January 1st 2007 Iraq Morning Headlines Translated From Arabic
The following are the morning reports on the Independent Iraqi news agency Aswat Al Iraq (Voices of Iraq) translated and summarised from Arabic:
The American army of occupation announced that it had killed six militants and arrested 7 during heavy fighting this morning in Baghdad. Their statement said that the fighters were preparing to fire fire on the American forces from of a building belonging to the President of the Iraqi National Dialogue Front. URL:
Baghdad: Palestine Hotel Searched : Aswat al Iraq:
Green zone government forces searched the Palestine Hotel, in central Baghdad after a tip-off that the hotel had been penetrated by a gunman carrying a bag containing explosives. The suspect was seen by a journalist inside the hotel lift. Guests were ordered to stay in their rooms during the search. The Palestine hotel is where many Arab and foreign journalists are headquartered. URL:
[The Palestine Hotel isn't just targeted by the resisistance readers may remember this episode when American invasion forces killed several journalists. See also related article from RSF below - markfromireland]
Related:
Press Freedom Round-up 2006 | 81 journalists killed – the deadliest year since 1994
“Iraq was the world’s most dangerous country for the media for the fourth year running, with 64 journalists and media assistants killed. Since fighting began in 2003, 139 journalists have been killed there, more than twice the number in the 20-year Vietnam War (63 killed between 1955 and 1975). About 90% of the victims were Iraqis. Investigations were very rare and none were completed. Unlike other organisations, Reporters Without Borders includes journalists in its death count only when it is certain that their deaths are linked to their work as journalists. Dozens of other cases have not been included because investigators have not yet determined the motives or because it is clear that they were not related to the issue of press freedom.
[snip]
An extra worry: journalists being kidnapped
For the first time, Reporters Without Borders recorded in detail the number of journalists kidnapped around the world.
At least 56 were kidnapped in 2006 in a dozen countries. The two riskiest places were Iraq, where 17 were seized, and the Gaza Strip, where six were kidnapped. All those seized in the Palestinian Territories were freed, but six in Iraq were executed by their captors.
Reporters Without Borders met Iraqi President Jalal Talabani at the end of the year and urged him to put a stop to such incidents. A mission also went to Gaza to ask Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and leaders of the main Palestinian factions to see that their supporters and the general population did not interfere with media workers.” URL [Download PDF]
Basrah : Brtitish Bases Shelled .Aswat al Iraq:
British Army of Occupation media spokesman confirmed that all 4 British bases in Basrah came under both Katyusha and mortar attack.
- Basra International Airport (25 km north-west of Basra) Katyusha rockets.
- British base in Shuaiba (40 km west of Basra) Katyusha rockets.
- Presidential palaces (central Basra) storey Katyusha shelling.
- Shatt al-Arab Hotel (10 km north of Basra) mortar fire.
He added that there had been no damage to the bases. URL:
Huwayjah: Relatively Calm Following Saddam Hussein’s Burial : Aswat al Iraq:
Eyewittnesses from Al-Huwayjah district said the area is relatively quite and that life was returning to normal in the streets, the markets, and commerce. Shops opened their doors for business. And calm prevailed “in spite of the dissatisfaction that amongst most citizens following the announcement of the hanging of Saddam Hussein on the first day of Eid.” There was nothing to prevent people from going round the region. Yesterday witnessed a demonstration in Al-Huwayjah yesterday condemning the execution of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.URL:
Mosul: Arrests : Aswat al Iraq:
Occupation forces issued a statement saying that Iraqi police “special forces” in collaboration with occupation forces arrested three suspected of belonging to Al Qaeda, during a raid conducted yesterday south-west of the city of Mosul. The statement said that those arrested were suspected of responsibility for the carrying out kidnappings and killings of Iraqi civilians and security forces, and believed to be involved in car bomb attacks. URL:
Saddam : Iraqi legislator demands probe into Saddam´s execution: Aswat al Iraq:
[This article is in both the Arabic and English sections of the site. There are no significant differences the text below is from the English version. markfromireland]
Baghdad-Saddam
Iraqi legislator demands probe into Saddam´s execution
by Dergham Mohammed AliBaghdad, Jan 1, (VOI) – An Iraqi parliamentarian called on Monday for investigating the incidents inside the room where the former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was executed at dawn on Saturday.
“While I am stressing the justice of the death sentence against the dictator Saddam Hussein, I am calling on the executive authority in Iraq to start investigating cheers inside the execution room that seemed of political nature not in line with the court’s supposed neutrality,” Safiya al-Suhayl, a member of parliament for the Iraqi National List, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
“I also demand displaying the execution tape inside the parliament so that the members would see for themselves,” she said.
Suhayl said “if the government wanted to allow the people to celebrate the execution of Saddam, then this should take place in a public square, not by randomly jubilating and gloating in a politicized manner.”
Suhayl called on the Supreme Criminal Court to continue trying Saddam in absentia for the rest of his crimes against other groups of the Iraqi people.
Suhayl’s father, Sheikh Taleb al-Suhayl, was a prominent opposition figure against the former regime. He was assassinated by the Iraqi intelligence in Lebanon in 1994.
Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was executed for crimes against humanity in the northern Baghdad town of al-Dujail, where nearly 148 people were slain in 1982. His body was buried in his hometown of al-Awja, near Tikrit in northern Iraq.
On Sunday, grainy footage of Saddam´s execution was circulating widely on the Internet, only one day after a death sentence against Saddam was carried out for crimes against humanity.
The footage was believed to be shot on a mobile phone by a witness who was standing below looking up at the gallows.
While the executioners prepare him for his final moment, some of those invited to attend standing below the platform taunted Saddam.
One person shouts “Muqtada, Muqtada, Muqtada,” a reference to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr who leads Sadr movement in Iraq.
Though the noose around Saddam´s neck, the former Iraqi President appears to smile and shoot back: “Is this what you call manhood?”
Another person yells: “Go to hell!” and Saddam, seemingly accusing his enemies of destroying the nation he once led, replies: “The hell that is Iraq after me!”
what is RSF?
Susan it’s Reporters sans frontières (Reporters without borders) in English. Their English pages are here this is from their “About” page:
I’ve a lot of time for them. They do superb work as do the Committee to Protect Journalists in the States and of course Amnesty and Human Rights Watch.