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Iraq
7 die in double bombing in Erbil
2016-12-21
[ARA News] Erbil – At least seven people were killed in a twin bomb attack that targeted the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan’s (PDK-I) office in Erbil, capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, late Tuesday evening.

The PDK-I confirmed in a statement that seven were killed and four injured in a twin bombing that was allegedly carried out by the Iranian state.

According to officials, two Peshmerga fighters and two members of the security police were injured in the attack.

Ali Qoytasi, a senior member of the PDK-I, was among the dead in the attack.

The explosions took place during the Yalda celebration, a celebration of winter solstice on December 21–the last night of fall and the longest night of the year.

Hosyar Zebari, the former Iraqi Minister of Finance, blamed the Iranian intelligence for the attack.

“Most likely Iranian IRGs MOIS carried the terrorist attack against KDP-I headquarters in Koi Senjak E of Erbil,” Zebari said.

This is not the first time that Iran allegedly targeted Kurdish parties.

On 9 August 2015, the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan reported that an Iranian agent planted four improvised explosives at Komala’s Zrgwez camp, which were defused by the Kurdish security forces.

“I strongly condemn the terrorist attack against the PDK-I in Koya, urge the authorities to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice,” said Dr Mahmoud Othman, the former chairman of the Kurdistan Socialist Party and a member of the Iraqi governing council.

Tensions have increased between the Iranian Kurdish parties and the Iranian regime since the former decided to resume their armed struggle last summer. The parties are principally seeking an autonomous Kurdish government in Iran, analogous to the KRG in Iraq.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Abu Qatada Criticizes Hizbullah, Says Suicide Bombings 'Defense Act'
2014-02-14
[An Nahar] Islamist holy man Omar Mahmoud Othman, who is also known as Abu Qatada, strongly criticized Hizbullah on Thursday, calling on the cabinet to "pressure" the party to stop its involvement in the Syrian war.

Abu Qatada, who is being tried in Jordan on terrorism charges, also expressed his support to suicide kabooms carried out by the al-Qaeda linked Al-Nusra Front in Leb and Abdullah Azzam Brigades
... Leb's current al-Qaeda affiliate, named after a guy whose car the current head of al-Qaeda had boomed...
 on Lebanese territories.

"I support the bombings in Beirut. The leader of Hizbullah (His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...
) sent fighters to Syria to back the regime. He is responsible for those killed in Leb," he told news hounds at the state security court in Amman.

"If Leb wants to protect itself, it should tell the party of the devil to get its fighters out of Syria," he added in a swipe at Hizbullah.

"The party of the devil started all of this. It should be pressured to get out of the Syrian conflict," Abu Qatada added, describing the bombings in Leb as "self-defense operations."

Paleostinian-born preacher Abu Qatada was condemned to death in absentia in 1999 for conspiracy to carry out terror attacks, including on the American school in Amman.

However,
a lie repeated often enough remains a lie...
 the sentence was immediately commuted to life imprisonment with hard labor.

In 2000, he was sentenced in absentia to 15 years for plotting to attack tourists in Jordan during millennium celebrations, and videotapes of his sermons were allegedly found in the Hamburg flat of 9/11 ringleader Mohammed Atta.

He has pleaded not guilty
"Wudn't me."
 to all charges.

Britannia expelled him last summer after Amman and London ratified a treaty guaranteeing that evidence obtained by torture would not be used in his retrial and that the proceedings would be transparent.

After his deportation, Abu Qatada was granted a retrial in line with Jordanian law, and military prosecutors charged him with conspiracy to carry out acts of terrorism.

If convicted, he could face a minimum of 15 years' hard labor.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Defected Syrian Colonel Arrested in Arsal
2014-02-10
[An Nahar] The Lebanese Army on Sunday tossed in the calaboose
Book 'im, Mahmoud!
 a defected Syrian officer in the Bekaa border town of Arsal.

"the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial...
, a Syrian defected colonel and member of the Syrian Revolution Military Council, was arrested in Arsal's Wadi Hmayyed," state-run National News Agency reported. It said the man was arrested at a Lebanese Army checkpoint in Wadi Hmayyed.

But the army later announced arresting Syrian nationals Omar Mahmoud Othman and Radwan Mahmoud Ayyoush in Wadi Hmayyed.

"As part of the mission of controlling the land borders, army forces in the Arsal area of Wadi Hmayyed arrested Syrian nationals Omar Mahmoud Othman and Radwan Mahmoud Ayyoush for attempting to enter Leb illegally," the Army Command said in a statement.

"The detainees are being interrogated under the supervision of the relevant judicial authorities," the statement added.

OTV had earlier reported that one of the men was a defected colonel and the commander of the jihadist al-Nusra Front in the Syrian region of Qusayr near Leb's border.

Amid the Syrian refugee influx Arsal has witnessed since the eruption of the Syrian crisis in 2011, the Lebanese Army has several times seized cars loaded with arms and ammunition in the town and its outskirts.
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Abu Qatada challenges Jordanian court authority in terrorism trial
2013-12-11
[Pak Daily Times] Radical Mohammedan holy man Abu Qatada told a Jordanian court on Tuesday he was not guilty of terrorism charges and challenged its authority to try him under the terms of his extradition from Britannia five months ago.

Appearing in court in brown prison fatigues, Abu Qatada said the presence of a military judge in the panel of three judges violated the agreement under which he was flown back to Jordan in July after many years of legal battles in Britannia.

While in Britannia he was convicted and sentenced in absentia by a Jordanian court to life imprisonment for conspiring to carry out terrorist attacks against U.S. and other targets inside Jordan. He is now being retried on those charges.

"I have been prevented from defending myself for a long period, and God knows that I am innocent," said Abu Qatada, saying that the charges against him were fabricated.

"There has been a betrayal of the agreement under which I have come. There is now a military judge - this is the first betrayal by you. I have come to be tried by civilian judges," said the Islamist holy man, whose real name is Mahmoud Othman.

"This court is a betrayal of the agreement and I don't recognise it," he said.

His lawyer Ghazi Thuneibat called for Abu Qatada's release, saying his client's rights had been violated by the presence of a military judge. But prosecutor Fawaz al-Atoum said Jordan's state security court law allowed for military tribunals in cases of terrorism.

Linked by a Spanish judge to the late al Qaeda leader the late Osama bin Laden
... who is no longer with us, and won't be again...
, Abu Qatada was in and out of jail in Britannia since first being locked away
You have the right to remain silent...
 in 2001. He was sent back to prison last March for breaching his bail conditions.

His return was made possible by an extradition treaty adopted by Jordan and Britannia that satisfied the concerns of British judges about the use of evidence obtained through torture.

Sermons of the heavily bearded Abu Qatada were found in a Hamburg flat used by some of those who carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United

States.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Three Fatah al-Islam Inmates 'Missing from Roumieh for a Month'
2012-10-13
[An Nahar] Three Fatah al-Islam
A Syrian-incubated al-Qaeda work-alike that they think can be turned off if no longer needed to keep the Leb pot stirred.
 inmates -- a Paleostinian, a Syrian and an Algerian -- managed to escape from the Roumieh prison around a month ago, media reports said on Friday.

State-run National News Agency identified the three prisoners as Paleostinian national Mahmoud Awad Falah, 32, Syrian national Omar Mahmoud Othman, 26, and Algerian national Faisal Daoud Aqla, 31.

"The Fatah al-Islam escapees were on the 3rd floor of Ward B in Roumieh and the prison break happened around a month ago," MTV reported, quoting prisoners.

"Paleostinian inmate Mahmoud Falah had a hearing session today and did not respond when prison guards called his name, which prompted them to conduct a prisoner count after which they found out that Falah and the Syrian and Algerian inmates were missing," MTV added.

It noted that Military Investigative Judge Dani al-Zhenni was scheduled to head to Roumieh to conduct the necessary investigations.

LBCI television earlier reported that "security forces have launched a search operation in a bid to capture three Fatah al-Islam inmates who beat feet from the Roumieh prison."

On August 25, Roumieh prison guards thwarted an attempt by two former inmates to help a dangerous Fatah al-Islam thug flee.

Paleostinians Wassim Qumboz and Mahmoud Abdul Qader were meeting with Yemeni Salim Saleh during visiting hours when a guard noticed they were carrying a fake identity card with Saleh's photograph on it, NNA reported at the time.

Saleh, also known as Abu Turab, was immediately taken to another cell and the two Paleostinians were tossed in the calaboose
Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out!
 for questioning, it said.

According to the agency, Qumboz and Abdul Qader, who were former inmates in the same prison, admitted to faking an ID to help Saleh escape by claiming he is a visitor.

In a major prison break from Roumieh, five Fatah al-Islam inmates managed to escape on August 13, 2011.

The Nahr al-Bared Paleostinian refugee camp in northern Leb was almost totally destroyed in 2007 during a months-long conflict between the Lebanese army and the al-Qaeda-inspired Fatah al-Islam.

The fighting killed some 400 people, including 168 soldiers.
Link


Iraq
Iraqi lawmakers approve $400M payment to Americans
2011-05-02
[Pak Daily Times] Iraqi politicians approved a controversial $400 million settlement Saturday for Americans who claim they were abused by Saddam Hussein's regime during the 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

The settlement is part of a deal reached between Storied Baghdad
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
 and Washington last year to end years of legal battles by US citizens who claim they were tortured or traumatised, including hundreds held as human shields.

Many Iraqis consider themselves victims of both Saddam's regime and the 2003 US-led invasion and wonder why they should pay money for wrongs committed by the ousted dictator. Lawmakers approved the settlement by a majority after listening to the foreign and finance ministers as well as the head of the central bank describe why it was necessary, said Abbas al-Bayati of the State of Law political bloc.

Another politician, Mahmoud Othman, said by approving the settlement, Iraq would be protecting itself from more lawsuits in the future that could have been well above the $400 million that was agreed to.

"They explained very well what was the settlement and how it will be negative if we don't approve it," he said. "That's why people were persuaded."

Lawmakers affiliated with anti-American holy man Moqtada Tater al-Sadr
... the Iranian catspaw holy man who was 22 years old in 2003 and was nearing 40 in 2010. He spends most of his time in Iran, safely out of the line of fire, where he's learning to be an ayatollah...
 rejected the settlement, said one of the bloc's politicians, Hakim al-Zamili. Al-Zamili said he was surprised that so many politicians who had been arguing against the legislation before Saturday's session reversed course at the last minute. "It's better to compensate the Iraqi deaders and detainees than the Americans," he said. Saddam's regime held hostage hundreds of Americans during the run-up to the Gulf War, using them as human shields in hopes of staving off an attack by the US and its allies. Most of the Americans had been living and working in Kuwait and after being taken hostage were dispersed to sites around Iraq.
Link


Iraq
Iraqi politicians snub Saudi invitation
2010-11-01
[Iran Press TV] Iraqi politicians say an invitation by Soddy Arabia's King Abdullah for a proposed meeting in Riyadh to resolve disputes and form a new government comes "too late."

The Saudi king called on Iraqi leaders on Saturday to meet in Riyadh after the Eid al-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) holiday, due on November 16, "under the umbrella of the vaporous Arab League" to put an end to the country's prolonged political crisis over government formation, AFP reported.

"We ... assure you of our full readiness to help you and support you in whatever resolution you agree upon in order to restore security and peace to the land of Mesopotamia," he said in a statement.

Iraqi politicians, however, expressed doubts about the sincerity of the good-will move by Riyadh which Storied Baghdad has repeatedly accused of funding faceless myrmidons and bully boyz operating terror attacks against the Iraqis.

Nevertheless, former Premier Iyad Allawi's al-Iraqiya bloc comprising Sunni Arabs and secular Shiite MPs welcomed King abdullah's invitation.

But supportes of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki who are mostly Islamist Shiites turned down the offer.

They said Iraqis themselves can agree on the formation of a national unity government, and that Iraqi political groups are on the verge of reaching such an agreement.

"This Saudi initiative is not positive, and that country does not have a role to play because it has not been neutral in recent years; it has always had a negative attitude toward [Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki] and [his] State of Law [coalition]," said Sami al-Askari, a member of the Iraqi National Assembly.

"Had this invitation come from other countries, such as Jordan, Syria or even Turkey, it would have had a better chance of being well received," he added.

Iraqi Kurdish parties have not yet given an official response to King Abdullah's invitation, but some Kurdish politicians have adopted an approach similar to that of Maliki's followers, shrugging off the invitation.

From the Kurdish camp, politician Mahmoud Othman said King Abdullah's offer does not come at an appropriate time, and that accepting the offer will only delay the establishment of an Iraqi government and further complicate the situation.

Iraq is struggling with a political standoff between rival factions following the country's inconclusive March 7 general elections.

Allawi's al-Iraqiya secured a plurality of the votes and ended up first with 91 seats, followed by Maliki's State of Law with 89 -- both stopping shy of the 163 seats required for a majority in Iraq's 325-member parliament.

Early in October, a grand alliance of the State of Law coalition and the Shia-majority Iraqi National Alliance -- which became third in the May vote with 70 seats -- announced it would nominate Maliki for the premiership post.

The move cleared the way for Maliki's reappointment, although the coalition is still four seats away from the 163 quorum for a ruling majority.
Link


Iraq
Kurds pause negotiations, waiting to name PM
2010-07-12
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: The Kurdistan Alliance is waiting to learn the nominee who will occupy the position of Iraq’s prime minister in order to start actual negotiations about the government’s program and work mechanisms.

“Negotiations will start only after we learn who will be the new prime minister of Iraq,” Mahmoud Othman, a leading figure of the Kurdistan Alliance, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency on Sunday.

“At that point, actual negotiations will start regarding government’s program and work mechanisms,” Othman explained.

He pointed out that negotiations are inconclusive unless blocs know the new president, prime minister, and parliament speaker. “We have not joined any alliance, and we currently have no bias towards any side,” Othman stressed.

He added that the Kurdistan Alliance may join alliances in future, depending on dialogues with other blocs.
Link


Iraq
Iraqs PM visits Kurdistan to tackle disputes
2009-08-03
" This visit is a very positive point and opens dialogue between the two (parties) in order to solve the problems between the central government and Kurdistan "
Kurdish MP Mahmoud Othman
[Al Arabiya Latest] Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki made his maiden trip as prime minister to Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region on Sunday in a bid to resolve key disputes with regional leaders over land and oil.

He will hold talks with regional president Massud Barzani and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, amid U.S. pressure for the central government and Kurdish authorities to settle their differences before American troops leave Iraq in 2011.

It is Maliki's first trip to the region since becoming prime minister of Iraq's first permanent post-invasion government in 2006.

It comes hot on the heels of Kurdish parliamentary and presidential elections that returned Barzani to power, and less than six months before general elections across the country in January.

His talks with Talabani and Barzani will be held at Dukan, a summer resort 75 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of Sulaimaniya, Kurdistan's second-biggest city.

"This visit is a very positive point and opens dialogue between the two (parties) in order to solve the problems between the central government and Kurdistan," senior Kurdish MP Mahmoud Othman said.
Link


Iraq
MP calls on Mashhadani to resign to avoid dismissal
2008-12-23
Aswat al-Iraq: MP from the Kurdistan Alliance called on Parliament's Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani to resign, threatening that his bloc will agree with the suggestion to sack him if presented in the Parliament. "The Kurdistan Alliance believes that al-Mashhadani became incapable of heading the Parliament because he does not have the necessary leadership skills," Mahmoud Othman told Aswat al-Iraq. "We will vote to sack him if he does not resign," he asserted.

On Wednesday, a heated debate erupted between Mashhadani and members of parliamentary committees over the issue of Iraqi Journalist Muntadhar al-Zaydi, who threw a pair of shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush at a Baghdad-based press conference last week. Mashhadani threatened to resign from the Parliament, while some blocs said they would boycott parliamentary sessions if he retained his post as speaker.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
We will defend territory against attack, vows Syria
2008-10-28
Just like Pakistain ...
Syria yesterday condemned the US for launching "criminal and terrorist aggression" on its soil while the Iraqi government defended action against foreign jihadis amid warnings it might complicate plans for a controversial security agreement between Baghdad and Washington.

Walid al-Muallem, Syria's foreign minister, used a visit to London to lambast the US for its "cowboy politics" and hinted that Sunday's raid was designed to halt Syria's gradually improving relations with the EU and Britain. Iran and Russia also condemned the US for aggravating tensions in the region.

Syria reported that US troops, backed by helicopters, launched the attack five miles into its territory, killing eight people, including four children.
Still no word on the number of fluffy bunnies ...
But at the funerals of the victims, where angry crowds chanted anti-American slogans, an Associated Press photographer said he saw the bodies of seven men. Iraqi media were last night reporting that US sources were claiming to have killed the leader of a border-smuggling network.

The US again refused to comment publicly on the attack, despite clear hints from officials in Washington that special forces had indeed targeted al-Qaida-linked foreign fighters moving into Iraq. If confirmed, it would be the first such US strike inside Syria since the 2003 invasion. Muallem, in the first public comments by the Damascus government, warned that if such an attack recurred, Syria would defend its territory. "The Americans know full well that we stand against al-Qaida," he said. "They know full well we are trying to tighten our border with Iraq."
They've been trying for five years now and haven't quite seemed to get the hang of it ...
Muallem had been due to hold a press conference with David Miliband, the foreign secretary, but the event was cancelled by mutual agreement, apparently because Miliband did not want to be questioned about the raid.
Why not? It's not like he had anything to do with it.
Miliband said Britain was concerned about the growth of al-Qaida groups and insurgent networks developing along the Syria-Iraq border. British officials claimed Muallem did not deny the seriousness of the problem and the need for better cooperation with Iraq, but gave no firm commitments. In Baghdad, the Iraqi government spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, appeared to support the US by calling the area of the attack "a staging ground for activities by terrorist organisations hostile to Iraq". He added the US operation "was targeting smugglers who transferred people to Iraq".

The US has steadily been ceding control of the Iraqi armed forces to the Maliki government and has transferred security responsibility for 12 of the country's 18 provinces. But the US still controls Iraqi air space and runs military operations where and when it chooses. "We have been in meetings all day about this," said an Iraqi defence official. "This is not something we can control or respond to."

But Brigadier Fadel al-Sultani, now responsible for security in the Hilla region - which takes in part of the restive Anbar province that stretches towards the Syrian border - told the Guardian the province was no longer a haven for insurgents using the Iraqi border town of Qaim, close to where Sunday's attack took place, as a staging point. "We can say with certainty that al-Qaida are 95 per cent defeated," said Sultani. "They have gone. Five per cent are out there and are robust. We retain a strong interest in them and so do the Americans. They were with us this morning discussing an offensive."

The attack in Syria also provoked new concerns about the agreement extending the legal basis for American forces in Iraq after a UN mandate expires in December, with a prominent Kurdish politician, Mahmoud Othman, claiming the raid was carried out without the Iraqi government's knowledge.
Link


Iraq
Iraqis see compromise on Kirkuk standoff
2008-08-05
BAGHDAD - Iraqi political leaders reached a tentative compromise on Monday that could resolve a stalemate over the fate of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk and allow local elections to go ahead, the deputy speaker of parliament said. Lawmakers rescheduled for Tuesday a vote on a provincial election law, which had been held up by wrangling over Kirkuk that has threatened to escalate into renewed ethnic strife.

"The new date has been set after fresh hope appeared of reaching an agreement," said Khalid al-Attiya, deputy parliament speaker and a member of Iraq's largest Shi'ite bloc.

Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi, a member of the Shi'ite majority, gathered rival politicians at his home to broker an end to the stand-off over the election.

Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish lawmaker, said Monday's talks centered on a U.N. proposal designed to defuse tensions, which would set up a joint administration for Kirkuk as part of a temporary power-sharing solution.

Meanwhile a senior Shi'ite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed al Fayadh, urged Iraqis to vote in the elections despite what he said was a disappointing performance by the victors of the 2005 polls. "Not taking part is a serious matter...It is the responsibility of everyone towards their country and themselves to take part in the elections in great numbers," he said.
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