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أعترت وزارة الدفاع العراقية الفوضى بعد وصول كتب متتالية بترقية ضبط مقربين من المالكي وخارج السياقات العسكرية , حيث ان المعتاد ان تصدر الترقيات بتأريخ 1-6 من كل عام وأضاف مصدر في الوزارة ان الجيش العراقي اصبح يضم اكثرمن 15 رتبة فريق

ركن وهو ما ليس موجودا في جيوش بعض الدول الكبرى. , واوضح انه على صعيد اخر تم حشد الكثير من القطع العسكرية والدبابات خوفا من انقلاب عسكري وشيك ) يروج له المالكي واتباعه بهدف الاستمرار في الاعتقالات وزج الخصوم في السجون العلنية والسرية التي يديرها المالكي والمقربين منه.. واشار الى تولي احمد المالكي الاشراف على كافة القيادات العسكرية وانه هو الذي اقترح على والده ترقية بعض المقربين اليه الى رتبة فريق

BAGHDAD, 6 April 2011 (IRIN) – Lack of detailed mine maps in Iraq and the current political instability have hampered mine-clearance efforts, officials say.

“Iraq is one of the most contaminated countries in the world," Deputy Environment Minister Kamal Hussein Latif said. “It has nearly a quarter of the world’s landmines and that has become a heavy legacy hindering economic development and health."

Landmines have been laid in Iraq since the 1960s by various governments fighting pro-independence Kurdish rebels in the north; during the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war; and in the years prior to the 2003 US-led invasion.

“The hardest challenge we face today is that no maps were left from the previous regime for landmines which were planted randomly – and that makes clearance operations very hard,” Latif told reporters in Baghdad at a news conference to mark International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action on 4 April.

Speaking at the same news conference, Daniel Augstburger, chief humanitarian affairs officer at the UN Assistance Mission, said: “Clearance is very slow due to security constraints. The unexploded devices are one of the main principle reasons stopping development in Iraq.”

The longer the mines were left in the ground, Augstburger added, the more dangerous they would become to local communities, and the more they would affect agricultural and economic activity.

Iraq joined the Ottawa Convention which bans the use of anti-personnel mines in 2008, committing itself not to use, produce, acquire or export landmines. It also committed to clearing all its landmines by 2018.

However, Latif said Iraq would not be able to meet that target because of insecurity and the lack of professional deminers. Currently, there are only about 2,000 at the Defence Ministry, and 13 private companies.

“If I want to clear all the landmines in the coming 10 years, I need hundreds of specialized companies and 19,000 professional deminers,” he said.

According to UN figures Iraq’s contaminated sites cover an estimated 1,730sqkm and affect around 1.6 million people. Landmines and unexploded ordnance killed or injured an average of two Iraqis every week in 2009, of whom 80 percent were boys and young men aged 15-29. Between 48,000 and 68,000 Iraqis have undergone amputations due to landmine and unexploded ordinances.

In May or June, Latif said, the government will start a national programme to determine contaminated areas and the exact number of the landmines.

IRIN Middle East | IRAQ: Lack of mine maps hampers demining | Iraq | Human Rights | Security | Urban Risk

قال المتحدث باسم وزارة الدفاع اللواء الركن محمد العسكري إن التقارير الصحفية التي تحدثت عن إحباط محاولة انقلاب قام بها عناصر مرتبطون بحزب البعث المنحل الشهر الماضي كانت غير دقيقة.
وأوضح العسكري في حديث اذاعي أن احتمالات وقوع انقلاب عسكري في العراق غير واقعية.
وكانت صحيفة الحياة قد نقلت في عددها الصادر الجمعة عن قائد العمليات الخاصة في جهاز مكافحة الإرهاب اللواء فاضل برواري قوله إن الجهاز تمكن من إحباط محاولة انقلاب اشترك في التخطيط له 22 شخصاً بينهم ضباط ،موضحا أنه تم اعتقال جميع المتورطين في المحاولة بمدينة بعقوبة.
من جانبه قال العسكري إن المحاولة التي تم الحديث عنها تعود لعام 2006 في محافظة ديالى.

The Reuters report carried by Khaleej Times Online yesterday and the al-Jazeera report today "Iraq disarms Sunni tribal militias" are alarming. Prior to the election there were some reasons to hope that among the political class at least there was an intense reluctance to risk reigniting sectarian strife. That appears no longer to be the case. The political vacuum and the lack of oversight by parliament means that the government headed by Nouri al-Maliki can and does do whatever it likes. Between "secret" prisons, death squads, and now this renewed targeting of the Sahwa there are considerable grounds for pessimism about our country’s future. The anti-Sahwa campaign in Diyala is especially worrying. Diyala has not been pacified and, particulalry in the hinterlands and "disputed areas" it is only the Sahwa that prevent massive violence from reigniting – GZG forces still cannot establish any measure of meaningful control in those areas.

Omar Khdhayyir

At the church of the Virgin Mary in Baghdad, hymns sung in the ancient Aramaic language float through intricately carved wooden doors into a small courtyard outside.

They mix with religious songs blasted from the loudspeakers of a mosque opposite.

Next to the church, two Muslim women, veiled in black, wait for their turn to light candles to the Virgin Mary.

In Iraq, Christians and Muslims have worshipped side by side for centuries.

But half of the congregation of the Virgin Mary church have fled in recent years.

"They have gone either to the north of Iraq or to other countries because of the situation, the car bombings and kidnappings. There is no security, no peace," said Auxiliary Bishop, Shlemon Warduni.

Outside the gate, a group of policemen stand guard. Earlier this year, a car bomb exploded right in front of the church.

Iraq’s defence ministry has said that the army will be on high alert this Christmas. It said it had received intelligence indicating Christians could be attacked.

On Wednesday, two people were killed when a bomb exploded outside a church in the northern city of Mosul, one of the latest in a series of attacks against Christians there in recent months.

According to some estimates, half of Iraq’s Christian minority have left their homes since the American-led invasion in 2003.

Last straw

Leila Paulos is about to join them. This will be her last Christmas in Baghdad.

Her son, Seevar, was kidnapped by criminals, and only freed after the family paid a ransom.

For Leila it was the last straw. In a few weeks, her family leave for Sweden.

"Of course, its sad to leave Iraq. Its the country of our ancestors, but there’s nothing we can do. Most of the Christians who live in our neighbourhood have left."

But there are some signs things are improving. Baghdad is much safer now than two years ago.

In the centre of the capital, Christmas decorations are on sale in a way that would not have been possible during the worst of the violence.

It’s not just Christians buying them.

Two laughing Muslim women show me the contents of their bulging shopping bags: a bright red plastic Father Christmas, and Christmas tree decorations.

"Christmas is for everyone, we celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Eve just like the Christians," they tell me.

They hope the Christians who have fled Iraq will come back.

"This is their country. It’s not for the Muslims, it’s for Christians and Muslims. Iraq used to be a country of all Iraqis, and we hope it will be again."

It may take time for those hopes to be realised. But some Christians have returned to their homes in Baghdad.

‘Yearning for Iraq’

Intisar Shawkat Jirjees achieved the dream of many Iraqi Christians: a home and a garden in a safe suburb in America.

But Intisar says she found life difficult in America. This month she moved back to Baghdad with her daughters.

"We felt a yearning for Iraq. We missed the people and their kindness. We missed the soil and the trees, and I missed my neighbours," she said.

This will be the family’s first Christmas back in their home in Dora, a neighbourhood in Baghdad which saw some of the worst of the sectarian violence. Most of the Christians fled.

Intisar hopes things are better now.

"Most of my neighbours are Muslims. When I came back they took me by the arms, and they said they’d missed me."

It is not just Christians who have faced the threat of kidnappings or bombs since 2003.

Despite the improvements in security, Iraqis of all faiths are still afraid of when and where the next explosion will hit.

"Our situation is Iraq’s situation," said Bishop Warduni. "Now we pray the situation will become better."

The future of Iraq’s Christians is tied to the rest of Iraq. It is a future which is still uncertain.

Source: BBC News – Iraqi Christians’ still face uncertain future