U.S. and Iraqi forces raided the Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City early Sunday, uncovering a weapons cache, a torture room and killing at least eight insurgents in a gunbattle, the military said.
The troops had targeted four buildings in the area based on intelligence indicating the presence of an insurgent cell that smuggled weapons — including powerful roadside bombs known as "explosively formed penetrators" — from Iran, sent fighters to the neighboring country for training and was involved in a kidnapping network, the military said.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
militants opened fire killing a bodyguard of a local Fatah leader
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Palestinian militants opened fire near a children's festival at a U.N.-operated elementary school in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday, killing a bodyguard of a local Fatah leader and wounding seven other people, medical officials said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. But Muslim extremists had earlier visited the school, warning authorities not to hold the festival, U.N. and security officials said. They also issued a warning on Saturday. At least one foreigner, John Ging, head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency in Gaza, was inside the school when the shooting broke out, said Adnan Abu Hasna, spokesman for the agency. Ging was not hurt, but remained holed up inside the school, he said. In March, Ging escaped a kidnapping attempt unharmed after gunmen fired on his convoy. The incident prompted the U.N. to take stronger security measures, including police convoys for senior staff.
In March, Ging escaped a kidnapping attempt unharmed after gunmen fired on his convoy. The incident prompted the U.N. to take stronger security measures, including police convoys for senior staff. While the sides have largely halted their attacks on each other, Gaza continues to be plagued by clan violence, kidnappings and other crime. The violence has included a string of attacks on Internet cafes, music stores and restaurants by Islamic extremists.
In March, Ging escaped a kidnapping attempt unharmed after gunmen fired on his convoy. The incident prompted the U.N. to take stronger security measures, including police convoys for senior staff. While the sides have largely halted their attacks on each other, Gaza continues to be plagued by clan violence, kidnappings and other crime. The violence has included a string of attacks on Internet cafes, music stores and restaurants by Islamic extremists.
Israeli security interrogators routinely mistreat Palestinian detainees
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli security interrogators routinely mistreat and sometimes torture Palestinian detainees, meting out abuse that includes beatings and contortion, Israeli human rights groups said in a new report on Sunday. Israel's Justice Ministry said the findings by the B'Tselem and HaMoked organizations were "fraught with mistakes, groundless claims and inaccuracies." In a report based on the testimonies of 73 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank detained between July 2005 and January 2006, the groups said the Shin Bet security service employs a seven-step "interrogation system." The methods for trying to extract information include solitary confinement "in putrid, stifling cells," the painful binding of a detainee's hands and feet to a chair, sleep disturbance and cursing and humiliation, the report said. Such practices, the groups said, constitute "ill-treatment" under international law and violate an Israeli Supreme Court ban against interrogation methods aimed at breaking a detainee's spirit. In the cases of "ticking bombs," a reference to Palestinians suspected of having information about an imminent attack on Israelis, the Shin Bet also uses "special methods" that mostly involve direct physical violence, according to the findings.
Pakistan's suspended chief judge told thousands of cheering supporters on Sunday that dictatorship was a thing of the past
LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistan's suspended chief judge told thousands of cheering supporters on Sunday that dictatorship was a thing of the past and states that ignored the rule of law and basic rights faced destruction. "Nations and states which are based on dictatorship instead of the supremacy of the constitution, the rule of law and protection of basic rights get destroyed," Chaudhry said. "The idea of dictatorship and collective responsibility are over," he said. "They are chapters from the past and those nations which don't learn lessons from the past and repeat those mistakes, they have to pay a price." In his speech broadcast live on private television, an exhausted-looking Chaudhry, 58, said the Supreme Court had the right to take up basic human rights which he said were the backbone of a civilized society. Musharraf has accused lawyers of politicizing a judicial matter and has called on them to shun politics. Musharraf is due to seek re-election in September or October. Controversially, he wants to be re-elected by the national and provincial assemblies before they are dissolved for elections expected to be held at the end of the year.
Saturday, May 05, 2007
UN resolution 1701, calls on Hizbullah to completely cease rearming
UN resolution 1701, calls on Hizbullah to completely cease rearming.
A plot to turn a girls school in Iraq into an "absolute death trap"
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US soldiers stumbled on a plot to turn a girls school in Iraq into an "absolute death trap" by rigging it with explosives while it was under construction, a US military spokesman said Thursday.
"It was truly just an incredibly ugly, dirty kind of vicious killing that would have gone on here by Al-Qaeda," Major General William Caldwell said in an interview with CNN. Caldwell said US soldiers discovered the explosives this week when they spotted detonating wire across the street from the school and followed it to its source inside the building. The general said it was "obviously a sophisticated premeditated attempt to inflict just massive casualties on our most innocent victims -- young children, girls in this case." "We found artillery shells that were being literally built into the ceiling. We found artillery shells again all hooked up with wires being built into the floors. "We found propane tanks, two very large propane tanks built into the floors under the stair wells. "Somebody had clearly taken and planned to take this school, a place of learning for these young children and turn it into an absolute death trap," he said.
CNN identified the school as the Huda Girls School, which was under construction in the town of Tarmiya, north of Baghdad. Caldwell said the school was in a predominantly Shiite area.
Caldwell said the Iraqi contractors who were building the school were being investigated.
The plot was uncovered Saturday, when troopers in the Salaheddin province found detonating wire across the street from the school. They picked up the wire and followed its trail, which led to the school. Once inside, they found an explosive-filled propane tank buried beneath the floor. There were artillery shells built into the ceiling and floor, and another propane tank was found, the military said. The wire was concealed with mortar and concrete, and the propane tanks had been covered with brick and hidden underneath the floor, according to a military statement. Soldiers were able to clear the building."It was truly just an incredibly ugly, dirty kind of vicious killing that would have gone on here," Caldwell said.Iraqi contractors were responsible for building the school, which was intended to bring in hundreds of girls. "Given the care and work put into emplacing this IED, it is likely it had been planned for a long time" and it is thought that "the IED was not intended to be set off until the building was occupied," the military said.
"It was truly just an incredibly ugly, dirty kind of vicious killing that would have gone on here by Al-Qaeda," Major General William Caldwell said in an interview with CNN. Caldwell said US soldiers discovered the explosives this week when they spotted detonating wire across the street from the school and followed it to its source inside the building. The general said it was "obviously a sophisticated premeditated attempt to inflict just massive casualties on our most innocent victims -- young children, girls in this case." "We found artillery shells that were being literally built into the ceiling. We found artillery shells again all hooked up with wires being built into the floors. "We found propane tanks, two very large propane tanks built into the floors under the stair wells. "Somebody had clearly taken and planned to take this school, a place of learning for these young children and turn it into an absolute death trap," he said.
CNN identified the school as the Huda Girls School, which was under construction in the town of Tarmiya, north of Baghdad. Caldwell said the school was in a predominantly Shiite area.
Caldwell said the Iraqi contractors who were building the school were being investigated.
The plot was uncovered Saturday, when troopers in the Salaheddin province found detonating wire across the street from the school. They picked up the wire and followed its trail, which led to the school. Once inside, they found an explosive-filled propane tank buried beneath the floor. There were artillery shells built into the ceiling and floor, and another propane tank was found, the military said. The wire was concealed with mortar and concrete, and the propane tanks had been covered with brick and hidden underneath the floor, according to a military statement. Soldiers were able to clear the building."It was truly just an incredibly ugly, dirty kind of vicious killing that would have gone on here," Caldwell said.Iraqi contractors were responsible for building the school, which was intended to bring in hundreds of girls. "Given the care and work put into emplacing this IED, it is likely it had been planned for a long time" and it is thought that "the IED was not intended to be set off until the building was occupied," the military said.
Friday, May 04, 2007
International conference in Egypt
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) - Iran and the United States met at expert level on the sidelines of an international conference in Egypt on Friday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said. "A meeting took place on the sidelines of the meeting, not at foreign minister level but at expert level, between the American side and the Iranian side," he told a news conference.
Zebari added: "I don't know what went on in that meeting (of experts) but I think it was a positive sign that at least such a thing did take place while we are here."This is a process I think". It needs more work. There is a lot of suspicion. There is a lot of mistrust. But it is in my country's interest really to see a reduction of this tension.
"Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said the meeting was "the beginning hopefully of a process," adding that the officials who met were ambassadors. He did not identify them. He was speaking after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki urged Iraq's neighbours to stop militants sneaking into Iraq, saying his country would "not allow terrorist organizations to use Iraqi territory as a safe haven."Iraq's six neighbours are attending the Sharm el-Sheikh meeting, which welcomed Arab League attempts to hold a conference on national reconciliation.
The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, the European Union and the Group of Eight leading industrialized countries also took part in the meeting.The talks focused on border security, Iraqi refugees and political reconciliation between Iraqi factions and ethnic and religious communities.
The final communique from the conference called on the Arab League to resume preparations for the reconciliation conference for Iraq, a project which has languished for over a year."We are ready for this. We are ready to host Iraqi national reconciliation," Mouusa said. "Now is not the time to exchange accusations but is the time to work together."
Zebari added: "I don't know what went on in that meeting (of experts) but I think it was a positive sign that at least such a thing did take place while we are here."This is a process I think". It needs more work. There is a lot of suspicion. There is a lot of mistrust. But it is in my country's interest really to see a reduction of this tension.
"Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said the meeting was "the beginning hopefully of a process," adding that the officials who met were ambassadors. He did not identify them. He was speaking after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki urged Iraq's neighbours to stop militants sneaking into Iraq, saying his country would "not allow terrorist organizations to use Iraqi territory as a safe haven."Iraq's six neighbours are attending the Sharm el-Sheikh meeting, which welcomed Arab League attempts to hold a conference on national reconciliation.
The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, the European Union and the Group of Eight leading industrialized countries also took part in the meeting.The talks focused on border security, Iraqi refugees and political reconciliation between Iraqi factions and ethnic and religious communities.
The final communique from the conference called on the Arab League to resume preparations for the reconciliation conference for Iraq, a project which has languished for over a year."We are ready for this. We are ready to host Iraqi national reconciliation," Mouusa said. "Now is not the time to exchange accusations but is the time to work together."
Again: Unity..
SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt -Iraq emerged from a vital conference Friday with a promise from Arab countries to stop foreign militants from joining Iraq's insurgency. But Baghdad didn't get the debt relief it wanted, and its Sunni Arab neighbors demand Iraq's Shiite-led government enact tough political reforms. "We will see the extent of the seriousness and commitment among these nations to what they signed today," Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told reporters. "If these promises are not kept, we will watch it, and there will be no reason to hold any further conferences." "Everyone has an agenda, and it has damaged the situation in Iraq," al-Maliki said of differences among the U.S., Iran and Syria. "We had hoped for a dialogue. Squabble anywhere else in the world, but not on Iraqi soil."
Al-Maliki's government has long pressed its neighbors to do more to stop fighters from infiltrating from their territory, and the Shiites who dominate his coalition accuse Arab countries of being biased toward Iraq's Sunni Arab minority. Arab governments, in turn, blame Shiite discrimination against Sunnis for fueling the insurgency and fear Shiite power will boost the power of mainly Shiite Iran in the region. They demand al-Maliki enact reforms to give Sunni Arabs a greater role — including amending the constitution, bringing more Sunnis into the military and government and ending the purge of former members of Saddam Hussein's ousted Sunni-led Baath party.
In a declaration released at the end of the conference Friday, both sides repeated promises to meet the demands of the other. The declaration called for all states "prevent the use by terrorists of their territory" and bar their transit. Iraq promised to "continue constructive steps" on reviewing the constitution and the program to exclude Baathists from key jobs.
In his speech to the conference Friday, al-Faisal called on Iraqis "to rise to the level of their historic and moral responsibility" and enact the political reforms.
Al-Maliki sought to convince his neighbors his government was serious about reform, saying reconciliation "is not some passing political slogan for us, it's a strategic vision." But he added a warning not to side with Iraq's Sunnis. "We ask our brothers and friends to respect the religious, sectarian and ethnical diversity of the Iraqi people," he said. "We will not allow any component of the Iraqi people to turn to foreign powers against another component."
But al-Maliki faces strong obstacles at home to the reforms. His Shiite allies in parliament have resisted a draft law for ending the program to purge Baathists; they also oppose changing the constitution to accommodate Sunnis. Friday's declaration also calls on Iraq to disarm Shiite militias — a provision that brought a rebuke Friday from the movement of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, a former ally of al-Maliki who leads one of the most feared militias.
"If the government disarms the people, how can the people defend themselves from extremists and Saddamists?" Sheik Abdul Hadi Al-Mohamadawi, a top Sadrist, said Friday in a sermon in the Iraqi city of Kufa.
Al-Maliki's government has long pressed its neighbors to do more to stop fighters from infiltrating from their territory, and the Shiites who dominate his coalition accuse Arab countries of being biased toward Iraq's Sunni Arab minority. Arab governments, in turn, blame Shiite discrimination against Sunnis for fueling the insurgency and fear Shiite power will boost the power of mainly Shiite Iran in the region. They demand al-Maliki enact reforms to give Sunni Arabs a greater role — including amending the constitution, bringing more Sunnis into the military and government and ending the purge of former members of Saddam Hussein's ousted Sunni-led Baath party.
In a declaration released at the end of the conference Friday, both sides repeated promises to meet the demands of the other. The declaration called for all states "prevent the use by terrorists of their territory" and bar their transit. Iraq promised to "continue constructive steps" on reviewing the constitution and the program to exclude Baathists from key jobs.
In his speech to the conference Friday, al-Faisal called on Iraqis "to rise to the level of their historic and moral responsibility" and enact the political reforms.
Al-Maliki sought to convince his neighbors his government was serious about reform, saying reconciliation "is not some passing political slogan for us, it's a strategic vision." But he added a warning not to side with Iraq's Sunnis. "We ask our brothers and friends to respect the religious, sectarian and ethnical diversity of the Iraqi people," he said. "We will not allow any component of the Iraqi people to turn to foreign powers against another component."
But al-Maliki faces strong obstacles at home to the reforms. His Shiite allies in parliament have resisted a draft law for ending the program to purge Baathists; they also oppose changing the constitution to accommodate Sunnis. Friday's declaration also calls on Iraq to disarm Shiite militias — a provision that brought a rebuke Friday from the movement of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, a former ally of al-Maliki who leads one of the most feared militias.
"If the government disarms the people, how can the people defend themselves from extremists and Saddamists?" Sheik Abdul Hadi Al-Mohamadawi, a top Sadrist, said Friday in a sermon in the Iraqi city of Kufa.
Unity?
Abbas hoped to ease factional fighting and persuade Western nations and Israel to end sanctions that have crippled the Palestinian economy by forming a unity coalition government in March, including Fatah ministers under Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas. The embargo, however, goes on. "Abbas is very frustrated at the continuation of the siege," said the senior official who spoke anonymously. "He hoped by forming the unity government the sanctions would be eased. That is not happening. He is very frustrated."
Yes it seems hard for the Palestinian government to work at the same paths. I know you do a lot of efforts to make security reforms and I do believe it´s the right way to achieve stability in Gaza and the West Bank. Abbas have travelled the world and worked hard, I know Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh is working hard to get things together also. But your main goals seems to differs and that's cracking your unity. And of course there is Khaled Meshaal in Damascus, that don´t make anything easier for either the government or the Palestinian people! He should as well pull out, for the sake of the Palestinians. Violence, civil war, faction clashes if there should be new elections is not democracy. No..I do not see there are really democracy implemented in the Palestinian communities yet. And Hamas with Khaled Meshaal, can not say to us they don´t have had a chance to show their will to work to Peace agreements, even with embargo, you have a lot of opportunity's to work to agreements!
Yes it seems hard for the Palestinian government to work at the same paths. I know you do a lot of efforts to make security reforms and I do believe it´s the right way to achieve stability in Gaza and the West Bank. Abbas have travelled the world and worked hard, I know Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh is working hard to get things together also. But your main goals seems to differs and that's cracking your unity. And of course there is Khaled Meshaal in Damascus, that don´t make anything easier for either the government or the Palestinian people! He should as well pull out, for the sake of the Palestinians. Violence, civil war, faction clashes if there should be new elections is not democracy. No..I do not see there are really democracy implemented in the Palestinian communities yet. And Hamas with Khaled Meshaal, can not say to us they don´t have had a chance to show their will to work to Peace agreements, even with embargo, you have a lot of opportunity's to work to agreements!
Thousands of angry Shiites poured onto the streets of two cities south of the Iraqi capital
BAGHDAD - Thousands of angry Shiites poured onto the streets of two cities south of the Iraqi capital Friday to protest what they considered insults by Al-Jazeera television against Iraq's most revered Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. The protesters were angered by an Al-Jazeera talk show this week in which the presenter questioned al-Sistani's leadership credentials. Following Friday prayers in the southern cities of Basra and Najaf, al-Sistani supporters carried banners denouncing the channel and its host nation, the Gulf Arab state of Qatar. Today, we burn down Al-Jazeera," chanted the protesters who carried portraits of al-Sistani. Others demanded that the channel as well as Qatar be sued. One Najaf protester carried several pictures of Qatar's emir, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, with a shoe hoisted on the images to show contempt for him. This is an outrage directed at our religious leaders and undermine their spiritual standing in the eyes of Iraqi people," Sheik Abdul-Mahdi al-Karbalai said in his Friday sermon at the Imam Hussein mosque.
A parked car struck a Shi'ite mosque in the southern city of Hillah on Friday, killing at least five people and wounding nearly three dozen, police said. The blast occurred just after 9 p.m. near a market outside the mosque, provincial police said, giving the casualty toll.
A parked car struck a Shi'ite mosque in the southern city of Hillah on Friday, killing at least five people and wounding nearly three dozen, police said. The blast occurred just after 9 p.m. near a market outside the mosque, provincial police said, giving the casualty toll.
Iraq urges neighbors to block border infiltration
Iraq urges neighbors to block border infiltration
Baghdad's interest in seeing a Rice-Mottaki meeting is clear as it is widely acknowledged that Shi'ite Muslim Iran is an influential force on Iraq, both as a neighbor and because of its links with elements in the Shi'ite-led Iraqi government.
Baghdad's interest in seeing a Rice-Mottaki meeting is clear as it is widely acknowledged that Shi'ite Muslim Iran is an influential force on Iraq, both as a neighbor and because of its links with elements in the Shi'ite-led Iraqi government.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt
SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will meet Syria's foreign minister in the first high-level talks between the countries in years, officials said Thursday, and the chief American military spokesman in Iraq said Syria had moved to reduce "the flow of foreign fighters" across its border.
Minister Mustafa Barghouti called on the international community to pressure the Israeli authorities to absorbing 7,000 Palestinian refugees
Palestinian Information Minister Mustafa Barghouti called Sunday on the international community to pressure the Israeli authorities to consider absorbing 7,000 Palestinian refugees, currently residing in Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Turkey and Lebanon, into the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) territories. Barghouti’s call comes amidst the growing suffering of the Palestinian refugees under continued attacks by Iraqi militias. In a statement issued Sunday, minister Barghouti expressed the PA's readiness to relocate the Palestinian refugees into the occupied Palestinian territories. The statement considered such an Israeli domination as an obstruction to such a step, pointing out that the international concern over the refugees should prompt the international community to clear away such a difficulty. Since the demise of the former Iraqi regime of Sadam Hussien in 2003, the Palestinian refugees of Iraq have been intimidated, humiliated and terrorized at the hands of unknown Iraqi militias. Many efforts, including the PA’s, have so far been exerted to alleviate their suffering, while safe border shelters have been installed in some neighboring countries.
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