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Iraq

The Sadrist movement rejects al-Hakim's initiative

2021-11-18

[SHAFAQ] The Sadrist movement, led by Moqtada Tater al-Sadr ...hereditary Iraqi holy man and leader of a political movement in Iraq. He had his hereditary rival, al-Khoei, assassinated only a few hours after the holy rival's appearance out of exile in 2003. Formerly an Iranian catspaw, lately he's gagged over some of their more outlandish antics, then went back to catspawry... , called on the political forces to wait for the Federal Court's decision on the results of the elections, and then proceed with constitutional solutions, not individual initiatives that hinder forming the government. The leader in the Sadrist movement, Riyad al-Masoudi, told Shafaq News Agency, "The political forces better wait for the decision of the Federal Court for the elections to determine the next steps, after the results are announced, which are holding the first Parliament session and assign the largest bloc to form the government within 30 days. "There is no harm in proposing initiatives, on condition that they are within the constitutional frameworks and not be disruptive to the sustainability of the political process, nor should they be conciliatory or exclusionary, because it will confuse the political situation." Al-Masoudi concluded, "We reject the principle of settlements and consensus. We must differentiate between supporting the political process and the understandings that take place in this regard, and the issue of constitutional frameworks. There is a difference between political work and constitutional work."

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Iraq

Sadrist movement will not share power, inside source said

2021-11-01

[SHAFAQ] A source from inside the Sadrist movement lambasted the approach that some Iraqi forces pursue to shuffle the cards and earn a position in the cabinet line up, stressing that the movement has changed its mindset and it will "not share the power this time."The source said in a statement to Shafaq News Agency, "the political forces that lost in the recent parliamentary election are trying to impede al-Sadr and prevent him from forming the government in every way possible. The first of which is to demand a manual recount of the ballots to all the Electronic Voting Machines [EVMs]." "If those demands were met, regardless of being illegal, a manual recount will take eight months. It is sufficient time to devise a well-plotted scenario that reshuffles the cards." "Surprises are coming from all the parties that lost the election and [the parties that] support them," the source said. For his part, the former MP and the leading figure in the Sadrist movement, Riyad al-Masoudi, said that conducting a manual recount of all the EVMs in the country requires legislation. "The endorsement of all the defeated parties to this choice is a political issue," he said. "Article 76 of the Constitution stipulates that the President of the Republic assigns the largest bloc to form the government (the Sadrist movement). The Prime Minister, according to the components equation, shall be a Shiite. i.e. a Sadrist." "The Sadrist movement has a new political vision. It is different from the former one that relies on quota and sharing the power with parties it does not agree with." Al-Masoudi called on the defeated political parties to "strive for coining agreements to build the state. Participating in the political process is not exclusively participating in the government." "The axis of the political process is the Iraqi Parliament and the agreement of the political forces upon active oversight, legislation, and true representation of the people." "The political forces that did not win enough seats wish to participate in the government regardless of the number of seats they won. This means that they do not believe that there is a new political map after each election. Hence, the reasons for some parties' insistence upon holding a manual recount became clear."

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Arabia

Houthis take over second largest Saleh camp in Sanaa

2017-10-12

[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Various Yemeni sources confirmed on Tuesday that the Houthis have taken full control of the Dabwa camp, the second-largest Republican Guard camp in Sanaa, and imposed a new Houthi leader replacing former commander Brigadier General Ali Mohamed al-Masoudi who was kidnapped a month ago. Yemeni news websites quoted sources in the Republican Guard as saying that al-Houthi militia have given dozens of officers and military personnel at the camp an open leave a month ago, before imposing a fellow Houthi leader on the camp. In fact, reports claims that several officers told Saleh of the Houthis' plan to control the camp, but he ignored the Intel and did not take any course of action or give them orders, forcing them to surrender to the Houthis and their new leadership at Camp Dabwa. The Dabwa camp south of Sana'a is within the geographical range of Sanhan (the birthplace of the Saleh), which is the area that housed the Central Command of the Republican Guard and three military brigades. Saleh still has one remaining camp in the area, Rima Hameed, his last stronghold and a group of the Republican Guard. In addition to the Special Forces camp led by his nephew and the responsible for his personal security, Brigadier General Tariq Saleh. Houthi militias sought to disable the military and political “claws” of Saleh and intimidated his supporters with arrests, according to local observers.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

2 IS landmines kill 3 persons in eastern Homs

2017-07-17

Homs (Syria News) Three persons were killed, on Sunday, in the kaboom of two landmines planted by the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... bad boys, in eastern Homs. SANA reported that two landmines, emplaced by the Islamic State bully boyz on Umm Haratayn Village ‐ Masoudiyah road, located 80 km east of Homs, went kaboom! while two cycle of violences were passing in the area, killing three persons. Meanwhile, ...back at the pie fight, Bella grabbed the cocoanut cream... a woman was maimed due to the Islamic State rocket shelling on al- Mukharram Town, east of the city of Homs. It is noteworthy that the Islamic State bully boyz are stationed in a number of villages and towns in the eastern countryside of Homs, from where they launch several attacks on civilians in the nearby areas. Syrian Army within striking distance of key ISIL-held town: video [AlMasdar] Syrian Arab Army (SAA) troops have seized control over al-Hayl Field and its oil pumping station in the suburbs of Homs, Sunday, after regaining control over several locations between the cities of al-Sukhnah and Palmyra. An SAA military commander said that Syrian troops were able to repel forces of Evil of the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS; formerly ISIS/ISIS) from the southeastern direction of al-Sukhnah, paving the way for the troops to further advance towards this city in a bid to score further gains. The Syrian Arab Army is now within 11km of al-Sukhnah, leaving just a small stretch of highway that is under the control of the Islamic State forces. Once al-Sukhnah is liberated, the Syrian Arab Army will be at the provincial border of the Deir Ezzor Governorate and within striking distance of the first town in the western part of the province. Seven villages sign ceasefire agreements with Syrian gov’t in Homs [AlMasdar] Another seven communities have joined the ceasefire in Syria, the Russian Defense Ministry said in its information bulletin on Sunday. “Within the last 24 hours, 7 ceasefire agreements have been signed with representatives of populated areas in the Homs province. The total number of communities, the leaders of which have signed reconciliation agreements, is 2,022,” the bulletin says. Within the last 24 hours, the Russian Centre for the Reconciliation of the Opposing Sides has held 7 humanitarian actions. Six actions were held in the Aleppo city. Civilians received 2.2 tonnes of drinking water. One action was held in the Latakia province where civilians received 0.9 tonnes of food packages. The total weight of the humanitarian cargo reached 3.1 tonnes. A total of 966 people received humanitarian aid while the number of humanitarian events reached 1,490. In the course of the humanitarian actions, Russian military physicians provided medical assistance to 274 people, according to the bulletin. Within the last 24 hours, the Russian party of the Russia-Turkey Commission on violations of the Joint Agreement has registered 6 cases of firing in the provinces of Latakia (2) and Aleppo (4). The Turkish party has registered 5 cases of ceasefire violations in the provinces of Damascus (3), Aleppo (1) and Daraa (1). Most cases of unselective firing from small arms have been registered in the areas controlled by militants of the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist groupings outlawed in Russia, the bulletin says. On May 4, Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed to set up four de-escalation zones in Syria. Under a memorandum signed at the talks in Kazakhstan’s capital of Astana, these four zones include the Idlib province and some areas in the neighboring provinces of Aleppo, Latakia and Hama, an area north of Homs, the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta, and a couple of provinces in southern Syria – Daraa and Al-Quneitra. In those areas, outlawing combat operations, along with the establishment of a no-fly zone for military aircraft, were set as of May 6. The memorandum was concluded for six months and can be extended automatically.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Syrian Army Combat Summary

2017-06-04

The Syrian Army units on Saturday re-established full control over 22 towns in the eastern countryside of Aleppo, killing more than 1200 terrorists. The source added that the army reestablished control over the towns and farms of al-Asilan, al-Fakhha, Khrbet al-Fakhha, al-Mezzeh al-Shamaliyeh, al-Ghar city, Jeb al-Hamam, Maskaneh wheat hermitages, al-Ajouziyeh, al-Ramadaniyeh, al-Masoudiyeh, al-Mahmoudiyeh, Jadiaa kabira and jadiaa Saghira, al-Hamra, al-Nua’imiyeh, alFaisaliyeh, al-Mowaniyeh, al-Kaltah, Um Rejel, Um Hajrah, al-Taybbeh and Rasem al-Ghazal. It added that more than 1200 ISIL terrorists were killed including Abu Hozaifa al-Lyibi, a military leader of ISIL, and hundreds of others got injured the military operations carried out in the eastern countryside of Aleppo. Earlier, the Army units, in cooperation with backing forces carried out a number of intensive operations against the ISIL positions in the southeastern countryside of Aleppo, establishing control over the northeastern and middle parts of al-Tweihina Mountains to the east of Khanaser-Athria axis in the southeastern side of Aleppo countryside. A number of the ISIL terrorists were killed in the operations and their equipment and fortifications were destroyed. Deir Ezzor The army units carried out bombardments and airstrikes against ISIL positions and movement axes in Talet Alloush, al-Thardeh roundabout, al-Makabbat, the Panorama area and the surrounding hills, Palmyra road, al-Rashdiyeh neighborhood and in the villages of al-Jenineh and Aiyyash in Deir Ezzor province. A military source told SANA Saturday that the army operations killed more than 70 ISIL terrorists and destroyed 4 machineguns-equipped vehicles, canons, a tank and a truck. Meanwhile, SANA reporter in Deir Ezzor said that the army units carried out intensified operations against the ISIL movement axes and gatherings on the axes of the Cemeteries and al-Maqabar areas, al-Thardeh Mountain, Juniad battalion, Talet Alloush, Talet Milad, the Panorama Farms, the youth housing and in the surroundings of 137 regiment. The source added that the army inflicted heavy losses upon the ISIL terrorists in personnel. Source: SANA

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Iraq

In shadow of Mosul fight, Iran establishes Nineveh foothold

2017-05-30

[AlAhram] While Iraq's conventional military has been slowly clearing the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group from inside djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... 's complex urban terrain, Iraq's Iran-backed Shiite paramilitary forces have been working their way through less glamorous territory: vast deserts west and south of the city that run along and across Iraq's border with Syria. The territory, dotted with small villages and dusty roads, is home to key supply lines into neighboring Syria and connecting Iraq's north to the capital Baghdad. Control of the Iraqi-Syrian border would be a key strategic prize for the mostly Shiite paramilitary forces and their backer Iran, who also supports the government of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Suppressor of the Damascenes... One division of the Iraqi government-sanctioned paramilitary group known as the Popular Mobilization Forces first reached Iraq's border with Syria on Monday after securing a string of small villages west of Mosul and south of Sinjar, according to Ahmed al-Asadi, the group's front man. "This will be the first step to the liberation of the entire border," he said. The PMF began Monday's operation by pushing IS holy warriors out of the center of the town of Baaj, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Syrian border. Once the town was retaken a unit was dispatched to secure the village of Um Jrais along the border. "This victory will also be an important incentive for the Syrian Arab Army to secure the entire border from the Syrian side," al-Asadi said, referring the Assad's government forces. As the PMF secure more of the border region, they plan to "erect a dirt barricade and dig a trench," said Sheikh Sami al-Masoudi, a paramilitary group leader. Iraq's border with Syria has long been a haven for smugglers and murderous Moslem activity. The Nineveh foothold would give the paramilitary forces considerable leverage politically and militarily in Iraq after the fight against IS is concluded, according to Maria Fantappie, the senior Iraq researcher for the International Crisis Group, a non-governmental research firm. The Iranians have been prioritizing something that the U.S. has overlooked: control over strategic roads, rather than control of the Sunni communities. "The Iranians have been prioritizing something that the U.S. has overlooked: control over strategic roads, rather than control of the Sunni communities," Fantappie said explaining that the U.S.-led coalition's fight against IS has largely focused on retaking cities while the PMF have instead focused on transit and supply lines. Control of roads and borders also allows the paramilitary forces to divide Iraq's Sunni community geographically and politically, Fantappie said. "They have been trying to bisect Iraq and prevent a unified Sunni block from emerging," she said. In Syria, Assad's forces and their allies have also been on the offensive, moving toward the Iraqi and Jordanian border, but are still far from reaching it. U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, IS holy warriors and Syrian rebels are also fighting for territory in an increasingly messy battle space. After securing the Iraqi side of the border with Syria, Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces are ready to move inside Syrian territories to assist Assad, said Hashim al-Mousawi, a leader with the powerful al-Nujaba militia that falls under the PMF umbrella. Before the PMF was sanctioned by the Iraqi government al-Nujaba fighters openly fought inside Syria, helping prop up the Assad regime during the early days of the uprising against his government. But, now al-Mousawi said crossing into Syria to fight would require the approval of the Iraqi government in Baghdad

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Syrian Army Regains Control over al-Jarah Airport, New Areas in Aleppo Countryside

2017-05-25

[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] The Syrian Army and Armed Forces units re-established control over al-Jarah Airport and restored security and stability to a number of villages and towns in the eastern countryside of Aleppo, after killing and injuring around 3,000 ISIS terrorists. A military source told SANA that army units expanded their operations in hunting down ISIS murderous Moslems in the eastern countryside of Aleppo during which the army established control over al-Jarah airport and restored security and stability to the villages and areas of al ‐Mahdoum , al-Bailouneh, Jirah Sagheir, Tel Hassan, Um Nesourah, Wajab Ali, Bani Zeid, Kherbet Hassan, al-Khaldieh, Ateireh, Jirah Kabeir, the cattle ranches, Droubieh, Sekarieh, Maziunet al-Jabiri , al-Hamra, Qawwass, al-Reihanieh, al-Samerieh, the third station, al-Naserieh, al-Naserieh train station, al-Ajouzieh, Tel Feddah, al-Mazran, al-Kenawieh, Mohsent al-Khafseih, Rasm al-Hamam Gharbi, Rasm al-Kiwan, and al-Masoudieh. The source added that the military operations resulted in killing and injuring over 3,000 ISIS terrorists, destroying 19 tanks, 5 BMP vehicles, 11 vehicles rigged with explosives, 6 artillery pieces, 9 munitions depots, 2 communication and operation centers, and 61 field command centers. The military source affirmed the military leader of ISIS terrorist organization in the eastern countryside of Aleppo , including one nicknamed "Abu Odai al-Iraqi" who was the so-called chief judge the eastern countryside, Mahmoud Abdul-Jabbar bin Hassan aka "Abu al-Walid al-Tounsi" who was the "emir" of Debsi Faraj town, Obadah Salim al-Daaboul, and three Saudi murderous Moslems named Abdelrahman Mitawea al-Dakheil, Abu Muhammad al-Najdi, and Sultan Abdullah al-Ghallab aka "Abu Remh al-Saudi." The source said that the "minster of war" of ISIS organization, who is known as "Abu Mosaab al-Masri", along with Saudi terrorist Abu Abdelleh Mohammed Sameih al-Kisri who was the "emir" in charge of finance in the eastern countryside, leader Mahmoud Adnan al-Ajim , Mohammed al-Hussein al-Jaloud who was the "emir of Hittin gathering ," Abu Ahmed al-Kafir al-Abaji who was an "emir" in charge of security, and the Iraqi murderous Moslems Ali Nazal Qarah Bash and Sufian Mohammad Abboush were also identified among the dead. Meanwhile in Hama province, a military source said that army units foiled infiltration attempts by ISIS murderous Moslems in the area of Tal Mragha to the east of Ethryia-Khanaser axis, killing a large number of murderous Moslems and seizing a car loaded with ammunition. In Deir Ezzor, army units directed concentrated strikes on positions and supply routes for ISIS in the eastern barrier of Deir Ezzor Airport, to the west of Taliet al-Sonof, al-Arfi and al-Mattar al-Qadim neighborhoods, the area surrounding the graveyards area and al-Panorama Bridge and al-Boghilia village. The strikes resulted in the killing of a number of ISIS murderous Moslems and the injuring of many others in addition to the destroying of fortifications and amounts of weaponry and ammunition for them.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

ISIS kills 18 regime soldiers, militiamen near Tayfur airport

2016-12-25

[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] ISIS killed 18 Syrian soldiers and allied snuffies in a series of attacks near Tayfur military airport in the eastern countryside of Homs province, the group's Amaq new agency said Saturday. Saturday's corpse count come after 27 more fighters loyal to Bashar al-Asssad were killed in a series of ISIS attacks near Palmyra in the past 24 hours, activists said. in the battleground of the eastern countryside of Homs. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said ISIS began launching attacks on regime forces and their allies Thursday night and that festivities were ongoing. ISIS targeted several villages with a majority population from al-Assad's Alawite clan, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, said Observatory head Rami Abdel-Rahman. One of the attacks on al-Masoudiya village, the hometown of al-Assad’s first advisor, Bouthaina Shaaban, has also left 13 people killed and 15 more maimed, sources said. The radical group that seizes swaths of territory in eastern Homs, including the historic city f Palmyra and gas-rich fields, has annoyed regime cerebration over Aleppo capture. Pro-regime activists said the risk of new ISIS advances may cause more causalities as ISIS shows stubborn. The murderous Moslems were trying to "totally surround" the Tayfur military airport and "cut its supply route," said Abdel-Rahman. ISIS took advantage of bad weather that halted regime’s air strikes by pressing more gains especially near the strategic military air base. The opposition-aligned, Britannia-based Observatory said the base is located between the cities of Palmyra and Homs in central Syria. The snuffies retook Palmyra in central Syria on Dec. 11, just eight months after the army backed by Russia drove them out. Since then festivities have rattled the region and Monday attacks by ISIS on the Tayfur base killed at least 20 regime force members, according to the Observatory. Palmyra is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and its recapture by ISIS gave the murderous Moslems a propaganda boost as they face assaults on two of their key strongholds ‐ Raqqa in Syria and Iraq's second city djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn....

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran Tries to Reverse a Slumping Birth Rate

2014-01-08

[An Nahar] In Iran, free condoms and government-backed vasectomies are out, replaced by sermons praising larger families and discussions of even offering gold coins to the families of newborns. Having successfully curbed birth rates for two decades, Iran now is promoting a baby boom to help make up for its graying population. But experts say it is difficult to encourage Iranians to have more children in a mismanaged economy hit by Western sanctions and 36 percent inflation. "A gold coin won't change couples' calculations," said Mohammad Jalal Abbasi, head of Demographics Department at Tehran University. "Many young Iranians prefer to continue their studies, not marry. Lack of financial ability to buy a house and meet expenses are among other reasons why the youth postpone marriage or have no interest in raising many children." Iran's birthrate reached a peak of 3.6 children per couple after its 1979 Islamic Revolution, among the world's highest at the time. By 1990, experts estimated Iran could be home to 140 million people if the rate was left unchecked. To combat the rise, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei endorsed birth control, while then-President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ... the fourth President of Iran. He was a member of the Assembly of Experts until he was eased out in 2011 He continues, for the moment, as Chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council. In 2005 he ran for a third term as president, ultimately losing to rival Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was in Khamenei's graces back then. In 1980 Rafsanjani survived an assassination attempt, during which he was seriously injured. He has been described as a centrist and a pragmatic conservative without all that much reason. He is currently being eased out of any position of actual influence or power and may be dead by the end of 2012... made controlling the birth rate a part of his development plans. Mass-produced condoms reached Iranians, as a month's supply of birth control cost the equivalent of 10 cents in 1992. The birth rate dropped precipitously, now reportedly standing at 1.8 children per couple with a population of some 77 million people. Experts now say that drive might have been too successful, estimating that Iran's population growth could reach zero in the next 20 years if the trend is not reversed. Fearing that population decline, the machinery of state in Iran has changed course entirely. Khamenei, who has final say over all matters of state, now says Iran should have a population of 150 million people or more. "If we move forward like this, we will be a country of elderly people in a not-too-distant future. Why do some couples prefer to have one or two children? Why do couples avoid having children? The reasons need to be studied," the ayatollah recently said. "There was an imitation of Western life and we inherited this." Sermons now urge worshippers to raise more children for Iran's future. Mahdi Sedqazar, who performed vasectomies at his government-sponsored Martyr Jafari clinic in central Tehran for a decade, now focuses on preventing AIDS and promoting factory workers' health. "Vasectomy operations have totally stopped. They were eliminated eight months ago," Sedqazar said. "The budget on population curbs has been halted." Some blame a drop in marriages and a rise in divorce for the falling birth rate. Others point to Iran's economy, battered by Western sanctions over its contested nuclear program. Inflation stands at 36 percent, President Hassan Rouhani recently said. Unemployment officially stands at 12 percent, though some private experts suggest nearly one in three working-age Iranians is out of work. "Unemployment, a lack of housing and job insecurity are the top most important reasons for decrease in fertility rate," Abbasi said. As part of a plan to encourage Iranians to have more children, the Iranian parliament approved a bill that allows the government to increase maternity leaves to nine months from six months and to give fathers a two-week leave. Iran's constitutional watchdog, the Guardian Council, made it a law in July. Government officials also have discussed offering gold coins to newborns. But those incentives may not be enough. Ali Akbar Mahzoon, head of government statistics and demographic data, said family culture has changed irrespective of financial ability and job security. The average age for people to get married in Iran has gone from the early 20s to the late 20s, Mahzoon said. While some 23 million Iranians are eligible to marry, 11 million of them haven't done so, he said. "Wealthy people or those who have a secure job also have no interest in having more than two children," Mahzoon said. However, man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them... he said that more jobs and housing will be effective tools in helping increase birth rates. For Hossein Masoudi, a 43-year-old father of two, economics remain the reason why he doesn't plan to have more children. "It's not logical. They need housing, education and a lot more. I barely make ends meet," Masoudi said. "Instead of having more children, my wife and I prefer to focus on giving our two children better education and improving the quality of their life."

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

ISF Intelligence Questions Tripoli Bombing Conspirator

2013-10-30

[An Nahar] The Military Prosecutor referred on Tuesday a suspect to the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Branch to carry out the initial investigation with him on his role in the deadly mosque bombings in the northern city of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... Judge Saqr Saqr, who is the state commissioner to the military court, asked the Intelligence Branch to "question Ahmed Mohammed Ali over the information he has on the Tripoli blasts and his role in the case." LBCI TV quoted sources as saying that Ali had helped Ahmed Merhi, another suspect in the twin blasts, to escape. Security forces have said that Merhi is the driver of the vehicle that went kaboom! near al-Taqwa mosque. But Merhi could still be in Lebanese territories and under the protection of certain parties, LBCI's sources said. Forty-five people were killed and 800 injured in the boom-mobile blasts that targeted the Sunni al-Taqwa and al-Salam mosques on August 23. Several suspects have already been charged with forming an armed gang for the purpose of carrying out terrorist activities and bombing the Tripoli mosques. On Monday, several residents blocked the international highway near the town of al-Masoudiyeh in the northern Akkar district with burning tires to protest Ali's arrest. The state-run National News Agency said that the army intelligence jugged Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! him last week after raiding his house in the town of al-Haysa.

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Iraq

Iraq says early US pullout ok if Iraq army equipped

2009-02-26

BAGHDAD - The withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 19 months, faster than agreed in a bilateral security pact, will not pose a problem so long as Iraq can equip its forces in that time, an official said Wednesday. U.S. President Barack Obama is leaning toward a 19-month bug-out timetable to pull out of Iraq as violence unleashed by the invasion launched by his predecessor, George W. Bush, in 2003 fades, U.S. officials say. That is a compromise between a campaign pledge to leave Iraq within 16 months and the wishes of some U.S. commanders who fear withdrawing too early could put Iraq’s security gains at risk. It is also faster than the end-2011 deadline foreseen in a U.S.-Iraqi security pact hammered out between the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and the Bush administration. “We had hoped that the withdrawal would be according to the schedule mentioned in the agreement,” said Brigadier-General Mohammed al-Askari, spokesman for the Iraqi Defence Ministry. “But even so, if the U.S. president decides to withdraw them in 19 months, with the agreement of the Iraqi government, we will speed up our readiness to be prepared by that time.” The most important thing, Askari said, was that the withdrawal date should be agreed between the two governments and that Iraq has the time it needs to properly equip its 600,000-strong, largely U.S.-trained security forces. “Our readiness depends on equipping the Iraqi army. We are pushing hard now and using our relations with different countries to cut the time required to equip the Iraqi army and we are achieving good results,” he added. “We will wait and see,” said Ahmed al-Masoudi, spokesman for supporters in the Iraqi parliament of anti-American Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who has called for the 140,000 U.S. troops still in Iraq to leave immediately. “We’ll see what the reality is on the ground. We don’t believe speeches and rhetoric.” Askari said the most important piece of equipment needed by the Iraqi armed forces were helicopters. He said good progress had been made in ordering them but he gave no details. Defence Minister Abdul Qaeder Jassim went to Washington recently where, among other things, he discussed the possible purchase of M-1 Abrams tanks and F-16 fighter jets. U.S. military officials say around $5 billion in Iraqi orders for weapons, uniforms, logistics and other materiel have already been delivered or are in the pipeline. Askari said Iraq’s first post-Saddam warship would be delivered by September, to help protect its crucial oil exports, and a second vessel would be delivered in early 2010.

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Africa North

Algeria: Al-Qaeda attacks moderates

2008-03-20

(AKI) - Members of the al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb militant group in Algeria have reportedly attacked members of a moderate organisation opposed to its terrorist activities. A report on Tuesday in the Algerian newspaper el-Khabar said an al-Qaeda militant carried out a raid against a mosque in the Algerian province of al-Wadi on Sunday night and killed two men while they prayed. According to the report, eyewitnesses said masked men entered the mosque as evening prayers were being held forcing everyone to fall to the ground. The armed militants called for the two men, Harun Ahmad, and his cousin, Harun Abdel Jabbar, to step forward. They were then taken to the courtyard in the mosque where they were shot to death as the killers, speaking in an Algerian dialect, said: "We kill you with God's consent." The two victims were part of a group of moderate Salafites who are opposed to the terrorist activities carried out by the al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb group. According to investigators, the two men were murdered by a local leader of of the Islamic terrorist group, Masoudi Muhammad al-Hafith>Masoudi Muhammad al-Hafith. Another moderate Salafite was killed in the same area in a similar situation in March 2006.

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