Gorilla’s Guides

Summary:

Below the fold we also publish a major feature on attempts to ameliorate the desperate electricity situation in Irak. If the green zone government can’t improve this situation citizen discontent already close to boiling point will become overwhelming. Al-Fora TV tracked down the minister responsible to “one of the finest hotels in Kuwait City” and questioned him there.  At the end of our report there is also a major report from McClatchy - required reading in the light of the Al Mansour bombing. (See also the report from Al-Melaf.)

• 13129 malformed children have been born in Iraq in the last five years. — See immediately preceding posting.
• The Sadrists have refused to call off their planned march on Sammara.
• A major bombing in Baghdad has lead to the death and wounding of several tribal sheikhs.
• Reprisal attacks have already taken place the green zone government government interior ministry has frantically contacted tribal leaders to ask them to try to stop the situation escalating.
• The Americans continue to besiege al-Adhamiyah.
• The Americans have once again attacked Sadr city.
• The body of the 10th brigade intelligence officer kidnapped on Sunday has been found.
• Despite completion of a bypass to replace the bombed bridge the situation both in Kirkuk and Mosul deteriorated further.
• A closed meeting of Dhi Qar governorate council to to defuse the crisis between the Mahdi Army and the security forces in the governorate broke up acrimoniously.
• It is now clear that the assassination campaign is back in full swing - the gunmen have learnt how to work around the “surge”
• At least one and possibly two columns have been ambushed in Basrah.

Quote of the Day:

After 4 years of illegal, violent Occupation the post-invasion excess deaths in Occupied Iraq total ONE MILLION (UN Population Division and medical literature data). Taken together with 1.7 million excess deaths in the 1990-2003 Sanctions War (UN Population Division) and 3.7 million Iraqi refugees (UNHCR), this constitutes an Iraqi Genocide (as defined by the UN Genocide Convention) and an Iraqi Holocaust in comparison with the WW2 Jewish Holocaust (5-6 million victims). The Iraqi under-5 infant deaths (1990-2007) now total 1.8 million, 90% having been avoidable and due to Western war crimes. Total Iraqi excess deaths (1990-2007) total 2.7 million. The post-invasion excess deaths in Occupied Afghanistan now total 2.2 million (see MWC News: 5 ). Three quarters of the people of Occupied Iraq and Occupied Afghanistan  are Women and Children – the Bush War on Terror is in horrible reality a cowardly War on Women and Children, a War on Asian Women and Children and a War on Muslim Women and Children. 

MWC News - A Site Without Borders - - Iraqis Massacre Continues…

Reports From Baghdad

The Sadrist movement have rejected calls for the postponement of the “million man” march to Samara to protest the bombing of the Golden Shrine. Sheikh Bashar al-Faydi spokesman for the Association of Muslim Scholars, told Reuters (Arabic) that he would “plead with them at this sensitive stage to “creep” around Samarra. … such a move at this time would be inappropriate and dangerous” … (saying that) “residents would interpret it as an invasion of their city.”

A massive bomb detonated by a suicide bomber in the heavily guarded Al Mansour hotel in Al Kharkh (Western side of the river). Killed 12 people and left scores injured. The hotel is very heavily guarded and has stringent security precautions. The force of the blast was such that rescuers found 5 bodies “caked to their seats” according to Nahrain.com’s report.

Major General Ali Hamid, member of the leadership of joint operations who works in the Office of the Adjutant General of the green zone government armed forces was among the wounded he is described as having been seriously lacerated. The security guards of the hotel, among them members of the police have been arrested.

“The names of (five) tribal chiefs who were killed in the blast are: Sheikh Fesal al-Kaaood, one of al-Bounamr tribe’s sheikhs, Sheikh Tareq al-Essafi of al-Bouasaf tribe, Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Fahdawi of al-Bofahd, Sheikh Hussein al-Shaalan al-Khezaai of Khuzaa tribe and Sheikh Aziz al-Yaseri of al-Bouyasser tribe,” a police source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

“A number of tribal chiefs were wounded in the attack, including Sheikh Ali Khaliefa, Sheikh Ryah al-Elwani and Sheikh Daham al-Ubeidi,” the source added.
A police source said earlier that the death toll from the suicide bomb attack had risen to 12 dead, including six tribal chiefs.

The official al-Iraqi satellite television also said that Poet Rahim al-Maliki, a program producer and presenter for the TV channel, was among them.

“The bomber was wearing an explosive belt and blew himself up inside a hall where leaders of clans from the Sunni province of Anbar were meeting,” a police source said.
A spokesman for the U.S. army said that “preliminary reports assert the killing of six tribal chiefs.”

Sources various including: Aswat Aliraq (English) and the Arabic report here

Following the Mansour Hotel bombing armed clashes took place between Sunni militias and tribesmen. Green zone government Ministry of the Interior officials are making contacts with a number of tribal leaders to urge them to take control of the situation to prevent the clashes becoming tribal feuds. In a related story Al Melaf point out that the American initiative of arming tribesmen is unconstitutional.

Sheikh Dulaimi a leader of the powerful tribe in Al-Anbar said in an interview that there are differences between various Sunni forces. Dulaimi said in an interview to journalists after the explosion, that differences occurred recently between Sunni forces and that these had reached the level of fighting, and assassination operations, including the recent operation. Dulaimi refused to divulge the name of these forces. [Readers will recall the recent operation in Baghdad involving fighters allied with the Americans and that their leader said he had infiltrated what he described as “plain clothes agents” to carry out targeted assassinations. Note to American readers — failed attempts at “divide and rule” lead to something called “blowback” the Dulaimi’s are a very large and powerful tribe they also have a well earned reputation for being warlike. Once they find who ordered the actual bombing they are likely to vent their displeasure on the root cause of the feud arising.]

The U.S. siege of Adhamiyah is continuing for the fifth day in a row, local residents said on Monday to the independent Iraki newsagency Aswat Al Iraq (Voices of Iraq) . U.S. forces are intensively patrolling the streets calling, through loudspeakers on residents to hand over the gunmen in the area who blew up a blew up a U.S. vehicle and attacked green zone government army checkpoint in Anter square last Wednesday.

Residents can only enter or leave on foot, electricity has been off in the neighborhood since Wednesday, while areas of Raghiba Khaton, Salik Street and Omar bin Abdul-Aziz street have been suffering from a severe shortage in water supply.

Meanwhile in Sadr city — U.S. force have killed two civilians in one of their by now nightly attacks on Sadr City

“The attack occurred during the early hours of Monday in the 70^th and 71^st sectors of the main street of Abu Zhar al-Ghafari, where the U.S. helicopters pounded two houses, killing two civilians and severely wounding a woman,” an eyewitness from the city, whose house was hit by some shrapnel, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

Gunmen clashed with the U.S. forces in the area and the Americans fired back in clashes that lasted for two hours, he said.
Another witness told VOI that the U.S. attack set seven civilian vehicles ablaze, adding the bombing and clashes caused panic amongst civilians in Sadr City.

U.S. aircraft are attacking residential sections in Sadr City on a nearly daily basis, usually taking place after midnight, the witness indicated

Aswat Aliraq (English) the Arabic report is here 

16 unidentified corpses were found in Baghdad.

Gunmen assassinated Monday, an official of the municipal council of the city of Latifiyah in an armed attack south of Baghdad. Assassinations such as this have returned,  “resurged” to coin a phrase, after a period of limited interruption which coincided with the first weeks of the beginning of the current set of American military operations in Baghdad and the surrounding governorates.

Al Fora have published the full transcript of the interview by Iranian news agency Mehr with Abdul Aziz al-Hakim in Tehran you can find the transcript here. 

Reports From The Governorates

The following are developments in the governorates:

Al Anbar Governorate

See report on Mansour bombing above.

See report from McClatchy at end of posting. 

At-Ta’mim (Kirkuk) Governorate

An alternative corridor for drivers on the Baghdad-Kirkuk route has been established. The Ztigon bridge which was destroyed in a bombing attack earlier this month connected Kirkuk to its hinterland and Baghdad to the northern governorates. In a “crash” construction project American and green zone government military engineers have completed an 800 metre long bypass through Hawalli - constructing the bypass took 5 days.

In Kirkuk that gunmen opened fire on green zone government police patrol, killing a policeman and wounding three others.

Two green zone government police were injured in a bomb attack targeting a police patrol in center of Kirkuk. (End)

Babil Governorate

Armed men kidnapped a young man near Musayyib (40 km north of Hillah) he was freed after a chase that lasted more than an hour. An American hummer was destroyed by a bomb. There are known to be casualties.

Basra Governorate

The body of the lieutenant colonel who worked as the assistant intelligence officer of the Tenth Brigade of the green zone government army in Basrah who was kidnapped on Sunday morning has been found.

The British bases and the Joint coordination centre came under mortar fire.

Three mercenaries (”foreign security contractors”) were killed in an ambush on a “private security” convoy near Zubair, about 15 km south-west of Basra armed men attacked the convoy one vehicle was destroyed .  The attack included bomb explosions at least one was planted on the road. There are unconfirmed reports that Shiite militias performed the attack. Eyewitnesses in the town of Zubair said that a convoy of the British tanks coming from the town of Safwan on the border with Iran was ambushed. They said that the column was composed of four tanks, and most of them were destroyed. (This may be the same incident but I don’t think so - Saba).

Three major plants:

1. The chemical fertilizer plant in Abu al-Khasib which is now operating at half capacity.
2. The Company for Petrochemical Industries, 35 km west of Basra, which was intended to take advantage of a million tons of natural gas to produce petrochemicals products with industrial uses, such as plastic granules, liquid chlorine and agricultural sheeting, which is partly stalled at the present time because of the destruction of some divisions.
3. And the iron and steel plant in  Khor Al-Zubair 45 km west of Basra, which has stalled because of a lack of raw materials, lack of maintenance, looted and vandalised and equipment was after the events of 2003, in addition to equipment limitations.

have been put up for investment by Iraki and/or foreign investors.

Dhi Qar Governorate

Nasiriyah News Network says there are conflicting reports about whether green zone government forces have captured a senior Mahdi army commander in the governorate. Security sources say yes, eyewitnesses say he escaped while being treated in hospital for injuries. The fighting last week between the two sides claimed the lives of dozens of dead and injured mostly unarmed civilians the network reports. A closed meeting of Dhi Qar governorate council to discuss the initiative launched by the Council, which aimed to defuse the crisis between the Mahdi Army and the security forces in the governorate, was held this morning. Agreement has still not been reached on the governor’s demand that the Jaish Al Mahdi withdraw their some of their weaponry (rocket launchers (RPG) and sniper weapons and mortar launchers) from the governorate. Clan elders are trying to ensure a resolutions but verbal altercations between a number of clan elders led to the cancellation of the conference.

Meanwhile green zone government soldiers and dozens of armored vehicles went to the scene of the clashes last week (30 km south of Nasiriyah) analysts say they expect them to try carry out an arrest campaign.

The security failures last week have led to a purge of green zone government police commanders in the governorate.

The Religious Sciences School of Nasiriyah founded in 1945 by Ayatollah Sheikh Abbas Khoeberawi which after his death was sponsored by Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir Nasseri, and was shut down in the late 1970s by the Saddam Hussein regime now has 250 students divided into daytime and evening Duamin, after completing the exams in the school students can proceed to Najaf. Full report and photo reportage here.

Diyala Governorate

Green zone government officials have promised to try bridge the shortfall in food available to residents of Diyala due to the current American campaign there they say they have plans for distribution of rations once an area has been cleared.

Karbala Governorate

Tribal leaders and sheikhs in Karbala were briefed on the new measures being implemented to protect the Shrines and the city. Stricter security measures are to be imposed.  especially in the areas surrounding the Shrines.  Non14.com’s report points out that there are 7 specialist  committees seeking to support local government in terms of providing  information, and help and assistance and to promoting security and service to the city of Karbala. The report concludes by saying:

“It will be recalled that the work of those committees which have been formed will be as a coordinating body and not to interfere in the affairs of the security services or local government, officials maintain”

This later report from Al Malaf confirms what we have reported previously. That the city is open to attack (from the north from the Jurf al-Shakhr and from the west leading to the Saudi border) . As we have also reported the measures to be taken include agreed to digging a trench (42 meters long, from the Razzaza to the Musayyib), there are concerns about refugees in the city having been infiltrated, the possibility of mortar attacks, car bombs, and aerial drones, the security measures being developed include observatories and weapons mounted on hotels rooves and other vantage point. Hotel owners who do not agree to allow their emplacement now face police investigation, as we also noted previously vehicle permits will now only be issued by the police. 

Maysan Governorate

Residents of Abu Rumana in Amarah are complaining about lack of water and the continued lack of essential services, particularly municipal services. Some citizens do not receive water until after midnight, others complained that the sewerage system does not work. In response to complaints from citizens, the head of public relations at the Central Municipal Council said that a number of companies began implementing three service projects in the region.

Detachments of Directorate of Police Rescue Unit Maysan rescued a kidnap victim who lives in the governorate of Baghdad after a high speed chase of the kidnappers vehicle.

Muthanna Governorate

Property disputes in Muthanna governorate with compensation for property confiscated during the former regime are to be resolved according to this report. 22 property owners will be compensated “soon”, 44 have had their properties returned to them. 580 out of 1825 cases have been adjudicated over the last 4 years. The total compensation is for the real estate, not additions and repairs carried out by the citizen.

Ninawa Governorate

18:24
US Army helicopters shells residential district in Mosul

According to Nineveh Police, US Army helicopters shelled this Al-Mattahin districts, west side of Mosul today. One civilians was killed and another one injured in the shelling. The reason behind the the shelling is not known

Parade of Gunmen in Mosul

According to eye witnesses, armed men in 25-30 cars carrying various types of weapons paraded in Al-Noor, Al-Qadisiya and Al-Tahreer districts of Mosul. They gunmen were shouting religious slogans

Four bodies received by Forensic pathology in Mosul

An official spokesman from the Hospital of Forensic Pathology in Mosul stated that 4 unidentified bodies were received by the hospital today 25/6/2007. 
Mortars fall on Al-Ba’aaj Borough, Nineveh.

The Sub-Governor of Al-Ba’aj Borough stated to INA that 15 mortars fell on the borough today 25/6/2007 causing material damages only. The shells had the Arabic letters which can be read a Syrian Arab Republic.

14:09
Armed clashes in Mosul

According to a spokesman from Nineveh Police that armed confrontations between unknown gunmen and the Iraqi Police took place in Mosul Al-Jadeeda district, south part of Mosul. Two civilians were wounded.

10:12
A military unit arrests a secondary school student in Mosul today.

According to eye witnesses, a military unit led by an officer in the rank of colonel arrested today a secondary school student from Al-Risala Secondary School in after in Al-Muthanna district, in Mosul’s left bank. The student had just finished his exams.

08:35
Car bomb in Mosul today 25/6/2007

A car bomb exploded this morning Monday 25/6/2007 in Bab Al-Jadeed, centre of Mosul killing one civilian and wounding 20 others, according to an official spokesman.

Source: Mosul Observer الراصد الموصلي

Three Iraqi civilians were killed and some 22 others injured in a car bomb explosion today in the city of Mosul.

Salah ad Din Governorate

The death toll from the suicide bomber attack on the police department in Baiji is now as follows:

27 dead of whom 13 were police, 62 wounded of whom 24 were police. (Earlier tolls put the numbers at 20 and 50) The present toll is expected to rise as many of the wounded are in serious condition. A large part of the building collapsed when bomber detonated his payload of fuel tanks surrounding buildings were also badly damaged. Furthermore in conjunction with the explosion dozens of gunmen attacked a group of the American forces in the main street near the Fattah mosque in the centre of the city, resulting in the burning of at least one American military vehicle.

Feature: There will be 12 hours of electricity for citizens in July — Minister

Al Fora have published both a summary and a long account of their interview with the green zone government Minister for Electricity.The interview took place “in one of the finest hotels in Kuwait City” and the atmosphere became noticeably heated when the interview told him he was accused of cutting off electricity to the people of Irak, and asked him if he was planning to take up residence in Kuwait.

The interview cites Iraki decreased electricity production — down to 3800 MW from 4300, before the assumption of the ministry, and points out that the actual demand might exceed 6000. Electricity fails in some areas more than 24 hours a day (!) .

Under the rubric “The accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty” they asked him to defend himself from the charge. The minister said that the problem was to move beyond the development of electric power before the fall of the previous regime and that this important sector had not had genuine care and attention during the years that followed. There had been no plan for the repair and rehabilitation of the electricity network. And that the first order was placed by the ministry since he had assumed the task of overhauling the network. The current shortfall in production was due, among other reasons, to the fact that he had stopped production at some stations to allow completion of maintenance and plant rehabilitation. Once this process was completed electricity situation in the country would improve.

I said to him : When? He said : first month of July. I said to him : “What will happen on that date exactly? He said : it would be possible to provide citizens with electricity for 12 hours. I asked him : Are you willing to take responsibility for this claim? [Do you want it] announced to readers in Irak? He said with the same high degree of confidence : Yes. Inshallah. [This is a reference to the Minister’s demeanour at the start of the interview - editors]

He said that the the value of the work was billion with $ 300 million to repair the electrical network with this work to be done between June 15 to July 1. And that:

We will continue to develop the network and upgrade it at a financial cost of up to four billion dollars annually over the next three years, a total of 12 billion dollars.

He said that he had introduced a detailed plan for the rehabilitation of the electricity industry in Iraq, and set 2010 as the deadline for the recovery of the electric power industry.

The plan is ambitious and promising, and Al Fora was supposed to get a photocopy of the following day, the minister promised to arrange this,

But it seems that circumstances prevented the provision, and I was determined to inform readers about it.

قناة الفرات الفضائية

Analysis:

Al Fora correctly point out that the problem with the ambitious plan is that there are factors that do not fall under the disposal of the minister.  These factors are :

1. Armed militias continue to attack power plants, transportation and fuel pipelines, in a clear plan specifically designed to deprive Baghdad of electricity.
2. The lack of availability of fuel, not because of shortfalls in the Oil Ministry, but because of the targeting of fuel pipelines and tankers.
3. Red tape is delaying and impeding the work of the Ministry in some cases.

McLatchy Report:

`Marching towards the edge of a valley’ A U.S. ally in Iraq is murdered

Mohammed al Dulaimy and Hannah Allam | McClatchy Newspapers

last updated: June 25, 2007 08:24:36 PM

`Marching towards the edge of a valley’

A U.S. ally in Iraq is murdered

BAGHDAD _More than two years ago, Sheik Fasal al Gaood approached the U.S. military with what was then an unprecedented offer: His tribesmen were prepared to help American troops rout insurgents linked to al Qaida from Anbar province in western Iraq.

But the Sunni Muslim tribal leader and former provincial governor met one rebuff after another from American officers, he told McClatchy Newspapers at the time. Discouraged and angry, he warned that U.S. officers risked losing him as an ally.

The Americans eventually came around, and al Gaood renewed his offer. He helped turn some of Anbar’s most prominent Sunni tribes into a force in the war against al Qaida’s followers. That high-stakes partnership may have cost him his life: Al Gaood and 11 other Iraqis were killed Monday in a bombing at a Baghdad hotel where tribal sheiks who’ve joined forces with the U.S. were scheduled to meet.

“This is not about Qaida. This is a security breach and recklessness, and it is beyond al Qaida,” said Ali Hatem Ali al Sulaiman, a leader of the powerful Dulaim tribe of Anbar. “This attack was about killing any patriot who speaks for Iraq and cares about this country.”

In his last interview with McClatchy, three weeks ago in the hotel lobby where he died Monday, al Gaood alluded to internecine trouble brewing in Anbar. He was keenly aware that his life was in peril, saying that his home outside the provincial capital of Ramadi had been destroyed, his cars burned and five of his bodyguards slain by al Qaida.

“Iraq is marching towards the edge of a valley,” al Gaood said. “Daily killings, kidnappings and bodies in the street.”

He lounged on a red sofa, a pack of Marlboros always within reach. As usual, he wore a politician’s tailored suit instead of the flowing robes favored by more traditional tribal leaders. And when talk turned to controlling Iraq, al Gaood supported strongmen and brute force over his American allies’ visions of democracy.

“We should behead anyone who does a terrorist attack in Anbar,” he said.

Al Gaood’s story mirrors the war itself — a series of shifting alliances, missed opportunities and lives ended in murky circumstances. As of late Monday, al Qaida hasn’t claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing on the Internet message boards it typically uses, leading some tribal leaders to wonder whether another enemy might have targeted the meeting.

Possible suspects range from Shiite groups such as the Mahdi Army to al Gaood’s tribal comrades, who’d accused him of dealing behind their backs. News reports quoted at least one member of the Salvation Council, the group of tribal leaders who’ve pledged to hunt insurgents with ties to al Qaida, as saying that al Gaood and the other sheiks who were killed Monday had been dismissed from the group because of side deals they made with the Shiite-led Iraqi government.

Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, the head of the Anbar Awakening, another tribal confederation helping to fight al Qaida and its allies, told Iraq’s Sharqiya television channel that authorities were investigating the possibility that explosives planted in the heavily guarded hotel had caused the blast, not a walk-in suicide bomber, as was initially reported.

But even Abu Risha’s group wasn’t immune to finger-pointing, and Anbar residents noted that the partnership between his Awakening group and al Gaood’s Salvation Council had begun to unravel. Members reportedly clashed over the use of torture and allegations of corruption.

Al Gaood was no stranger to going against the grain — he’d been imprisoned and two of his brothers were killed under Saddam Hussein’s rule. Al Gaood said they’d been accused of plotting a coup to topple the dictator, who always considered his country’s deep-rooted tribes a threat to his regime.

After Saddam’s ouster in 2003, the restive Anbar province became the birthplace of the Sunni insurgency and a deadly battleground for U.S. forces. While other Anbar tribesmen joined local resistance groups, al Gaood accepted the dangerous job as the province’s U.S.-appointed governor. He remained in his post even as U.S. Marines flattened large swaths of his territory in 2004.

Al Gaood lost his position when elections in January 2005 ushered in rival Sunni politicians from the Iraqi Islamic Party. Although out of a job, his tribal credentials ensured that he remained a key player in Anbar negotiations.

In early 2005, al Gaood became one of the first Sunni leaders to propose that the U.S. military enlist Anbar tribes to strike at al Qaida. He considered it a way to give jobs and a sense of purpose to his disgruntled followers, while isolating the foreign fighters streaming across the border from Syria.

High-ranking Iraqi officials, including the deputy defense minister, a Kurd, confirmed at the time that tribes were tentatively offering to join forces with U.S. and Iraqi troops. Al Gaood said his and other influential tribes approved of an offensive called Operation Matador, which was intended to uproot al Qaida from western towns along the border with Syria.

The results were disastrous, al Gaood told McClatchy in May 2005, at the end of the offensive. The sheik said that locals had razed insurgent safe houses and set up checkpoints to keep al Qaida militants from fleeing ahead of the offensive. But when 1,000 U.S. Marines stormed the area, al Gaood said, they didn’t distinguish friend from foe, and several tribesmen were killed in the fighting.

“The Americans were bombing whole villages and saying they were only after the foreigners,” he said. “An AK-47 can’t distinguish between a terrorist and a tribesman, so how could a missile or tank?”

(EDIOTRS: STORY CAN END HERE)

Bitterly disappointed with the Americans and facing growing anger from his constituents, al Gaood embarked on a life on the run. He hopped from Baghdad hotels to Anbar retreats to neighboring Jordan, always traveling with a phalanx of trusted bodyguards.

Whether he was an opportunist eager for the rewards of American friendship, a patriot dedicated to cleansing al Qaida from his area or both, al Gaood didn’t abandon his tribal strategy for restoring calm to Anbar. In November 2006, about 18 months after his initial offer to the Americans, al Gaood was instrumental in the formation of the Anbar Salvation Council.

U.S. military officers have since praised the group, repeatedly holding it up as a model for other Iraqi tribes, even though they privately worry that such vigilante groups will undermine the progress toward an inclusive, national Iraqi military.

(Baghdad bureau chief Leila Fadel contributed reporting from Amman. Al Dulaimy, a special correspondent, reported from Baghdad. Allam reported from Cairo.)

McClatchy Newspapers 2007

McClatchy Washington Bureau | 06/25/2007 | `Marching towards the edge of a valley’ A U.S. ally in Iraq is murdered