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As reported earlier today and confirmed in the immediately preceding posting  the group of MPs in the green zone parliament loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr has withdrawn from the UIC the bloc that is the power base for the green zone government. They will enter into discussions with the Virtue party about a possible “future together” the AFP report below has details:

Sadr group withdraws support to Iraq government

NAJAF, Iraq (AFP) - The movement of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Saturday withdrew its support for the embattled Iraqi government, delivering a fresh blow to the political process of the country.

The group declared it has withdrawn from the main Shiite bloc that leads the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

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Israel ‘routinely tortures prisoners’

By Steve Weizman in Jerusalem

Published: 07 May 2007

Israel’s Shin Bet security service tortures Palestinian prisoners during interrogations in defiance of a 1999 court ruling outlawing such practices, two of the country’s human rights groups said yesterday.

Interrogators beat suspects, shackle them in painful, contorted positions and deprive them of sleep for long periods, according to the 96-page report,Absolutely Forbidden, by B’Tselem and The Centre for the Defence of the Individual.

The Justice Ministry said interrogations were carried out within the law and described the report as badly flawed.

Israel’s Supreme Court outlawed in 1999 what the Shin Bet called “moderate physical pressure”, such as exposure to extreme temperatures and tying up detainees in painful positions.

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I’d love to be able to say that I’m suprised by this story but I’m not. Not even slightly. When you talk to Continental police one of the things they all mention is that guns are now very easy to get. The same is true of British police. A lot of these guns come from Eastern Europe - the former Soviet bloc countries. But another source of supply is corrupt soldiers. This story from the London Times isn’t going to be the last one you read on this topic. When I was researching this I discovered that a U.K. private soldier’s basic pay is £13,866 compare that with £19,918 for a trainee fireman (who also gets overtime.)

Soldiers in ‘guns for coke’ scandal
David Leppard

BRITISH soldiers have been caught smuggling stolen guns out of Iraq and allegedly exchanging them for cocaine and cash on the black market.

Security officials confirmed this weekend that soldiers from the 3rd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment are at the centre of a criminal inquiry by the Royal Military Police (RMP) into a “guns for cocaine” network.

[snip]

Although drug use is increasing in the armed forces, this is the first time military police have evidence that stolen weapons are being sold to pay for them.

One of the first soldiers from the Yorkshire Regiment to have been arrested is alleged to have bought drugs by trading handguns, including Glock pistols, smuggled from Iraq to Germany on at least six occasions.

A security source said some of the weapons had been exchanged for about 50 grams of cocaine with a street value of £2,500. The drugs were sold to other British soldiers serving in Iraq.

The source said it was unclear whether the weapons were army issue or seized from Iraqi insurgent groups.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) fears the soldiers may have been doing business with members of organised crime syndicates in Germany. The battalion has a base near Fallingbostel, north of Hanover.

[snip]

As Iraq slides further into chaos, the country has become awash with illicit weapons, many provided to the Iraqi police by America and Britain.

The army is suffering an epidemic of drug abuse. Earlier this year The Sunday Times revealed how the army regiment involved in the first Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal was awash with drugs as the soldiers went to war.

One former fusilier claimed that 75 men from his company, some 60% of its strength, regularly took cocaine, ecstasy or marijuana. “There’s guys who have to have two or three lines of coke before they can operate,” he said.

According to a parliamentary answer, 1,020 army personnel tested positive for drugs last year, including 520 cases using class A drugs - a 50% rise in the past five years.

The MoD confirmed the RMP inquiry but declined to comment further.

---

The full text of the article can be found on the Sunday Times website.

Declan

Ramadan Mubarak!
Happy Ramadan to our Muslim brothers and sisters.

L’Shanah Tovah Tikatevu
Happy Rosh HaShana to our Jewish brothers and sisters.

You are our brothers and sisters either in religion or in Humanity.

The Gorilla’s Guides team:

Abbas, Ahmad, Ali, Ali (al-Basrawi), Anthony, Declan, Dubhaltach, Erdla, Fatima, Gerard, Hassan, Hussayn, Laith, Mark, Omar, Tony, Padhraic, Sagib, Thalit, Yassir, Zeynab.