Thread: Archive Latest News - Think Tank - 16/08/07 - 03/11/07

The Turkish Artillery Persists Bombardment of Kurdistan Region Border Areas

The Turkish artillery bombarded the border areas of Kurdistan Region again in Mazrory and Rekan areas in Duhok province, as well as Mateen Mountain in Amedi district last night, 11:00. It took about one hour.

In the other hand, The Turkish artillery bombarded Almushin, Kurt, Bindiwana, Siran SIbyara, Shikhanuk ,Musluk villages in Khwakurk district ,Erbil Province last night at about 10:30. The bombardment still going on in the areas.

The bombardment caused huge material damage; the villagers evacuated the area to the safe places.

PUKmedia :: English - The Turkish Artillery Persists Bombardment of Kurdistan Region Border Areas

US tries to halt Turkey attack

Senior US officials were engaged last night in last-ditch efforts to persuade Turkey not to launch a major military incursion into Iraqi Kurdistan to target armed separatists.

A team was diverted from a mission to Russia to make an unscheduled stop in Ankara yesterday. Against the background of the escalating diplomatic row between Turkey and the US over a congressional resolution that branded as 'genocide' massacres of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915, US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, revealed she had personally urged Turkey to refrain from any major military operation in northern Iraq. The row between the two Nato allies comes against the dangerous background of a threat by the Turkish parliament to approve this week a 'hot pursuit' of the Kurdish separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party, the PKK, across the border into northern Iraq.

The threat of military action came after last Sunday's killing by the PKK of 13 Turkish soldiers in an ambush in Sirnak province, close to the Iraqi border.

'I urged restraint,' said Rice, on a visit to Moscow, acknowledging 'a difficult time' between the two countries as she described her telephone conversations with Turkey's President Abdullah Gul, its Prime Minister and foreign minister.

'It's a difficult time for the relationship,' Rice said. 'We just thought it was a very good idea for two senior officials to go and talk to the Turks and have reassurance to the Turks that we really value this relationship.' Rice said that in her conversation with the Turks 'they were dismayed' by the congressional resolution. 'The Turkish government, I think, is trying to react responsibly. They recognise how hard we worked to prevent that vote from taking place.'

About 60,000 Turkish troops are based near the northern Iraqi border. US military officials have said they believe they will get some warning if the Turks attack the PKK.

Rice's phone conversations came as two senior US officials flew to Turkey yesterday to attempt to defuse tension that has seen the Turkish ambassador to Washington return home for consultations following the resolution, which Turks regard as deeply offensive.

US Assistant Secretary of State Dan Fried and US Under Secretary of Defence Eric Edelman flew from Moscow, where they had been accompanying Rice. It was reported that Edelman said on his arrival they were visiting Turkey to express regret over the approval of the resolution. The pair are likely to hear sharp criticism from the Turkish government.

'They are sure to raise the northern Iraq issue, but from our perspective the top issue is the Armenian resolution,' a Turkish diplomat said. The row between the two allies follows the decision by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives to approve a resolution labelling the 1915 killings genocide, rejecting appeals by President Bush. Turkey denies genocide but says many died in inter-ethnic fighting in an issue that is still deeply sensitive to Turks.

Turkish officials say foreign ministry and military officials met after the resolution was approved to discuss potential measures against the US. In initial repercussions, a US visit by Trade Minister KursadTuzmen was cancelled, along with a conference being held by the Turkish-US Business Council.

Other potential moves may include blocking US access to Incirlik air base, cancelling procurement contracts, scaling down bilateral visits, denying airspace to US aircraft and halting joint military exercises, say analysts and diplomats.

The US relies heavily on Turkish bases to supply its war effort in Iraq. Ankara has long complained Washington has not done enough to crack down on PKK rebels who use northern Iraq as a base to attack Turkey. The PKK said on Friday its guerrillas were crossing back into Turkey to target politicians and police after the prospect of a cross-border military operation emerged. Turkey blames the PKK for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since the group launched its armed struggle for an ethnic homeland in south-east Turkey in 1984.

PUKmedia :: English - US tries to halt Turkey attack

Defense Ministry concludes no oil supply was diverted to Iraq

The Defense Ministry has concluded that fuel provided by Japanese vessels in the Indian Ocean was not diverted for use in the Iraq war and thus did not violate the mission's legal mandate authorizing refueling support only for multinational antiterrorism operations in and around Afghanistan, government officials said Saturday.

The ministry came to the conclusion after examining U.S. logbooks and other related documents on nearly 800 missions since December 2001 in which Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels supplied fuel to foreign ships, the officials said.

The ministry is now in the process of determining what information can be disclosed and is expected to announce its findings later in the week, they said.

But the opposition camp, led by the Democratic Party of Japan, is certain to pressure the government to disclose more information on the findings to clear up allegations by Peace Depot, a Yokohama-based citizen's group, that oil supplied by Japan may have been used for U.S.-led operations in Iraq and for purposes other than those stipulated by Japan's special antiterrorism law, which authorizes the mission.

This may be difficult because most of the information is classified data obtained from other countries.

The MSDF supplied fuel to 11 countries in 777 supply missions from December 2001 through the end of August this year, but more than 80 percent of it was given to U.S. vessels.

The government is keen to bring an end to the fuel diversion allegations before the Diet begins deliberating a new bill Wednesday drafted to extend the refueling mission. The government drafted the new bill because it is afraid the current law will expire while the opposition presses for debate. The antiterrorism law expires on Nov. 1.

The special law allows MSDF ships to provide fuel only to ships participating in multinational antiterrorism operations in and around Afghanistan.

The ministry mainly asked the United States and Britain whether there was any diversion of fuel.

Defense Ministry concludes no oil supply was diverted to Iraq | The Japan Times Online

Iraq Warns Turkey against any Incursions in the Territory of Kurdistan Region

Sheikh Ali Sheikh Al-Hatem, clan chieftains of al-Dlem tribe in Iraq warned Turkish troops from intervening or carrying out any military action in the territory of Kurdistan Region. He said in a statement given to the al-Arabia satellite channel that he warns Turkey or any neighboring state from breaching Iraq’s borders.

He added: "We as clans love and cherish our North and will not accept any aggression, we also have an Army and power .We warn against any military action in the territory of Kurdistan.”

For his part, Tariq Jawher, information advisor to the Presidency of Kurdistan Region Parliament, described the Turkish bombardment as an intervention in the affairs of the Kurdistan region and said: “Turkey intervenes in the internal affairs of the Kurdistan region of Iraq through multiple pretexts.”

PUKmedia :: English - Iraq Warns Turkey against any Incursions in the Territory of Kurdistan Region

Al-Qaeda leader arrested in Samarra

An Amir (leader) of al-Qaeda Organization in Iraq in al-Ramadi was arrested in the city of Samarra, Salah al-Din province, upon tips by the Anbar Awakening Council to the Iraqi army, the council chief said on Sunday.

"A force belonging to the Iraqi defense ministry arrested Hamid Ali Hammadi al-Fahdawi, better known as Hamid Kassousa, while he was in Samarra on Saturday," Sheikh Hamid al-Hayes told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

Hayes did not reveal how Kassousa was arrested.

He, however, said the gunmen of al-Qaeda sought refuge in the cities and provinces neighboring Anbar, from which they were forced out by the Anbar Awakening Council.

No comment was made by the Iraqi army on the arrest so far.

PUKmedia :: English - Al-Qaeda leader arrested in Samarra

Financial donations for Iraqi families on Fitr

Labor and social affairs Ministry as well as Finances Ministry are working on transferring 100 billion Dinar from the Finances Ministry to the Labor and social affairs Ministry to cover the Fitr donations dedicated to one million Iraqi families.


The donation has been ordered by the government general secretary. It is estimated at 100,000 Dinar and will be granted to people benefiting of the social care network in the occasion of Fitr.

http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=4728

Iraq receives 75 Saudi electricity power converters

Architect Faez Hassan Abu Tahin, head of electricity distribution in Karbala province, announced the arrival of 75 Saudi electricity power converters. This converters’ shipment is part of a plan put in place by the committee of regions development and reconstruction acceleration in order to deal with lack of electricity power from which most of the provinces’ networks are suffering.

http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=4729

Trade Ministry plans to improve Iraq’s economy

Trade Minister Abdul Fallah Al Sudani announced that the government has approved to open nine trade offices in the world. Al Sudani explained that the approval included countries that Iraq deals with to provide ratio cards and enhance economic relations with these countries in a way that serves Iraq’s economy.

http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=4730

Shiite figure arrives in Anbar, meets tribal chiefs

Anbar, Oct 14, (VOI) – Deputy Chief of the Shiite Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, Ammar al-Hakim, arrived in the city of al-Ramadi to meet with tribal chiefs and members of the Sunni Anbar Awakening Council to discuss recent developments in Iraq, a Shiite legislator said.

"Ammar, the son of Shiite leader Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, the head of the SIIC and the (Shiite) Unified Iraqi Coalition, is also scheduled to discuss the security condition," the legislator, a key member of the UIC, the largest bloc in the Iraqi parliament with 87 seats, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) on condition of anonymity.

The source did not give further details but said the details of the talks Hakim will have in Anbar will be announced later.

Ammar, the head of the SIIC's Shahid al-Mihrab foundation, had called for speeding up the establishment of regions "within a federal system," considering it as "a system that will be in the interest of the Iraqi people."

Speaking before worshippers after Eidul-Fitr prayers in Baghdad on Saturday morning, Ammar al-Hakim suggested "the launching of a federal system from South Baghdad region (which comprises all predominantly-Shiite provinces)." He, however, underlined the need to maintain "Iraq's territorial integrity."

Ammar considered the establishment of a federacy in Iraq as "one of the approaches to consolidate this territorial integrity."

UIC member Sheikh Hamid Maala had visited Ramadi on Saturday and met with tribal chiefs and members of the Anbar Awakening Council.
Ramadi, the capital of Sunni Anbar province, is 110 km west of Baghdad.

Aswat Aliraq

Iraq's Shiite leaders lock horns on federalism

Powerful Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr came out fiercely against federalism on Sunday a day after a leading Shiite politician said Iraq should be split into semi-autonomous regions based on sect and ethnicity.

To demand federalism is to flirt with a non-binding US Senate resolution calling for a devolution of power to three self-governing regions -- for Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds, Sadr's office said in the holy city of Najaf.

On Saturday Ammar Hakim, son and heir-apparent of Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC), called dividing the country "an Iraqi interest, wish and decision.

"I call on this holy day for the people of my country to form (self-governing) regions, starting with the region south of Baghdad," Ammar Hakim said in an Eid al-Fitr sermon from the SIIC headquarters in Baghdad.

Responding to his comments, Sadr's office said on Sunday that the movement's opposition to federalism "is firm and has not been changed.
"After the US Congress voted to divide Iraq, it is clear that insisting on applying federalism in the current tragic Iraqi situation is a flirtation with" the US Congress resolution, Sadr's spokesman Sheikh Saleh al-Obeidi told AFP.

Hakim has played an increasingly prominent role in recent months as his father recovers from cancer.

The SIIC is one of the largest parties in the Iraqi parliament and a key supporter of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government.

On October 6, Sadr and Abdel Aziz al-Hakim forged a pact aimed at ending years of deadly rivalry, with the cornerstone being agreement to prevent their respective militias from attacking each other.

However, they acknowledged political differences and Hakim senior has argued in the past for uniting the nine Shiite-majority provinces in the south.

The US Congress resolution, sponsored by Senator Joseph Biden, was dismissed by Maliki, who called it an infringement on Iraqi sovereignty even though it was backed by the government of Iraq's semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region.

The principle of federalism is enshrined in Iraq's constitution. But Sunni Arabs, who form around 20 percent of the population and are largely located in central, resource-poor parts of the country, have been less enthusiastic about such a plan, fearing it would deprive them of oil wealth.

Iraq's Shiite leaders lock horns on federalism - Yahoo! News UK