Reports From Irak August 2nd 2007
Green Zone Posturing:
Maliki and Bush spoke by closed circuit television. Bush told Maliki that everything was a great success Maliki agreed.
Meanwhile In Diyala
Iraki Red Crescent Society workers prepare to bury 40 bodies left unclaimed for the last two months at the central morgue in Baqubah.
Gordon Brown, Tony Blair’s replacement as British Prime Minister as poodle in chief wrote to his Iraki counterpart asking if the biscuits doled out by Bush always tasted of turd and assuring him of his “support”. The Maliki pooch said to the outgoing British Ambassador to the green zone to tell the Blair replacement that they generally tasted worse than that and thanked him for caring. Maliki also met the American war criminal Petraeus and the American Ambassador viceroy who patted him and told him everything was going really well and to wait outside while they decided what to do next.
The green zone government defense ministry denied reports that General Babacar Zebari and nine of his officers resigned their commissions on Tuesday over policy differences. The reports appeared in Kudish media - general Zebari is a Kurd.
Maliki (as well as going to Tehran - see yesterday’s report) is scheduled to visit the Turkish capital of Ankara to discuss “matters of mutual interest”. What Maliki is most interested in is that the Turks have a large army on the border and have been shelling PKK positions as well as conducting snatch raids across the border to the displeasure of his Kurdish separatist allies. The green zone government sent a note of protest to the Turks about this - the Turks were so impressed that they continued shelling and mounted further raids. Readers are invited to judge for themselves how impressed the Turkish government and army are likely to be by the presence of Nouri Al Maliki and his “iron fists” in their capital.
Iyad Allawi’s bloc is considering quitting the green zone government headed by Nouri Al Maliki. They are the 4th largest bloc in the green zone “parliament.” Kurdish separatist politician and green zone government “president” President Jalal Talabani, said that he was going to start a new and comprehensive round of talks to find a way out of the current crisis. He said this during his meeting with the outgoing British ambassador to the green zone government who successfully did not fall asleep while Talabani was going through his tired old routine.
Two employees of the green zone government Interior Ministry are sentenced to 15 years in prison after they were convicted on charges of embezzling money. The amounts they embezzled were 598 million and 516 thousand dinars.
Reports From Baghdad & Environs
Security incidents in Baghdad and the governorates are after the jump.
A group of armed men forced their way into the home of a businessman in al-Hayy al-Sinaie in al-Wahda, (south Baghdad) they stabbed him to death in front of his family and took away his four sons setting fire to the family car as they left. (Editors note: The police say they don’t know the motive - in all previous such cases a very large ransom has been demanded and paid.)
A sniper shot dead a civilian in al Sanak market (in the part beside al Khilani Square) this morning. The market was crowded at the time and there were scenes of panic among traders and customers who have been attacked repeatedly. The market is a mixed retail and light industrial zone and one of the most important in Baghdad.
Two US invader soldiers were killed and ten others were wounded in an “indirect” fire attack on Tuesday. (Task Force Marne operates in Baghdad.) Bringing the number of American invaders killed in Irak in July to 80.
A high-level officials working in the green zone government Ministry of Industry was killed Thursday afternoon in Baghdad. Qasim Hussein al-Jabouri was attacked by gunmen in Sadoun Street on his way to the ministry.
24 unidentified bodies were recovered in Baghdad 13 in al Karkh and 11 in al Rusafa.
A bomb exploded near the Business Administration college in Waziriyah (northern Baghdad,) killing one civilian and injuring another.
Reports From The Governorates
All I have time for tonight - Omar.
Al Anbar Governorate
Dozens Poisoned By Fake Relief Workers?
Editor’s note: Xinhua’s reports are normally very reliable as they use local reporters. We have been unable to cross check this report.
RAMADI, Iraq, July 31 (Xinhua) — Dozens of Iraqis were transferred to hospitals in the capital of Anbar province after eating suspected toxic foodstuffs distributed as part of relief efforts, a provincial police source said on Tuesday.
“Dozens of families in Ramadi, and five other nearby towns, were transferred to hospitals on Monday after apparently being poisoned by toxic foodstuffs,” the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
The relief foodstuffs had been distributed by unknown groups of men to poor families earlier in the day in the violence-laden province, the source said.
The exact number of victims were not available yet, said the source, adding that some of the victims were in critical conditions.
Residents in the city, some 110 km west of Baghdad, often blame al-Qaida group in Iraq for deadly attacks after rifts emerged between Sunni tribes and al-Qaida’s militants.
Al-Qaida’s adherence to a hardline form of Sunni Islam, indiscriminate and mass killings have brought it into conflict with some Sunni tribes in the Anbar and other Iraqi areas.
At-Ta’mim (Kirkuk) Governorate
(Editors note: the child was most likely with his brothers to bring them water as they worked in the fields. Some reports say that they were working as construction labourers on a new police station, this doesn’t match with any of the other information from locals, and those reports also get the child’s age wrong. After further checking We have discounted them as being inaccurate.
The bodies of the five brothers who worked as agricultural day labourers that were kidnapped on their way to work in al-Rashaad southwest of Kirkuk have been found. All had been tortured before being shot. Their five year old brother who had been kidnapped along with them was found by residents wandering near on the main road near al-Yourgon close to the bodies in a distressed condition and led them to the bodies.
A bomb detonated near a green zone government army patrol in al-Awashrah 35 km west of Kirkuk killing one soldier.
Three civilians were wounded by a mortar that landed inside a a military uniforms and supplies shop in the Old Courts central Kirkuk. (Update KUNA A bomb targeted a green zone government army patrol near Al-Awashra village on the Kirkuk-Beji road west of the city killing one soldier. Another bomb targeted a car escorting the deputy police commissioner in Tarik Baghdad in Kirkuk. No casualties.)
Basra Governorate
An American soldier was killed and two others were wounded in an explosion in Basrah. A British helicopter destroyed a number of rockets in al-Latief, north of Basrah on Thursday morning, the joint coordination center in al-Hakimiya (Basrah city centre) came under its daily attack by gunmen both the British bases in the presidential palace and the one in the airport underwent their nightly shelling by mortar and katyusha. Update: One green zone government policeman was wounded by a mortar shell during the attack on the JCC 4 cars were also destroyed by the shell.
500 protesters cut the main Baghdad-Basrah highway outside the generating station 20Km north of the city of Basra. The demonstration ended peacefully. The green zone government government has allocated more than 40 billion to improve the electric grid in Basrah the projects are behind schedule and over cost and have not improved the electricity service in the governorate.
Diyala Governorate
The state run TV Channel is running a story saying that green zone government forces killed the “defense minister” of the so-called Islamic State of Irak in Diyala. The report gives no supporting detail. This report from Aswat Al Iraq seems to confirm it. According to the report of a telephone conversation with a green zone government officer in the defense ministry the soldiers did not know who it was who had been killed. They only found out when they asked locals in Baquba why they were celebrating and were told that they had killed the “defense minister” of the so-called Islamic State of Irak . The body is now undergoing forensic tests to determine identity.
A suicide bomber rammed a police recruiting station in the town of Hibhib, near Baquba 15 people were killed and 17 wounded. The dead include six police and 7 jobseekers. Hibhib has been a particular focus of the “arrow ripper” U.S. offensive in the governorate.
Ninawa Governorate
A bomb targeting an American patrol south east of Mosul exploded without causing any casualties. The same report says that one civilian was killed and 4 others wounded by a mortar shell that landed close to the hospital area west Mosul.
Two suicide bombers attacked near Tal Afar Youth Center 70 km west of Mosul) . The first bomber killed two people one a civilian the other a green zone government policeman and wounded 22 civilians. The second bomber who was driving a VW (one of the Brazilian ones) in the same area was detected and shot dead before reaching his target. His belt exploded when he was shot without killing or injuring anyone other than himself.
Salah ad Din Governorate
In Balad a child was killed and 6 wounded by a mortar shell that landed in al-Hussein district (north part of Balad.) The same report says that two mortar shells landed near the shrine of Sayyed Mohammed bin Ali al-Hadi in Zahraa district a place of pilgrimage to Shia devotees, either the shrine itself or the nearby American base (paliwoda) could have been the target of the second attack .
The curfew in Samarra that we reported yesterday has lightened somewhat. Residents are permitted to move around in their neighbourhoods but not outside them. The city is effectively sealed off and water food and medical supplies are being prevented from entering the city. A 1000 extra green zone government troops led by their American masters are now engaged in an intensive series of raids allegedly to rid the city of “al-Qaeda”. No doubt the residents are astonished to learn that they have so many “al Qaeda” fighters magically appear in their midst. The earth barriers around the city and between parts of the city are being used to prevent all movement. Even medical emergency personnel are finding it hard to get through the checkpoints.
What locals are describing as very violent clashes took place between green zone government government troops and gunmen on the Baghdad - Mosul highway close to Ishaki. The result of the engagement which lasted an hour was the setting on fire of two green zone government armoured vehicles. The same report says the Americans have launched a campaign of raids and searches in the village of Ad Duluiyah on Thursday afternoon and detained 18 people suspected of armed actions aimed at the American forces.
Indexed under: Al Anbar (Governorate), al-Sanak, Badr Brigade, Baghdad, Baghdad Markets, Baqubah, Basrah, Bombings, Dalouiya, Death Squads, Diyala, Ishaki / Ishaqi, Kirkuk (At-Ta'mim) Governorate, Mosul, Ninawa (Governorate), Salah ad Din (Governorate), Samarra