Gorilla’s Guides

BAGHDAD, 29 April 2007 (IRIN) - Saleh Nizar, a 58-year-old gardener, says he was tortured in an Iraqi prison after he was arrested and accused of participating in an attack in the capital, Baghdad. He was arrested on 15 October 2006 and set free on 5 April 2007 after he was helped by a senior Iraqi officer who said that Nizar was his gardener and that he was definitely innocent.

As result of the torture he endured, one of his legs sustained serious injuries and doctors said it might require amputation. Nizar, who has a heart condition which he did not receive treatment for while in prison, now spends much of his time in hospitals and clinics trying to stay alive.

Read more »

BAGHDAD, 30 April 2007 (IRIN) - When Iraqi lawyer Muhammad Shami, 44, decided to leave work early on 4 April, he would never have known that doing so would save his life. Soon after arriving home, he received a phone call from someone in the office next to his, saying that two of his colleagues had been shot dead at their desks.

Read more »

Amal al-Mudarris a well known and loved radio journalist and announcer is reported to be in
Amal al-Mudarris’ sister weeps
as she describes the attack and
her sister’s condition “semi-stable” condition following emergency surgery for a brain injury caused by a bullet. She was attacked by gunmen outside her home in al Khadraa (west Baghdad) her husband and son who were with her survived. She was taken to Al Yarmouk hospital originally but they did not have the facilities to treat her so she was moved again.  People not familiar with her importance to many Irakis will find a summary of her career in English here.

Journalists and media presenters are commonly the victims of armed attacks in Iraq.

188 journalists have been killed since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 according to the Iraqi Observatory of Journalistic Freedoms, an independent NGO established in 2004 to monitor violations against journalists working in Iraq.

Two green zone government security personnel were killed in fighting in Baghdad - no details given of the circumstances. The same statement claimed to have detained 138 fighters and defused 11 bombs as part of the “surge”

American forces are besieging the Sadrist offices in Kazhimiyah - there are reports of gunfire and explosions but no detailed information yet. A green zone government soldier was killed at noon today, Sunday, in an attack by gunmen on a checkpoint in Al-Salam (west  Baghdad. )

Gunmen stole (184) million Iraqi dinars ($ 138 thousand) from the Central bank in an armed raid. The money was to be used to pay green zone government civil servants.

The Virtue Party have held a large demonstration in Basrah and accuse the green zone government of being responsible for the deterioration of the situation in the city and governorate.

The Iranian principal nuclear negotiator arrived in Baghdad today. (Ali Larijani is the principal negotiator for nuclear matters in the Iranian government.)

A motorbike bomb parked near the hospital  destroyed an American invader humvee in Haditha and killed and wounded a number of people. Casualty numbers as yet unknown.

One civilian was killed and another injured by a bomb aimed at a green zone government patro. A bomb in Tal Afar An attempted suicide bombing in Ra’biah failed.

Three green zone government policemen were killed and four wounded in clashes with gunmen in Kut.

 The bomb attack on the American army of occupation patrol in Ad Duluiyah destroyed an APC.

The reports that theAmericans are bombarding densely populated residential areas in Baghdadd have now been confirmed.

 The green zone government base in Fallujah came under mortar attack this afternoon. No reports of casualties.

BAGHDAD, 29 April 2007 (IRIN) - Hundreds of Palestinian refugees stranded in makeshift camps in no-man’s land between the desert borders of Iraq and Syria must be moved to a safer place to avoid any human tragedies, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said last week.

The 25 April statement came a day after a fire swept through the al-Tanf refugee camp - which hosts 389 Palestinian refugees, mainly women and children - during the night and left 28 people injured and seven tents destroyed.

Read more »

Key to the graphic:

• Photo 1:

  Relatives and friends mourn at the funeral of one of those killed in yesterday’s mass murder by a suicide bomber in Karbala.

• Photo 2:
  
  A mother grieving at the funeral of her son who was one of those murdered in yestreday’s mass murder of civilians by a suicide car bomber in Karbala.

The death toll is now known to be in excess of 70 dead and is still rising.

Mohammed Ibn Laith