Gorilla’s Guides

Summary:

• The political war of words between Turkey and the Kurds continued to heat up today.
• Iraki Muslim scholars held a conference at which they founded an organisation to promote Muslim and Iraki unity.
• Twenty eight bodies were discovered in Baghdad.
• 76 unidentified and unclaimed bodies were buried brought from a morgue in Baghdad and buried in al-Wadi al-Jadid bringing the total of such funerals in al-Wadi al-Jadid since May 2006 to 2560.
• There is yet another operation being mounted to pacify al-Fadil in central Baghdad.
• 8 green zone government soldiers and 4 green zone government police have been wounded.
• Two civilians killed and the wounding of ten others in a bomb in Zafaraniyah. Two brothers shot dead in Zafaraniyah.
• Abdullah al-Aadhab the local leader of the self-styled Islamic State in Iraq armed group and his deputy killed in a raid in Adhamiya northern Baghdad.
• In Kirkuk the city’s police force detained a gang of three members accused of abduction and murder and freed the gang’s hostages. One of the three gang members is a policeman
• In Basrah the “permanence” of the British “reforms” of the police was clearly demonstated by an announcement from the green zone government interior ministry that they were forming a new police regiment of 250 members to be recruited: “under the [procedural] controls in place at the Ministry of Interior.”
• A suicide truck bomber attacked the home of local police brigadier Brigadier Ali Attallah near Mosul wounded 11 people in the attack including two of the Brigadier’s nephews.

Scenes From An Iraki Childhood And Personal Comment

I am a Muslim, I am Iraki. It breaks my heart to see the evil unleashed upon my people, my country, our children, by the cynical and evil men and women who rule America and who seek to rule us. To put their feet on our faces and on the faces of our children.

It breaks my heart to read the reports that I read every day, to hear the reports on the radio. To go out at night with other men from our neighbourhood to stand guard at a checkpoint to stop the deathsquads coming in. It breaks my heart when we distribute the pathetic food rations to see how desperate people are for food and water when we can get it. It breaks my heart seeing and hearing the mothers with their children begging and pleading for more water and more food. It breaks my heart when they ask if we have rehydration kits for their children or water purification tablets and to say “no, we have none today. ” It breaks my heart to see how much smaller than they should be the children in the quarter where I work are.

It seems to me sometimes that even the memory of happiness is gone from my life. But today I was going through Firdous Square. I saw the photograph to the right being taken and stood and watched the children play in the waters of the fountain in front of the Mosque.

For a while today while I watched I remembered happiness and was happy.

Khalil Ibn Hussein,
Baghdad,
Irak.

Baghdad

Muslim scholars announced on Monday the establishment of an Islamic union with the aim at stopping bloodshed and sectarian violence in Iraq.

The founding conference for the Union of Muslim Scholars in Iraq, which was held in Baghdad under the title “Muslim scholars unity symbol for Iraqi people unity” and attended by more than 130 religious character, including Sunnis, Shiites and Kurdish leaders, agreed to leave the union membership open for all Iraqi scholars .

The conference urged in a statement “all Iraqi religious scholars inside and outside the country to join the new union during a conference due to be held in Sulaimaniya in Kurdistan region within the upcoming days.”

They considered the “Mecca Pledge Document”, a document signed by Iraqi scholars of all sects in last September in Mecca of Saudi Arabia, as the ground for Sunnis and Shiites to preserve holy places and stop murders and sectarian violence, underlining “the necessity to maintain Iraq’s unity.”

Several Iraqi religious leaders signed in Mecca last year “the Mecca Document” calling for “banning the slaughtering of Iraqis regardless of their religious and sectarian affiliation.”

The document also called for bridging the gap between the Sunni and Shiite Muslims and underlined the gravity of the sectarian crimes that were being committed. The statement strongly denounced the “terrorist attacks and the administrative corruption in the country.” It also criticised “the bombing attack that took place in Shiite holy shrines in Samara.” The conference called for unity against extremist violence:

“We call on the people, especially the sons of the tribes, to reject the gangs and violent mobs and their failed satanic plans and present a united front against the extremists trying to destroy Iraq,”

The participants called upon all political blocs to solve their political disputes and to find ways to end the foreign presence in Iraq.

They urged religious leaders in Najaf, Al Azhar in Egypt and the Organisation of Islamic Conference to support the new union’s efforts to end the Iraqi crisis

(Primary Source Arabic: اصوات العراق - الإعلان عن تأسيس كيان دينى مستقل عن التأثيرات السياسية) (Primary Source: Independent Islamic union established in Iraq (English))

Security Incidents In Baghdad

The green zone government police said that four of their members were injured today in an attack by gunmen in Madia in the Dora district of south Baghdad. (Source: اصوات العراق - أربعة مصابين من الشرطة في هجوم جنوبي بغداد)

So far one person is dead and eight wounded in this evening’s mortar attacks. Earlier in the day the greenzone came under mortar attack - no reports of casualties or statements from the Americans about this attack on their fortified enclave in Baghdad’s heart. (Source: اصوات العراق - قتيل وثمانية جرحى بسقوط قذائف هاون في بغداد)

Twenty eight (28) dead bodies were found in Baghdad as follows :

Al Kharkh 19 (Western side of the river)

• 6 in Saidiya
• 3 in Al Amil
• 3 Ad Dora
• 3 in Al-Shula
• 2 in Qadisiya
• 2 in Abu Ghraib .

Al Rasafa 9 (Eastern side of the river)

• 5 in Al-Adhamiya
• 2 in Sadr city
• 2 in Sha’ab

(Source: اصوات العراق - العثور على 28 جثة مجهولة الهوية في بغداد)

8 green zone government soldiers including one officer have have been wounded in the last 24 hours in Baghdad. (Source: اصوات العراق - مقتل واعتقال 43 مسلحا ومشتبها به خلال ال 24 ساعة الماضية في بغداد)

Late Breaking Report: The green zone government police said that four of their members were injured today in an attack by gunmen in Madia in the Dora district of south Baghdad. (Source: اصوات العراق - أربعة مصابين من الشرطة في هجوم جنوبي بغداد)

The so-called Islamic Army released a video of the two captured American soldiers. A speaker on the video said:

“Fearing the occupying army will continue its searches, harming our Muslim brothers … (the Islamic State in Iraq) decided to settle the matter and announced the news of their killing to cause bitterness to God’s enemies”

The American army of occupation said it is studying the video. I have uploaded three screengrabs from the video which you can see by clicking the links or the thumbnails in the list below. The files are large and may take time to load on a slow connection. They are sufficiently large to be able to clearly read the text in the documents which appear to me to be authentic.

Screen grab 1:

Masked fighters standing in front of a chart.

Click here or click the thumbnail to see full size.

Filesize: 193.77 KB (198417 bytes)

Width: 720px Height: 576px

Screen grab 2:

Part of what appears to be an identification document with signature shown. Click here or click the thumbnail to see full size.

Filesize: 138.88 KB (142216 bytes)

Width: 720px Height: 576px

Screen grab 3:

What appear to be Geneva Convention identification documents for the two captured soldiers. Click here or click the thumbnail to see full size.
Filesize: 191.75 KB (196351 bytes)

Width: 720px Height: 576px

Other Security Incidents In Baghdad And In The Governorates

Early on Monday greenzone government forces backed by American helicopters surrounded al-Fadil and Bab al-Sheikh in central Baghdad most likely in preparation for launching raids there, local residents said. The greenzone forces deployed along the highway between Bab al-Mu’azzam and al-Nadha and blocked access to al-Fadil and and Bab al-Sheikh.

Al-Fadil is one of the older neighborhoods in Baghdad centre and has been raided by green zone government forces under the control of the Americans repeatedly. It is now considered to be both a slum and a hotbed of resistance activity. The usual announcement that foreign gunmen have made it their stronghold was made. [Which goes to show that green zone spokesmen don’t know the area any foreigner showing up there with weapons would last perhaps as long as two minutes - Khalil] (Source: اصوات العراق - قوات امن عراقية تطوق منطقتي الفضل وباب الشيخ وسط بغداد)

Green zone government security forces killed Abdullah al-Aadhab the local leader of the self-styled Islamic State in Iraq armed group on Monday in a raid in Adhamiya northern Baghdad, according to a source from the Fard Qanoon security plan command told Aswat Al Iraq. The source, who requested anonymity, went on to say that they had also killed his second in command and detained 19 other fighters he did not specify the name of the second-ranking official who was killed or any other details. (Source: اصوات العراق - قوات الامن العراقية تقتل والي الاعظمية في ما يسمى بدولة العراق الاسلامية)

Matthew Lodge, the British Chargé d’affaires in Baghdad denied as “unhelpful” speculation about possible contacts with the hostage-takers of the four British mercenaries and the British computer expert seized by gunmen from a green zone government Finance Ministry building in Palestine. He praised the transparency and cooperativeness of the green zone regime headed by Nouri Al Maliki saying that they were devoting considerable effort to finding the five British hostages. (Source: اصوات العراق - مسؤول بريطاني : الحكومة العراقية تسعى للعثور على المختطفين البريطانيين )

A suicide bomber detonated his payload in front of one of the main entrances to the College of Medicine in Bab al-Mu’azzam central Baghdad without causing casualties. The suicide bomber managed to mislead security personnel enabling him to get entrance to the college. There was also a bombing attack on the Management Institute in Bab al-Mu’azzam again without casualties. (Source: اصوات العراق - انفجار سيارة مفخخة في باب المعظم وسط بغداد )

A bomb exploded Monday near near a monastery in Zafaraniyah (south Baghdad,) killing two civilians and wounding ten others.(Source: اصوات العراق - مقتل واصابة 12 شخصا في انفجار عبوة ناسفة في الزعفرانية)

Gunmen killed two brothers in Zafaraniyah (south Baghdad). The gunmen ambushed the brothers as they returned to their home in Zafaraniyah this afternoon witnessed described the shooting as a “barrage of bullets” (Source: اصوات العراق - مسلحون يقتلون شقيقين جنوبي بغداد)

Posturing and propaganda:

According to greenzone government spokesmen for the Fard Qanoon security plan. Green zone government forces in Baghdad have:

• Killed 5 and detained12 militants.
• Detained 26 suspects in different parts of Baghdad.

One of the 12 detainees was in posession of a car load of TNT explosives at the time he was detained according to the spoksesman. The spokesman also said that:

• Bomb disposal experts were able to neutralise and destroy in a controlled explosion two explosive devices in the area of Mahmoudiyah, south of Baghdad.
• A kidnapped person was liberated from the hands of his kidnappers in the Kazimiyah district in northern Baghdad.
• A quantity (unspecified) of arms and ammunition were discovered and seized in Karradah and other central disrticts (also unspecified) (Source: اصوات العراق - مقتل واعتقال 43 مسلحا ومشتبها به خلال ال 24 ساعة الماضية في بغداد)

Green Zone Political Posturing For The Day

Greenzone government Maliki’s advisor Hassan Sanaid who is also a member of the green zone parliament for the United Iraqi Alliance bloc Monday that the Iraqi government is drafting a general amnesty as part of what it hopes will be a national reconciliation process.

“A general amnesty is expected to be announced by the Iraqi government as part of its plans for national reconciliation and in a way that guarantees that pardoned prisoners do not return to crime,”

he said. He then added that

“the strategy adopted by the Iraqi government includes the formation of a new political class and a new national faith in the political process, a process of genuine national reconciliation and dialogue with the armed groups which intend to enter the political process again.”

In nakedly partisan spirit he tied filling the six posts to be filled following the resignation of Sadrist ministers from the regime headed by Maliki and the success of Fard Qanoon to to the reconciliation process. He emphasised the importance of the 6 ministries as these are service ministries with extensive direct contact with the citizenry. He ended by saying there would be diplomatic activitiy as part of the process urging Irak’s neighbours to tighten thier borders and support the green zone government’s security plans. (Source: اصوات العراق - السنيد: الحكومة العراقية بصدد وضع اسس لمشروع عفو عام يسبق عملية المصالحة )

I told you it was posturing:

The green zone parliament failed to appoint the six ministerial nominees for the green zone government headed by Nouri Al-Maliki to replace the six Sadrist ministers who resigned. Adel Mahmoud Othman, a member of the “parliament” from the Kurdistan Alliance bloc, said that when the issue of voting on new ministers arose only 110 members were and the house was thus inquorate. He expressed the hope that the matter would be resolved during the meeting on Tuesday. (Source: اصوات العراق - عثمان: رفض بعض الكتل أدى إلى تأخير المصادقة على التعديل الوزاري )

Reports From The Governorates

Here are the reports from the governorates.

Arbil Governorate

The political war of words between Turkey and the Kurdish separatists in political control of the Kurdish governorates in Irak continued.

Reacting to the news that Turkey will deliver a report to the U.N specifying in detail its concerns about Kurdish separatist terrorists based in Irak and reaffirming its legal right to take action against them

Dindar Zebari Kurdistan regional government coordinator to UN affairs said in a statement that the:

“Kurdistan region is part of the Federal State of Iraq. Any military incursion into Kurdistan is but an aggression against Iraq.”

Briefing: Turkey has moved a large number of troops and armoured detachments to the border and has shelled areas (especially in Zakho) that it considers holds PKK emplacements. The Turkish government blames the PKK for bombing and other terrorist acts in Turkey

“which is what gives it the right to take military action.”

According to a statement released by the Turkish government earlier. (Primary Source: اصوات العراق - مسؤول كردستاني : التدخل العسكري التركي اعتداء على سيادة العراق)

At-Ta’mim (Kirkuk) Governorate

In Kirkuk:

• A civilian was injured in a bomb explosion targeting a police patrol the bomb exploded by Zamzam bakery on the festival ground 5 km south of Kirkuk on Monday morning.
• During the night on Sunday the city’s police force detained a gang of three members accused of abduction and murder. They freed hostages from the hands of the gang.
  One of the three gang members is a policeman.

Kirkuk is 250 km north of Baghdad. (Source: اصوات العراق - جرح مدني بإنفجار عبوة ناسفة جنوب كركوك )

Three green zone government policemen were wounded on Monday night when an bomb went off targeting their vehicle patrol in central Kirkuk. The bomb exploded at 6:30 pm in the Baghdad road area central Kirkuk (Bridge IV intersection) Security forces cordoned off the area and prevented civilians from approaching the blast site.(Source: اصوات العراق - إصابة ثلاثة من الشرطة بإنفجار عبوة في كركوك)

Basrah Governorate

A British soldier was wounded and two armored vehicles destroyed in separate attacks in central and northern Basra. At dawn on Monday a British patrol in Basra old town wounding a soldier slightly and damaging an armoured vehicle. A patrol in al-Kaziza (10 km north of the city) was bombed and then attacked using 7 rocket propelled grenades. The british bases and the joint coordination centre underwent their usual nightly bombardment. (Source: اصوات العراق - اصابة جندي بريطاني واعطاب مدرعتين بريطانيتين في البصرة)

“New” Police Regiment For Basrah

As we reported in “Incidents Reports From Irak May 31st 2007 Summarised From Arabic“

An investigative commission under Major General Rashid Flaya outlined findings of rampant forms of financial and administrative corruption in the security services in Basrah. According to his statement today these corrupt operations were concentrated in:

• The department of traffic.
• The river police
• The border police

His investigation is still going on to uncover the scale of the corruption. He said that several unauthorised units were discovered and that it was possible that the “new” services* would be abolished as they were ineffective and had not improved the security in the governorate. Source: اصوات العراق - عمليات فساد اداري ومالي في الاجهزة الامنية في البصرة (*set up by the British 8 months ago)

Today it was confirmed that following his recommendation to the greenzone government interior ministry that the green zone government rapid response response police regiment in the city will be re-formed. This is a complete restructuring of police regiment emergency regiments in the city; (The “old” one had been dissolved 9 months ago at the insistence of the British.) The “new” regiment will consist of 250 members. and will be recruited:

“under the [procedural] controls in place at the Ministry of Interior.”

(Source: اصوات العراق - إعادة تشكيل فوج شرطة الطوارىء في البصرة)

Karbala Governorate

An official source in the city of Karbala, said today Monday, that 76 unidentified and unclaimed bodies were buried brought from a morgue in Baghdad and buried in the al-Wadi al-Jadid (New Valley) cemetery, (5 km) south of Karbala. The bodies were tagged and photographed before being buried, in the hope that relatives could identify them in the future. The number of such burials in the New Valley cemetery since May 2006 now stands at 2,560.(Source: اصوات العراق - دفن 76 جثة مجهولة الهوية في مقبرة بكربلاء)

Maysan Governorate

Media institutions and organisations in the province of Maysan have suspended their activities , for the second consecutive day in protest against the assassination of journalist according to Nizar Abdul Wahid. The protest which started yesterday The protest will culminate next Saturday when journalists in Maysan will demonstrate in front of the governorate offices to demand an investigation into the assassination and that protection be provides for journalists. A memorial ceremony will be held on Wednesday for the murdered journalist - who died last Wednesday at the hands of gunmen downtown Amarah. (Source: اصوات العراق - مؤسسات اعلامية ومدنية تعلق نشاطاتها احتجاجا على اغتيال صحفي )

Ninewa Governorate

A suicide truck bomber wounded 11 people in an attack on the home of local police brigadier Brigadier Ali Attallah near Mosul. 2 of the wounded were his nephews the house was severely damaged. (Source: اصوات العراق - انفجار قلاب مفخخ قرب منزل مدير شرطة القيارة بنينوى)

Mosul city:

• In the afternoon two gunmen opened fire on a policecar in al-Resala (western Mosul) they were killed in the return fire.
• Also this afternoon a bomb exploded while an oil tanker was passing it in center of western Mosul (the financial district) the tanker went up in flames and the driver was injured.
• Shukr Mahmoud Yehya, a taxi driver with two sons in the green zone government police in the governorate was shot dead in al-Bakr ealry this evening. (Source: اصوات العراق - مقتل مسلحين ومدني وإصابة سائق بحوادث متفرقة في الموصل)