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Iraq

Attacks including Series of Bombings Kill 31 in Iraq

2013-07-15

[AnNahar] Violence including an apparently-coordinated series of bombings that struck central and south Iraq on Sunday killed 31 people, security sources and medics said, bringing the July corpse count to more than 370. The attacks are just the latest in a surge in violence in which more than 2,600 people have died so far this year, according to Agence La Belle France Presse figures based on security and medical sources. Iraq has faced years of attacks by hard boys, but analysts say widespread discontent among members of its Sunni Arab minority which the Shiite-led government has failed to address has driven the spike in unrest. Sunday was the fourth day in a row in which more than 30 people were killed in attacks, and an average of 26 people have died per day in unrest in Iraq over the first two weeks of July. Both senior politicians and religious leaders have remained silent about the wave of violence. The deadliest attacks struck central and south Iraq on Sunday evening. In Kut, a boom-mobile near a bakery killed nine people and maimed 42, while another boom-mobile maimed two coppers to the north of Hilla. A boom-mobile also struck a market in Karbala, a city home to one of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam, killing four people and wounding 19. Another boom-mobile went kaboom! in Nasiriyah, killing two people and wounding 25. And in the southern port city of Basra, a sound bomb, a boom-mobile and a roadside kaboom went kaboom!, killing eight people and maimed 35. No group immediately grabbed credit, but coordinated series of bombings are a favored tactic of al-Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate. Five other people were killed in Nineveh province in Iraq's north. A roadside kaboom killed district councilor Mohammed Obaid Sultan south of djinn-infested Mosul, the province's capital, along with one of his sons. Another son was maimed. The head of the same Hamam al-Alil district council, Saad Ali Shuwait, was targeted by another roadside kaboom, which maimed four of his guards. In djinn-infested Mosul itself, two soldiers were rubbed out at a checkpoint. And a policeman was rubbed out and another maimed in an attack on a checkpoint south of the city, while a roadside kaboom targeted Nineveh police chief Brigadier General Khaled al-Hamdani's convoy, wounding three of his guards. In Fallujah, ... the City of Mosques, which might have somthing to do with why it's not called Center of Prosperity or a really nice place to raise your kids... west of Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... , gunnies rubbed out police Lieutenant Colonel Iyad al-Samarraie and maimed two of his guards near a mosque. And a roadside kaboom near a restaurant, northwest of the Diyala placid provincial capital of Baquba, killed two people and maimed three. In addition to security, the Iraqi government is also falling short when it comes to other basic functions. Iraqis are faced with severely lacking services, including power shortages, widespread corruption and political disputes that have paralyzed the government, with almost no major legislation passed in years.

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Iraq

Sadrists to Veto Second al-Maliki Term - Sources

2010-03-30

[Asharq al-Aswat] The Sadrist trend and its leader, Moqtada al-Sadr, who remains in Tehran, are currently being courted by Iyad Allawi's Iraqiya bloc and Nuri al-Maliki's State of Law coalition, as both sides attempt to form a majority government. Delegations from the Iraqiya bloc and the State of Law coalition arrived in Tehran to meet with al-Sadr. Prior to this, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, and Vice President Adil Abdul Mahdi, both visited Iran on the eve of the election results, although it was announced that this visit came at the invitation of the Iranian government, and was an invitation for the Kurdish President and Shiite Vice President to participate in the Iranian Nowruz celebrations. Sources informed Asharq Al-Awsat that negotiations with the Sadrist trend began before delegations were sent to Iran, and that Karar al-Khafaji, Chief of the Political Committee of the Sadrist Trend, met with a delegation from the State of Law coalition, and has been in communication with the Iraqiya bloc. The Sadrist trend is a member of the Shiite National Iraqi Alliance, which won a total of 70 parliamentary seats at the recent Iraqi elections; however the Sadrist trend won 39 of these seats making it by far the most influential party in this alliance. Senior sources within the Sadrist trend revealed that it is being represented by Qusay al-Suhail in the talks that are taking place in Tehran. Al-Suhail was the Sadrist Prime Ministerial candidate, and is a prominent figure in the trend. As for the State of Law coalition, it has sent Ali al-Adeeb, a senior member of the Dawa Party to negotiate on behalf of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. The second State of Law coalition negotiator is former First Deputy Speaker of the Council of Representatives Sheikh Khalid al-Attiya, although it is not known whether Sheikh al-Attiyia traveled to Tehran with Adeeb, or whether he remains in Iraq. Sources indicate that the Sadrists have so far been successful in managing the negotiation file. A senior member of the Sadrist trend, Nassar al-Rubaie, confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the Sadrist trend is not vetoing any prime ministerial candidate. However, senior officials close to al-Sadr contradicted this, telling Asharq Al-Awsat that there is a red line with regards to al-Maliki and that at this stage the Shiite alliance "is more important than names." The sources say that the National Iraqi Alliance is capable of choosing a replacement for al-Maliki "for the ultimate goal." With regards to the National Iraqi Alliance, the Sadrist leadership confirmed that there are certain pre-requisites that cannot be compromised or put aside. One senior Sadrist official who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat on the condition of anonymity said that "the pre-requisites [for forming a majority government] are national partnership in the management of the state, developing institutes on the basis of competence and moving away from quotas and favoritism, and respecting facts and not marginalizing others." For his part, Mohamed al-Bahadli, al-Sadr's chief representative in southern Iraq, told Asharq Al-Awsat that "dialogue between the victorious blocs and the others has begun, and everybody knows that we are not with any component or against any component, we are with everybody in order to establish a partnership government." He added "we do not want to fall into the same mistakes that occurred in the past and which cost the Iraqi people a lot, today we are working to resolve all of these errors through dialogue and developing mechanisms to ensure the political process in a way that puts Iraq at the forefront." While the Shiite movements have turned their attention to Tehran, Baghdad, and Najaf, the Sunni leadership are holding meetings and communicating [in order to form a majority government]. Leader of the Iraqi Accord Front, Iyad al-Samarrai, met with three senior Iraqiya bloc figures in the past 48 hours. Al-Samarrai met with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Rafi al-Issawi, the leader of the Tajdid List Tariq al-Hashimi, as well as Osama Nujaifi.

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Iraq

Speaker, Issawi discuss coalition building

2010-03-28

BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Iraq's outgoing Parliament Speaker Iyad al-Samarraie has met with the deputy prime minister, Rafie al-Issawi, to discuss possible coalitions and the crisis resulting from recent statements by election winners. The officials have discussed the recent developments on the political scene and coalition maps, according to a statement released by Samarraie's Iraqi Accord Front (IAF) and received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency. The meeting has also tackled means of getting out of the “current crisis', which resulted from statements by winning political blocs, according to the statement. On Friday (March 26), the head of al-Iraqiya List, which won Iraq's parliamentary elections with 91 seats, told al-Sharqiya TV that his list had assigned its candidate, Deputy Premier Rafie al-Issawi, to hold talks with the winning blocs in order to form a new government.

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Iraq

Iran’s Majlis chief to visit Iraq next month

2009-10-03

BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Iranian Majlis (Parliament) Speaker Ali Larijani will visit Iraq late next month at the invitation of his Iraqi counterpart Iyad al-Samarraie to discuss ways to expand parliamentary ties and sign an agreement, Iran’s ambassador in Baghdad said. “The agreement yet to be signed was prepared in Tehran during Iraqi Parliament Speaker Samarraie’s visit to Iran, where the two sides concurred that the deal would be signed in the Iraqi capital,” Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) quoted Hassan Kazemi Qomi as saying on Friday. Samarraie had paid an official two-day visit to Tehran on Monday (Sept. 28) at the head of a delegation to discuss pending issues between the two countries and means to develop bilateral relations. Qomi said that expanding parliamentary relations between the two countries could have a negative effect as to correct laws of cooperation between them. “The ties binding the two sides’ peoples are strong and accordance between the two neighboring nations would help enact new legislations regarding consular affairs,” he added.

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Iraq

Iraq PM says they donŽt need US troops in cities

2009-05-11

[Bangla Daily Star] Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki assured visiting US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi yesterday that his country's security will be unaffected by the planned American troop withdrawal from Iraqi cities. "We don't need big numbers of (US) military forces inside the cities after we get control of them," Maliki said in a statement after talks with the top US lawmaker, who arrived in Baghdad on an unannounced visit. "The responsible withdrawal (of US troops) will not affect the security situation," Maliki added. A fierce critic of the 2003-US invasion ordered by former president George W. Bush, Pelosi's one-day visit came as US troops prepare to withdraw from Iraq's urban areas by the end of next month despite a spike in violence. The withdrawal is a key part of a military accord signed by Baghdad and Washington last November that will also see US troops leave the country by the end of 2011. Maliki said Iraq's military efforts were now concentrated on improving its intelligence services. The US Congress, for its part, should try to develop bilateral relations focused on the scientific and economic agreements signed by the two countries, he said. "Under stability, we are seeking to develop our economy, especially the oil industry, after multinationals have already come to work and invest in the sector," he said. Pelosi said that Washington would stick to its part of the agreement on troop withdrawals. "I can't speak to what the attitude is in Iraq, but what I do know that this is the plan that has been agreed upon, and we want to honour that," the California Democrat said after meeting parliament speaker Iyad al-Samarrai. "Our agenda included talking about the strategic framework agreement and how it needs to be discussed and strengthened and enforced," Pelosi told a news conference after the meeting. She said that Washington was withdrawing its troops in spite of the continued violence in Iraq. Tackling the rampant corruption that international surveys routinely say makes Iraq one of the world's most corrupt countries was also crucial to its stability, as was improving US intelligence, she said. "If we're going to have a diminished physical military presence, we have to have a strong intelligence presence," she said. Pelosi, who previously visited Iraq in January 2007 and again in May of last year, also met with US officials and later left the country, a US embassy official said. Her visit came as Iraq has been hit by a spate of deadly bombings which targeted crowded civilian areas, making April -- with 355 people killed -- the bloodiest month in the country since September. Despite the violence, Iraq has insisted it will stick to the deadline for American troops to withdraw from cities by June 30, while Washington's top commander in Iraq, General Ray Odierno, has insisted the pullout is on track. Pelosi has backed President Barack Obama's plan to end US combat operations in Iraq by August 2010, but has at the same time faulted his plans to leave behind a residual force of up to 50,000 soldiers. "The remaining missions given to our remaining forces must be clearly defined and narrowly focused so that the number of troops needed to perform them is as small as possible," she said in February. The US military currently has about 139,000 troops in Iraq.

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Iraq

Iraqi lawmakers end impasse by electing speaker

2009-04-20

[Al Arabiya Latest] Iyad al-Samarrai, a Muslim Brotherhood member and strong critic of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, was elected as Iraq's parliament speaker Sunday after the post was left vacant for nearly four months. "We need a process of reform in parliament," Samarrai told reporters after the vote as he vowed to work with rival political blocs to advance legislation in the 275-member assembly and strengthen its oversight capacity. He also said he would focus on trying to pass an oil and gas law to speed up the development of Iraq's vast petroleum resources, legislation that has been stalled for years amid disputes between Iraq's Arab and Kurdish blocs. Muslim Brotherhood member Samarrai, who heads the parliamentary delegation of the National Concord Front, Iraq's largest Sunni Arab bloc, was elected by a majority of 153 votes to the office which is reserved for a Sunni. A total of 232 MPs participated in the secret ballot, with Samarrai's sole opponent Mustafa al-Hiti winning 34 votes and 45 MPs casting blank ballots, according to a parliamentary official. Lawmakers were trying to fill the post for the past four months, but no candidate managed to secure the required majority of 138 votes, including Samarrai, who fell just two votes short in a vote in February. Samarrai belongs to the Islamic Party, the Iraqi branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist movement founded in Egypt in 1928 with members and offshoots across the Muslim world. The Islamic Party was accused of having close ties to the Sunni insurgency in the years after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and some of its members were detained and had their offices raided by U.S. and Iraqi forces.

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Iraq

Iraqi Parliament rudderless as Sunni parties fail to agree on new speaker

2009-01-12

Iraq's Sunni Arab politicians were in disarray on Sunday after the deputy parliament speaker announced that they had failed to agree a candidate to propose for the post of parliamentary speaker. MPs from the largest Sunni bloc were preparing to put forward Iyad al-Samarrai, a senior leader of the Iraqi Islamic Party, but other Sunni parties opposed their choice. "Today many discussions were held among the different political entities but there were differences on the nomination of a new speaker," Deputy Speaker Khalid al-Attiya told Parliament. "More time to discuss the nomination has been granted but discussion should not go beyond tomorrow or the day after tomorrow." Under Iraq's complex political arrangements, Sunni Arabs have the right to nominate the speaker, a move that should have taken place on Sunday. Samarrai's name emerged after weeks of political wrangling over a replacement for outspoken Mahmoud Mashhadani, who quit as speaker on December 23 amid clamor from Kurdish and Shiite politicians for him to go. "Iyad al-Samarrai is the candidate," a parliamentary source told AFP on condition on anonymity following a rowdy session on Saturday. Deputy Nur Addin al-Hayali from the Iraqi Islamic Party told AFP that the candidate has the backing of most Sunnis. "He enjoys the acceptance of the political blocs and we are now moving to gain support for our candidate," Hayali insisted. Samarrai - or whoever is finally put forward - will still need to win the backing of just over 50 percent of Iraq's 275-seat Parliament. The delay in the nomination comes after a rift in the main Sunni Arab bloc, the National Concord Front. Last month National Dialogue Council, of which Mashhadani is a member, withdrew from the front, bitterly accusing the Iraqi Islamic Party of having plotted to sack him as speaker and promote their own candidate for the post.

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