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Iraq

Iraq willing to dialogue with hard boyz

2005-11-27

Some Iraqi rebel groups say they are ready to engage in the political process, a top aide to President Jalal Talabani said Saturday, after the government warned of a renewed offensive against insurgents. “We have received calls from people who said they belonged to armed groups,” Talabani’s national security advisor Lieutenant-General Wafeeq al-Sammarai told AFP, adding that the callers “said they were ready to join the political process.” They included Islamists and Baathists from the now banned party of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, said Sammarai, who was the head of Iraqi military intelligence in the 1991 Gulf War. At a meeting of Iraqi political leaders in Cairo last weekend, Talabani said he was prepared to talk to rebels in a bid to end the deadly insurgency that has gripped the country since Saddam’s downfall in 2003. “If those who describe themselves as the Iraqi resistance want to get in touch with me, they are welcome to do so,” Talabani said. The Cairo meeting was held to pave the ground for a reconciliation conference next year in Baghdad and to encourage minority Sunni Arabs, seen as backing the insurgency, to join the political process instead. Sammarai gave no further details on which rebel groups might have been in touch, or how much of a following they might have within the insurgency which US forces described as multi-faceted. The announcement comes amid a wave of suicide bombings and sectarian-related shootings that have left at least 180 over the past week in the run-up to the resumption of Saddam’s trial on Monday. On Thursday, Interior Minister Bayan Baker Solagh told reporters that security forces were preparing to launch a comprehensive sweep involving 10,000 men throughout the country against rebels before the December 15 elections. “We are going to strike forcefully at the hotbeds of terrorism in different regions,” he said. Government spokesman Leith Kubba has warned that “one should expect an increase in violence in the run-up to the December 15 elections,” saying those responsible were “criminals and partisans of Saddam Hussein”. Sammarai said those who contacted him were all Iraqis and that he would have no dealings with foreign fighters such as Jordanian-born Al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whose group is behind most of the bloodiest attacks. Zarqawi condemned Talabani’s initiative and is widely believed to be attempting to spark a sectarian war in Iraq between Sunnis and Shiites in effort to increase chaos and discredit the US-backed government. In two attacks on Thursday, both south of Baghdad, a suicide car bombing against a hospital in Mahmudiyah killed 30 people and a car bomb in a shopping district of Hilla left three dead and 16 wounded. Several Sunni Arab political and religious leaders have also been gunned down over the past weeks, including a tribal leader and four of his relatives early Wednesday by gunmen dressed as Iraqi soldiers. In Baghdad, security officials were preparing for the resumption of the trial of Saddam, who along with seven co-accused faces charges linked to the killing of 148 Shiite villagers. The first witnesses for the prosecution are expected to be called. They could testify from behind screens or with faces masked to protect their anonymity, according to a US official close to the tribunal. Saddam and his co-accused could face execution if found guilty. Meanwhile, Lithuanian Defense Minister Gediminas Kirkilas said his country would reduce the number of its soldiers serving in Iraq at the start of next year. Some 100 Lithuanian troops are currently deployed in Iraq, around 50 under Polish command in central Iraq and 50 under Danish command in the British-controlled southern sector.

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Iraq

Iraq seizes booby-trapped toys

2005-11-25

That word you're looking for is "depraved." The Iraqi army said on Thursday it had seized a number of booby-trapped children's dolls, accusing insurgents of using the explosive-filled toys to target children. The dolls were found in a car, each one containing a grenade or other explosive, said an army statement. The government said that two men driving the car had been arrested in the western Baghdad district of Abu Ghraib. "This is the same type of doll as that handed out on several occasions by US soldiers to children," said government spokesperson Leith Kubba.

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Iraq

Ninety rebels killed in western Iraq sweeps

2005-10-10

BAGHDAD - Ninety insurgents have been killed in a series of US-led sweeps in western Iraq since they kicked off on September 28, government spokesman Leith Kubba said on Sunday. “The total from the operations is 90 killed while the number of arrests has reached 178,” Kubba told journalists, adding that the offensives had “perturbed armed groups’ activity and (helped) obtain information that will help us track down their members”. The US military said the operations, including Iron Fist which ended near the Syrian border on Thursday, were aimed at thwarting Al Qaeda-linked militant activity in the restive and largely Sunni Arab province of Al Anbar. Thirteen US troops have been reported killed in the province since the start of the operations. Kubba said that US and Iraqi forces would stay in the area for the October 15 referendum on the country’s new constitution and that 700 independent electoral commission workers would also be deployed in the province.

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Iraq-Jordan

First post-Saddam Iraq executions

2005-09-01

Iraq says it has executed three convicted murderers, using the death penalty for the first time since the ousting of Saddam Hussein. Government spokesman Leith Kubba said the three men were hanged around 1000 on Thursday morning. The three were convicted by a court in the Shia city of Kut last month of the killings of three policemen, as well as of kidnap and rape. The UN and rights groups had urged Iraq not to carry out the sentences. Of course they did. After all, the victims are always going to be dead; no sense adding to the number, eh? Correspondents say a clear issue is whether the executions now will set a precedent for the trials of leaders of the former regime, including Saddam Hussein. The US-led coalition abolished the death penalty in Iraq after the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime, but it was re-instated after handover to Iraqi control in June 2004. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who opposes the death penalty, refused to sign their death warrants personally, but authorised Vice-President Adel Abdel Mehdi to do so. Mr Kubba defended the decision to carry out the sentences. "This is not an easy thing to do," he said, quoted by Reuters news agency. "Despite all the condemnation from states who want us to abolish capital punishment, I think capital punishment will help us deter some criminals." I suspect the news will severely impact those Iraqis unafraid of prison.

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Iraq-Jordan

Iraq Calls for Extradition of Saddam Aides

2005-08-22

Iraq yesterday called on neighboring Jordan to extradite members of Saddam Hussein’s former regime it accused of fomenting “terrorism” on its soil. It also claimed that the United Arab Emirates and Syria as well as Jordan were being used by groups backing the deadly insurgency and said it was seeking counterterrorism accords with the three states. “We are sorry to say that until now, a high number of the figures of the regime and those who supervise terrorist groups are based in Jordan,” government spokesman Leith Kubba charged. “We hope to have an agreement with Jordan to combat terrorism, and to chase and extradite wanted people,” he said. Kubba said Iraqis had warned that the violence engulfing their country would reach its neighbors, referring to the triple rocket attack on US warships on Friday in Jordan’s Red Sea resort of Aqaba. “We sympathize with Jordan... but we have always warned that the flames of terrorism in Iraq, which many ignored or sympathized with... would not be confined to Iraq and would move to other countries,” he said. “It is in the interest of all to work on putting out this fire (of insurgency) before it stretches to their countries,” he said. “There are three countries where many Iraqi organizations operate, appearing to be political, but in fact supporting terrorism... We hope to reach agreements with these countries.” He named the three as the UAE, Syria and Jordan. “There are activities that support terrorism — sometimes through media — and originate in these countries,” he added.

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Iraq-Jordan

Iraq holding 281 foreign insurgent suspects

2005-08-22

BAGHDAD - Iraq has in custody 281 foreigners suspected of involvement in insurgent activity, a spokesman for the Iraqi government said on Sunday. “All of the foreigners currently in custody are involved in charges that are related, one way or another, to terrorism networks,” said spokesman Leith Kubba. “Figures from the former regime, according to intelligence information, are regrouping in a neighbouring country,” Kubba said. “They have begun funding the spreading of rumours to demoralise Iraqis, damage the image of democracy and thwart the referendum on the constitution.” Topping the list of detainees’ nationalities were Egypt (80), followed by Syria (64) and Sudan (41). Kubba said there was also a Briton in the group. He named a total of 14 countries, all of them Arab, except Iran, Turkey and Britain. Not as many Saudis as I thought. They must be home arranging the financing.

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Iraq-Jordan

Saddam's lawyers ''left in the dark''

2005-06-12

Saddam Hussein's lawyers said they have not yet been given any details of the case against him. Drive the lawyers out to one of the mass graves. Point. Don't say a word. Repeat daily. Iraq's government has said the former dictator could go trial within months over alleged crimes against humanity. But the lawyers said they have none of the estimated eight million documents relating to the case, and have not been formally told of the charges. Saddam Hussein has been allowed two meetings with his lawyers since his capture in December 2003. The complaints from his Jordan-based lawyers cast serious doubts on the claim that his trial could begin on schedule, said the BBC's John Leyne in Amman. I'm not an internationally recognized expert in jurisprudence, but I really do think this is going to be a simple affair. One doesn't get to be a internationally recognized expert in jurisprudence by keeping things simple, methinks. Somebody's gotta go to the conferences and award ceremonies and CNN. Conferences and ceremonies? Is that all? Sign me up! A spokesman for the legal team, Issam Ghazzawi, said recent pictures of Saddam Hussein in his underwear that appeared in the British Sun newspaper showed that the former Iraqi leader''s basic human rights were being violated. "You see that his rights are violated as a human being, not only as a president," Ghazzawi said. "He's not treated well in the prison regarding to his status as prisoner of war and president of Iraq." With 100% of the vote, remember. Last week the Iraqi government said Saddam Hussein could face as few as 12 charges when he goes on trial. There had been speculation he might face as many as 500 charges, but an Iraqi spokesman said there was no point "wasting time" with that many. Somebody has my idea of jurisprudence. "We are completely confident that the 12 fully documented charges that have been brought against him are more than sufficient to ensure he receives the maximum sentence," government spokesman Leith Kubba told reporters on Sunday. Saddam Hussein would face the death penalty if convicted. On Thursday, Iraq''s Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said he may well be put to death - but only if he is convicted before a transparent trial. "We think that every crime has a proportionate punishment, but there can be no execution without proving the crime," he said. That's for European consumption. However, Saddam Hussein's lawyers insist he is innocent of all the crimes of which he is accused - from the gassing of the Kurds to the murder of women and children found in mass graves in southern Iraq. "Lies! All lies! Hey! Stop laughing at us!" Ghazzawi said the appropriate channel for the accusations was not through the media, but with a proper indictment issued through the court.

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Iraq-Jordan

Iraqi Court: Saddam Trial Date Still Open

2005-06-07

An Iraqi court chosen to try Saddam Hussein rejected government statements that the deposed dictator will face justice within two months, saying there was no fixed timetable. "Any trial date depends on the judges who will consider indictments against the accused after completing their investigations," it added in reference to the trials of Saddam and 11 other former leaders currently in US detention. On Sunday, government spokesman Leith Kubba said Saddam would be indicted on just 12 charges of crimes against humanity out of a potential 500, and would go on trial within two months. "The position of the government is to speed up the trial," he said. Saddam, who was toppled in April 2003 and arrested the following December, is accused of committing a series of crimes against humanity during more than two decades in power.

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Iraq-Jordan

Insurgent Thunder Greets Iraq's Offensive

2005-05-30

Thousands of Iraqi forces yesterday threw a security net over Baghdad to snare insurgents, who quickly struck back with a string of car bombings said to have been masterminded by Al-Qaeda's Abu Mussab Al-Zarqawi. Four car bombs in and around the capital killed 16 people, most of them security personnel, in a swift response to Iraq's widest homegrown clampdown since the fall of Saddam Hussein over two years ago. Nobody expected them to throw up their hands and surrender... Nine soldiers taking part in "Operation Lightning" died in a suicide car bombing at their roadblock just south of the capital, while two policemen were killed when a suicide car bomber targeted their patrol in southwestern Baghdad. In western Baghdad, a car bomb targeting police commandos killed three people and wounded 20, an Interior Ministry source said, adding that police had then fought a firefight with men in the area. An earlier suicide bombing near the Oil Ministry left two dead, while violence elsewhere claimed the lives of a British soldier and seven Iraqis. Insurgent attacks nationwide have claimed the lives of around 700 people so far this month, following the swearing in of Iraq's first democratically elected post-Saddam government. Suicide car booms remain the weapon of choice, not only because they've got the fodder to carry them out, but also because they're so Islamic... "Squadrons and brigades directed by the sheikh of the mujahedeen Abu Mussab Al-Zarqawi yesterday launched an operation ... planned and supervised by our sheikh," said an Internet statement attributed to his group. The operation was a reply to the "aborted encirclement plan in Baghdad announced by the Iraqi ministers of defense and interior", a reference to the security net expected to involve up to 40,000 Iraqi security forces that was launched the same day. It also claimed the deadly suicide bombing at the roadblock outside Baghdad. That's actually not an indication that Zark is alive and/or well. It's just an indication that his name has value to the turbans... It was not possible to verify the authenticity of the statement, the latest in a series of some times conflicting messages about the health of the Jordanian-born militant and his role in the insurgency. Nevertheless, the government claimed it had already captured hundreds of insurgents. So here's the meat of the article... "Search operations and raids have allowed us to arrest 500 people and find arms caches in several houses," said spokesman Leith Kubba, adding that "we are expecting reactions but this will have no effect on the general course of the operation." If the bastards weren't vicious and tenacious, it wouldn't be necessary to turn out 40,000 men to hunt them down. Good luck to our guys and to the Iraqis...

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