arrested after clashes between the Arab majority in Iran's Khuzistan Province which authorities have blamed on subterfuge by al-Jazeeza rather than an ethnic dispute in this petroleum-rich province bordering on the Iraqi frontier. Information Minister Ali Yunessi says there were several "agitators" among the persons arrested, "linked to subversive groups and television networks." Riots broke out Friday night between security forces and the Arab residents of Ahvaz, the provincial seat. Yesterday minor disturbances were reported in Mah-Shahr. Demonstrators attacked and burned down public buildings during the riots; the story was broken by Qatari satellite TV al-Jazeera. Meanwhile, Interior Minister Jahanbakhsh Khanjani directly accused al-Jazeera of inciting the riots. Provincial MPs have demanded the expulsion of the network. State Iranian TV says al-Jazeera quoted the Arab Popular and Democratic Front of Ahvaz headquartered in London in its reporting. A Front representative said a purportedly official communication signed by ex-Vice President Mohammad-Ali Abtahi was in circulation in the province calling for the ethnic cleansing of Arabs. The Front says Arabs were demonstrating peacefully when authorities decided to use force against them. During the Iran-Iraq war, Saddam Hussein vowed to "liberate" Khuzistan Province, which he referred to as "Arabstan."

Manila. The government of the Philippines has instructed its nationals to leave Iraq following the death of a Philippino who worked at a US military base in Baghdad.

Basrah. Two police killed and eleven wounded when a roadside bomb struck their bus.

Baghdad. The manager of a travel agency was shot dead as he was driving through the Ghazaliyah district in west Baghdad.

Baïji. A policeman was killed by a homemade bomb

Chorgat. An Iraqi interpreter for the US military and a member of the Iraqi security forces were killed by a mortar round which fell on an Iraqi army position.

Dhoulouiyah. Two Iraqi soldiers were killed and four wounded by a mortar round which fell on their position.

Tuz. An Iraqi soldier was killed and another wounded by light arms fire.

Kirkūk. The body of a young Iraqi man was found riddled with bullets.

Kuwait City. A US soldier dies in a training exercise.

Mosul. General Yunès Mohammed Sulaiman, the spokesman for the Mosul police, was assassinated on Sunday.

Baghdad. The Iraqi Interior Minister says he mistook the identity of a recently assassinated security official. General Adnan Midhish Kharagoli, a Defense Ministry advisor, was the victim, not General Adnan Thabet as previously announced.

21:04 Al Madā’’in. The report of Shi'ite hostages held by rebel Sunnis in the town of al-Madā’’in south of Baghdad illustrated the climate of growing mistrust between Iraq's two main religious communities. Iraqi forces took control of al-Madā’’in without finding any trace of hostages. Residents blamed "foreign elements" of having fomented trouble in the town. An hooded Iraqi commando team of 1,500 entered the town on Monday backed up by US Apache combat helicopters which prompted terrified residents to lock themselves indoors. The ruins of the Mesopotamian city of Ctesiphon (est. 144 BC) are within al-Madā’’in.

21:01 Paris. France extends condolences to the family of Lebanese MP Bassel Fleyhan, who died due to complications from severe burns suffered in the carbomb which killed former PM Rafik Hariri in Beirut on February 14. Fleyhan died in the Percy Military Hospital outside Paris.

20:40 Paris. Reporters Without Frontiers expresses indignation at the assassination of Kurdish television journalist Shamal Abdallah Assad in Kirkuk. According to RWF, Assad, assassinated at an auto dealership, was the third Kurdish journalist killed in two days.

20:49 Jerusalem. Israel has issued a call for bids for the construction of 50 units in the West Bank settlement of Elkana to the irritation of Washington. Meanwhile, Ariel Sharon has postponed the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip by three weeks saying the original date of 20 July was the commemoration of the destruction of the first and second Jewish temples in Jerusalem. [Oh? So why did he pick 20 July in the first place? Fraud!--Nur]

17 April 2005 Events in Iraq

London. Foreign Minister Jack Straw says British troops to be withdrawn from Iraq in two years.

Damascus. Syrian intellectuals plead for release of French reporter Florence Aubenas and guide Hussein Hanoun. Syrian intellectuals reaffirm their commitment to freedom of expression and condemn any controls on the freedom of information, especially violence against journalists, says Political Scientist Salam Kawakibi.

Baghdad. Meeting of Iraq's neighbors postponed to 25 and 26 April. A meeting of states bordering on Iraq was postponed one week due to a request from Iraqi President Ibrahim Jaafari. The meeting with be the 8th in a series.

Brussels. Possible international conference in June. European Council President Jean-Claude Juncker says a meeting may be organized on Brussels in early June. However, Iraq has been hesitant to issue the request. The meeting would concentrate on the coordination of assitance to the country, says the European Commissioner for Foreign Relations, Benita Ferrero Waldner.

Baghdad. Shi'ite and Kurdish MPs are concerned by the delay in forming a new government. Outgoing Foreign Minister and MP Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurd, and MP Houmam Hamoudi, a Shi'a, say they believe the delay has fueled the resistance.

Mosul. Four police and five civilians were killed in separate incidents across northern Iraq.

Baghdad. Iraqi security sources say they arrested Izzat Ibrahim in March. The US had placed a bounty of $10 million on Ibrahim, a nephew of Saddam Hussein. Also announced was the arrest of Hashem Hussein Raduana al-Juburi

22:00 Al Madā’in. The kidnapping of a group of traveling Shiites last week near the town, 10 miles south of Baghdad, generated a retaliatory kidnapping of a group of Sunnis by Shi'ites a few days later. Friday night's exaggerated reports of a takeover of Al Madā’in by Sunnis and a mass exodus of Shi'ite residents to Al Kūt was played down by residents Saturday, despite a bomb blast which demolished a Shi'ite mosque. The situation in the town topped the agenda of Sunday's session of the National Assembly. Meanwhile, other reports say that when US and Ukrainian troops arrived in Al Madā’in, they saw streets full of people calmly sipping tea in cafés and going about their business. There were no armed Sunni mobs, no cowering Shiite victims. After hours of careful searches, the soldiers assisted by air surveillance found no evidence of any kidnappings or refugees at all.

22:00 The US Embassy said Marla Ruzicka, 27, the director of CIVIC, an international NGO, a Czech-born French national and an unidentified third person were killed by a suicide carbomb on the highway leading to Baghdad Airport.

21:22 Ba’qūbah. Seven Iraqis taken hostage. Seven workers at a US military base at Al Al Mansūrīyah were kidnapped by rebels as they left their jobs for the day.

20:21 An Najaf. Officials of the holy Shi'ite city said Highway Police General Karim Silawi died after being shot by fellow police loyal to his predecessor, General Hilal Abdallah. General Abdallah had been fired by the Provincial Council for his links to the former Ba'ath regime and replaced by General Silawi. When Gen. Silawi reported for work, he was shot dead by fellow police officers. Gen. Abdallah has been arrested. In March another incident involving Najaf police took place when Gen. Ghaleb al-Jazaïri refused to be transfered to Baghdad. A city judge then wrote out an arrest warrant which was served and ignored. Gen. al-Jazaïri kept his job.

13:17 Baghdad. High-ranking police officials assassinated in Baghdad and in Mosul. In Baghdad, Amazr Hassan, leader of the anti-terrorist Wolf Brigades was shot dead. In Mosul, Col. Yunes Mohammed al-Jawadi, was shot dead as he returned home. A group linked to Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi claimed credit for al-Jawadi's assassination.

11:02 Al ‘Azīzīyah. The bodies of 19 unidentified men were found floating in the Tigris.

10:28 Ar Ramādi. Mortars fired at US base kill three Americans. At least three US soldiers were killed and seven wounded by mortar fire directed at a US base near Ramadi. [I am doubtful that it was "mortar" fire...it was likely another suicide bombing inside the camp--Nur].

16 April 2005 Events in Iraq

Baquba. Seven Iraqis including 3 police were killed at at least five wounded in an explosion at a restaurant in Baquba, 60 km north of Baghdad.

Baghdad. A suicide carbomb directed at a military convoy killed one civilian and wounded three others.

Baghdad. Two Philippino airport workers, a man and a woman, were wounded when insurgents opened fire on their minibus.

Baïji. A Turkish truck driver was killed and his rig destroyed by a roadside bomb.

Kirkuk. A pipeline security guard was killed by rebels.

Touz. One policeman was killed by by a bomb placed outside his home.

Samarra. One Iraqi soldier was killed and another wounded by a bomb in Samarra.

Moatassem. Four civilians were wounded by a booby-trapped car.

Mosul. A suicide carbomber drove his vehicle into a US military convoy in Mosul, wounding one civiliann.

Taji. A US soldier is wounded in Taji died on Saturday while another was killed in Tikrit on Friday.

Latifiyah. Iraqi security forces claim they have killed Abu Bakr Mohammed Nayef al-Janabi, a leader of Ansar al-Sunna in Latifiyah.

Beirut. Shi'ite notable Sheik Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah has called on Iraqi kidnappers to release Romanian hostages Marie-Jeanne Ion, Sorin Miscoci and Edward Ohanesian.

Strasbourg. The European Council President Jean-Claude Juncker has proposed an international conference on Iraq to meet at the beginning of June.

Canberra. Australia to send an extra contingent. Australia will send an advance contingent of 43 men, part of an additional 450-man deployment. The troops were requested by Japan and London to replace the Dutch contingent, which is departing.

22:24 Ramadi. Mortar fire and rockets directed a US base near Ramadi.

21:58 Baghdad. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari says neighboring countries are not doing enough to stop the insurgency in Iraq.

21:25 A group of Sunni insurgents are holding 150 hostages, most of them Shi'a, in the town of Madaïen, 30 km southwest of Bagdad. Official sources say that US and Iraqi troops are preparing a rescue operation tonight. The hostages include women and children. Meanwhile armed men are being driven around town with loudspeakers, ordering Shi'ites to leave or face death. Dozens of families have fled the town and are heading for al-Kut, 200 km south of Baghdad. The incident was set off after Shi'ites kidnapped some members of the Dlimi tribe.

21:21 Dubai. Al-Arabiya reports that Iraqi and US troops have entered Madaïen.

18:00 Kurdish television reporter Shamal Abdallah Assad was shot dead by unknown gunmen.

17:45 Baghdad. A member of a Ministry of the Interior commando team was shot dead behind the wheel of his car in the Doura district of Baghdad.

17:15 Doha. Al-Jazeera reports that three Arabs were killed, several dozen injured and 250 arrested after riots in the majority Arab city of Avhaz in southern Iran. A false document was in circulation claiming that the ethnic makeup in the province of Khuzistan would be "adjusted". Rioters set fire to banks, police stations and police cars. Government spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh said that those reponsible for the counterfeit would be punished and that no Iranian official has the power to change the ethnic makeup of a province.

17:08 Camp Bucca. Eleven prisoners tunnel out of US detention center but are later caught and returned.

09:30 Kirkuk. One Iraqi policeman and one soldier were shot dead in south Kirkuk. The two were part of an escort for an army general and were en route to join him.

08:15 Kirkuk. A policeman was shot dead by unknown gunmen as he left work to return home.

15 April 2005 Events in Iraq

Samarra. A roadside bomb detonates as an Iraqi patrol passed nearby killing two Iraqi soldiers.

Baghdad. A bomb intended for Iraqi national guards detonates, killing one civlian and wounding three others.

Baghdad. Still no government. Violence continues to spiral, putting pressure on the National Assembly to decide on the composition of the government. Political factions have been fighting for 11 weeks over ministerial portfolios. The conflict centers around the strategic ministries of Defense, Interior and Petroleum. The incertainty has led the guerrilla to step up attacks against US troops and their allies to prevent any normalization of the situation as long as the occupation continues.

Baghdad. A US soldier was killed and five others wounded in a suicide bombing near Russian Embassy in west Baghdad. Credit for the bombing was claimed by a group linked to Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi. An AFP reporter reported that several cars wre demolished. Another eyewitness says a GM Opel exploded as four US Humvees rolled by. Meanwhile, a mortar round hit a residence, killing one civilian and wounding four others. North of the capital, three Iraqi soldiers, two police and a truckdriver were killed in separate incidents.

Baghdad. The US Army says it arrested 17 suspect and seized an arms cache in west Baghdad.

Mosul. US troops arrested four guerrilla suspects in a dawn raid in the Sallamiyah district.

Camp Bucca. One prisoner was killed by other inmates which resulted in a riot which injured 12 prisoners. The riot broke our at 11:00 pm local time. The camp, which is west of Um Qasr, holds more than 6,000 inmates.

Paris. Journalists mobilize to plead for the release of Florence Aubenas and Hussein Hanoun. Radio and television appeals were made non-stop throughout France. Balloons were released in Lille, Strasbourg, Albi, Cahors, Carcassonne, Montauban, Perpignan, Tarbes, Besançon, Belfort, Metz and Toulouse as part of the campaign of solidarity.

Baghdad. Lawyer for Saddam says his rights were violated. Saddam will not be guaranteed a fair trial after having been demonized for decades, says Ramsey Clark.

Baghdad. Sunni imam calls on Talabani to declare a general amnesty. Sheik Ahmed Abdel Ghafour Samarrai of the Committe of Iraqi Ulema called on Iraqi President Jalal Talabani to declare general amnesty and to ignore pressure from Donald Rumsfeld, who does not like the idea.

Baghdad. Ukraine begins rotation to reduce troop strength. There will be 40% reduction in the contingent before May 15th.

23:07 Beirut. Lebanese TV network al Hayat-Lbc says an Iraqi solider, Jassim Mohammed Hussein, has been beheaded.

22:54 Madean. 60 Shi'ites kidnapped and held hostage. Insurgents take more than 60 Shi'ite hostage and order remaining Shi'ite out of the city.

16:14 Baghdad. Leaflets were handed out by different groups announcing the death of al-Zarqawi's right-hand man, Qaissar al-Abassi, in a clash in Samarra, 125 km north of Baghdad. We announce with sadness the heroic martyrdom of Qaissar al-Abassi who struggled long and valiantly to trouble the sleep of the miscreant occupiers, the apostate police of Falah al-Nakib and the Army of Hazem Shaalan in the land of Mesopotamia. This leaflet was distributed in Samarra, Dhoulouiyah and Tikrit and was signed by al-Zarqawi's Jihad Organization of Mesopotamia. According to the tract, Qaissar al-Abassi detonated the suicide vest he was wearing after having expended all his ammunition. A different leaflet signed the Rashidaïn army was distributed in north Baghdad where the resistance is active. This tract says that Qaissar al-Abassi was killed in combat with American troops in Samarra, his home town. The date of al-Abassi's death is not give. Other leaflets distributed in Samarra stated The Knight of Salaheddin, was active for seven months north of Baghdad.

16:12 Ramadi. US Marine dies in combat. On Thursay, a Marine died after having been hit by light arms fire. On Wednesday a Marine died when hit by a mortar round. The US KIA total for Iraq is now 1,545.

15:29 London. The UK says that it observed the sanctions placed on Iraq, after UN Secretary General Kofi Annan sugat gested ththe UK and the USA of turning a blind eye to oil smuggling which benefitted their allies. I regret to say that suggestions that the United Kingdom ignored smuggling of oil from Iraq to Jordan and Turkey are inaccurate, said Foreign Minister Jack Straw.

15:04 Paris. French Soccer Federation President Jean-Pierre Escalettes has informed to his Israeli counterpart of his"indignation" after the French national anthem, La Marseillaise, was booed in Tel-Aviv on March 30th at an Israël-France match.

14:56 Baghdad. Hussein Shahrastani, Parliamentary Deputy Speaker, speaking on behalf of the for the UIA, says a new goverment would not be formed before the end of next week. Sharistani stated that the main obstacle was finding Sunnis willing to accept a portfolio.

14:44 Teheran. Former Iranian President Akbar Hashémi Rafsanjani declares his intention to run in the 17 June elections. Other candidates include Police Commander Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, ex-foreign ministers Ali Akbar Velayati and Ali Larijani, and Mohsen Rezaie, ex-leader of the Guardians of the Revolution.

King of Jordan Severs Historical Ties Muslim Brotherhood

You may recognize the name of Georges Malbrunot, a correspondent for the French Daily Le Figaro, who was held hostage in Iraq until his release in late summer last year. Le Figaro has sent Malbrunot on assignment to Jordan, where Malbrunot picks up on a looming clash in Jordanian society. The King is going to war with the Muslim Brotherhood.

Now I am not well informed on the situation in Jordan, so I don't what other power bases are available to the King to counter the reaction of the Brotherhood. If you know, please comment.
:::
Amman, from Georges Malbrunot [via today's edition of L'Orient-Le Jour]
Update: Here is the original article @ Le Figaro

The main force behind the opposition, the Islamic movement, is denouncing draft legislation designed to reduce the influence of professional associations in the kingdom. Longtime partners in power in Amman, the Islamists are divided on the appropriate response to the kick in the snout from King Abdullah II. Mohammed Abu Farès believes he is being monitored. My car is tailed and my telephone is bugged, says this Islamist MP, who is barred from preaching at the mosque because of his criticism of Israel and the United States.

A pillar of the régime for five years, the partnership between the Hashemite monarchy and the Muslim Brotherhood is in crisis. Recent draft legislation aiming at regulating professional associations has kindled hostility in a country where power factions have replaced political parties, which have been reduced to a mere façade. [I wonder if this is rather like Lebanon--Nur].

According to the text of the legislation, all meetings must be authorized by the Government and the way in which association officers will be elected will favor rural districts, loyal to the monarchy, over urban centers where the Muslim Brotherhood is strongest. We only head three professional associations out of 14. Interference from the government is unacceptable, says Ali Abu Suker, a Brotherhood MP and ex-President of the Engineers Association. Because we represent the main political opposition, this law is meant to hamper us. Human rights advocates see the law as a reversal of the democratic reforms promised by Abdullah II.

Over the last few months, many imams have been arrested and detained for several hours and subsequently forbidden from delivering sermons. Censorship is enforced. Around the mosques, Islamic activities such as the sale of Korans have been banned. Not long ago, we controlled most of the 1,800 mosques in Jordan, says Abu Suker, but we have been marginalized because we've mounted political opposition and backed the nomination of some Salafist imams. It is a big mistake because the mosques are not easy to control.

Abdallah has caved in to pressure from the United States, which no longer views the old rules under which were permitted to criticize their Israeli friends as acceptable, says a Jordanian familiar with the situation. Abdullah was upbraided by Condoleezza Rice during their recent meeting. She forced him into it.

The social compact with the "beaded ones" is being revised. In shops and business, the zakat collection boxes have been discretely removed. The Waqf, the Ministry of Religious Assets, has replaced them. The objective? To better control the finances of the social services linked to the Islamists.

Until recently, the Brotherhood was permitted ample latitude for its instructional and social activities in exchange for its loyalty. A division of roles was understood: To the king, the conduct of business and commercial activities. To the Brotherhood, social undertakings.

Thanks to aid pouring in from the Gulf, the charity networks of the "beaded ones" were expanding. Its premier recipient, the Islamic Hospital of Amman, employs 1,000 people of whom the majority is members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Association of Islamic Centers constitutes a parallel social infrastructure with hundreds of installations throughout the country. The Ministry of Religious Assets has only 26. The vocation of the Muslim Brotherhood is to satisfy the desire for religious faith among Jordanians while discrediting extremists, says researcher Frédéric Maulon. The Brotherhood took up the banner and the cause of young King Hussein [Abdullah's father--Nur] in wrestling with Arab nationalists back in the '50s. Their inclusion reached its zenith in 1991 when the Brotherhood controlled four ministries of prime importance, such as Education and Social Affairs. Jordan was admired for its ability to dominate the Islamic menace through cooperation while its Egyptian and Syrian neighbors opted for a policy of bloody eradication.

The merging of interests seems to have ended. Islamists complain of being hindered in their activities at universities. A new law permits only half the number of student representatives as before. Another law restricts the right of assembly. Any meeting of more than five people must be approved by the Government.

Jordanian Islamists have struggled against gerrymandering which results in their under-representation in Parliament. Absent from government and restricted in the assembly, the limitations imposed on professional organizations and institutions of civil society can no longer be ignored; they represent repeated kicks in the groin. There is no benefit in total divorce, says Ali Abu Suker. In any case, we do not consider ourselves an alternative to monarchy.

Abdallah is not happy with just dividing them, as his father did. He wants to kick them in the balls, says a diplomat. Regular reporters at the royal palace recall very well the King's martial arts flourish which suggested, I shall not let my country fall into their hands. Begun in the 90s after the signature of the peace treaty with Israel, the neutralization of the Islamists has provoked a division between hawks and doves. And several of the Brotherhood's members have been sanitized and admitted into the Jordanian Government. Under King Hussein, we were able to infiltrate our men into the highest levels of the movement and we knew their every move, recalls a confidant of the late king.

Differences which opposed the Brotherhood to Abdullah over Iraq and which led to cooperation with their Muslim brothers in Palestine, Hamas, have caused fault lines within the organization. The gulf between Mohammed Abu Farès, who would favor Jihad and not blanch before a women, and Abdel Atif al-Arabyat, a far more moderate MP who believes that Palestine should not intrude on Jordanian politics, is enormous.

Worrisome for the regime, the division between moderates and radicals masks another breach. The hawks tend to have Palestinian roots while the doves are Jordanian. A long shadow is cast over the stability of the "Kingdom of the Sands."

14 April 2005 Events in Iraq

London. The Lib-Dems demand an exit strategy from Iraq. Britain's Liberal-Democrats began the election campaign in Britain with broadsides directed at Labour and the Tories.

New York. Three are charged in Oil for Food scandal. Three businessmen, including one American, were charged with bribery in the Oil for Food scandal. A Texas businessman and his two assistants, a Briton and a Bulgarian, were charged with paying secret million-dollar bribes to the régime of Saddam Hussein so they could participate in the sale of Iraqi petroleum within the Oil for Food program. The Texan, David Chalmers, who ran Bayoil USA, was arrested in Houston along with his associate Ludmil Dionissiev, a Bulgarian residing in the United States. US authorities have requested the extradition of a Briton, John Irving. The men participated in the setting of the price for Iraqi oil and risk 62 years in prison if found guilty. Meanwhile, a South Korean, Tongsun Park, was charged yesterday with having received millions of dollars from the Iraqi government, part of which was earmarked to "take care of" a UN official, whose identity has not been revealed.

Baghdad. The Iraqi Parliament continues to seek an elusive agreement on a Cabinet.

Mahawil. Four police are dead in a marketplace explosion in Mahawil, 90 km south of Baghdad. The wounded, numbering 6, have been taken to hospitals in Mahawil and in Hilla, provincial capital of Babil Province.

Baghdad. US increases bounty for capture of al-Zarqawi to $25 million.
.
Tal Afar. Five civilians are wounded as a bomb targeting a US convoy detonates

Karbala. Police arrest suspected member of group linked to al-Zarqawi. The man is accused in the kidnapping of two German engineers in March 2004. Meanwhile President Trajan Basescu says there is proof that the trio is alive and is treated well.

Baquba. Four civilians are wounded as a bomb targeting a US convoy detonates. Two US soldiers were wounded

21:30 New York. The UN Human Rights Commission has condemned the state of Israel for the use of force against Palestinian civilians. Ten countries, including the UK, Canada, Germany, Italy and the United States were opposed to the text condemning systematic violations of the Geneva Conventions committed by Israel on the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. The resolution was opposed because it called on Israel to stop settler violence but said nothing about acts of terrorism carried out by Palestinians. The US and Australia were the only two nations to vote against the resolution adopted by a vote of 39 in favor with 12 abstentions. Israeli Ambassador Itzhak Levanon protested the unilateralism of the resolution.

18:44 Washington. Outgoing World Bank President James Wolfensohn will assume the role of Special Representative of the Quartet supervising the Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip.

18:28 Doha. An American official says the US government is doing everything it can to release kidnapped hostage Jeffrey Ake. A plea for his release was broadcast on al-Jazeera.

18:15 Rome. The Farnesina Palace says the joint US-Italian investigation into the death of Nicola Calipari has not been concluded.

18:13 Hilla. A suicide bomber blew himself up in a marketplace, killing four police and wounding six civilians.

18:06 Baghdad. Iraqi forces announce the arrest of 63 al Qaeda members in raids in Baquba and in Mosul, including two Egyptians. [I rather doubt they are really "al-Qaeda" members.--Nur].

16:53 Ankara. Clashes between Turkish troops and PKK militants. 24 are dead, including 3 Turkish soldiers, in clashes in Besta on the border betwen the eastern provinces of Sirt and Shirnak.

13:16 Baghdad. Al Zarqawi claims credit for this morning's car bombings.

13:01 Algiers. Five die in attacks. Five are dead and 10 wounded in separate attacks in Algeria carried out by radical Islamists. Two were killed in the region of Relizan. Another three were killed by a bomb in the Tebessa region.

12:23 Baghdad. Iraqi intelligence agent assassinated. An Iraqi intelligence agent was gunned down as he went to work.

10:49 Baquba. One policeman killed and three wounded. Guerrillas fire on police patrol.

10:36 Kirkuk. Ansar al-Sunnah claims credit for raid on police station.

10:32 Teheran. Iran will not renounce its uranium enrichment program as a condition for negotiations with the European Union. Iranian negotiator Cyrus Nasseri made the announcement.

10:22 Baghdad. Two carbombs kill 15 and wound 20. Two cars stuffed with explosives detonate, one near Baghdad University close to the Green Zone in the Jadriya district of southeast Baghdad, and another near the Interior Ministry in the center of the capital. Jadriya was the scene of a carbombing yesterday.

09:13 London. Foreign Minister Jack Straw says British pullout to begin in 2006.

09:06 Baghad. Carbomb kills 11 in downtown Baghdad. Car bomb detonates outside Ministry of the Interior, killing 11 and wounding 20. The victims included police and children. The blast, which occurred at rush hour, also demolished fifteen cars and scattered body parts over a wide area.

08:27 Baghdad. Two blasts in capital.

08:02 Kirkuk. Shots fired at police station. Three are dead and four are wounded in a guerrilla raid on a police station which was inaugurated one week ago in the co.

06:58 Tikrit. Truckbomb explodes in Tikrit. Five Iraqi civilians are wounded. A fuel truck rammed a residence in which US troops were quartered.

02:27 Washington. Retired American officials from the fields of politics, religion, academia and business have decided to form a pressure group to foster peace in the Middle East. Baptised the "American Leadership Campaign for Peace in the Middle East", the group plans to lauch a web site (www.mideastcalm.org) where an open letter to President Bush will be published. The goal of the organization is to convince Americans that a rapid solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict is in the national interest of the United States.

02:03 Kiev. Ukraine will pull out its contingent before October. Ukraine has 1,650 military personnel deployed to Iraq.

01:34 Washington. Sharon excludes any attack on Iranian nuclear installations after meeting with Mr. Bush in Texas.

01:15 Washington: Fini departs for Rome. Italian FM Gianfranco Fini returns to Rome after meeting with members of the Bush administration. In his meeting with Condoleezza Rice, Fini suggested an international conference on the Middle East following the Gaza pullout.

00:15 Washingon Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini says he is very happy with the cooperation between the USA and Italy in the inquest into the death of Italian intelligence agent Nicola Calipari, killed by US troops after an Italian hostage was released. However, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Mr. Fini refused to set a date for the publication of the results of the joint inquest. The death of Mr. Calipari provoked strong emotions in Italy. President Azeglio Ciampi demanded that the cause of the tragedy be clarified.

Giuliana Sgrena Affair Concludes

The Bush administration has buried the Sgrena affair and has left Berlusconi to deal with Italian public and political discontent at home on his own. The "official story" from the Bush administration is that it doesn't want to demoralize US troops in the field with a public apology for the incident in which Italy's most experienced Middle East intelligence agent was killed.

The following article by reporter Maurizio Caprara appeared in the 13 April edition of the Corriere della Sera.

:::::

WASHINGTON. Our bilateral relationship has never been more solid, says Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini as he prepares for a series of meetings with officials of the Bush Aministration. His first meeting was on Tuesday with Vice President Dick Cheney.

But despite Bush's fondness for Berlusconi, there are a pair of issues which are rather complicated: the first is finding a common version to which both sides can agree in the reconstruction of the events of March 4th in Baghdad leading to killing of Italian intelligence officer Niccola Calipari by US troops. Mr. Calipari was the architect of the release of reporter Giuliana Sgrena from her Iraqi kidnappers.

The second issue concerns Abu Omar, the Egyptian imam of the 40th Street Mosque in Milan who was kidnapped from Italy in February 2003 and is now imprisoned in Egypt. The Italian press reports that the kidnapping was carried out by CIA agents and that this is the abduction being investigated by the Milan Public Prosecutor's Office. The outcome of the investigation may produce a delicate diplomatic situation.

The report of the Italian-American commission on the killing of Calipari is also due to be released within a few days--and this is what had prompted Mr. Fini's trip to Washington. The United States does not want to mete out punishment for the death of Calipari out of fear of resentment on the part of US troops in the field. Despite Mr. Bush's expression of regret last week in Rome, he does not feel that he owes any apology for the egregious behavior in the incident, which has now been defined as a military "accident"-- not a mistake. Faced with a choice between a court-martial for the troops involved in shooting at Calipari's car and the risk of resentment by the boys in uniform in Baghdad assigned to guarding certain objectives against suicide carbombs, Bush has made his preference clear: handing a reason to US troops to grumble is considered a danger to be avoided.

Fini will be received today by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, an ex-Defense Department analyst who in the past has worked with the CIA. It appears that a request for judicial assistance from the Italian judiciary to the US Department of Justice has gone unanswered.

Meanwhile, Calipari's car is to remain in Baghdad. It is not expected that the subject of the death of the SISMI intelligence officer nor the kidnapping of the radical Egyptian imam will be mentioned in official communiqués over the next couple of days. It is likely to fade into the background of major problems such as peace in the Middle East which are universally regarded as the most difficult to resolve.

Another problem is the reorganization of the United Nations; a topic covered Tuesday in talks between Mr. Fini and Kofi Annan in New York. China's intransigence on the ambitions of Japan currently suits Italy, which does not want to be the only defeated nation of WWII without a permanent seat on the Security Council. Fini urged the Secretary General to avoid implementing reforms without a "wider consensus". He also argued for appointment of Italian Emma Bonino as UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Fini told Annan that Mrs. Bonino enjoys the support of the majority in government and a wide swath of political and public opinion. Should the United States decide to back Mrs. Bonino, her chances will look brighter despite Mr. Annan's personal dislike for her. Mr. Fini is traveling with Italian MP Andrea Ronchi, a member of the AN (fascist) party.

13 April 2005 Events in Iraq.

Fallujah. Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick toured the destruction of Fallujah from a fast-moving Humvee and announced that he would find third parties to clean up the mess: What I hope to do in coming weeks is try to lay the groundwork for some more in-depth cooperation, particularly with our European partners, on the reconstruction and economic support side...so we can kind of share the load here. ["We bomb, you foot the bill for reconstruction". Looks like the lure will be UN Security Council membership for Japan and Germany, if they "bite"--Nur]

Washington. US troops were exonerated in a probe of the killing of Italian intelligence officer Nicola Calipari and the wounding of reporter Giuliana Sgrena on the access road to Baghdad Airport. The shooting is considered a "military accident" and not a "mistake". [Huh?--Nur] Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini was in Washington today for talks with Dick Cheney and Stephen Hadley to work out a synthesis of reconstruction of the incident agreeable to both sides before the publication of a report within a few days. Meanwhile, the car in which Calipari and Sgrena were travelling will remain in Baghdad.

Bucharest. Romanian President Trajan Basescu says Bucharest is in contact with the kidnappers of the Romanian reporters held hostage.

Paris. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani tells the French daily Libération that an independent Kurdish state would not be viable. Talabani also stated that the annexation of the city of Kirkuk would be examined when the situation in Iraq returns to stability.

Hawija. Police arrest one on the leaders of Ansar al-islam, Saman Abdallah.

Paris. Reporter Florence Aubenas and her guide Hussein Hanoun al-Saadi enter their 100th day in captivity.

Baghdad. A booby-trapped car detonated as a US convoy passed nearby. Four Iraqi civilians were seriously wounded. The bombing took place in the Al-Amiriya district of west Baghdad. A US Army Humvee was demolished as were several civilian vehicles.

Baghdad. US miltary vehicle was damaged after a bombing in Baghdad-Jadida in southeast Baghdad.

23:01 Riyadh. During a banquet honoring Saudi Crown Prince Abdallah ben Abdel Aziz, President Jacques Chirac called for free and fair elections in Lebanon as scheduled in compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 1559.

22:35 Washington. The US now believes that Iran requires at least five years to develop a nuclear weapons capability, according to State Dept. Spokesman Richard Boucher. Iran was discussed on Monday between President George W. Bush and Premier Ariel Sharon. President Bush stated that Mr. Sharon supports a diplomatic resolution to the crisis with Iran. However, the NY Times reported that Sharon presented Bush with surveillance photographs of Iranian installations showing that Teheran had reached "the point of no return".

17:52 Doha. US hostage pleads for life. Al-Jazeera broadcasts a video showing US hostage Jeffrey Ake of Indiana. Ake was kidnapped on Monday by 8 men travelling in two vehicles at a construction site in Taji, north of Baghdad. He is an employee of Alpine Drinks, which was constructing a commercial water purification plan.

17:25 Nassiriya. A mass grave dating from the epoch of Saddam Hussein containing dozens of bodies was discovered. Twenty-five bodies have been exhumed. As of March 1994 the US Army had discovered 259 mass graves containing the remains at least 300,000 people executed by Saddam Hussein's regime since 1979.

16:16 Baghdad. Five civilians were killed and four Americans wounded in an attack on a US Dept. of Defense convoy.

15:17 Dubai. Al-Arabiya reports that twenty-two Iraqis were killed in clashes between US troops and rebels.

14:08 Baghdad. Iraqi journalist decapitated. Ahmed al-Rubai, a correspondent for the Iraqi daily al-Sabah, was found decapited in the Dora quarter of Baghdad.

10:42 Baghdad. Three civilians die in attacks targeting the US military. A roadside bomb detonated along the airport highway triggered by an SUV typically used by American contractors to the US military. Nearby, a second carbomb detonated wounding three civilians and demolishing five automobiles in the Al-Amiriya neighborhood of west Baghdad where several ministries are located, near a police academy. The wounded were evacuated by helicopter. In a third attack in east Baghdad, a car bomb targeted a US Dept. of Defense convoy in Baghdad-Jadida District. A Humvee caught fire in the blast. Last, a US military tanker truck was hit by a roadside bomb in the capital and caught fire in east Baghdad.

09:10 Kirkuk. Ten Iraqi soldiers including 2 pipeline securty officers were were killed as they attempted to defuse a bomb attached to an oil pipeline. Three others were wounded. Among the dead is Colonel Nadem Abdallah, chief of pipeline security operations.

12 April 2005 Events in Iraq.

Baghdad. US Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, admitted that the US does not have an exit strategy from Iraq. Any timetable would hinge on the readiness of Iraqi forces to ensure security on their own. Iraqi President Jalal Talibani and Vice President Ghazi al-Yawar have excluded asking for an end to the occupation for the time being despite insistence from radical Sunnis and Shi'ites. Meanwhile, Rumsfeld insisted that the Iraqis observe the timetable for drafting a new Constitution and warned officials against corruption and a purge of ex-Baath party members from the security services and public institutions--urged by Shi'a officials. When asked about permanent US military bases in Iraq, Rumsfeld said this would examined with the Iraqi government in December. Mr. Talabani gave assurances to Mr. Rumsfeld that a new cabinet would be chosen before the end of the week.

Update: Karzai has just asked for a permanent US military presence for Afghanistan after meeting with Rumsfeld today. I think it likely that the new Iraqi government was informed that it must ask for a permanent US presence in Iraq.

Salaheddin. Donald Rumsfeld met with Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani to discuss the integration of the Peshmerga into the Iraq Army. At the end of the meeting Rumsfeld said it would be up to the Iraqis. Mr. Barzani, leader of the PDK, reiterated that Kurds would not reconcile with former members of the regime of Saddam Hussein.

Baghdad. An Interior Ministry general escaped an assassination attempt in which one of his bodyguards was slain.

Sadr City. A passport office employee was kidnapped.

Al-Qaïm. The Multinational Force conducted a raid on foreign fighters and smugglers near al-Qaïm, a town on the border with Syria.

Islamabad. Pakistan denies that a $500,000 ransom has been demanded for the release of a Pakistani consular employee kidnapped last Saturday.

New York. The Iraqi Ambassador to the United Nations requested that the Security Council lift sanctions imposed on Iraq during the regime of Saddam Hussein. The Security Council expressed the hope that the Iraqis would soon be able to maintain security in Iraq without assistance.

23:08 Washington. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon rebuffed George W. Bush's entreaties concerning West Bank settlements yet managed to get the President's stamp of approval for the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Associates close to Mr. Sharon attempted to minimize the range of disagreement which emerged during the meeting with Mr. Bush in Texas by saying only that opinion has always diverged on the subject of Israeli settlements. On a private French TV network, i-télé, Israeli government spokesman Avi Pazner said there was only "a slight disagreement" between Israel and the United States over the "interpretation" on an understanding between Sharon and Bush concerning the Occupied Territories. This is only a marginal matter in the framework of a vast strategic understanding. Sharon said that the large settlements in the Occupied Territories where the majority of the 240,000 "settlers" live would remain in Israeli hands in any final agreement, with all the consequences entailed by that decision (aka the "Bantustanization of Palestine"--Nur). Sharon repeated that the settlements would be annexed by Israel. This provoked a reaction from Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmad Qoreï: We categorically refuse to relinquish claim over the settlements surrounding Jerusalem such as Maale Adoumim and Pisgat Zeev. This is Palestinian land which came under occupation in 1967(..). We hold to the 1967 borders and we will not budge one inch from our stance on Jerusalem because there can be no Palestinian state without Jerusalem. Sharon continues to justify settlement expansion based on an April 2004 letter from President Bush in which the US President acknowledged for the first time that Israeli settlements would remain under Israeli sovereignty. Sharon interprets the letter as an implicit green light for settlement expansion, especially in Maale Adoumim.

Yet the recent announcement of a new subdivision in Maale Adoumim with 3,500 homes which would stretch from the West Bank into Jerusalem provoked criticism by the United States. The extension would cut the West Bank in two and make territorial continuity, on which the US insists, of a Palestinian state impossible. Furthermore, Mr. Sharon placed conditions on further progress on the Road Map meant to follow the Gaza Strip pullout. He refuses further negotiations until the Palestinian Authoried puts and end to terrorism and dismantles and disarms armed militias.

16:11 Baghdad. Outgoing Premier Iyad Allawi has written to George Casey, the commanding general of the Multinational Forces, with a request accelerate the release of Iraqi prisoners which are being held in large numbers. He specifically mentioned followers of Moqtada al-Sadre and "a large number of Sunni imams". Lieutenant-colonel Guy Rudisill of the American military penitentiary service says the US is holding 10,708 prisoners as of 4 April: Camp Bucca (south): 6.054; Abu Ghraib: 3.493; and Camp Cropper: 114. A commission was set up in August 2004 to examine the prisoner files composed of 3 members of the Multinational Forces, 2 Iraqi Justice Ministry officials, and 2 Human Rights Ministry officials.The files on 9,575 have been reviewed. The commission must review the file of each "security detainee" held without trial every 90 days and evauate the possibility of release.

16:10 Baghdad. Iraqi authorities have announced the arrest of Fadhil Ibrahim Mahmoud al Machadani on charges of financing the rebels. Al Machadani was former head of the Military Bureau under Saddam Hussein.

15:49 Baghdad. The leaders of four groups linked to Al-Qaeda were arrested by US and Iraqi forces in south Baghdad. We captured leaders from Ansar al-Sunna, Tawhid wal Jihad and d'Ansar al-Islam, said Iraqi military spokesman Ali al-Obeidi. The four are accused of murder, assassination, decapitation and attacks on US and Iraqi forces and were rounded up in the Doura district of Baghdad in a security sweep which netted 64 suspects. Iraqi forces say they now control Doura, supported by 50 US military "advisors".

15:21 Jerusalem. Work on the enlargement of the Jewish West Bank settlement of Maale Adoumim have started. Israeli MPs belonging to Labour and Yahad (Leftist Opposition) made a visit to the colony sponsored by Peace Now. Road work is well on its way where 3,500 discounted units will be built for "Jews who live on the edge of poverty". MP Ran Cohen of Yahad observed that the units would cut the West Bank in half. Meanwhile Labour MP Yuli Tamir stated that the expansion was "irresponsible."

15h:15 Mosul. Second suicide bombing. A suicide carbomb targeting a US military convoy detonated at 4:00 pm local time in the Sinaï district in west Mosul, two hours after a suicide bombing in downtown Mosul which killed 5 civilians and wounded 3. The suicide bomber drove a white Fiat into a US patrol composed of three Bradley vehicles. The earlier attack took place in the Mouthanna district of Mosul. A Volkeswagen pulled up alongside a US military convoy and detonated, producing a crater and demolishing parked cars in the vicinity of the blast. Five bodies were brought to the hospital; two were burned beyond recognition.

15:10 Samarra. Hundreds protest in front of City Hall. Residents, students and clergy protested to demand the pullout of US troops.

13:08 Mosul. Suicide carbombing targeting a US military convoy killed 5 and wounded three. No news on US military victims.

12:39 Karachi. US consulate shuts down for the day due to threats of terrorism.

12:08 Qaim. Nine dead in clashes. Nine people die in the village of Ish in a raid on a US position. 20 others were wounded.

12:01 Warsaw. Poland to pull out contingent in January 2006, says Polish Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski.

11:08 Rumana. US bombs town. At least 20 people are dead in a US airstrike on the village of Rumana on the border with Syria. Among the dead are 7 children and 6 women.

10:20 Baghdad. Kidnapped Pakistani contacts embassy. Hostage informs diplomats that he is in good condition

10:11 Baghdad. Iraqi security forces shot dead a former Ba'ath party official and two of his relatives north of the capital.

04:51 Baghdad. US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld arrives in surprise visit to Baghdad. Rumsfeld is to meet with Premier Ibrahim Jaafari and President Jalal Talabani.

Colombian Artist Botero Paints Abu Ghraib

botero abu ghraib 

Reknown Colombian painter Fernando Botero has depicted the horror of Abu Ghraib in a seris of paintings. Mr. Bottero says the photographic images of prisoner abuse so shocked him that he had to put his emotions on canvas.

Go to La Repubblica to see the gallery.

11 April 2005 Events in Iraq.

baquba protest 

Baquba. Students demonstrated against the US occupation.

Basrah. A joint British-Iraq patrol discovers mass grave. A mass grave containing the remains of women and children was found in the desert near the Saudi Arabian frontier. The daily newspaper Sabah quoting physicians says the victims died between 1983 and 1985. Salman is 150 km south of Samawa, where Saddam Hussein ran a long-term incarceration center.

Washington. Gen. John Sattler says in an interview with The Washington Times that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi recently narrrowly avoided capture by Marines in the western desert of Iraq.

Kirkuk. Ansar Al-Sunna claims credit for this morning's carbombing in Kirkuk which wounded 18. The intended target was the Kirkuk Police Chief, General Shirku.

Bucharest. The three kidnapped Romanian reporters are alive, says presidential spokesperson Adriana Saftoiu in the Romanian capital.

Baghdad. The Iraqi Defense Ministry announced that one of the alleged kidnappers of French reporters Christian Chesnot and George Malbrunot has been arrested. Amer Hussein Chikhane confessed to kidnapping the pair with a Syrian accomplice.

Baghdad. Three Saudi Arabians, a UAE national, a Yemeni and a Syrian were sentenced to life in prison for links to the guerrillas.

Mahmoudiyah. Two rebels were killed and two others captured in a clash with Iraqi security forces 30 km south of Baghdad. Meanwhile three persons were arrested during an attempt to kidnap a schoolboy.

Baïji. Jawad Bakhtiar, a Turkish truck driver, was killed by a roadside bomb Hajjaj, 200 km north of Baghdad. He and his rig were travelling in a US supply convoy.

Doujail. The bodies of three Iraqi civilians were found with a note claiming credit by The al-Qaeda Organization of Mesopotamia, headed by Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi. We have punished the miscreant collaborators according to divine law after having proven their betrayal of Islam. Physicians say the deaths had occured 12 hours earlier and that the trio had been executed by gunshot with their hands tied behind their back.

Balad. Nashtoman Azad Ali, a Kurdish engineer working for the Americans, was kidnapped after gunmen knocked down the door of his residence before dawn.

20:30 Baghdad. A US citizen, Jeffrey Ake of Indiana, was kidnapped at noon from a construction site in Baghdad.

19:00 Ft. Bragg. Lawyers on both sides agree that the mental stability of Army sergeant Hasan Akbar, on trial in the fatal grenade attack of two officers in Kuwait, will figure prominently in the case. Prosecutors said Akbar confessed to the March 2003 grenade attack in the opening days of the Iraq war, telling investigators he was worried that United States forces would harm fellow Muslims in the war. Akbar, 33, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder. Prosecutors accuse him of stealing grenades from a Humvee and throwing them into a tent where officers slept, at the same time opening fire on fellow soldiers. Killed were Army Capt. Christopher Seifert, 27, and Air Force Maj. Gregory Stone, 40; 14 other soldiers were injured. If convicted, Akbar could get the death penalty.

18:46 Acre. A Lebanese Hezbollah drone overflew north Israel. In reprisal for the unending and repeated violations of Lebanese airspace, a Mersad-1 reconnissance drone overflew northern occupied Palestine and passed over Zionist setttlements. The drone crossed into Israeli airspace around 17:15 in the afternoon. The UN Interim Forces in Lebanon said it would launch an investigation.

18:44 Gaza Strip. Three children were shot dead by Israel forces in the Gaza strip as they attempted to vandalize surveillance cameras along the Egyptian frontier. The children began by playing soccer in the area then ran after a loose ball which rolled into the "forbidden zone." Israeli forces said they had fired warning shots (Yeah, right! Straight to the head!--Nur). The victims are Khaled Ghanam, Ashraf Moussa and Ali Hassan Abou Zeit, all 15 years of age. A fourth child, Ahmad al-Jazar, 14, was wounded.

18:23 Baghdad. Progress is being made toward the formation of a cabinet. However, horsetrading continues with the Kurds. Ghazi al-Yawar says the new cabinet should be decided within a week.

18:16 Samarra. A pickup truck exploded as a 4-vehicle US convoy passes by. Three are dead and 26 wounded, including 5 children and a woman. Blood donations were requested from loudspeakers atop local minarets. The bombing occurred a few moments before curfew at 8:00 pm local time. The bombing took place in east Samarra. Witnesses say a US convoy was travelling on a commerical street when it was rammed by a pickup truck.

13:53 Balad. A Turkish truck driver was killed in a guerrilla raid on the Balad-Baghdad highway.

10:29 Baghdad. US and Iraqi troops raided the Rashid district of southeast Baghdad and arresed 65 guerrilla suspects. A US soldier was wounded in the operation.

10:12 Mossul. Lieutenant Mohammed Saleh Talab, an Iraqi officer and member of a demining team coordinating with US forces, was shot dead together with his driver.

09:32 Qaim. Three suicide bombers targeted the entrance of a US camp in western Iraq near the Syrian frontier. Two passenger cars and a fire truck were driven into the entrance of a US camp, damaging a mosque and wounding three Marines. Al-Zarqawi claims credit for one of the cars in the attack, which was fired upon by a Cobra attack helicopter. Witnesses said that a firefight ensued between insurgents and US troops after the detonations. A 7 year-old child was wounded in the crossfire.

The fuse at the al-Aqsa Mosque

horsing around 



more horsing around 

Israeli Police today arrested 30 ultra-nationalist Israeli citizens (members of the hard right Zionist group Revava) and banned four members of the Knesset from profaning the Esplanade of the Mosques (Haram al Sharif) today. Police brutality, however, was reserved young Palestinians, who had organized a counterdemonstration in the Old City after Israeli authorities banned under-40 Arab men from accessing the esplanade. Meanwhile, Hamas leader Hassan Youssef entered the esplanade and was immediately arrested.

As a forshadowing of more violence to come in the Middle East, the rector of the al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo--the highest spiritual authority in Sunni Islam--warned that the region would be inflamed if Revava "violated the sacred character of the Al-Aqsa Mosque".

Violence and bloodshed are a familiar commodity on the esplande since 1967 but on the very day of Ariel Sharon's arrival in Crawford, I suspect some conniving concerning Revava's timing. Sharon will claim he cannot control his people, oh my! Therefore Bush must be understanding. President Bush is such a swaggering trash talker--let's see what he tells Sharon.

Then there is an Israeli pattern of provoking an incident--precisely in order to use overwhelming force against the Palestinians. Sort of reminds me of--Bush and Rumsfeld's invasion of Iraq!

The timeline below reviews the 40 year sequence of unfortunate events on the Esplanade.

21 Aug 69. Fire at al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem destroys much of the structure; found to be the work of an isolated Australian Christian tourist.

25 Sep 69. Oganization of Islamic Conferences (OIC) formed in response to fire.

11 Apr 82. Israeli & US dual national Allen Goodman enters al-Aqsa mosque & opens fire, killing 2 & wounding 30.

28 Jan 84. Israeli police discover explosives placed around al-Aqsa, claimed by a Jewish group, “Terror against Terror”.

23 Sep 96. Netanyahu decides to open “Hasmonean tunnel” in Jerusulem, running alongside al-Aqsa Mosque to exit onto Via Dolorosa. Ensuing rioting leaves 61 Palestinians & 15 Israelis dead, largely in Ramallah. Strict closure again implemented by Israel. SCR1073 (28Sept) indirectly calls for the closure of the tunnel; US abstains.

28 Sep 00. Ariel Sharon takes 1000 Israeli armed police onto Haram al-Sharif.

And every time the Israelis take a provocative step at al-Aqsa, guess what? The Palestinians react in unfriendly way. Arafat's incarceration at Ramallah and the invasion of Palestinian cities and towns in Gaza and the West Bank were the result of the violence unleashed after Sharon's stroll at al-Aqsa. Could this just be concidence?

Update: Oh yes, the Israelis were definitely not on good behavior in the run-up to Sharon's trip to Crawford.

They announced a plan to build a huge garbage dump--on Palestinian lands. They shot dead 3 teenagers in the Gaza Strip and confiscated 150 acres of Arab farmland, saying it was for military purposes (this makes it nice and legal in their part of the world).

10 April 2005 Events in Iraq (and elsewhere)

Baghdad. Credit claimed in kidnapping of Pakistani. A group calling itself The Followers of Omar ben Khattab kidnapped Pakistani consular employee Malik Mohammed Javed. Karachi says the man does not have diplomatic status and is not an embassy consul.

Baghdad. US and Iraqi authorities hold more that 17,000 prisoners in poor and unsanitary conditions. But outgoing Human Rights Minister Bakhtiar Amin stated to the press that There are obviously a lot of prisoners but if you compare that to California or Italy, which do not have the security problems we do, the number of detainees is very modest, though we are working to reduce our prison population.

Baghdad. Tarek Aziz will not testify against Saddam Hussein. Defense attorney Bady Aref Izzat says his client will not testify against Saddam. Izzat says he has only be able to meet with Aziz three times in two years.

Dubai. An al-Arabiya television reporter arrested in March by Iraqi authorities has been released on bail.

Iskandariyah. Three Iraqis were shot dead as they waited for a car repair. Two others were wounded.

Zaafaraniyah. A member of SCIRI was killed and another wounded.

Mossul. One civilian was killed and three police wounded in an RPG attack on a police patrol in the Maidan district of central Mosul.

Mossul. A Nineveh ex-Provincial Council member, Oujail Mohsen Oujail, was shot dead.

Bohrouz. The manger of a power plant was kidnapped by insurgents.

Doujail. A man was killed in a shootout with police.

Kut. The bodies of two Iraqi soldiers, an officer and a private killed three days ago at the Iranian frontier, were recovered.

Soueirah. The body of a suicide bomber, a 51 year-old Palestinian by the name of Chahata Abdallah Salem, was recovered. Salem blew himself up when he was surrounded by police in Soueirah, 50 km south of Baghdad.

Baïji. The bullet-ridden body of an oil pipeline security guard was recovered.

Baghdad. Four civilians were wounded in a blast in west Baghdad's al-Khadra district.

Baghdad. General Bassem Mohammed Kazem of Iraq's Interior Ministry disappeared and was reported executed by a group linked to Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi.

Doura. Saad Imad Salman, a policeman suspected of membership in Ansar al-Sunna, was arrested by security forces. Salman is also suspected of having killed 10 persons including Police Colonel Abdel Karim al-Mouhayawi.

Najaf. A group linked to Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi says it has kidnapped and executed the head of police in Najaf.

20:25 Baghdad. US soldier dies in road accident. A Marine of the 155th Expeditionary Force Brigade was killed in a road accident.

19:36 Rome. Giuliana Sgrena to show video on her abduction. Giuliana Sgrena is to project her video, The Longest Month, tomorrow at a meeting of the Italian National Press Association. A CD with the video will be distributed by the newspaper Manifesto with its midweek edition.

16:50 Jerusalem. Israeli security forces prevented a demonstration by Ultra-nationalist Jews belonging to Revava (Multitude). Thousands of Israeli police were deplyed in Jerusalem to prevent the entry of the demonstrators into the Esplanade of the Mosques. Although Revava claimed thousands would attend only a few hundred answered the call. One policeman was wounded by a rock. If Sharon thinks he can expel Jews from Gaza, he is wrong, said Efraim Cohen, a 21 year-old demonstrator. Meanwhile, Gaza Nizar Rayyan, an Hamas spokesman said If the Zionists profane the al-Aqsa Mosque, they will sow the seeds of the Third Intifada.

16:42. Baghdad. Iyad Allawi's Iraqi List accepted on Sunday to join the new coalition government. Spokesman Thaer al-Nakib says Iraqi List will ask for four ministerial portfolios, including the so-called Ministry of Sovereignty, in exchange for its agreement to participate in the new government. Iraqi List received 13.8% of the vote in the 30 January elections.

16:32 Yemen. 40 minority Shi'ite Zaidi rebels and 10 Yemeni troops have been killed in a battle in northwest Yemen ongoing since Friday.

16:21 Baghdad. Nephew of Saddam Hussein arrested. Ibrahim Sabawi, accused of financing the guerrillas, was arrested. Sabawi was Number 38 of 55 personalities of the old regime sought by US forces.

16:14 Baghdad. Rebel leader Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi rejected Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's offer of amensty, calling him an American lacky.

16:01 Amman. 250 pro-Islamist students demonstrated on the campus of the University of Jordan against the attempt by Jewish extremists to enter the Esplanade of the Mosques in Jerusalem. The students marched in defense of the al-Aqsa moque, the third holiest site in Islam and carried signs saying Al Aqsa is not your temple. The protesters urged the Jordanian government to expel the Israeli Ambassador from Amman and expressed their opposition to the normalization of relations with the enemy state of Israel. On Saturday, a spokeperson for the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned that the demonstration planned by Israeli extremists would jeopardize Mideast peace. Jordan, which is charged with defending Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem, mobilized it diplomatic corps to defuse tensions in the region.

12:13 Kirkuk. Iraqi soldier killed. One Iraqi soldier was killed and three wounded on the highway between Baghdad and Kirkuk when a roadside bomb destroyed their vehicle near the Ferhad checkpoint. After the blast, insurgents opened fire on them.

11:30 Kabul. American escapes kidnappers. An American national escaped his kidnappers in the Wazir Akbar Khan district of Kabul, better known as Embassy Row. The American was thrown in the trunk of a white Toyota and was able to unlatch the truck from the inside and elude his abductors.

9 April 2005 Events in Iraq

21:00 Baghdad. Pakistani Consul missing. Malik Mohamed Javed did not return home after prayers at a mosque in the Amriyah quarter.

20:46 Haditha. Police chief assassinated. The newly appointed police chief of Haditha was assinated as he left a meeting with US miitary commanders.

19:35 Baghdad. Street demonstrations against US military. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis demonstrated in Paradise Square in Baghdad against the US military.

11:44 Mosul. Car bombing kills two police and wounds 13 civilians in Mosul.

09:41 Baghdad. Al-Sadr supporters demonstrate against the United States and demand foriegn troop pullout.

9:00 Kut. Two truck drivers killed. Gunmen attacked a 14-truck Trade Ministry convoy on the main highway between Baghdad and Kut Nine trucks got away but 5 others were hijacked. Two truck drivers were kiled and five wounded.

08:31 Latifiyah. Fifteen Iraqi soliders killed when roadside bomb detonates as Iraqi military convoy passes by.

08:06 Baghdad. Protesters march in second anniversary of fall of Saddam Hussein, demanding US leave Iraq. At least 1 million demonstrators participate.

07:30 Baghdad. Al-Sadr collaborator assassinated. Fadel al-Choq, director of the al-Sadr office in Karbala, was assassinated has he drove through the Doura quarter of Baghdad on his way to Saturday's street demonstrations. Another passenger, who worked in the al-Sadr office in the town of al-Hor 110 km north of Karbala, was wounded.

Near Eastern Notables at Funeral for John-Paul II

The funeral of Pope John-Paul II was an astounding and emotional event. The first images of crowds of greater than one million around St. Peter's Square left us wondering if there wasn't an outbreak of mass hysteria. I took us a few days to realize the deep sincerity that was bringing hundreds of thousands of mourners to Rome. The generosity of the Italians and the hospitality of hard-pressed Romans were impressive.

Besides the free mineral water, the free blankets, the 50-cent espresso, and the free transport offered to the visitors without reflexion, there was no panic, no standoff, no alarm as the throngs converged on the basilica and filed in through doors open 22 hours a day for four days! Congratulations are due to everyone: civilians, Italian public safety officials and the Curia itself. Look what sincerity and unreserved generosity in the name of a moral and kind pontiff committed to God and to public life have done: Everyone there seemed, well, in an aura of grace. Let's hope the future is brighter because of this remembrance.

By the way, Madrid's El Mundo has a wonderful gallery of images


clerics 

Clerics from around the world assembled at the Vatican.


assad 

Syrian President Assad and his wife.


rania1 

Israeli President Moshe Katzav, Queen Rania of Jordan and Iranian President Mohammed Khatami.

8 April 2005 Events in Iraq

kirkuk 
Kirkuk Cathedral

Baghdad: Personal takes from today's online edition of BBC News:

The corruption is even worse now than under Saddam.
The Americans brought the terrorists here. They weren't here before.
God willing, the new government will deal with the problems.
I am afraid all the time, in the streets, at home.
The corruption in Iraq is very bad now. All the ministries are stealing the wealth of Iraq.
In the past groceries were cheap. The milk powder for my children was subsidised, and a box cost 500 dinars. Now I pay 15,000.
We finish college, but cannot find jobs. None of the ministries follow the law. They employ their friends and people from their tribe. If you do not have connections, you cannot find a job.
The police threaten shopkeepers and truckers. They also control the gas station lines.
Iraq has good soil. We used to export vegetables. Now we have to import from our neighbors, and prices are high. And the farmers do not produce as they used to.

Rome. Funeral for Pope Jean-Paul II. When Bush's face appeared on giant screen TVs showing the ceremony, many in the crowds outside St. Peter's Square booed and whistled.

Baghdad. Today Iraq commemorated the death of the Prophet Mohammed and offered prayers for deceased Pontiff John-Paul II. In the multiethnic city of Kirkuk, Kurds, Turkmen, Sunni and Shi'a Arabs and Christians assembled in the Chaldean cathedral for a papal memorial service. Veiled women cried as men in tribal dress followed the service attentively. On national TV, Bishop Shlaimoun Wardouni gave a sermon saying the Pope was beloved and respected by Muslims. The Holy Father hoped to live to see Palestine liberated and to see the Three Great Religions pray together in The Holy Land. The leader of the Catholic Armenian Church, Archbishop Antoine Atamyan, said that today, every Iraqi who suffers and who is instilled with faith has followed the funeral of the Pontiff, saying that we loved him and he loved us.

Baghdad. Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari began talks to form a goverment of technocrats beyond reproach. It is expected that talks will continue for at least two weeks.

Baghdad. Radical Sunnis and Shi'ite Imams called on all Iraqis to demonstrate on Saturday against the occupation.

Basrah. An Iraqi army officer was assassinated.

Mosul. Turkish truck driver ambushed and killed.

Kirkuk. US soldier killed by bomb. Meanwhile four others were wounded in northern Iraq.

Paris. French media prepare for a 24-hour nonstop commemoration of the 100th day in captivity of Florence Aubenas and her guide, Hussein Hanoun.

London. The British organization Iraq Body Count says 7, 350 Iraqis were killed between 20 March 2003 and 1 May 2003.

Washington. US Army to reduce length of rotation. 12-month rotational deployments are expected to be reduced to 9 or 6 months in the near future.

Baghdad. Iran and Iraq have signed an agreement to admit 1,500 pilgrims per day into Iraq, says Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi. The accord was signed by Hami Reza Assefi of the Foreign Ministry and Iraqi official Sa’d al-Hayani, who is in Teheran. The accord also covers commercial exchange and business contacts.

23:36 Baghdad. Three Shi'ite notables assassinated. Rebel snipers assassinated three Shi'ite notables as they demonstrated against the occupation in south Baghdad.

22:31 Baghdad US troops arrest a CBS cameraman whom they wounded and later accused of assisting the insurgency. [Lie, lie lie!--Nur]

20:27 Baghdad. Sadr supporters shot at. Supporters of Muqtada al Sadr a Baghdad were shot at as they demonstrated against the occupation on the anniversary of the fall of Saddam Hussein. Two died of their wounds

17:18 Egypt. Group claims credit in souk bombing. A previously unknown group, the Islamic Pride Brigades, has claimed credit for the souk bombing which killed two foreign tourists in Cairo.

16:30 Yemen. Clashes between government troops and rebel Shi'ites. Clashes in the mountains of north Yemen between Sheik Badr al-Din and the government have killed 171 people from boths sides.

16:42 Jerusalem. Israel confiscates Palestinian land for military uses. Israel confiscates 120 acres of land from the Deir Bzeih City Council. The town is west of Ramallah. The land will be used for a highway reserved for Jewish settlers. Two other confiscation orders were issues to the City Council of Bethlehem and elsewhere. All parcels are located between Bethlehem and the Jewish settlement of Gush Etzion.

15:22 Algiers. 14 Algerian civilians were killed by a band of radical Islamists at a fake checkpoint in Larbaa, 30 km south of Algiers.

14:37 Baghdad. Iraqi hostage freed. An Iraqi who returned to Iraq from Germany, where he had lived for nine years, was released after being kidnapped on 17 March. Hassan al-Zaïdi returned from exile on 17 February 2005 to work for an humanitarian assistance agency and was kidnapped three weeks later by the Protectors of the Islamic Brigades. Al-Zaïdi was born in Amara in 1952 and went into exile in 1996.

14:02 Cairo. Yesterday's explosive device which detonated in a Cairo souk was a nail-bomb. The act killed an American and a French tourist. According to analysts, this attack as well as recent incidents targeting foreigners are collateral effects of the Anglo-American occupation of Iraq. Two Hungarian tourists were wounded by gunshot last month in the same area.

7 April Events in Iraq (and elsewhere)

Baghdad. Amnesty for insurgents. Jalal Talabani extended an olive branch to the Iraqi insurgency by stating that the time had come to find a diplomatic and peaceful solution for those Iraqis who have been mislead into terrorism and to grant them amnesty...and to invite them to join in the democratic process. But Talabani had harsh words for foreign fighters: We must forcibly eject those criminal terrorists from abroad who have formed alliances with the Baathist criminals...We must reach an understanding with our Arab brethern to end their media and financial support for the rebels and to cease weapons shipments and training. The Iraqi government continues to blame Syria, Iran and Jordan for backing the rebels.

Tel Afar. 12 Iraqi civilians were killed in a suicide carbombing targeting a US military convoy.

Tikrit. Four police investigating an ambandoned car were wounded when it exploded.

Baghdad. Insurgents posing as police blew up the dome of a Shi'ite mosque from the inside in Baghdad.

Baghdad. Shi'ite MPs have accused the government of outgoing Premier Iyad Allawi of corruption and of having reintroduced Ba'athists into the Defense and Interior ministries. Immediately following the swearing in of Mr. Talabani as President, the Assembly debated a motion introduced by the UIA party leadership, demanding an investigation into various appointments by Mr. Allawi in the aftermath of the 30 January elections. A parliamentary commission has been formed to look into the allegations and report back to the Assembly within a week's time. A UIA MP, Khodeir Abbas, says there have been "very serious violations" and illegal appointments of members of the Firqa (former Ba'ath Party officials). Other MPs from the UIA proposed that all appointments after 30 January be nullified, particularly within the Defense and Interior ministries. Incensed by the accusations, Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan reacted by demanding that the Shi'ite MPs name a single member of the Firqa whom he might have appointed. However, Shaalan admitted to making several appointments "at the request of the Coalition" in 2004. Kurdish Vice Premier Barham Saleh objected to the motion, saying the Assembly should not start out by hurling grave accusations and putting the outgoing government on trial. To cool the debate, Assembly Speaker Hajem al-Hassani proposed sending an informal note to outgoing Premier Allawi warning him to refrain from making further appointments until the new Cabinet was appointed. But this proposal was shot down by the powerful head of the UIA, Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, who reminded the Speaker to refrain from participation in the debate while he was presiding the session. The debate highlighted the divisions between Mr. Allawi's conciliatory approach and that of the UIA, which intends to purge the government of Baathist elements. From a dispatch by Sam Dagher, AFP.

Damascus. Thirteen Syrians, including eleven Kurds, died while held in Syrian prisons in 2004. A report issued by the Syrian Human Rights Association, said five Kurds died under torture following disturbances in Qamechli in northeastern Syria. Six other Kurds died in mysterious circumstances while in detention. Two Syrians died in Interior Ministry criminal detention centers.

Cairo. At least two tourists, a Frenchwoman and an American, were killed in a bombing which wounded 18 others in a tourist area of Cairo. The wounded include 4 French, 3 Americans, 1 Italian, 1 Turk and nine Egyptians. Witnesses say at least two Egyptians were also killed, including the daughter of a merchant in Ghoar al-Kaïd Street. Their dismembered bodies have not yet been identified. The bomb was caused by a booby-trapped motorbike parked in front of a perfume shop in Ghoar al-Kaïd Street, near the Khan al-Khalili Souk in an old Muslim quarter of Cairo. The explosion occurred at 17:45 near al-Azhar University, the oldest Islamic university in the world. The wounded were taken to al-Hussein Hospital, where the Frenchwoman was died from her injuries. Three members of the same family were among the wounded. The Quai d'Orsay confirms the wounded of three French nationals. Police says a suspect with burns on his face attempted to flee the scene. Following the explosion, tourists fled the area and shopowners closed their establishments. The detonation left a crater three feet deep and six feet wide.

23:53 Rome: Berlusconi, "Bush agrees to troop pullout" Silvio Berlsconi says he spoke today with President George W. Bush about withdrawal of the Italian contingent from Iraq. Bush is in complete agreement with us because even the United States wished to reduce its contingent as Iraqi security forces grow in strength. I'm keeping with what I said...and I said I'd pull them out in September and I mean it.

21:00 Samarra. Rebel raid kills four. Three Iraqi soldiers and one civilian were wounded in a rebel raid in Samarra.

16:19 Baghdad.Shi'ite Ibrahim Al-Jaafari announces his appointment as Prime Minister by Jalal Talabani. Al-Jaafari took his oath of office by swearing on the Koran: I swear by Allah the most powerful that I shall fulfill my duty and my lawful responsibilities to the best of my ability and to preserve the independence of Iraq, its people, its skies and its territory and its democratic system. Congratulations were received from French President Jacques Chirac, Australian Premier John Howard and Syrian President Bashir al-Assad. Moscow believes the the appointment is positive but has concerns about the future. Meanwhile, Iyad Allawi has not yet submitted his official resignation.

16:12 Ramadi. 11 Civilians killed. The bodies of 11 Iraqis who worked at a nearby American military base were found dead.

6 April 2005 Events in Iraq.

Baghdad. Saddam forced to watch Parliamentary sessson on TV. The demand for force Mr. Hussein to watch the proceedings came from Kosrat Rasoul, the secretary of the political office of Mr. Talabani's party. Saddam was reportedly shocked at the election of a Kurd.

Basrah. In another sign of growing sectarian tensions, an Interior Ministry official said about 50 armed Shiite Arabs blocked off a road southeast of Baghdad on Tuesday and detained 40 Sunni Arabs in retaliation for the kidnapping of seven Shiites the day before. The police sent officers to the area and found 13 of the detained Sunnis in nearby homes.

Baghdad. Ghazi al-Yawar gracefully resigns as President without being forced out of office, unlike all of his predecessors since 1958.

Baghdad. Deputy Assembly Speaker President Hussein Shahrastani said a new government cabinet should be ready by next week. The Oil Minstry portfolio is still being disputed.

Ankara. Turkey, concerned by Kurdish yearning for independence, calls upon Jalal Talabani to work towards national unity.

Baghdad. Iraqi National Assembly want to move. The 275 Iraqi MPs have chosen the building housing the former royal parliament as the assembly's new home. The building is in the Green Zone and can hold up to 600 people, ample enough to accomodate the press and onlookers. The building is actually in use by the Defense Ministry and must be refurbished before the move is possible

Bucharest. The Secretary-General of Reporters without Borders, Robert Ménard, and the Editor-in-Chief of the French daily Libération, Antoine de Gaudemar, called Romanian media to action to sound the call for the liberation of all foreign reporters held hostage in Iraq.

Baghdad. Shi'ite Adel Abdel al-Mahdi confirmed Vice President. It is noteworthy that Al Mahdi, a former Maoist and Iranian revolutionary, is today a champion of the free market and decentralization. Al-Mahdi's four children are French nationals.

23:49. Jerusalem. Palestinian pacifist Houda Imam was stopped form boarding a flight to the USAA by a humiliating body cavity search while nude which Ms. Imam refused to undergo at David Ben Gourion International Airport in Tel-Aviv. Mrs. Imam, a French national, was to have participated in a Boston coloquium to which Naomi Khazzan, an Israeli leftist, was also invited.

22:33. Cairo. The Egyptian government refuses a visa to Iraqi lawyers travelling to Egypt to participated in a Human Rights workshop. The organization then moved the conference to Amman.

15:30. Baghdad. The Iraqi National Assembly confirmed Kurish leader Jalal Talabani as President. Joyous street demonstrations occurred spontaneously in Kurdish cities, including Kirkuk. In an acceptance speech before National Assembly, Talabani said, I promise to do everything to earn your trust. I will listen to your suggestions and I all shall engage all my strength towards the establishment of a democratic government guaranteeing freedom to all and to uprooting the criminal terrorism, corruption and ideas of Michel Aflak, the founder of the Ba'ath Party. I ask our neighbors to treat Iraq with respect, to abstain from interference in our internal affairs, and to cease aid to the rebels, who wish to wage a war of extermination against the Iraqi people.

15:27 Erbil. Kurds danced in the street and sounded automobile horns in celebation of the historic appointment of Jalal Talabani as Iraqi President. It's an historic day, the fruit of sacrifice over several decades, said taxi driver Kawa Ahmad. Kurds waved portraits of Talabani and sang the praises of the Peshmerga guerrilla fighters. There were no Iraqi flags in sight as Kurds demanded a new flag, free of the memory of Saddam Hussein. The Kurds are the happiest people on earth today, because this is the first time one of us is Iraqi President, enthused Hama Najim Abdallah, 55, a carpet seller. When I saw the Sunni MPs vote for Talabani, I couldn't believe my eyes, I thought they hated us, says Nawzad Ali Hassan. An elderly woman, Oum Mahmoud, began to dance: I swore I'd dance on my doorstep if Talabani was elected, in spite of my age.

15:23 Stockholm. Kidnapped leader vows to return to Iraq. The head of the Christian Democratic Party, Minas Ibrahim al-Youssoufi, who was kidnapped in January and released on 18 March, wants to return to Iraq. M. Youssoufi gave a press conference in Soedertaelje in southern Sweden saying he wished to serve the Iraqi people. Al-Youssoufi was released thanks to the intervention of the King of Sweden and Pope John-Paul II.

14:53 Baghdad. Newly confirmed Vice President Ghazi al-Yawar and Prime Minister designate Ibrahim Jaafari said they believed it was premature to set a schedule for the pullout of Coalition forces. No Iraqi wants to see the Multinational Force stay, but we must be prudent in facing the current situation, said Mr. al-Yawar, who added, The Sunnis must realize that collective effort is required and that we must open up to one another. They must understand that we are all in the same boat in crocodile-infested waters.

09:57 Baghdad. Ibrahim al-Jaafari to be confirmed as Prime Minister on Thursday.

The Prince and the Pope

Three impressive photo pictorials today:

Prince Ranier

Pope-a-palooza mega street carnival

Millions swarm Vatican City (click on any photo in center of page to get to 18-image gallery.

5 April 2005 Events in Iraq

Amman. King of Jordan shuffles cabinet. According sources close to the palace, King Abdullah was unhappy with the way in which the government handled the recent political crisis with Iraq. Amman was accused by Baghdad of not doing enough to prevent Jordanian terrorists from entering Iraq which resulted in the recall of the Jordanian Ambassador on 22 March. The crisis was provoked by the alleged involvement of a Jordanian in a bloody attack in Hilla, 100 km south of Baghdad, on 28 February. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told AFP on 22 March that Iraqis were very offended by the cavalier manner in which Jordan met their concerns over the incident.

Mosul. 7 rebels killed by US troops. Two rebels were killed as their prepared a bomb in northeast Mosul. Another was killed in the west part of town while he parked a booby-trapped car. Four others were killed at a checkpoint.

Baghdad. A police officer was wounded in a shootout during a police raid on a suspected rebel hideout in north Baghdad. Meanwhile, a Sunni dignitary was shot dead by unknown assailants.

Baghdad. Five people killed in a suicide carbomb in east Baghdad.

Hilla. A city councilman was shot dead by unknown assailants.

Basrah. One person killed and two wounded by a bomb.

Jourf al-Sahar. Police discover mass grave containing the bodies of 10 decapitated Iraqi soldiers which showed signs of torture.

Riyadh. At least nine militants are reported to have died in clashes with the Saudi security forces. At least 10 militants are still said to be holding out against security forces in the northern town of al-Ras.Two top fugitives - Abdulkarim al-Mejjati and Saud Homoud al-Oteibi - are reportedly among the dead. More than 50 Saudi officers have been injured, though none have died, officials have said.

23:49 Washington. New US Ambassador to Iraq. Zalmay Khalilzad, a protegé of Republican hawks, will be the next US Ambassador to Baghdad. Khalilzad was born on Afghanistan in 1951 and worked in the US State Department under Ronald Reagan and in the DoD under Bush Senior. In Kabul, Zalmay Khalilzad was more than a simple ambassador and exerted his influnce on President Hamid Karzaï. This diplomat is often blunt. Last year he accused Pervez Muscharraf of not doing enough to find Bin Laden. Recently, Khalilzan told a press conference that Iranian officials were "maintainers of barbarity." A native of Mazar-i Sharif and a Pashtoon, Khalilzad studied at the American University of Beirut in the '70s and earned a PhD in Political Science from the University of Chicago in 1979. In the 80-'s "Zal" taught at Columbia University and became a citizen in 1984 when he entered the State Department. Later he entered the Pentagon as deputy to Paul Wolfowitz. During the Clinton years, he worked for Unocal where he brokered a colossal deal for the construction of an oil pipeline from Turkenistan to the Indian Ocean.

23:26 Jerusalem. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met with a delegation of Gaza Strip settlers to head off extremists who are fanatically opposed to the July pullout. George W. Bush warned the Sharon government to freeze plans for more colonies on the West Bank. Israeli officials refused comment on Bush's statement but Israeli radio, citing officials who met recently in Washington with Condoleezza Rice, plans for expanding the Maalé Adoumim settlement will not "cast a shadow" over the Sharon-Bush summit. Sharon met with residents of Goush Katif, a settlement in the south of the Gaza Strip. Discussions were tense and the settlers expressed their disappointment at government plans to relocate them to Nitzanim, south of Tel-Aviv. Other residents, such as Avi Farhan of the Alei Sinaï settlement, claim the dissident settlers will recruit tens of thousands of supporters to resist the evacuation. Meanwhile, to encourage settlers to leave, Arial Sharon has increased the family indemnity to as much as half a million dollars.

23:21. Bucharest. Romanian President denies hostage release. Presidential spokesperson Adriana Saftoiu says Romania is confronted by a crisis of this kind for the first time and this is why the media tends to accept rumors for truth. Realitatea TV reported on Tuesday that its sources in Baghdad had informed the network that the hostages were "safe and sound" and "in the hands of the coalition."

23:18 Baghdad. Cameraman wounded by US troops. An Iraqi cameraman for CBS News was wounded by gunfire from US troops of the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, in Mosul when they mistook his camera for an AK-47.

23:06 Washington. George W. Bush says the recent rebel raid on Abu Ghraib prison is proof that al Qaeda is still dangerous. These assassins don't believe in democracy. They believe in a society in which people won't have freedom to practise their religion or to speak out in public. Abu Ghraib currently holds 3,440 detainees. Thousands of others are held by Iraqi police in unknown locations across Iraq.

23:02 Washington. Bush warns Israel to freeze all settlement activity on the West Bank. Our position is clear. The Road Map is important and the Road Map calls for ending settlement expansion. Bush will receive Sharon on 11 April at his ranch in Crawford. Meanwhile, Condoleezza Rice met with Sharon advisor Dov Weisglass on Monday. Shimon Peres is also to go to Washington for talks.

22:54 Baladrouz. 17 rebels, 2 US soldiers and an Iraqi soldier were killed in action in Baladrouz. Eleven Iraqi soldiers were wounded. US air support was requested for the operation which stated Monday afternoon and concluded Tuesday morning.

21:14 Bucharest. Romanian authorities have arrested businessman Omar Hayssam. Hayssam financed the trip to Iraq by three Romanian reporters, who are now held hostage. The Romanian Senate President Nicolae Vacaroiu says the kidnappers were likely motivated by greed rather than by politics.

21:09 Baghdad. Romanian journalists freed. Three Romanian journalists kidnapped in Iraq on 28 March have been freed.

20:30 Baghdad. Agreement on government posts. The new Iraqi President will be Jalal Talabani. His Sunni VP will be outgoing President Ghazi al-Yawar and the Shi'a VP will be outgoing Finance Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi.

19:17 Diyala. Two US soldiers killed

09:59 Al Anbar Province. A US Marine was killed in an explosion.

08:51 Baghdad. Jalal Mohammad Salah, an Interior Ministry general, and his bodyguards were kidnapped by rebels. Rebels forced him out of his car in the western part of the capital.

08:14 Baghdad. Carbombing at airport checkpoint. A car bomb went off at an an Iraqi Army airport checkpoint causing numerous deaths. The explosion was heard south of the capital and shook building in the vicinity of the airport. Meanwhile a roadside bomb detonated in the southern Doura quarter as a US military convoy passed by and destroyed at least four US vehicles.

08:00 Camp Bucca. The Red Cross will insist on an US Army investigation into a prison riot on Friday. "We are going to demand that the US Army open an investigation into last Friday's events in which 14 people were slightly injured, says Rana Sidani, Red Cross Spokesperson in Amman. The US Army, after originally denying the incident, explained that detainees were protesting the transfer of unruly inmates to another part of the prison. Prisoners began throwing rocks at prison guards and set fire to tents to protest the transfer. 6,054 Iraqi prisoners are held in Camp Bucca, where four detainees were killed in a riot on 31 January.

00:17 Rome. Sgrena. Inquest opened into hindering of investigation. The Rome Public Prosecutors office is investigating attempts at hindering the investigation into the kidnapping of reporter Giuliana Sgrena and the death of Italian intelligence agent Nicola Calipari. The antiterrorism task force, coordinated by PM Franco Ionta, deposed an information technology expert in seeking to establish that Italian nationals were involved in the kidnapping and ransom of the journalist by the Iraqi resistance.

4 April 2005 Events in Iraq

Camp Bucca. The Red Cross reports a prison riot last Friday at Camp Bucca in southern Iraq in which several persons were injured. The US military denies the incident.

Tel Afar: One US soldier killed and another wounded by insurgents. Meanwhile, a mortar round fell on a café and wounded 13 civilians.

Baghdad. An Iraqi civilian was seriously wounded by foreign security guards as he went to pass the car they were riding in. Meanwhile, the Communist Party offices in Sadr City were ransacked and set afire.

Baghdad. The Iraqi Justice Ministry demanded a sentence of two years to life for two Syrians, a Libyan and Saudi who entered Iraq to join the guerrilla.

Baghdad. A Sunni Waqf official demands the release of over 80 imams held in US prisons in Iraq.

Baghdad. The Defense Ministry announed the creation of an armored division which is not deployed because of a lack of confidence in the division's commanding officers, says outgoing Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan.

23:06 Baghdad. Sunnis continue debate on choosing their candidate for Vice President. Adnan Pachachi has criticized the Shi'a and Kurds for their interference in the selection of the Sunni candidate.

21:11 Abu Ghraib. Five persons including three police were killed by a booby-trapped tractor near Abu Ghraib Prison.

20:58 Stockholm. Two Iraqis, 25 and 29, were charged with preparing a terrorist attack in Iraq. The pair is accused of collecting money in Sweden on behalf of Ansar al-Islam and Ansar al-Sunna. The collected $148,000 financed an April 2004 rebel raid in the Kurdish capital of Erbil.

Sgrena Affair Sinks Berlusconi

Update: A reader says foreign events are not influencing voters in Italy:

The fact is, people are getting fed up with the economic situation here, the fact that Berlusconi & Co. pass laws for their own benefit, and that they've started to mess with the Italian Constitution (sound familiar?). That has been pointed out as one of the main reasons for the Italian citizens' disapproval.

but no one I know is even thinking about Sgrena or the war in Iraq lately. Those are things that flare up every now and then, and then fade out in the minds of your Mario Rossis, once they have to get back into their daily routine. Other things have come up in the meantime: election squabbles, the Sanremo song festival, Easter holidays, the Pope's most recent illness(es) and death... Sgrena and Iraq are seeming more and more distant to most people. After all, look how fast all of Bush's scandals fly past in the U.S.

What people face every day is the fact that they can't make ends meet anymore -- the cost of living has skyrocketed (I, for one, am behind in my taxes, because any money I make has to go first for food, bills, etc.), and of course they blame the euro and the government. And they're also getting fed up with seeing Berlusconi's grimacing mug all over the place. Good grief, he was on "Porta a Porta" on TV again the other night! I think people have voted, at least this time, mainly with the things that affect them most directly in mind, and to send a message to Berluska & Co.: We're fed up!

As Antonio Di Pietro said, in order to get elected, the campaigning Berlusconi had made it sound as if everyone would be better off with him in office when, in the end, it's only Berlusconi himself and a few of his buddies who are better off.

Italians voting in regional elections gave Berluconi's Forza Italia a drubbing. The mishandling and the dissembling surrounding the Sgrena affair coupled with Bush and Blair's public humiliation of Berlusconi over troop withdrawal have contributed in handing the left a big victory. Huge overall voter turnout topping 71%.

Abruzzo (L'Aquila): United Center-Left 54.8%
Calabria (Catanzaro): United Center-Left 58.5%
Campania (Naples): United Center-Left 56.4%
Emilia-Romagna (Bologna): United Center-Left 65.0%
Lazio (Rome): United Center-Left 51.0%
Liguria (Genoa): United Center-Left 50.5%
Marche (Ancona): United Center-Left 55.5%
Piedmont (Turin): United Center-Left 53.0%
Puglia (Bari): United Center-Left 48.9%
Tuscany (Florence): United Center-Left 60.5%
Umbria (Assisi): United Center-Left 60.5%

Berlusconi's party took Lombardy and Venice

3 April 2005 Events in Iraq

Mosul. Simultaneous car bombs directed at US forces killed one person and wounded five. Meanwhile, two police and a civilians were killed in a rebel raid and the body of a senior-ranking Kurdish officer in the Iraq Army has been found.

Baladrouz. One policeman was wounded and 8 members of al Qaeda [yeah, right--Nur] were wounded and later arrested in a Saturday night raid.

Baghdad. One civilian was killed and another wounded when a bomb detonated inside a school courtyard in the al-Ilam quarter of the capital.

Haditha. US marine killed in an explosion on Saturday.

Samarra. Government agrees to repair the 1,100 year-old spiral minaret damaged by insurgents [after the US had placed snipers in it, of course--Nur].

22:34 Abu Ghraib. A group linked to Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi took credit for a raid on Abu Ghraib prison in which 44 US soldiers and 12 prisoners were wounded. The group said it destroyed 15 vehicles, killed dozens of US troops and shot down an Apache helicopter. 57 rebel combattants attacked the prison's watchtowers and knocked them out as seven cars crammed with explosives were rammed into the prison's entrances. Three martyrs were killed while infiltrating the Infidel's fortifications and 7 other candidates for martyrdom went to heaven after having bombed the enemy.

21:33 Baiji. US soldier killed in bombing.

20:49 Mosul. A Kurdish member of the PUK militia was killed.

11:53 Baghdad. Outgoing Industry minister Hajem al-Hassani has been elected Speaker of the Iraqi National Assembly. Al-Hassani is from Kirkuk, is a US university graduate and owns an investment firm in Los Angeles. [And likely a dual USA-Iraq national--Nur]. He serves as spokesman for the Iraqi Islamic Party, closely affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. The two Deputy Speakers will be Hussein Sharistani, a Shi'a, and Aref Tayfour of the PDK. Meanwhile, Ibrahim Jaafari is expected to win the post of Prime Minister and Jalal Talabani that of President. The Shi'ite Vice President is expected to be Adel Abdel Mehdi, outgoing Finance Minister. The Sunni Vice President still must be selected among candidates Ghazi al-Yawar, Adnane Pachachi and a royalist, Sherif Ali.

2 April 2005 Events in Iraq

Baghdad. Dozens of insurgents attacked Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad on Saturday, detonating two suicide car bombs and firing rocket-propelled grenades at U.S. forces before the assault was repelled, the U.S. military said. At least 20 U.S. soldiers were wounded in the fighting, which lasted around an hour, a U.S. officer said. At least 12 detainees were also wounded, some severely. It was not known how many insurgents were wounded or killed.

Ft. Carson. Preliminary hearing for three soldiers charged with murder and dereliction of duty in the death of Maj. Gen. Abed Mowhoush on Nov. 26, 2003. A fourth soldier faces the same charges but waived a hearing. During the interrogation, Army prosecutors claim Mowhoush was put headfirst into a sleeping bag, wrapped with electrical cord and knocked down before the soldiers sat and stood on him, prosecutors said. The cause of death was determined to be suffocation. The defendants — Chief Warrant Officers Lewis Welshofer and Jefferson Williams, Sgt. 1st Class William Sommer and Spc. Jerry Loper — have all denied wrongdoing, saying commanders had sanctioned their actions. The military closed the hearing to the public shortly after it began in December, but The Denver Post successfully sued to open it, and the proceeding concluded this past week in open court. The transcript was released Thursday and posted on the Internet. Fort Carson's commander, Maj. Gen. Robert Mixon, will decide whether the soldiers are court-martialed, after he receives a recommendation from the investigating officer, Capt. Robert Ayers. No timetable was set. [There are 10,000 prisoners in overcrowded condtions in Abu Ghraib now. We can imagine the continuing mistreatment--Nur]

19:32 Khan Bani Sad. Booby-trapped car explodes after police attempted to inspect it. Four police and one civilian were killed when a booby-trapped car detonated. Meanwhile, a second car bombing occurred in Mosul, wounding 6, including one child.

12:05 Ramadi. US soldier killed. A Marine died from a gunshot wound in Ramadi.

10:03 Baghdad. Education ministry employeed assassinated. An official of the Education ministry in Sadr City, Ibrahim Abid Wali, was approached by armed and assassinated.

1 April 2005 Events in Iraq

Baghdad. Sunni candidate Michaan Joubouri has been rejected as Speaker of the Assemby.

Kirkuk. One civilian was killed and three wounded, including a woman and a child, by a bomb placed in front of Kirkuk University Law School.

Dhoulouiyah. An Iraqi solider was killed in an attack on his patrol 75 km north of Baghdad.

Al-Mouchadah. An Iraqi solider was killed in a mortar attack on his base 30 km north of Baghdad.

Al Djalan. Five men, four Arab fighters and one Iraq, were killed in clashes with a joint Iraqi-US patrol.

Paris. French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier says reporter Florence Aubenas and her guide Hussein Hanoun, kidnapped in Iraq 86 days ago, are still alive.

15:07 Baghdad. Casualties decline. The number of people killed in guerrilla action has declined by 38%. 303 people were killed during the month of March vs. 486 in February. 30 Iraq soldiers were killed and 63 wounded in March vs. 45 killed and 87 wounded in Feburary. For the police, 78 were killed and 101 wounded in March vs. 96 and 105, repectively, in February. Throughout the country in March there were 108 rebel attacks, including 18 car bombs and 16 miscellaneous bombings.

14:37 Baghdad. Sunni clerics issue fatwa. Iraqi Sunni clerics has issued a fatwa to the members of their communities to enlist in the army and police. The fatwa was signed by 64 clerics and was an implicit condemnation of the Kurdish Peshmerga and the Shi'ite Badr Brigades.

14:33. Bucharest. Romanians criticize President Traian Basescu for his handling of the hostage crisis. Al Jazeera broadcast a video showing Marie Jeanne Ion, 32, cameraman Sorin Miscoci, 30, and special correspondent Ovidiu Ohanesian, 37, of Romania Libera. Their guide, Mohamad Mounaf, who was also shown, enjoys triple nationality: Iraqi, Romanian and US. Columnist Cornel Codita writing for Bursa says There is a long trail of question marks. What's obvious is that the government is... improvising. Sorin Rosca Stanescu writing for Ziua says it would be better if the government would let the US handle the hostages. [Yeah, if you want the dead!--Nur] News editor-in-chief Dan Dumitru of Prima TV says the government is not keeping him informed of hostage negotiations. The parents of the hostages say they found out about the kidnappings from the newspaper.

14:31 Baghdad. Moqtada Sadr calls march. Radical cleric Moqtada Sadr called upon his followers to march next Friday to demand an end to the occupation. Demonstrate on 9 April in Ferdaous Square where the statue of the "Destroyer" once stood to demand that Saddam Hussein stand trial and that the occupation end. Demonstrate4 for Islam, justice, peace, truth, security, independence and the prisoners. I call upon all Iraqis who reject the occupation to concentrate on the sole enemy: the occupiers. Al Sadr also demands a calendar for the pullout of foreign troops.

11:21 Samarra. Minaret damaged. The summit of the 52-meter high historic spiral minaret, the Malwiya, was damaged by an explosion, which archaeologists have termed a catastrophe. The minaret, inspired by Mesopotamian ziggurats, was built between AD 849 and 852. US snipers were ordered to leave the summit, which they had used as an observation tower, by local authorities on 17 March. Insurgents regularly destroy positions abandoned by US troops. In 2004 they dynamited the Baa'th Party headquarters in Baghdad to deny US troops use of the building.

There are only two other spiral minarets in the world: the Ibn Touloun Mosque in Cairo and the Abu Duluf Mosque, which is also in Samarra. The Italian painter Pietro de la Valle visited Samara in the 15th century and included the minaret in his depictions of the hanging gardens of Babylon. The city of Samarra was built in 836 by Abassyd Caliph al-Moutassem when he made it his capital after clashes between Baghdadis and his troops, who were recruited from central Asia. Samarra remained the Abassyd capital until 892. There are several structures in Samarra which remain from this period, especially the mosque built by Caliph Al-Moutawakkil (847-861), one of the largest mosques in the world.

08:35 Balad Ruz. Police chief assassinated. Col. Hatem Rashid Mohammad, Police Chief of Balad Ruz, northeast of Baghdad, was assassinated along with two of his assistants.

03:21 Washington. England replaces Wolfowitz. President George Bush has chosen US Navy Secretary Gordon England to replace Paul Wolfowitz.