Gorilla’s Guides

Summary:

• There are confirmed outbreaks of rabies in Both Basrah and Wasit governorates.
• 6 green zone government soldiers were killed, 16 wounded and six armoured transports set in flames in clashes that went on for 5 hours near Khalis — the soldiers were part of a relief column.
• Three major bombings in Fallujah. 
• Fighting in Dhi Qar.(There is what WNA The Independent Iraki News Broadcasting Service describes as “lively” fighting in Dhi Qar.)
• Diyala is seeing major engagements.
• There is very heavy fighting in Basrah and Maysan.
• Nouri Al Maliki’s public mental meltdown continued in full cry.
• There are major political rows between the green zone government and the Sadrists in Wasit and with the Governorate council in Karbala.
• Not to be outdone the Saudis continue to have ill-disguised panic attacks  about the violence in Irak spilling over and toppling them.
• 33 unidentified bodies have been recovered in Baghdad today 3 of them were women. 
• Kirkuk has started to boil over and the Ztigon bridge bombing has drastically reduced the ability of green zone government forces to respond. as a result the bombing campaign against the power grid has been stepped up.
• Several major bombings in Baghdad.
• Reuters Alertnet has no less than 28 news reports out of Irak today.
• And Moldavia has sent 11*  soldiers from an engineering unit to Irak help in the American crusade to resubjugate the ungrateful Iraki sand niggers surge.

  *3 officers and 8 soldiers to be precise.

Today’s reports prepared and submitted by: —  Fatima, Khaled, markfromireland, Mohammed Ibn Laith, Nur, Saba Ali Iihsan. Primarily from Arabic language reports from the independent Iraki News Agencies Aswat Al Iraq and WNA The Independent Iraki News Broadcasting Service. Some English language reports are at the end and in the body of the posting.

Today’s team was led by: Fatima.

Late Breaking Report — Fierce Fighting In Samarra Salah ad Din Governorate

There has been fierce fighting going on in Samara where the Golden Shrine is situated  for days. Five Interior ministry commandos were killed and six others injured, on Monday evening in an attack in the city of Samarra. Dozens of armed men took part in the attack  in the Al-Mutasim district of central Samarra  (on several places but mostly on the Interior commando headquarters). In a complex attack violent clashes took place between the armed forces and the guerrillas during the clashes the guerillas infiltrated a suicide bomber riding a truck to other side of the Mutawakil school and detonated the truck. [To repeat this was a complex attack planned well in advance and which took account of the arrival of heavy American reinforcements - Dubhaltach.]

Reports From Baghdad

11:18:04 pm 2 civilians were killed and seven wounded by mortar shells fired at areas in the south and west of the capital, Baghdad.

Three gunmen opened fire on Monday evening on 45 year old businessman Saadi Mahdi in Al-Mansour he died immediately.

33 unidentified bodies have been recovered in Baghdad today most were found in Al Karkh.

A memorial is to be built for the young Tae Kwan Do team members martyred in the desert a year ago and who bodies have only very recently been discovered and buried During a condolence gathering today in Sadr City the role of the sports fraternity who did not give up searching for the martyrs body’s in Al Anbar was praised the memorial is hoped to be a symbol of reconciliation. A report of their funerals was posted here on Gorilla’s Guides on June 16th by Dubhaltach.

The death toll from the twin bombing near a fuel station on the road between al-Sayidiya and al-Mahmoudiya (South Baghdad) is now 9 dead and 25 wounded. The cars were part of a queue and were detonated by remote control.

The explosion that shook the Secretariat of the Council of Ministers’ building in the green zone this afternoon  was caused by a gas leak from a cylinder which led to a fire in the kitchen near the chamber in which meetings were being held by Nouri Al Maliki governors and police commanders according to green zone government spokesman Ali Al Sabbagh. The explosion led to the injury of two people, and the premises were vacated immediately.

The green zone government army liberated two abducted children and detained their kidnappers. Police in Palestine Street in eastern Baghdad arrested the driver of a booby-trapped car and his passenger.

A car bomb exploded near a gas station in Al-Kazimiyah in northern Baghdad. The explosion caused a number of casualties and material damage.

A source in the green zone government police said a weapons cache was unearthed in an elementary school in Saydiyah west Baghdad five unidentified bodies were found with the cache.

Green zone government national security advisor Muwaffaq al-Rubayi’e, said that further military operations are commencing in Baghdad and Diyala. These operations will focus on the belts of northern and southern Baghdad and the Diyala province. The operation will be under American command and the Americans will provide air cover.

The Office of the Inspector General at the Ministry of Trade has allocated telephone hot lines to allow citizens to report cases of administrative corruption :

1. Mobile Phones: 07906260556
2. Land Lines Phones: 5383801

in all areas of activity of the ministry and its subsidiaries and urged citizens to report corruption.

The Americans will return the Iraki Republican Palace to their green zone government underlings after they complete construction of their mammoth embassy command and control centre for the subjugation of all sand niggers just outside Baghdad according to the Director of the Administrative Service in the green zone government Zuhair Chalabi. The new embassy command and control centre for the subjugation of all sand niggers is expected to be completed at the end of this year.

Separatist Kurdish politician and green zone government President Jalal Talabani met green zone government Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to discuss the security challenges and how to address them the meeting particularly dealt with security situation in Basrah province and the city of Samarra, the meeting was also held to discuss ways to develop cooperation and coordination between the green zone government presidency and the green zone government prime minister [I wonder if they had one of their famous fights Perhaps it would have been about which one of them would get the last place on the last helicopter out of the green zone - Fatima.] 

The Sadrist’s office in Wasit is demanding that the province’s government investigate the shooting dead of the office leader of the Sadrist office and the wounding of a worker in the office in Suwayrah last Thursday. [See: Reports From Irak June 15 2007 Summarised From Arabic under Wasit] Aswat Al Iraq’s source said that such crimes and others carried out by the Americans could not be tolerated.  The Sadrists are demanding a timetable for the soldiers from the American army still trying to subjugate Irak to leave the country and are stalling the efforts of green zone government leader Maliki to appoint new ministers to his increasinly embattled regime. The Sadrist bloc holds the portfolios of health, agriculture, transport, Minister of State for the provinces, Civil society, State Tourism and Antiquities have 30 seats in the green zone “parliament”.  Nouri Al-Maliki said on Monday that no one has the right to set a time table regarding national reconciliation, in reference to some reports in the media. He criticised those whom he called “rejectionist politicians” for not being willing to “leave their air conditioned offices” and talk to the citizenry. [Bwaaaa ha ha hahahahaha, truly go read it if you don’t believe us you cannot make this stuff up - editors.]  .… … …

Later Nouri al-Maliki went on government TV and accused Iraqi political parties of working with the intelligence services of regional and other foreign governments in order to topple his green zone government and said that the conspiracy against his government was a conspiracy against Iraq. He said that conspirators had already been arrested he said that investigations which had begun since Saturday had resulted in the “arrest of some who work for these political forces, [the list he gave is pretty well everyone except his party — editors] and associated with some regional states” and added that they were now on their way to Baghdad for interrogation.

[Maliki didn’t reveal who these people about to under interrogation are but in the wild weird but very far from wonderful world he lives in it’s entirely possible that Interior ministry torture interrogation facilities have a bear and a cage I suggest Scooter Libby’s lawyers start working to prevent extradition — as a fate worse than death at the ummm … “hands” of a bear is conceivably worse that what George Bush will to him when he visits the Federal penitentiary in which Libby will reside. That’s because ever since he declared “Mission Accomplished” George has been suffering from

Scooter’s alternative to the torture green zone government torture tank is to have Condi turn up and no let’s not go there ….. Lt. General David Petraeus said that conditions in Irak will not reach a satisfactory level by next September. Nobody was surprised. See above.]

Tariq Hashemi stressed during a meeting with British Ambassador in Iraq, the need for the British forces to extend security and restore calm to the city of Basra because the green zone government forces were incapable of doing so alone. There is a full English report on Aswat Al Iraq in English here.

Baghdad governorate said citizens and displaced persons returning to their places of residence in Baghdad would receive a grant of 1 million dinars. A source in the governorate administration told WNA The Independent Iraki News Broadcasting Service on Monday, that eligible persons who have completed their applications (sequences 1-135) should present themselves on Thursday, 21-06-2007.

Reports From The Governorates

These are all we had time for:

Al Anbar Governorate

A total curfews has been imposed in Amiriyat al-Fallujah (22 kilometers south of the town of Fallujah), by green zone government security forces who got informed that there were car bombs there. Amiriyat al-Fallujah is a major hotspot in Al Anbar. This curfew is in addition to the curfews in the city of Fallujah itself (45 km west of Baghdad) after a three simultaneous car bombings and booby trap bomb exploded earlier in the day in different parts of the city, which killed three people and injured 12.

Three people were killed and 12 others were injured in a series of car bomb attacks in different areas in Fallujah, a comprehensive curfew has been declared in the city. Two booby trap car bombs exploded simultaneously during the morning in the city of Fallujah. The first car bomb exploded by the side of the road in the Andalus neighborhood near the Postal and Communications centre in Fallujah city center and close to the market. That explosion killed one person and injured five others injured as well causing material damage to some shops in the market. Here is McClatchy’s Laith Al Hammoudi’s report of that bombing:

A man driving the car parked his truck loaded with barrels and carrying a grenade threatening those who might approach him and pulled out a wire. He detonated the car and fled the place. The bombing caused big damages to about 50 shops, street vendors and 3 restaurants.

McClatchy Washington Bureau | 06/18/2007 | Round-up of daily violence, Monday 18 June 2007

The second car bomb exploded in al-Tameem district, southern Fallujah close to a busy market. The two bombings were almost simultaneous and appear to have been part of the same attack.

A bomb attack near a bridge in Al-Samoud Al Andalus west of Fallujah, killed a mother and her child and wounded three  others from the same family. The Americans and their green zone government allies have imposed a comprehensive curfew and ordered residents to stay in their homes.

Local residents said in the city of Hit, that the American forces arrested on Sunday one of the most wanted gunmen in Anbar governorate. Witnesses said he had left Hit (180 km west of Baghdad) four months ago, his departure coincided with a wave of arrests made by Iraqi police against armed groups in the city. The security situation in Hit is almost stable at present time.

The  body of the policeman in Fallujah abducted on his way home on Friday was found in Al Andalus on Sunday near the Farouq Mosque he had been shot.

At-Ta’mim (Kirkuk) Governorate

Three Katyusha rockets landed  in Kirkuk the first missile fell on a house in an area near the road to Baghdad close to Aziz Al-Bayati mosque in central Kirkuk the second and third births in the Ba’ath district near the Directorate of Civil Defense in central Kirkuk none resulted in a loss of human life.

Yesterday evening an attack by on a green zone government police patrol south of Kirkuk, killed one of the member of the patrol and wounded two others.

An explosive device exploded this morning under one of the high-voltage electricity towers near Miislon village which resulted in the collapse of parts of the tower. (The tower carries power from the power stations 35 km west of Kirkuk)

A policeman and a civilian were wounded by a bomb on an unpaved agricultural road near Al-Bashir village 25 km south of Kirkuk, the policeman was part of the village police contingent.

Gunmen opened fire on a police patrol in south Kirkuk at nine o’clock this evening which led to the death of one policeman and the wounding of two others.

Basra Governorate

Health authorities in Basrah are to mount a campaign to exterminate feral dogs following the death of two children in Basrah governorate ;from rabies. The campaign will involve laying poison and also a media campaign to warn citizens of the danger.

The repercussions of the bombing of the tomb of companion of The Prophet Talha Ibn Ubaid Ilah, in Al Zubair in Basrah governorate continue. The Tripartite Security Commission in the governorate of Basra has dismissed hundreds of officers and other ranks because of omissions in the performance of their duties. Brigadier Ali Ibrahim announced that more than three hundred and fifty members of the security services in Basrah were dismissed for neglect and dereliction of their duties  leading to many security breaches among the bombing of the companion of The Prophet’s tomb. ”Maj. Gen. Jalil Khalaf is the new police chief in Basrah.

The  headquarters of the British forces in Basrah was attacked at dawn today with a number of Katyusha rockets. The statement issued by the British added that the attack did not result in any injuries and that the missiles fell outside the headquarters without mentioning the number of such missiles.

Dahuk Governorate

Masoud Barzani President of the government of the Kurdistan region at a meeting in Dohuk governorate with a large number of Islamic clerics attended by a number of members of the political offices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party said that the Kurdish parties were not against amending the constitution if it did not diminish the gains of the people of Kurdistan

“…we are not against amending the Constitution but against those who want to amend the Constitution … especially with regard to article 140“

he said.

During the meeting he discussed the Kirkuk issue and said that all the historical documents proved Kirkuk was Kurdish and that a census would prove that also.

He also said that the killing of women  was a scourge that must be rooted out and that what he described as “these regrettable events”  went on daily he called upon the religious scholars to play their role in eliminating honour killings of women saying that it was their duty to do so as it was the duty of “everyone in Kurdistan.”

Dhi Qar Governorate

Armed clashes have broken out between between the Mahdi Army and green
zone government police forces in Nasiriyah Dhi Qar (Aswat Al Iraq Arabic) text below is from the English versionthere are no significant differences.

Armed clashes erupted between Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army militias and the Iraqi police in central Nassiriya, south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, eyewitnesses said on Monday.

No comments have been made by the Iraqi authorities so far and it is not know whether there were casualties resulting from the clashes.

A security source from Nassiriya police also said the commander of the special police forces had survived an assassination attempt on Sunday morning.

“An explosive device targeted the motorcade of Col. Naji Rustom on Koleyat el-Tarbiya street, overlooking the river Euphrates, wounding him and destroying the vehicle he was boarding,” the source, who did not want his name mentioned, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

The source discredited reports about Rustom’s severe injuries and his transfer to Basra province for treatment.

“The information we received affirms that Rustom’s injuries were slight and that he has already left the hospital,” the source said, adding the police found an unexploded charge at the scene.

Aswat Aliraq (English)

16:16: According to security sources the green zone government command Dhi Qar have issued strict orders to shoot upon every car carrying gunmen and at armed groups. The orders come at a time when the liveliest armed clashes are in the southern part of the city of Nasiriyah and have diminished in intensity in the northern part of the city.

Diyala Governorate

6 green zone government soldiers were killed, 16 wounded and six armoured transports set in flames in clashes near Khalis in fierce fighting between a military (they were a reinforcement force and were ambushed) column and gunmen. The engagement lasted for about five hours.

The car bomb in west Baqubah wounded 9 civilians 4 of them children.

Gunmen attacked a checkpoint near Khanaqin wounding five green zone government police.

Karbala Governorate

Permits allowing entry of vehicles to the old city centre will be issued exclusively by the police command in Karbala from now on. The governor ordered this today during a meeting of the Supreme Security Committee the change comes about as a result of the bombing of 28/4/2007. Previously permits were issued by a variety of bodies including the city council.

A major political row is developing between Karbala Governorate Council and the green zone government — the governorate council has refused to ratify the decision of the green zone government Ministry of Electricity removing the the Director of Electricity Distribution Karbala for corruption saying there was no indication that he was corrupt and that moreover his performance was superb.

Maysan Governorate

There has been a major engagement in Maysan Aswat Al Iraq’s Arabic report is here. Their English report is from here and is reproduced below: 

The U.S. army in Iraq said its forces killed at least 20 gunmen, wounded six and arrested another in a raid it said targeted “a terrorist cell” in Missan province.

“Coalition Forces killed at least 20 terrorists, wounded six suspected terrorists and detained one terrorist suspect during operations targeting Secret Cells operating in Amarah and Majjar al-Kabir on Monday morning,” read a U.S. statement received by the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
“The individuals detained during the raid are believed to be members of the secret cell terrorist network known for facilitating the transport of weapons and explosively-formed penetrators, or EFPs, from Iran to Iraq, as well as bringing militants from Iraq to Iran for terrorist training,” the statement added.
The statement also noted, “In coordination with the Government of Iraq, Coalition Forces conducted coordinated raids in Missan province in eastern Iraq. During the morning’s operations, Coalition Forces came under heavy small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenade attacks in both Amarah and Majjar al-Kabir.”
“Using appropriate escalation of force measures, ground forces were forced to use close air support to suppress the enemy fire. During the close air support, at least 20 terrorists were killed and six suspected terrorists were assessed to be wounded by the strafing. A vehicle being used by the terrorists as a fighting position was also destroyed by the close air support,” it read.
Amarah, the capital of Missan province, is 365 km southeast of Baghdad and has joint borders with Iran.
“Intelligence reports indicate that both Amarah and Majjar al-Kabir are known safe havens and smuggling routes for Secret Cell terrorists who facilitate Iranian lethal aid. Reports further indicate that Iranian surrogates, or Iraqis that are liaisons for Iranian intelligence operatives into Iraq, use both Amarah and Majjar al-Kabir as safe haven locations,” the U.S. statement added.

Aswat Aliraq

This is McClatchy’s report:

A fierce battle between Shiite militants and U.S.-led coalition forces that left at least 20 people dead and six wounded on Monday drew an angry response from local leaders in Maysan province, who said many of the dead were civilians.

… … …

In the south, the Maysan provincial council suspended its activities to protest the action, whose victims included three women and a child. Jamal al Alawi, a spokesman for the health directorate, said 17 people were killed and at least 36 were wounded.

The U.S. military denied that there were civilian casualties. Maliki approved the operation, said Maj. David Gell, a British military spokesman in Basra.

Witnesses said the battles began around 11 p.m. Sunday, but a spokesman for the British forces said the operations started about 2:30 a.m.

Residents said U.S. paratroopers landed in Amarah and Majjar al-Kabir, about 200 miles southeast of the capital, and battled with the Mahdi Army, the militia led by maverick Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr. The operation’s target was a “secret cell” of Shiite militants smuggling armor-piercing weaponry from Iran to Iraq and planting roadside bombs, Gell said. British troops supported the operation, and U.S. aircraft flew overhead and destroyed a vehicle used by the militants, a military statement said.

“Intelligence reports indicate that both Amarah and Majjar al-Kabir are known safe havens and smuggling routes for Secret Cell terrorists who facilitate Iranian lethal aid,” the military statement said.

Residents said helicopters attacked two homes where women and children slept. Images of young men with bandaged heads and chests aired on television.

Ahmed Shaybani, a Sadr official who was released from U.S. detention in March in hopes that he would be a moderate voice in the movement, condemned the raids. He denied that anyone was involved in smuggling Iranian weapons and said local men had fought off invading “Iraqi forces and occupation troops.”

They were celebrating their victory in the streets when U.S. aircraft hit the crowd, he said. Shaybani put the death toll at 34. He said only 16 were Mahdi Army militiamen.

In Najaf, a McClatchy special correspondent watched as men carried 28 coffins in a funeral procession to the Shiite cemetery, the Valley of Peace.

The U.S. military said they weren’t aware of any civilians being killed, and British forces said coalition troops only fired when fired upon.

“We know that there were women and children in the area, but we have no reports of them being killed,” U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Chris Garver said.

One resident in Amarah, who would only give his name as Hazim, said the Mahdi Army waited for the U.S. led-soldiers. As they approached the center of the city, the militiamen set off roadside bombs and opened fire. In Majjar al-Kabir, resident Majid Mohammed said helicopters buzzed over homes for hours and destroyed two houses before flying away.

Violence returned to Baghdad one day after the government lifted a curfew imposed in the wake of last week’s bombing at a Shiite shrine in Samarra.

… … …  [Read in full]

Najaf Governorate

In Najaf Sadruddin  al-Qubanchi, a leader in the Shiite Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC), formerly known as the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), condemned the attacks that targeted al-Ashra al-Mubashara mosque and the tomb of Talha Ibn Ubeid Illah. He accused the green zone government security apparatus and the “occupying forces” of being complicit in the attacks He said that the green zone government security apparatus has been “infiltrated,” and that green zone government  security forces and the occupying forces “watch the slaughter of Iraqis …… and then shake hands with terrorists behind the scenes,” he also accused some of Irak’s neighbours of sponsoring terrorism and providing terrorists with support and supplies.

Some 523 unidentified bodies, received from the freezers of a morgue in Baghdad , were buried in the Wadi al-Salam (Valley of Peace) cemetery in the holy Shiite province of Najaf, 160 km south of Baghdad, during the month of May 2007, an official said on Monday. “The bodies were of young people, women, children and the elderly victims of car bombs, explosive devices and assassinations,” Ahmed Deibal, the Najaf province media director, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). “The bodies were labeled and photographed before burial, in case relatives come to identify them in the future,” Deibal said, telling VOI that “499 unidentified bodies were buried in Wadi al-Salam during April 2007.” (Arabic Source) (English Source)

Ninawa Governorate

19:14
Three bodies found and Five civilians injured
According to a source fin Nineveh Police, that the Police found bodies of 3 brothers today 18/6/2007 in Al-Thawra district, west of the City of Mosul. All had been killed by bullets in the head and chest.
The same source also informed INA that 5 civilians were wounded today 18/6/2007 as a result violence in different parts of the City of Mosul. Among the wounded was a female child with her mother.
10:03
Two houses blown up in Mosul today 18/6/2007
According to eye witnesses unknown gunmen drove out the residents from their house in 17th Tammouze district, left bank of Mosul and then blew up the house. A similar incident was also reported today in Al-Tahreer district, also on the left bank of Mosul and blew up their houses.

Source: Mosul Observer الراصد الموصلي

Salah ad Din Governorate

An American armoured convoy was bombed twice on the main road Ad Duluiyah a Hummer was destroyed by the first of the bombs there are known to be American casualties Aswat Al Iraq quotes locals as saying they had seen the vehicle in flames. The second bomb targeted the convoy close to the scene of the first, it is not known what casualties the second bomb caused. The Americans are mounting a major operation in this district in which two days ago an American F-16 came down apparently brought down by ground fire from the group  known as the Islamic Army in Iraq.

Gunmen captured a number of Iraqi police in the al-Ishaqi area 100 km north of Baghdad and “took them to an unknown destination.”

Green zone government police said that two soldiers from the green zone government  army were killed in an attack by gunmen on a checkpoint in South Yathrib.

Wasit Governorate

Wasit Governorate Council has chosen as its new Chairman for the next three months. Jassim Mohammed Reza was elected President of the Council instead of Muhammad Khaz’al for the next three months after a vote by the 41 members representing different parties. The vote was 21 votes to 8, according to the rules of procedure, the presidency is held three months and can be renewed just once.

The Sadrist’s office in Wasit is demanding that the province’s government investigate the shooting dead of the office leader of the Sadrist office and the wounding of a worker in the office in Suwayrah last Thursday. [See: Reports From Irak June 15 2007 Summarised From Arabic under Wasit]

Aswat Al Iraq’s source said that such crimes and others carried out by the Americans could not be tolerated.  The Sadrists are demanding a timetable for the soldiers from the American army still trying to subjugate Irak to leave the country and are stalling the efforts of green zone government leader Maliki to appoint new ministers to his increasinly embattled regime. The Sadrist bloc holds the portfolios of health, agriculture, transport, Minister of State for the provinces, Civil society, State Tourism and Antiquities have 30 seats in the green zone “parliament”.

A major campaign to exterminate disease carrying animals is underway in Wasit governorate. Launching a campaign to exterminate the dogs loose throughout the governorate. [ — There have been several cases of rabies recently editors] Dr. Kazem Jbouri Dhiyab of the faculty of Veterinary Science said that the preliminary results of the campaign resulted in the extermination of loose 372 dogs. There is also a campaign to control brucellosis.

Recent English Language Reports From Al Zaman:

Wasit tribes sign pact to preserve security

Tribal chiefs in the southern Province of Wasit have signed a pact under which they have pledged to work for reinstating the rule of law in their areas…. more   18/06/2007

U.S.s journey to failure in Iraq

Not only former U.S. military commanders are certain that victory in Iraq is not tenable…. more   18/06/2007

Tensions rise in Kirkuk over Kurdish-held detainees

Arab tribes in the Province of Taameen of which the oil-rich city of Kirkuk is the capital have warned to kidnap Kurdish citizens unless Kurdish authorities released their Arab detainees…. more   17/06/2007

More sabotage acts target national grid

The ailing national grid, which is still struggling to boost generating output to pre-war levels, has been target of frequent acts of sabotage recently…. more   16/06/2007

Sadr and Sistani meet for first time in three years

Anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and the country’s top Shiite Ayatollah Ali Sistani had their first meeting in three years last week, a senior aide to Sistani said…. more   16/06/2007

Kurdish fighters deployed in restive province

Iraqi Kurdish fighters known as Peshmerga are increasingly involved in the current U.S.led military operations against armed groups in the country…. more   14/06/2007

National unity is needed in wake of Shiite shrine blast

The two golden minarets of the al-Askari shrine in Samarra one belonging to Imam Ali al-Hadi and the other to Imam al-Hassan al-Askari (peace be upon them) have once again been targets of a criminal aggression…. more   14/06/2007

Iraq to set aside oil money for refugees

The Foreign Ministry is considering a proposal to allocate part of the country’s oil revenues for Iraqi refugees in neighboring countries…. more   13/06/2007

Mclatchy Report:

Critics: Arming Sunni militias undercuts Iraqi government

By Nancy A. Youssef and Leila Fadel | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — A U.S. program to combat al-Qaida in Iraq by arming Sunni Muslims undercuts the Iraqi government and years of U.S. policy, and is a tacit acknowledgment that the country’s violence is really a civil war, some U.S. military officials in Washington and foreign policy experts say.

The program, which Bush administration officials have hailed as a sign of progress in Iraq, has sparked heated debate among military and foreign policy analysts. It is opposed by the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Supporters see it as a welcomed change in the American approach in Iraq, one whose benefits have been obvious in the drop in violence in Iraq’s Anbar province, where al-Qaida formerly held sway. They say it could give impetus to the Shiites and Kurds to make political concessions. » read more

Recent Reuters Reports:

1. Catholic priest kidnapped in Iraq released -report
   18 Jun 2007 18:55:39 GMT
   Source: Reuters
   ROME, June 18 (Reuters) - A Catholic priest has been released in Iraq after being kidnapped and held for ransom this month, the Rome-based Catholic news agency Misna said on Monday. Father …  Full article
2. Iraqi union leader urges opposition to oil law
   18 Jun 2007 18:55:08 GMT
   Source: Reuters
   By Claudia Parsons NEW YORK, June 18 (Reuters) - A proposed law regulating Iraq’s oil industry would foster U.S. “hegemony” over the world’s third largest oil reserves and Iraqi oil …  Full article
3. FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, June 18
   18 Jun 2007 18:12:53 GMT
   Source: Reuters
   June 18 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Iraq at 1800 GMT on Monday: * denotes new or updated item. * SAMARRA - A car bomb killed five Interior Ministry special forces …  Full article
4. Police chief of Iraqi city moved after mosque attacks
   18 Jun 2007 16:34:11 GMT
   Source: Reuters
   BASRA, Iraq, June 18 (Reuters) - Basra’s police chief has been transferred to a new post in the Interior Ministry, Iraqi officials said on Monday, just days after militants destroyed two Sunni mosques …  Full article
5. Police chief of Iraqi city moved after mosque attacks
   18 Jun 2007 16:34:11 GMT
   Source: Reuters
   BASRA, Iraq, June 18 (Reuters) - Basra’s police chief has been transferred to a new post in the Interior Ministry, Iraqi officials said on Monday, just days after militants destroyed two Sunni mosques …  Full article
6. FACTBOX-Military and civilian deaths in Iraq
   18 Jun 2007 16:10:59 GMT
   Source: Reuters
   June 18 (Reuters) - A U.S. soldier was killed by a roadside bomb while on foot patrol in the southern part of the capital, the U.S. military said on Monday. It did not make clear when the incident …  Full article
7. Commissions clear Dutch officers of Iraq abuse
   18 Jun 2007 15:56:32 GMT
   Source: Reuters
   By Harro ten Wolde THE HAGUE, June 18 (Reuters) - Dutch military investigators used cold water and noise to interrogate prisoners in Iraq in 2003 but two independent commissions found on Monday this …  Full article
8. FACTBOX-Sudan, Iraq top 2007 failed states index
   18 Jun 2007 15:40:01 GMT
   Source: Reuters
   June 18 (Reuters) - Sudan and Iraq topped an independent ranking of the world’s leading failed states released on Monday by Foreign Policy magazine and the Fund for Peace. The annual Failed States …  Full article
9. IRAQ: Threats, violence in Baghdad threaten new wave of displaced
   18 Jun 2007 15:25:47 GMT
   Source: IRIN
   Sunni families remaining in Shia neighbourhoods of Baghdad are being forced to flee their homes: A 72-hour deadline announced by militants for them to leave these areas or face death expires on 18 June.  Full article
10. U.S.-led forces kill 20 militants in south Iraq
    18 Jun 2007 15:00:02 GMT
    Source: Reuters
    (Adds Iraqi officials confirming broad Baghdad clampdown) By Dean Yates BAGHDAD, June 18 (Reuters) - U.S.-led coalition forces killed at least 20 militants after coming under heavy attack from Shi …  Full article
11. Bosnia court cuts jail terms for suicide bomb plan
    18 Jun 2007 14:37:57 GMT
    Source: Reuters
    (Changes number of those convicted in Denmark in last paragraph) SARAJEVO, June 18 (Reuters) - A Bosnian appeals court on Monday halved the jail terms for a Swede, a Turk and a Bosnian convicted of …  Full article
12. Turkey opens investigation into Iraq’s Barzani
    18 Jun 2007 14:05:07 GMT
    Source: Reuters
    (Adds PKK deaths, soldiers hurt, paragraph 8) DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, June 18 (Reuters) - Turkish state prosecutors opened an investigation on Monday into Masoud Barzani, head of the autonomous Kurdish …  Full article
13. Iraq now ranked second among world’s failed states
    18 Jun 2007 14:01:31 GMT
    Source: Reuters
    By David Morgan WASHINGTON, June 18 (Reuters) - Iraq has emerged as the world’s second most unstable country, behind Sudan, more than four years after President George W. Bush ordered the U.S. …  Full article
14. FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, June 18
    18 Jun 2007 13:49:55 GMT
    Source: Reuters
    June 18 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Iraq at 1330 GMT on Monday: * denotes new or updated item. BAGHDAD - U.S.-led coalition forces killed at least 20 militants after …  Full article
15. US official sees some progress on Iraq benchmarks
    18 Jun 2007 13:47:34 GMT
    Source: Reuters
    By Paul Tait BAGHDAD, June 18 (Reuters) - Iraq’s government, criticised by Washington for its slow progress on three key political benchmarks, could pass two of the laws by the end of July …  Full article
16. FACTBOX-Facts about world’s refugee population
    18 Jun 2007 13:04:50 GMT
    Source: Reuters
    June 18 (Reuters) - The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which marks World Refugee Day on June 20, says the global refugee population rose 14 percent last year, mainly due to a …  Full article
17. Newly empowered US Democrats draw wrath of voters
    18 Jun 2007 12:31:37 GMT
    Source: Reuters
    By Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON, June 18 (Reuters) - The new Democratic-led Congress is drawing the ire of U.S. voters upset with its failure to quickly deliver on a promise to end the Iraq …  Full article
18. IRAQ: Noor Muhammad, Iraq, “I was cooking for him but he was already dead”
    18 Jun 2007 12:16:16 GMT
    Source: IRIN
    When my son screamed my name, crying, I ran to the living room and saw his father lying on the ground with bullets in his body on an Iraqi TV channel. The presenter was saying that he was one of the victims of an exchange of fire between insurgents and Iraqi soldiers in Alawi District.  Full article
19. Turkey opens investigation into Iraq’s Barzani
    18 Jun 2007 11:55:05 GMT
    Source: Reuters
    DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, June 18 (Reuters) - Turkish state prosecutors opened an investigation on Monday into Masoud Barzani, head of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, whom Ankara suspects of …  Full article
20. FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, June 18
    18 Jun 2007 11:31:55 GMT
    Source: Reuters
    June 18 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Iraq at 1100 GMT on Monday: * denotes new or updated item. BAGHDAD - U.S.-led coalition forces killed at least 20 militants after coming …  Full article
21. FEATURE-Morning TV offers hopeful alternative to grim Iraq
    18 Jun 2007 11:10:03 GMT
    Source: Reuters
    By Aseel Kami BAGHDAD, June 18 (Reuters) - The “Good Morning Iraq” presenters chatted amiably in front of a scenic backdrop of Baghdad’s Tigris River. Just then a body floated into view …  Full article
22. Small fire in Iraq PM’s building, no one hurt -govt
    18 Jun 2007 09:16:21 GMT
    Source: Reuters
    BAGHDAD, June 18 (Reuters) - A small fire broke out on Monday in the building where Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has his office but the blaze was under control, a government spokesman said. …  Full article
23. FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, June 18
    18 Jun 2007 09:10:17 GMT
    Source: Reuters
    June 18 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Iraq at 0900 GMT on Monday: BAGHDAD - U.S.-led coalition forces killed at least 20 militants after coming under attack from Shi’ite gunmen …  Full article
24. Police, gunmen clash in Iraq’s south, 4 killed
    18 Jun 2007 08:38:58 GMT
    Source: Reuters
    BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least four people were killed and 54 wounded on Monday in clashes between gunmen loyal to cleric Moqtada al Sadr and police in the southern Shi’ite city of Nassiriya, hospital …  Full article
25. U.S.-led forces kill 20 militants in southern Iraq
    18 Jun 2007 06:36:30 GMT
    Source: Reuters
    (Adds details) BAGHDAD, June 18 (Reuters) - U.S.-led coalition forces killed at least 20 militants after coming under attack during a series of raids in southern Iraq overnight, the U.S. military …  Full article
26. COALITION FORCES KILL AT LEAST 20 MILITANTS IN OPERATION IN SOUT
    18 Jun 2007 06:16:52 GMT
    Source: Reuters
    BAGHDAD, June 18 (Reuters) - U.S.-led coalition forces killed at least 20 militants in a series of raids in southern Iraq overnight, the U.S. military said on Monday. It said the raids were carried …  Full article
27. FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, June 17
    17 Jun 2007 20:58:40 GMT
    Source: Reuters
    June 17 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Iraq at 2045 GMT on Sunday: * denotes new or updated item. * KIRKUK - A U.S. soldier was killed in an explosion in …  Full article
28. Top US general says his Iraq report will be candid
    17 Jun 2007 17:46:56 GMT
    Source: Reuters
    (adds McConnell, Crocker quotes, paragraphs 7-8, 13-14) WASHINGTON, June 17 (Reuters) - The top U.S. commander in Iraq said on Sunday he will have a good idea in September how well the troop …  Full article