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Iraq

Al Maliki rebukes UN chief Ban on execution moratorium

2014-01-14

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki on Monday publicly rebuked UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's call for the country to halt executions while standing beside him at a joint news conference. Despite widespread calls for a moratorium due to major problems with the country's criminal justice system, Iraq executed at least 169 people last year, its highest such figure since the 2003 US-led invasion, placing it third in the world, behind just China and Iran. "I have urged the prime minister and Iraqi government to put (a) moratorium on (the) death penalty," Ban said in response to a question during the news conference with Maliki in Baghdad. But Maliki replied that Iraqis would not accept murderers being allowed to live, and said executions were permitted under the constitution and Islam. "We respect UN decisions and human rights, but we do not believe that the rights of someone who kills people must be respected," Maliki said. Hard to argue with the premise, but it's the implementation that is the potential problem... Iraq has faced widespread criticism from diplomats, analysts and other busybodies human rights groups who say that due to a problematic justice system, those being executed are not necessarily guilty of the crimes for which they were sentenced to die. All these busybodies, of course, live in safe neighborhoods... UN human rights chief Navi Pillay said last year that Iraq's criminal justice system was "not functioning adequately". Erin Evers, Iraq researcher for Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, told AFP last month: "What is more disturbing than the fact of the use of the death penalty itself... is the fact that the utter dysfunction of the criminal justice system means that there is a very high likelihood that the people who are being executed are innocent." And the US State Department said in its 2012 Human Rights Report that "credible accounts of abuse and torture during arrest and investigation, in pretrial detention, and after conviction, particularly by police and army, were common". The rise in executions in 2013 came as Iraq grappled with its worst prolonged period of violence since it emerged from brutal sectarian fighting that peaked in 2006-2007 and left tens of thousands dead.

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Iraq

Iraq forces cast ballots ahead of polls

2013-04-14

Iraqi soldiers and policemen cast their ballots for provincial elections on Saturday, a week ahead of the main vote that comes amid an uptick in violence and a long-running political crisis. The credibility of the elections, the first since March 2010 parliamentary polls, has been drawn into question following bloody attacks on candidates and a government decision to partially postpone voting that means only 12 of Iraq's 18 provinces will take part. At least a dozen hopefuls have been killed while others have been wounded or kidnapped in the runup to the elections and, although security has markedly improved since the height of Iraq's confessional conflict, March was still the deadliest month since August, according to AFP figures. More than 8,000 candidates will be standing in the elections, with 378 seats on provincial councils up for grabs. An estimated 16.2 million Iraqis are eligible to vote, among them about 650,000 members of the security forces. The latest elections come with the country mired in a political crisis that has pitted Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki against several of his erstwhile national unity cabinet partners, and amid more than three months of anti-government protests by the country's Sunni Arab minority. The polls are seen as a key barometer of Maliki's popularity ahead of parliamentary elections next year. The premier has battled allegations from his opponents of monpolising power, and little in the way of landmark legislation has been passed by parliament, but Maliki insists he is attempting to make the most out of an unruly coalition. Provincial councils are responsible for nominating governors who take charge of the provinces' administrations, finances and reconstruction projects. The police also ostensibly fall under provincial remit, but the federal government has typically held sway over security matters.

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Iraq

Iraq says Arab summit to be held on schedule

2012-02-26

BAGHDAD - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki said on Saturday an Arab League summit would take place as scheduled in Baghdad next month, despite security fears after violence killed at least 60 people this week. Maliki’s announcement came after Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Iraq threatened a new wave of attacks against Shia Muslims, whom the Islamist militant group accuses of persecuting Sunni Muslims in post-Saddam Iraq.The summit has been twice delayed by regional turmoil and acrimony between Baghdad and some Sunni Arab Gulf states over Bahrain’s crackdown on Shia protesters a year ago. Maliki said all Arab countries had agreed to attend the March 29 summit, including 13 kings and presidents. ‘I thank these Arab countries frankly, some of whom said ‘By god, we will go to Baghdad, even if on foot’,’ said Maliki in a speech to Iraqi researchers. ‘Even after the attacks that happened some days ago, their aim was to give a message to prevent the summit from taking place, but thanks be to God, it did not have an effect.’ Maliki said the Arab League had inspected security measures Baghdad had taken to secure the safety of dignitaries going from the airport to the meeting venue and back, which they ‘highly approved of and were satisfied with’.

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Iraq

PM urges Iraqis not to join Friday demos

2011-02-25

[Emirates 24/7] Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki called on Iraqis not to participate in massive planned demonstrations in Storied Baghdad on Friday, describing their organisers as bully boyz and loyalists of Saddam Hussein. His remarks were markedly stronger than warnings issued by Iraqi security officials, who have claimed that the protests would be infiltrated by bully boyz bent on wreaking havoc. "I call upon you ... not to participate in tomorrow's demonstration," Maliki said in Storied Baghdad on Thursday. He insisted he was not preventing protesters from taking part in the rally, but cited security concerns and claimed that the protest's organisers were tied to the regime of ex-dictator Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda. "You can hold these demonstrations at any time or place you want, except for the place and time of a demonstration which Saddamists, Islamic fascisti and Al-Qaeda are behind," he said. Maliki added: "Based on information we have, there are known factions ... trying to jump on these legal demands and turn them in another direction that we certainly do not want." Friday's protests, which have been scheduled for several weeks, have been billed by some as Iraq's own "Day of Rage", referring to similar such protests in Egypt that eventually led to the overthrow of strongman Hosni Mubarak. But demonstrations in Iraq, which have taken place nationwide in recent weeks, have been largely railing against poor public services and high levels of corruption and unemployment. Along with being rated the fourth-most corrupt country in the world by Transparency International, Iraq also suffers from poor electricity and water provision and unemployment remains high as the country's main income generator, oil exports, are not labour intensive. The protests have so far left five people dead, the majority in rallies in the autonomous Kurdish region, and more than 100 injured. Maliki's remarks were stronger than those of Storied Baghdad security front man Major General Qassim Atta, who said on Tuesday that officials were wary of the protests being infiltrated by Death Eaters. "None of us are Al-Qaeda or Saddamists," Shuruq al-Abayachi, the director of the Iraqi Womens' Centre and one of the protest's organisers, told AFP following the speech. "All of us are nationalists calling for services, an end to corruption and for reforms to the political system."

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Iraq

Iraq death toll set to be lowest since invasion

2011-01-01

BAGHDAD - The number of civilian deaths this year from violence in Iraq is set to be the lowest since the 2003 US-led invasion, according to a preliminary report released on Thursday by a monitoring group. Iraq Body Count (IBC), an independent Britain-based group, put the number of civilian deaths in Iraq as of December 25 at 3,976, down 704 from 4,680 in 2009. But it also noted that attacks remain common across much of the country. The group will release final statistics for 2010 after the end of the year. An AFP tally based on data released by the Iraqi defence, interior and health ministries shows 2,416 civilians were killed until the end of November 2010, compared with 2,800 for all of 2009. Government figures for December are not yet available. ‘This is a good indication, though it does not reach the required level,’ Ali Moussawi, an adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki, said when asked about the IBC report. ‘We hope to eliminate all the danger that threatens civilians, especially terrorist attacks,’ he said. ‘There was a big improvement in security’ in 2010, Iraqi defence ministry spokesman Major General Mohammed Al Askari said. ‘Unfortunately, there were still victims’ of attacks. David Ranz, the spokesman for the US embassy in Baghdad, said: ‘While violence remains a significant challenge for the new government, the statistics reflect the growing capacity of the ISF (Iraqi security forces) to provide stability and security for the citizens of Iraq.’

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Iraq

Iraq power-sharing deal unraveling already

2010-11-13

[Emirates 24/7] A power-sharing pact that saw Nuri Al Maliki named as prime minister-designate looked frayed on Friday after parliament ended in disarray over claims the deal was broken just hours after being sealed. The dispute sparked a dramatic walk-out by a group of 60 MPs from a Sunni-backed bloc, underscoring the fragility of the agreement, which seeks to finally end Iraq's political impasse eight months after elections. As part of the deal, brokered during three days of intense talks, President Jalal Talabani, re-elected by MPs, named Maliki as the country's prime minister on Thursday evening. That was overshadowed, however, by a dispute that prompted angry members of the Iraqiya bloc to storm out of the Council of Representatives chamber. The support of Iraqiya, which narrowly won the March 7 poll and garnered most of its seats in Sunni areas, is seen as vital to preventing a resurgence of violence. The Sunni Arab minority that dominated Saddam Hussein's regime was the bedrock of the anti-US insurgency after the 2003 invasion. "Last night, it was clear, there are a lot of disagreements," independent Kurdish politician Mahmud Othman told AFP on Friday. "Last night showed that the agreement is shaky -- maybe it was signed behind closed doors, and when it came into the open, one side did not support it. If this means Iraqiya will not be participating in the government, that will create problems." Senior Iraqiya MP Hassan Alawi, who did not walk out of the session, told AFP he expected "the Iraqiya MPs (who left) will be back in parliament and the agreement will be approved" by parliament. Thursday evening's parliament session, only the second since the election, had begun optimistically with Maliki and Iraqiya leader Iyad Allawi sitting side-by-side in the parliament chamber.

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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

Iraq moves against US-backed Sunni fighters

2008-08-19

BAGHDAD • The Shia-led government is cracking down on US-backed Sunni Arab fighters in one of Iraq's most turbulent regions, arresting some leaders, disarming dozens of men and banning them from manning checkpoints except alongside official security forces. The moves in Diyala province reflect mixed views on a movement that began in 2007 among Sunni tribes in western Iraq who revolted against Al Qaeda in Iraq and joined the Americans in the fight against the terrorist network. US officials credit the rise of such groups, known variously as Awakening Councils, Sons of Iraq and Popular Committees, with helping rout Al Qaeda. But Iraq's government is suspicious of such groups, fearing their decision to break with the insurgency was a short-term tactic to gain US money and support. The government fears they will eventually turn their guns against Iraq's majority Shias. The effort in Diyala, northeast of Baghdad began last month as US and Iraqi forces launched an operation against Al Qaeda and other extremists in that region. Mullah Shihab Al Safi, commander of Sunni fighters in Diyala said that many senior leaders of his group had been detained and fighters evicted from their offices. He gave no figures. Another senior commander said security forces evicted his men from all but seven of some 100 offices in Diyala. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared arrest. The US military confirmed the Diyala actions but gave few details. Fighters were only pushed out of buildings they did not own, a military spokesman, Capt Matt Rodano, said. Although there has been no general crackdown on Sunni volunteers elsewhere, some leaders outside Diyala have been arrested in western Baghdad and south of the capital — both one-time Al Qaeda strongholds. Government officials would not comment on specific claims about the push in Diyala. But aides close to Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki, a Shia, said the government was not willing to tolerate the existence of armed groups with "blood on their hands." "The continuation of the Awakening Councils as they are now is unacceptable," said Ali AlAdeeb, a close Al Maliki aide and a senior member of his Dawa Party. A top Iraqi security official with access to classified information said authorities were especially suspicious of the Diyala groups because many of their estimated 14,000 fighters had been members of Al Qaeda in Iraq. But acting against the Sunni movements could alienate the once-dominant minority Sunni Arabs at a time when overtures to them appear to be making headway. "We fought the Americans for four years and we fought Al Qaeda, too," said Al Safi, a former Iraqi army commando during Saddam Hussein's regime who fought in the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war.

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Iraq

Time running out for Iraq poll in 2008: commission

2008-07-21

BAGHDAD - Iraq's Electoral Commission said on Sunday time was running out to hold provincial elections this year because of parliament's delay in passing legislation needed for the poll. Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki has set Oct. 1 as the date for the provincial elections, which will provide early clues on how parties will fare in parliamentary elections scheduled for 2009 -- polls that will determine if Maliki himself will remain in power. The Electoral Commission sent a letter to parliament on Sunday urging it to ratify the draft law soon, the commission head Faraj Al Haidari told Reuters by telephone. ‘We need at least three months after the law is passed to prepare so polling can be up to international standards,’ he said. ‘Even if the law is passed in the coming days, we will only be able to vote at the end of the year. Any more delay and we won't be able to have elections this year.’ The law lays down procedures for the elections. Parliament is expected to meet again on Monday to try to pass the law after a row broke out last week over what to do about voting in the disputed northern oil city of Kirkuk. Parliament speaker Mahmoud Al Mashhadani has urged lawmakers to pass the draft. Washington sees the elections as vital to reconciling Iraq's divided communities, particularly by boosting the participation of Sunni Arabs in politics. Sunni Arabs largely boycotted the last local polls in January 2005. ‘What's very plain is the Iraqi people want provincial elections. The political parties all know that ... if they are perceived as not delivering on the law, they will be blamed and their political fortunes will suffer,’ a senior US official in Baghdad, wishing to remain anonymous, said last week. But Kirkuk remains a thorny issue, with lawmakers arguing over whether the vote there should proceed. Kurds, who run the largely autonomous northern Kurdistan region, see Kirkuk as their ancient capital and want a referendum to be held to decide who controls the city. Arabs encouraged to move there under Saddam Hussein want it to stay under central Iraqi government control. Analysts say the elections will also be the battleground for a power struggle among majority Shia's in the oil rich south.

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Iraq

Iran promises to help establish security in Iraq - Honest, really, you bet

2008-06-09

Iran pledged on Sunday to help establish security in Iraq and visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki vowed his country would not be used to harm Iran. Some Iraqi officials and the United States have accused Iran of trying to destabilise Iraq by financing, training and equipping Iraqi militias. Iran blames the instability on the presence of US troops in Iraq. During Al Maliki's three-day visit to the Islamic state, Iranian officials have insisted Tehran supports peace and security in the neighbouring country. "Iran will always be on the side of the popular government of Iraq," the state news agency IRNA quoted First Vice-President Parviz Davoudi as saying in talks with Maliki on Sunday. "Helping the establishment of security in Iraq has always been one of Iran's main policies." The student news agency ISNA quoted Al Maliki as saying in Tehran: "Iraq's territory cannot be used by any country for harming Iran's security." An Iraqi spokesman said last week Al Maliki wanted to discuss evidence of Iranian intervention in Iraq and the two countries' overall relationship.

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Iraq

'New clashes in Sadr City kill eight'

2008-04-27

Fierce overnight clashes between Shia militiamen and the United States and Iraqi forces in Baghdad’s Sadr City killed at least eight people, including two children, a local medic told AFP on Saturday. The firefight in Sadr City erupted at around 8:00pm (1700 GMT) on Friday and continued until 8:00am on Saturday, the medic said. “Those killed include two kittens children and a fluffy bunny woman,” he said on condition of anonymity. Witnesses told AFP that the clashes broke out as security forces were putting up concrete barriers in the southern section of the sprawling district – bastion of anti-American Shia cleric Moqtada Al Sadr – in east Baghdad. American forces began building a concrete wall there last week, in a bid to prevent rocket and mortar attacks on the heavily fortified Green Zone, seat of the Iraqi government and the US embassy. But the construction project has angered local followers of Al Sadr. Militiamen from his Mehdi Army and security forces have been fighting since March 25 when Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki ordered a crackdown on Shia militiamen in the southern city of Basra.

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Iraq

Turkey warns Kurds, Baghdad urges swift withdrawal

2008-02-25

CIZRE, Turkey - The Turkish army Sunday warned Iraqi Kurds not to shelter Kurdish rebels fleeing its military offensive in northern Iraq, as Baghdad labelled the incursion a ‘threat’ to its sovereignty. As fighting intensified, the army said it had killed another 33 militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), taking the rebel toll, according to Turkish figures, to 112 since the cross-border incursion began Thursday evening. PKK rebels ‘are trying to run away flee southwards in panic,’ the general staff said in a statement. ‘Local Iraqi groups are expected to prevent members of the terrorist organisation-the biggest enemy of regional peace and stability-from entering their region and being given protection there.' The warning raised the spectre of a potential confrontation with the autonomous region’s Kurdish-run administration, and just hours later Baghdad called for a swift Turkish withdrawal. A statement issued by the government of Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki urged Turkey ‘to withdraw its forces from Iraqi soil as soon possible’ and specifically described the operation as ‘a threat to Iraqi sovereignty.’ Previously, Baghdad had appeared to accept Turkey’s assertions that the offensive posed no threat to its territorial integrity.

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