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Iraq

11,000 displaced families return to Baghdad

2008-08-28

BAGHDAD One in 10 Baghdad families that fled sectarian violence is now returning home as the security situation in the capital improves, a spokesman for the Iraqi military said yesterday. "Of the 92,000 displaced families in Baghdad, 11,000 have returned to their homes and we hope that this number will increase soon," Major General Qassim Atta told reporters. "Al Qaeda had a plan to divide the capital along sectarian lines, ensuring that each sect is well separated from the other," he added. A government study in February found that 43 percent of the 212,063 families displaced across the country are from Baghdad. Tens of thousands of families fled their homes in the city and in other regions after the eruption of sectarian violence following the bombing of a Shiite shrine in the central city of Samarra in February 2006. According to the United Nations the wave of violence ended in the summer of 2007 and a tentative return began in autumn last year, especially in Baghdad. "There are terrorist groups who do not want families to return, but the government and the army are closely tracking the situation," Atta said. Last week the son of senior Sunni lawmaker Adnan al-Dulaimi was arrested on allegations that he had placed a bomb in the home of a displaced family in a majority Sunni district of Baghdad. Corruption plagues democracy Corruption is a grave and gathering threat to Iraq's fragile democracy and its strides in curtailing bloodshed, a senior US official in Baghdad said. Unchecked, corruption "threatens the stability of the democracy, because people won't support a government that is widely viewed as corrupt through and through," Ambassador Lawrence Benedict, anti-corruption coordinator at the US embassy in Baghdad, said in an interview this week. "Senior officials in the Iraqi government have characterised corruption as the second insurgency -- that's pretty strong language in a place like this," Benedict said. "Iraqis view it a serious problem, and we certainly share that view." Widespread graft is drawing scrutiny as Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki's Shia-led government seeks to match success on the battlefield with government reforms and political progress. After more than five years of war, violence across Iraq has dropped to levels not seen since 2004. But Iraq scored only above Myanmar and Somalia in 2007 in Transparency International's ranking of perceptions about corruption in 180 countries and territories. Radhi Hamza Al Radhi, former head of Iraq's integrity board, told the US Congress last year the cost of corruption across Iraqi ministries was believed to be at least $18bn. Iraq, blessed with the world's third largest oil reserves but scarred by years of authoritarian rule, crippling sanctions and war, is a country primed for such pitfalls, Benedict said.

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Iraq

Detained Iraq Sunni leader son caught planting bombs

2008-08-22

HT to AOSHQ The son of leading Iraqi Sunni Arab politician Adnan al-Dulaimi has been charged with attempted murder after he was caught planting a bomb in a house belonging to a Shiite family, police said Thursday. whoops! Police said that Muthanna Dulaimi was caught red-handed as he tried to set the explosive in a predominantly Sunni Arab district where Shiite families had lived before they were displaced by the sectarian violence of recent years. "urban renewal" "The defendant was arrested as he was placing a bomb inside the house that belonged to a displaced family in the neighbourhood," security spokesman Qassim Atta told AFP. Security forces arrested Muthanna after a Baghdad court issued three arrest warrants charging him with multiple killings and forcing people out of their homes, a statement from Baghdad's central security command said. "he's a good boy" "(The warrants) accused him of murder and displacing people in al-Adel neighbourhood," it said. Muthanna is the second son of Dulaimi to be arrested by Iraqi forces and his detention has already heightened tensions between Sunni leaders and Baghdad's Shiite-led administration. "We strongly denounce this heinous act. We are shocked by this barbaric action that was carried out by executive bodies against national figures," said a statement from the National Concord Front, the main Sunni party. "We demand that Dulaimi's son be released immediately," it said. Dulaimi's other son, Makki, was arrested in November last year after troops found a car full of explosives near Dulaimi's house in the Adel neighbourhood of west Baghdad. Apple, tree, distribution? Close Dulaimi himself was put under house arrest at the time but later released. He told AFP on Wednesday that he was being targeted by the authorities. "It is an attempt to target me as I am always demanding the release of prisoners and talking against sectarianism," Dulaimi insisted. "I wuz framed!" "Muthanna is not related to any political party. He is just a trader of automobile spare parts." and unexploded ordinance, which he was securing in the neighbor's house, that's the ticket!

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Iraq

Iraq's Sunni politicians angry over arrests

2008-08-21

Top Sunni politicians on Wednesday accused Iraq's Shiite-dominated security forces of carrying out political arrests, and warned that this could push Iraq into another round of sectarian fighting. The outcry came in response to the high-profile arrests Tuesday of three Sunnis -- the son of a senior politician, a university president and a provincial council member. The arrests could upset the delicate political cooperation between the Shiite majority and Sunni minority in parliament. The Sunnis' angry words -- though not backed by specific threats of action -- highlighted the country's stubborn religious divisions. Sectarian hatred pushed Iraq to the brink of all-out Sunni-Shiite civil war two years ago, though recent months have seen a sharp drop in violence. Despite its domestic troubles, Iraq's Shiite-led government took another step toward wider recognition Wednesday, winning a pledge of support from visiting Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora. Since the U.S.-led 2003 invasion of Iraq, the country had been largely isolated. Saniora, a Sunni, was only the third senior Arab politician to visit since the war. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said the two countries would sign trade deals, including on the sale of Iraqi oil to Lebanon. The Lebanese are expected to get a discount, one official said. The latest round of arrests began early Tuesday, with raids in the town of Baqouba in the volatile Diyala province, where a university professor and provincial council member were taken. Late Tuesday, security forces arrested the son of a senior Sunni politician, Adnan al-Dulaimi. Al-Dulaimi said troops arrested his 44-year-old son, Muthanna, at the family's home in western Baghdad. Another son was detained eight months ago. Al-Dulaimi said Muthanna is not involved in politics, and that his arrest was meant to silence his father instead. An Iraqi military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, told the state-run Iraqiyah TV that Muthanna al-Dulaimi is suspected of involvement in sectarian killings, forcing Shiites out of certain areas and banning displaced families from returning.

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Iraq

Basra incidents "turning point" in Iraq's political chessboard, analysts reckon

2008-05-05

Iraqi politicians and researchers concurred that the political scene in the country has significantly changed after the Iraqi government targeted the armed militias of Shiite political groups, while others believed the Basra incidents have been a "turning point" that are yet to shape the course of events in war-scourged nation. "The political situation in Iraq has developed dramatically after the Basra incidents that no one can definitely claim that the (Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri) al-Maliki (Shiite-led) government is a sectarian one anymore," Ali al-Allaq, a member of parliament from the Shiite Unified Iraqi Coalition (UIC). Maliki had announced in March the commencement of a security operation codenamed Saulat al-Forsan (Knights' Assault) in the port city of Basra, Iraq's second largest province and an oil-hub, 590 km south of Baghdad, which he said targeted "outlaws". "Matters are heading towards national rapprochement and strategically important decision-taking by Iraqi political blocs, including those who quit the government," Allaq told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI). "These blocs have taken the decision to return after securing strong guarantees from the Maliki government," added Allaq, whose bloc is the largest in parliament with 83 out of a total 275 seats. Adnan al-Dulaimi, the leader of the Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF), had told VOI on Wednesday that the front finally decided during recent meetings to re-join the government. The IAF, the main bloc representing Sunni Muslims in the political process, had withdrawn from the government in August 2007, claiming then that Maliki was "making decisions solely and not giving enough space for the other parties." A lawmaker from the IAF, the third largest bloc with 44 parliamentary seats, believed that Iraq's political state of affairs would be remarkably refreshed during coming days after the Basra incidents. "Iraq has never experienced a harmony since the establishment of the modern state after 2003. We might as well see the emergence of new political blocs and organizations," Hashim al-Taie told VOI. He said the Iraqi government has been through tough tests in several issues like the general pardon law, power sharing and the tolerance about different opinions. "The prime minister managed to pass these tests successfully and practically discredit the sectarianism accusations used to be hurled against his government in the past," Taie said. The IAF is composed of three key groups: the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) of Vice President Tareq al-Hashimi, the Iraq People's Congress of Dulaimi and the National Dialogue Council (NDC) of Khalaf al-Alyan, while the Shiite UIC comprises the Dawa Party, of Premier Maliki, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) of Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim and other independent deputies. A legislator from the Kurdistan Coalition (KC) expressed optimism about a possibility to re-group anew in political terms. "I would not be exaggerating if I said that matters are going ahead and faster than the past. There is going to be an unexpected political breakthrough that would bring Iraq out of the bottleneck," Sirwan al-Zahawi, whose KC is the second largest bloc in the Iraqi parliament with 55 seats, told VOI. Zahawi believed that the Maliki government did not strike the Sadrists, or Iraqis loyal to Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, in Basra. "The government did not even target the Sadrists but rather certain groups feigning affiliation to the Sadrists," he explained. Now for the obligatory featuring of nay-sayers by the MSM: Meanwhile, analyst and researcher Ibrahim al-Samaydaie said Iraq's political shift after the Basra incidents is "fragile". "The political agreements between the Iraqi government and the opposition groups were merely coincidental and had not been strategically planned," Samaydaie said. Political writer and analyst Muhammad al-Furati said no one can possibly describe any plan as successful. The Iraqi government itself, he said, admitted that several "criminals" have left the area and might return any time, a matter that would not help predict a practical imposition of the law in Basra.

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Iraq

Iraqi Leader Tries to Isolate Sadrists

2008-04-11

Iraq's prime minister got a show of support from political leaders of both Muslim sects on Thursday as he moved to isolate anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his followers. The meeting drew warnings from Sadrist lawmakers that the government's effort against them could backfire even as fighting between Shiite militants and U.S.-Iraqi forces eased somewhat after days of fierce clashes in Baghdad's Sadr City district. The fighting has taken its toll on all sides. The U.S. military announced that an American soldier was killed by a roadside bomb Wednesday in central Baghdad, raising to 18 the number of Americans who died in Iraq the first 10 days of April. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, himself a Shiite, convened the meeting of the main political blocs to discuss the Iraqi-led crackdown on militias that began March 25 in the southern city of Basra, triggering the current crisis. But the notable absence of the Sadrists signaled that al-Maliki was making good on a threat to try to isolate the movement politically if its Mahdi Army militia is not disbanded. The Sadrists complained they were not invited to the meeting. "The Iraqi prime minister is waging a political war," Sadrist lawmaker Falah Shanshal said. "But he is committing a big mistake because the Sadr movement enjoys the support of a large portion of the Iraqi public." The developments came a day after Iraqi authorities announced they would lift a 2-week-old vehicle ban on Sadr City and another Shiite militia stronghold, Shula, this weekend. The intent is to provide relief to the residents who have suffered from food shortages as well as the violence. Sheik Salman al-Feraiji, al-Sadr's chief representative in Sadr City, welcomed the decision but warned "the battle is not over yet because the U.S. helicopters are still hovering over the city and U.S. forces are still surrounding it." He also accused al-Maliki of waging a personal vendetta against the Sadrist movement, despite the government's assertion it is only targeting criminal gangs. "Al-Maliki is refusing to listen to us or meet our leaders," al-Feraiji said. "We think that al-Maliki is determined to continue his mission, and the recent lull happened because of the U.S. criticism of the fruitless performance of his security forces." Violence in Iraq had declined last year and early this year following a 7-month-old cease-fire by al-Sadr, an influx of American troops and a Sunni revolt against al-Qaida in Iraq. But the recent government crackdown on the Mahdi Army has provoked fierce retaliation, underscoring the fragility of the security gains. A marked reduction in casualty rates began around September 2007, and daily averages continued to decline throughout the rest of that year. However, since reaching a low this past January of 20 Iraqis killed per day, casualty levels have once again started to rise, with 26 killed per day in February and 41 per day in March, an Associated Press tally showed. At least 261 Iraqi civilians and security personnel were killed or found dead across Iraq in the first nine days of April, an average of 29 per day, according to the tally. That's still about half of what they were a year ago; the daily average for April 2007 was 62 Iraqis killed. The clearing of former insurgent strongholds also has led to the increasing discovery of mass graves. More than 30 bodies believed to have been buried for more than a year were unearthed Thursday by Iraqi troops at a house south of Baghdad, the military announced. The killing of the American soldier pushed the average U.S. death rate to 1.8 per day so far in April, compared with 1.2 per day last month, according to the AP tally. That was still lower than the 3.47 deaths per day in April 2007, but the percentage of deaths caused by roadside bombs was sharply higher. During April 2007, at least 40 percent of the deaths were from roadside bombs. So far this month, at least 56 percent have been caused by the planted explosives. Many of those were in northeastern Baghdad, which largely comprises Sadr City, a sprawling impoverished area that is home to some 2.5 million people, nearly half the capital's population. U.S. and Iraqi soldiers have restricted access to the area since the fighting broke out in late March between Shiite militants loyal to al-Sadr and government security forces. Al-Maliki has found himself on the defensive after Iraqi forces were surprised by the fierce resistance by Shiite militias to an offensive that began March 25 in Basra. But prominent Sunni politician Adnan al-Dulaimi, who leads the largest Sunni bloc in parliament, emerged from Thursday's meeting to say the operation was "a courageous step." "We stand beside this government and support it. It was a good and blessed step to prevent militias in all provinces," al-Dulaimi said, adding his Accordance Front would begin discussions soon on ending its Cabinet boycott. The meeting also was attended by Shiite lawmakers Hadi al-Amiri and Khalid al-Attiyah, the deputy parliamentary speaker.

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Iraq

Sunnis Agree to Rejoin Government

2008-02-10

BAGHDAD, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Iraq's main Sunni Arab bloc has agreed to rejoin Iraq's Shi'ite-led government after key demands for returning were met, two officials from the bloc said on Saturday. "The Accordance Front has decided to return to the government. The results of the negotiations with the government have been positive," Adnan al-Dulaimi, the head of the bloc, told Reuters. The Front pulled its six ministers out of the cabinet of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in August, plunging the government into crisis. Did anyone really notice that they're back? Or that they left?

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Iraq

US-Iraqi forces storm Iraqi party in Baghdad

2007-12-23

(KUNA) -- The Iraqi Islamic Party, led by Iraqi Vice-President Tareq al-Hashimi, said here Saturday US-Iraqi forces launched a crackdown on its headquarters in Baghdad on Friday evening. Some 20 firearms were seized by the joint forces during the crackdown on the party head office, the party said in a release handed out here. Helped by several Iraqi army officers, 30 servicemen of the Multi-National Forces in Iraq stormed the party building, tampered with its contents, smashed the doors of its rooms and seized 20 kalashnikovs, according to the release. The Iraqi Islamic Party blamed the Iraqi government for the damage that affected it, calling upon it to put an end to what it billed as "illegal practices". The party also admonished that civil institutions would be violated by anybody unless it played its due role in the protection of such bodies. The party bolted from the incumbent Iraqi government, led by Nouri al-Maliki, but its leader Tarek al-Hashimi still holds the veep post. It is a key component of the Iraqi Accord Front, which has 44 out of a total of 275 parliamentary seats, in addition to General Council for the People of Iraq led by Adnan al-Dulaimi and the Iraqi National Dialogue Council led by Khalaf al-Ulayyan.

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Iraq

Iraqi Sunni leader sees no quick return to govt

2007-12-08

BAGHDAD - The head of Iraq’s main Sunni Arab bloc said on Friday the chances of his group returning to government had become “more distant” after security forces detained his son and guards and confined him at home for days. Adnan al-Dulaimi said the Shia-led government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was “not serious” in negotiating the return of his Accordance Front, which pulled its members out of the cabinet in August, demanding more say over security policy. “Our return to the government has become a more distant (possibility) than before,” Dulaimi said by telephone from his home, where he returned on Thursday after spending four days at a hotel in central Baghdad under army protection. Maliki has been trying to coax the Front back to the cabinet for months. One senior government official said last month Maliki would not wait forever, and hinted other Sunni Arab representatives might be sought to fill vacant cabinet seats. Dulaimi came under close scrutiny last week when Iraqi security forces detonated a car bomb found near his office. His son Mekki al-Dulaimi and dozens of bodyguards were subsequently detained, and the US military said one of the guards had the keys to the bomb-rigged car. Dulaimi, who has denied any wrongdoing, was himself confined to his house for several days. "I know nothing! Tell them, Hogan!" The Accordance Front, which said Dulaimi had been under house arrest, boycotted parliament until he was allowed to leave his home and move to the hotel. The government had said Dulaimi was told to stay home for his own safety. Dulaimi said his personal security detail may have been infiltrated by terrorists. “All protection (forces) are infiltrated,” he said. “I tried my best to purge my personal security of anybody I doubted but maybe there is someone whom I trusted who in reality was cooperating with terrorists,” he said. Why don't you let us toss your security boys a little? The Sunni Arab leader said he was now protected by guards of a senior parliamentary official but added that President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, would send guards on Saturday to protect him. In parliament on Thursday, a Shia lawmaker and Dulaimi shouted accusations at each other over last week’s incident. The public slanging match highlighted the deep divide between the Sunni Arab minority and the Shia majority at a time when the United States is urging Iraqi politicians to capitalise on a big drop in violence to heal political rifts. Asked about the effect of last week’s events on attempts to reconcile Shias and Sunni Arabs, Dulaimi said: “There is no real reconciliation. National reconciliation is only on paper.”

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Iraq

Sunnis end boycott

2007-12-03

Iraq must take advantage of improved security and enact laws aimed at national reconciliation or risk a resumption of sectarian bloodshed, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said on Sunday. Violence has fallen sharply over the past few months in Iraq after Washington deployed an additional 30,000 troops. But Iraqi leaders have so far made scant progress passing laws aimed at reconciling majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs. Political tensions also escalated in recent days after the largest Sunni Arab bloc walked out of parliament to protest what it said was the house arrest of their leader, Adnan al-Dulaimi. The bloc called off the boycott on Sunday when Dulaimi was allowed to leave his house for the first time in three days. "The security surge has delivered significant results," Negroponte told a news conference in Baghdad at the end of a six-day tour of Iraq. "Now progress on political reconciliation, including key national legislation as well as economic advances, is needed to consolidate the gains. If progress is not made on these fronts we risk falling back toward the more violent habits of the past." With attacks at their lowest levels in nearly two years, attention has focused on whether the Shi'ite-led government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki can reach an accommodation with disaffected Sunni Arabs. In a sign of the sectarian divide, the Sunni Arab Accordance Front called the boycott of parliament after Dulaimi was confined to his house following the arrest of his son and dozens of bodyguards on suspicion of links to a car bomb. But Dulaimi was escorted from home on Sunday by National Security Adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie and brought to a hotel in the heavily fortified "Green Zone" government and diplomatic compound, where he called an end to the boycott.

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Iraq

Walkout in Iraq parliament over Sunni leader raid

2007-12-02

Follow-up on this story. This kind of nonsense has to stop. If he's got bombs in his house then strip him of his parliamentary immunity and prosecute him. BAGHDAD - Iraq’s faltering political process was thrown into fresh turmoil on Saturday when the main Sunni bloc walked out of parliament in protest at a security crackdown on its leader Adnan al-Dulaimi. The National Concord Front, the main Sunni bloc with 44 MPs in the 275-member parliament, walked out of the assembly, saying it would return after Dulaimi himself comes back to the legislature. “We announce our boycott of the parliament until Adnan al-Dulaimi returns to the assembly today or tomorrow,” the bloc’s Abdul Karim al-Samarraie told the assembly. “When I went to meet him I was stopped and told that he is under house arrest. This is a violation of the rights of an MP who wants to come to the parliament,” Samarraie said. After his statement the bloc’s MPs walked out of the assembly hall. Mahmud al-Mashhadani, the Sunni parliament speaker, joined them. Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh denied that Dulaimi was under house arrest. “What is being said about house arrest is not true. It is only protection given to Dulaimi until the situation is clear,” Dabbagh told state television Al-Iraqiya. Political tension has risen sharply following the security crackdown on Dulaimi after the Iraqi army said on Thursday it found car bombs near his Baghdad offices. Dulaimi has been under effective house arrest since Friday, sparking a warning by the National Concord Front earlier on Saturday that Iraq’s political process could be derailed. Shiite MP Haider al-Ibadi said the Dulaimi issue should not be discussed in the assembly. “There is an investigation and parliament should not interfere in it,” he said before the Sunnis walked out.

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Iraq

Crackdown on Iraq Sunni leader after bombs found

2007-11-30

Iraqi security forces arrested dozens of people, including the son of a leading Sunni Arab politician, in a pre-dawn raid on Friday after a car rigged with explosives was found near the lawmaker's office. The incident threatened to increase political tension across Iraq's sectarian divide at a time when violence has been falling dramatically. I'll go out on a limb and say that it won't increase political tensions all that much. Most Iraqis will be pleased that the bomb was found in time and that the bombers were arrested. The Shi'ite-led government said Adnan al-Dulaimi, leader of the Accordance Front, the main Sunni Arab bloc, could be stripped of the immunity from prosecution he holds as a member of parliament if he was found to have links to car bombs. "No one is above the law. Dr Adnan al-Dulaimi has immunity, but this does not exempt him from questioning and accountability," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said. That's exactly the line to take. Then you have to mean it. That means Shi'a lawmakers who get caught doing things that aid the insurgency have to be handled the same way. Then the average Iraqi will get it, and then they'll support it. "The case is very serious and the accusations against him are very serious. He has to prove his innocence. He will be called for questioning. If the charges against him are proven, his immunity will definitely be lifted." Um, no, you got that part wrong. He doesn't have to prove his innocence. You have to prove his guilt. 'Innocent until proven guilty' is a new idea for the Arab world, but once you try it you'll see it works much better, since it prevents thugs from jugging people without evidence. Dulaimi rejected the accusations. "This is all not true. These are false accusations," Dulaimi told Reuters. "We are the ones who are subject to terrorism." Seven people were arrested on Thursday at Dulaimi's office and 29, including Dulaimi's son Mekki, were seized in a raid early on Friday at Dulaimi's house, said Brigadier General Qassim Moussawi, security spokesman for Baghdad.

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Iraq

Feuding Iraqis meet for secret peace seminar in Finland

2007-09-01

Representatives from feuding Sunni and Shiite groups were meeting at a secret location in Finland to discuss ways of ending the bloodshed in Iraq, officials said. But don't tell nobody, okay? It's a secret. The Crisis Management Initiative, a conflict-prevention group headed by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, said it was hosting a seminar, expected to last two days, to examine how lessons learned from peace processes in South Africa and Northern Ireland could be applied to Iraq. Have they thought about taking a tour of Helsinki and giving some thought as to why it's a nice city? Finnish broadcaster YLE said representatives of the radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and the leader of the largest Sunni Arab political group, Adnan al-Dulaimi, were attending the seminar, which began Friday. Humam Hammoudi, the Shiite chairman of the Iraqi Parliament's foreign affairs committee, also was in Finland, YLE said. However, seminar organizers would not say who was attending, except to confirm that both "Sunni and Shiite groups" had arrived. Ahtisaari himself was in Denmark and was not attending the meetings.

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