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Iraq
Al-Masri sez he's not dead
2007-05-06
Al-Qaeda in Iraq released a recording purportedly of its leader, who had been reported killed in recent fighting, criticizing the country's largest Sunni party and branding its chief, Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, a "criminal" for participating in the government. The statement by Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri, was seen as a warning to Sunnis not to take part in the political process that could legitimize the Shiite-led government and its U.S. backers. Al-Hashemi has resisted calls by fellow leaders of the main Sunni alliance to pull out of the government.

The al-Masri statement, posted on a militant Web site, did not directly address reports from Iraqi officials that the al-Qaeda leader was killed Tuesday by rivals north of Baghdad. The U.S. military declined to confirm the report of al-Masri's death and believed it stemmed from confusion over the killing of another al-Qaeda militant.

There was no indication when the 20-minute statement released Saturday was recorded, although a transcript posted on the Web site was dated Saturday. It could not be independently verified. In the statement Saturday, al-Masri sharply criticized al-Hashemi for taking part in politics and legitimizing the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whose U.S.-backed security forces are fighting Sunni insurgents and al-Qaeda militants. "This criminal relentlessly calls for the occupier to remain," he said, referring to al-Hashemi. Last week, al-Hashemi spoke to U.S. President George W. Bush in a phone call to discuss the Sunni threats to leave the Cabinet.

An insurgent statement in March, calling Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zubaie a stooge "to the crusader occupiers," was followed a day later by an assassination attempt against the highest-ranking Sunni government official. That statement, which was made by the al-Qaeda front group, the Islamic State of Iraq, also singled out al-Hashemi. The latest statement, however, did not calling for attacks against the Islamic Party, which, al-Masri said, would only distract his group from its fight against the Shiites and American forces. "The leaders of the Islamic Party are renegades but we make it clear that we don't want to fight them and be drawn into secondary battles that only serve the occupier and its Shiite associates," he said.
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Iraq
Last Week's Weekly Progress in Iraq
2007-04-10
Iraq Death Toll Up Despite Crackdown:

• According to Iraqi government figures released April 1, the average daily death toll in Iraq for March was less than 4% more than in February, despite the military crackdown in Baghdad.
Good news that it wasn't more; bad news it's not lower, yet.

Insurgent Tied to Extremist Groups Captured:

• Iraqi and Coalition Forces (CF) captured a suspected insurgent tied to Explosively-Formed Projectile (EFP) facilitation networks during a joint operation March 30 while targeting anti-Iraqi forces in Sadr City. The suspect is allegedly involved with several violent extremist groups responsible for attacks against the Iraqi people and CF, as well as facilitating the movement of EFPs into Iraq.

Ambassador Khalilzad Optimistic About Iraq’s Future:

• Speaking to reporters in Baghdad March 26, former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad said that he was optimistic about Iraq’s future, in part due to the early success of Operation Imposing the Law (Fardh al-Qanun) and the improved performance of Iraqi soldiers and police, among other factors.
• The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) “are performing better and they are doing better in terms of carrying their share of the burden,” Ambassador Khalilzad said. He also pointed out that Iraqis seem to appreciate the presence of their soldiers and police on the streets to help effect stability, noting that citizen-provided tips about insurgent activity have been flowing in steadily.

House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Listens to Panelists:

• At its first open hearing March 28, the House Oversight and Investigations subcommittee listened to outside perspectives on the transition of responsibility for security to ISF. Though differing in areas of emphasis, all four panelists insisted that ISF will in no way be prepared to assume primary security responsibility by January 2008.

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Zubaie Released from Hospital after Attack:

• Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zubaie was discharged April 3 from a hospital in Jordan where he was treated after an assassination attempt last month by a group linked to al-Qaida, the Iraqi ambassador to Jordan said.
• Zubaie told Dubai-based al-Arabiya television April 3 that his attackers seek to keep Iraq in a “whirlpool of violence,” but that Baghdad's leadership will “confront these dirty terrorism groups that want chaos and sedition to spread among Iraqis.”

General McCaffrey Reports Growing Sunni Opposition to AQI:

• A report by retired General Barry McCaffrey claims there is growing Sunni tribal opposition to al-Qaida in Iraq (AQI) and unmistakable evidence that the western Sunni tribes are increasingly convinced that they blundered badly by sitting out the January 2005 elections. He also says there is now active combat between Sunni tribal leadership and AQI terrorists, as well as evidence that the Sunni tribes are now supplying their young men as drafts for the Iraqi police.

During the week of March 29-April 4 electricity availability averaged 6.9 hours per day in Baghdad and 12.4 hours nationwide. Electricity output for the week was 4% above the same period in 2006.
Months ago, the MSM reported two hours a day in Baghdad. I've missed all the more recent tallies.

Death Penalty Sought for “Chemical Ali”:

• On April 2, prosecutors sought the death penalty for Ali Hassan al-Majid, Saddam Hussein’s cousin and infamously known as “Chemical Ali,” for his use of poison gas against Iraqi Kurds in the 1980’s.
• Majid is on trial with five other former senior Baath party officials for their roles in the 1988 Anfal campaign against ethnic Kurds that killed up to 180,000 people. During Anfal, thousands of villages declared “prohibited areas” were razed and bombed as part of a scorched-earth campaign. Majid admitted during the trial he ordered troops to execute all Kurds who ignored orders to leave their villages, but said he had nothing to apologize for.

Former MoI Official Undergoes First Investigative Hearing:

• The first sitting of the Central Criminal Court of Iraq at Rusafa occurred in Baghdad’s new Rule of Law Green Zone April 2. The Vice President of Iraq, Tariq al-Hashemi,
Deputy Minister of Justice, Bosho Ibrahim Ali, and Chief Justice Medhat Mahmud were at the court when Ministry of Interior official, Captain Ali Abed Jasem Warid, underwent his first investigative hearing regarding allegations against him relating to the torture of prisoners in Baghdad’s notorious Site 4 detention facility.

UNHCR Plans to Expand Mission in Iraq:

• The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) stated he plans to strengthen the international presence in Baghdad of the UNHCR, increase its activities in the country, and has urged the Iraqi government to “lead” a world effort to lessen the “humanitarian crisis” in the country.

UNAMI Organizes Workshop for Iraqi Governates:

• The UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), with the support of the UN Office for Project Services and the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government, organized a workshop with the Governors and the Chairpersons of the Provincial Councils of Iraq’s 18 governorates.

Japan Extends Commitment for Two More Years:
• The Japanese government said they will expand their Iraq Special Measures law for two years, allowing Japanese Air Self-Defense forces to continue to operate in support of UN and Coalition missions in Iraq.

This just in -
Sadr Delivers Statement:

• In a statement delivered March 30, Muqtada al-Sadr said the invasion of Iraq had burdened the country with violence and poverty. Sadr also urged Iraqis to protest in Najaf April 9 to mark the four year anniversary of when American troops entered Baghdad in 2003.
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Iraq
Official Blames Al Qaeda in Iraq for Death of Key Sunni Insurgent Leader
2007-03-30
A military leader of the 1920 Revolution Brigades, a major Sunni Arab insurgent group, was killed Tuesday in an ambush west of Baghdad, the group said in an Internet statement. Harith Dhaher al-Dhari died when gunmen fired rocket propelled grenades on his car in the Abu Ghraib district, according to a district official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared reprisals. The official said a passenger traveling with al-Dhari also was killed as well as another associate in a second car traveling behind. He blamed Al Qaeda in Iraq for the attack, but did not say how he arrived at that conclusion.

The group, in a statement posted on the Internet said: "The 1920 Brigades mourns its martyr, the brave leader Harith Dhaher Khamis al-Dhari who fell today, his honorable blood spilled on the battlefield of his jihad (holy struggle) in Abu Ghraib." The authenticity of the brief statement could not be verified but it appeared on a site that routinely publishes militant literature.

The killing of al-Dhari is likely to deepen the increasingly bloody rift between government supporters and opponents of Al Qaeda in the Sunni Arab communities west of Baghdad. The attack took place at a time when the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was making progress rallying tribesmen in the Anbar province, the epicenter of the Sunni insurgency, behind it in the fight against Al Qaeda, the deadliest terror group in Iraq. The government-backed tribal militias have been trying to chase Al Qaeda fighters out of the vast Anbar province. Al Qaeda has responded with bomb attacks targeting leaders and key supporters of the tribes allied against them.

The killing of the insurgent leader also came one day after outgoing U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters that American and Iraqi officials had talked to representatives of insurgent groups hoping to draw more Sunni groups away from Al Qaeda. The 1920 Revolution Brigades has consistently been rumored to have taken part in these secret talks, which are believed to have been deadlocked over the demand that insurgents to lay down their arms and join the political process.

Al-Dhari's father is the sheik of al-Zuba'a tribe in Abu Ghraib. Also a member of this tribe is Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zubaie, who was seriously wounded Friday when a suicide bomber blew up his vest of explosives at the prayer room of his Baghdad home.

The Islamic State in Iraq, an Al Qaeda-linked group, claimed responsibility for the attack on al-Zubaie, which killed nine people.

In separate statements, al-Dhari was mourned by the Iraqi Islamic Party, the country's largest Sunni Arab party, and by the Association of Muslim Scholars, a radical Sunni group led by Harith al-Dhari, an uncle of the deceased al-Dhari. Both groups have long been suspected of maintaining links to Sunni Arab groups fighting U.S. and Iraqi forces since 2003. The Islamic Party, however, is widely viewed as a force of moderation within the Sunni Arab minority, which is deeply embittered by the loss of its domination under Saddam Hussein. The association, on the other hand, has grown increasingly militant. "To be associated with the insurgency is an honor," the surviving al-Dhari told a television interviewer earlier this week. "We believe it trusts the association when it comes to working toward forcing the occupiers out."
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Iraq
Hit on Iraq deputy PM seen as inside job
2007-03-26
BAGHDAD - The suicide attack against Iraq's Sunni deputy prime minister is now seen as an inside job carried out by a member of his own security detail — a distant relative who had been arrested as an insurgent, freed at the official's request, then hired as a bodyguard, a senior security official and an aide to the victim told The Associated Press on Sunday.
Smart move, Salam. Look at the thanks you get...
The assassination attempt, at least the third major security breach involving a top politician in four months, prompted Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to order a government-wide security shake up, including plans to hire a foreign company to guard the Green Zone building where parliament meets, the security official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with reporters.
Looks like more business for Blackwater...
A suicide attacker came within feet of Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zubaie and exploded his vest during a Friday prayer service in the private mosque attached to al-Zubaie home. The Sunni official was seriously wounded and nine people were killed. The senior security official as well as a key aide to al-Zubaie said Wahab al-Saadi, the distant relative accused of involvement in the attack, was the only person at the prayer service who has not been accounted for.
Well, we think it's him. We haven't put all the pieces together yet. Literally.
They said al-Saadi's car, which was parked outside the al-Zubaie compound, exploded within minutes of the suicide attack.

The al-Zubaie aide said al-Saadi had recently been removed from the bodyguard detail as a "troublemaker" but was still on the deputy prime minister's payroll and — for that reason and because he was a relative — was not searched when he entered the mosque.
Oh, him? Yeah, Salam says he's okay. Besides, it's a mosque. What could happen in here?
A cook for al-Zubaie who has since disappeared is also under suspicion. He was in the kitchen that was only about 30 feet from the prayer room when the attack occurred.
What about the butler? Was he in on it?
Sami al-Askari, a top aide to al-Maliki, said al-Saadi had been arrested in the past on suspicion of insurgent activities but that al-Zubaie successfully lobbied for his release and then made him a part of his security detail, most likely because of their family relationship. The security official and al-Zubaie's aide confirmed those details.
Yeah, they were close. We called him Fredo...
Other government security officials theorized that al-Saadi enlisted the cook's help to let a second person into the compound to carry out the bombing. They believed al-Saadi was the suicide attacker, although they conceded he could just be on the run.
Well, yeah, seeing how his car blew up...
The attack on al-Zubaie, who is now said to be out of danger after surgery in the U.S.-run military hospital in the Green Zone, was the third major security breakdown involving key members of the government or parliament since Nov. 21.

Al-Askari and the security official said those attacks had prompted al-Maliki to order a full investigation of all security guards. Once complete, all those protecting Iraqi officials or lawmakers will be issued new badges by the government.
Oh, boy! New badges! That'll stop 'em!
Security IDs currently are issued by the American military. Those passes allow access to secure locations, especially in the heavily guarded Green Zone — site of the U.S. Embassy and most Iraqi government offices and parliament.

In the Nov. 21 incident, a bomb exploded in the motorcade of Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, also a Sunni, as it drove into the parking lot at the Green Zone Convention Center where the legislature meets. Al-Mashhadani was not in the convoy when the bomb, placed in the trunk of his car, exploded. A second bomb was found under another car in the convoy and was detonated by an American military bomb squad.
Jeez, great security this guy's got...
On Feb. 26, Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi narrowly escaped assassination when a blast ripped through a government meeting hall just hours after it was searched by U.S. teams with bomb-sniffing dogs. At least 10 people were killed.

Abdul-Mahdi was slightly wounded in the explosion, which splintered chairs and destroyed a speakers' podium. It went off moments after the minister for public works finished a speech in the third-floor chamber. Abdul-Mahdi had made a welcoming address a few minutes earlier, raising speculation the bomb could have been on a timer-trigger that missed the vice president by sheer luck.

Al-Askari said not even the Green Zone was safe these days because personal security details, like the one working for al-Zubaie and other officials, are not under government control. "Every government official and lawmaker choses his own security detail. I'm one of them, I chose my own security detail," he said.

The al-Maliki aide said that two members of al-Mashhadani's security detail, both in possession of their U.S.-issued security IDs, had been caught last summer planting a roadside bomb south of Baghdad.

The top security official said negotiations had been successfully concluded to hire a foreign company to take over security at the entrance to and inside the Convention Center, where parliament meets. The official would not name the security company or say what the cost would be because a contract had not been signed. A second security official said the plan was to sign a six-month contract to allow the Iraqis time to establish their own force of trained bodyguards.
Okay. Bodyguard Rule One: Don't blow up the guy you're guarding. It looks bad...
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Iraq
Al-Qaeda umbrella group denies using chlorine in Anbar attacks
2007-03-24
An al-Qaeda umbrella group in Iraq purportedly denied Friday that chlorine was used in recent bombings in Anbar province but warned that it would target all tribes and politicians supporting U.S. efforts in Iraq. The statement came a day after a rocket exploded 50 yards from the U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during a news conference in Baghdad's Green Zone, causing him to cringe and duck just minutes after Iraq's prime minister said the visit showed the city was “on the road to stability.”

The Katyusha rocket was fired from a mainly Shiite area on the east bank of the Tigris River, not far from The Associated Press office. The heavily guarded Green Zone on the opposite bank is home to the U.S. Embassy, Iraq's government and the parliament. Iraq's Shiite-dominated government has been quietly pushing for a greater U.N. role and was banking on decreased violence in the capital to show that it was returning to normal six weeks into a joint security crackdown with American forces. “We consider it a positive message to (the) world in which you confirm that Baghdad has returned to playing host to important world figures because it has made huge strides on the road toward stability,” Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told Ban moments before the rocket attack.

Ban's unannounced stop in the Iraqi capital Thursday was the first visit by a U.N. secretary-general since Kofi Annan, his predecessor, came to Baghdad in November 2005. The U.N. Security Council issued a statement strongly condemning the rocket firing as an “abhorrent terrorist attack.”

The United States has sent about 30,000 additional troops to support the efforts to pacify the capital, as well as Anbar. A roadside bomb killed a U.S. soldier Thursday in western Baghdad, raising to at least 3,228 members of the U.S. military have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

While the fighting in Baghdad has been between Shiites and Sunnis, it has been more of an internal struggle in the Sunni-dominated province that stretches west of the capital to the borders with Syria, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. The U.S. military said three suicide bombers driving trucks rigged with tanks of toxic chlorine gas struck targets in the Sunni insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad last week, killing at least two Iraqi policemen and sickening 356 people. The three bombings, which bore the hallmarks of Sunni insurgents, raised to seven the number of chlorine attacks launched since Jan. 28, causing the U.S. military to warn that insurgents are adopting new tactics in a campaign to spread panic.

The Islamic State of Iraq, which groups al-Qaeda in Iraq and several other Sunni extremist groups, said its duty was to “purify these tribes from those outlaws” who support the U.S.-backed government. But it denied using “poisonous gas” against civilians, calling the chlorine claims propaganda. “There are some people who choose to be helpers to the crusader occupiers and their stooges, those who try to save the crusaders and they were the last card used by the U.S. army in its war against the true mujahedeen (holy fighters),” the group said in an Internet statement. The statement could not be independently verified, but it was posted on a Web site commonly used by militant groups.

The group said it was targeting members of the Albu Issa tribe who had recently denounced al-Qaeda in a March 20 raid on a police station in Amiriyah, east of Fallujah. The military said the chlorine attacks occurred on March 16 in Amiriyah and two other areas, and it was not clear if the militant statement was referring to those or clashes that broke out on Tuesday in Amiriyah and Ramadi. It said “35 apostate policemen were killed and four pickups were seized,” in the attack, adding that “this is against what was mentioned by some satellite channels that the people were targeted by poisonous gas.”

The statement also singled out Iraq's Sunni Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zubaie and Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, as well as the Anbar Salvation Council, an alliance of clans in the province backing the government. “We tell our people from the tribes and tribal leaders not to help the crusade occupier and its tails and do not allow your sons to join and become tools used by crusaders to fight the mujahedeen,” it said. “We tell the rest of the agents and stooges who have joined the crusaders and the “council of Anbar infidels” that their fate will be the same of those killed in Amiriyah.”

A video posted on the Internet Thursday also showed Abu Yahia al-Libi, an al-Qaeda militant who escaped from a U.S. prison in Afghanistan, urging Sunni militants in Iraq to join the terror group and claiming the U.S. military's security plan for Baghdad has failed.

The chief of police in the southern city of Basra, meanwhile, said a curfew imposed following clashes between Shiite militiamen loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and guards outside the headquarters of the rival Shiite Fadhila party has been lifted. The militiamen captured eight Fadhila members before the building caught fire and 12 Mahdi Army fighters were wounded in the gunbattle, police said, adding that clashes also had erupted between the two sides near the residence of Basra's Fadhila governor Mohammed al-Waeli. Police Chief Gen. Mohammed al-Moussawi said the curfew was lifted Friday morning and agreement had been reached for the detainees to be released.

In violence Friday, police found three bullet-riddled bodies, including two women, in Diwaniyah, 80 miles south of Baghdad, including two women a Shiite city that has seen recent clashes between militiamen and police.
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