Thread: Iraq/Dinar News. 09/05 to 01/14/07

Iraqi PM says Saddam hanging domestic affair, warns critics

2007-01-06 19:02:09

BAGHDAD, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki threatened on Saturday to review ties with the countries which criticized the hanging of the former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Maliki made the remarks in a speech at a parade marking the 86th anniversary of the Iraqi army, at the monument of the Unknown Soldier built by Saddam in the heavily fortified Green Zone.

"The Iraqi government could be obliged to review its relations with any state that fails to respect the wish of the Iraqi people," Maliki warned on the occasion of the Army Day.

He explained that Saddam had received a fair trial and that his execution was a"domestic affair" which is for the benefit of Iraq's unity.

"We consider the execution of the dictator an internal affair that concerns only the Iraqi people," Maliki stressed, adding "it was not a political decision as suggested by the enemies of Iraqi people."

Saddam was executed by hanging at dawn on Dec. 30 for crimes in the execution of 148 Shiite civilians from Dujail, north of Baghdad, in the 1980s. His two former aides, Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and Awad Hmed al-Bandar, are expected to be also hanged soon for their role in the execution.

The premier, meanwhile, vowed that his governmental forces backed by the U.S. troops would implement a major offensive to crackdown on outlawed armed groups from all sectarian factions in Baghdad.

"The security plan is ready," Maliki said, adding that "we will depend on our armed forces to carry out this plan and the Multi-National Force will support our forces."

"We will completely reject any interference from any political parties in this plan," he added.

The Iraqi forces backed by U.S. troops will begin a neighborhood-by-neighborhood offensive in Baghdad this weekend to contain Sunni insurgents and Shiite death squads, according to Iraqi officials.

Xinhua - English

Cheers!
DayDream

Arab League continue consultations to hold reconciliation conference

(صوت العراق) - 06-01-2007(Voice of Iraq) - 06-01-2007
ارسل هذا الموضوع لصديقThis issue was sent to a friend

الجامعة العربية تواصل مشاوراتها لعقد مؤتمر الوفاق الوطني العراقيArab League continue consultations for the convening of a conference on Iraqi National Accord

القاهرة – صوت العراق - ابراهيم محمد شريفCairo-Voice of Iraq - Ibrahim Mohammad Sharif

اكد الامين العام لجامعة الدول العربية عمرو موسى بان المشكلة الرئيسية في العراق تكمن في الاسفين الذي تم دقه بين الطوائف العراقية ولذلك فانه من الحيوي الاستمرار في جهود المصالحة العراقية وان الجامعة العربية تعمل على عقد مؤتمر الوفاق الوطني العراقي في بغداد باسرع وقت ممكن للحيلولة دون تدهور الاوضاع اكثر.The Secretary General of the Arab League Amr Moussa that the main problem in Iraq lies in the accuracy of the wedge which has been among the Iraqi sects Therefore, it is vital to continue the reconciliation efforts and that the Iraqi Arab League is to hold a national reconciliation conference in Baghdad as soon as possible to prevent the deterioration of the situation any more.

صرح بذلك المستشار علاء رشدي المتحدث الرسمي باسم الامين العام لجامعة الدول العربية مشيرا بان مباحثات عمرو موسى مع السيد بانس درنوفسك رئيس جمهورية سلوفينيا والسيد بانس يانسا ووزير خارجية سلوفينيا تناولت الموضوعات المطروحة المتعلقة بالاوضاع بمنطقة الشرق الاوسط امام السفراء المعتمدين في العالم الذين حضروا مراسيم المؤتمر السنوي الذي عقد في سلوفينيا.This was stated by Adviser Alaa Rushdi Spokesman for the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States said that the talks with Mr. Amr Moussa gun Drnovsek President of the Republic of Slovenia, Mr. gun Jansa and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Slovenia on the issues relating to the situation in the Middle East before the ambassadors accredited in the world who attended the ceremony annual conference, which was held in Slovenia.

واشار رشدي بان الامين العام لجامعة الدول العربية قد ذكر ان الشرق الاوسط يواجه العديد من التحديات يمكن تلخيصها بثلاثة بنود رئيسية اولها السلم والتضامن في المنطقة والصراع العربي الاسرائيلي والعراق والسودان والصومال والملف النووي الايراني والبند الثاني مسألة التحديث في الوطن العربي والبند الثالث الخاص بعلاقات الوطن العربي بالغرب فيما يعرف بصراع الحضارات .The Rushdie that the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States has stated that the Middle East faces many challenges can be summarized into three main items first peace and solidarity in the region and the Arab-Israeli conflict, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia and Iran's nuclear dossier and the second issue of modernization in the Arab world and the third item on relations with the Arab world the West knows conflict of civilizations.

New ambassador in Iraq gives hope

NANCY A. YOUSSEF and WARREN P. STROBEL
McClatchy Newspapers

BAGHDAD - The expected appointment of a new U.S. ambassador to Iraq will offer the Bush administration an opportunity to re-establish the United States as a player in Iraqi decision-making after months of declining influence.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and American envoy Zalmay Khalilzad have clashed publicly over a growing list of issues, from U.S. military actions to the recent execution of deposed dictator Saddam Hussein. Maliki aides have said that the prime minister, a Shiite Muslim, thinks that Khalilzad, a Sunni Muslim, sides with the Sunnis.

Khalilzad's likely replacement is Ryan Crocker, a longtime foreign service officer and Arabic speaker who has extensive experience in Iraq. He served in Lebanon when American troops became embroiled in that country's civil war two decades ago, and is the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan.

Whether Crocker, who's a Christian, will have any greater influence over Maliki is an open question. There are fundamental policy differences between Maliki and the Bush administration, including whether Shiite militias or Sunni insurgents are the greatest threat to Iraq's security.

But a new envoy will be crucial to hopes that whatever Iraq policy Bush puts forward will succeed.

Crocker has a penchant for tough talk, according to a State Department colleague, a trait he'll probably need to deal with Iraq's feuding politicians.

He's "a diplomat that has a lot of polish," said the colleague, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because the colleague isn't authorized to discuss the matter, but is "most notable for his ability to be undiplomatic sometimes."

Crocker has a history of accepting difficult overseas jobs. In addition to serving in Lebanon and Pakistan, he was ambassador to Syria when then-President Clinton launched air attacks on neighboring Iraq. Crowds of angry Syrians overran the U.S. Embassy and Crocker's residence, and Marines had to rescue his wife.

Crocker "must answer: Whose side are we on?" said a State Department official in Washington, who asked not to be identified because the official isn't authorized to speak to the news media. "It is going to be extremely difficult."

Tensions between Maliki and the U.S. Embassy have been apparent several times during the last few months, most recently when Iraqi officials decided to hang Saddam.

American officials pleaded with the government to wait until after the Muslim holy period of Eid al Adha and not to rush its decisions. Iraqi officials rejected that and plowed through a hastily planned execution.

Perhaps not coincidentally, Khalilzad wasn't in Iraq at the time. Aides say that in recent months, he's increasingly been absent

Bradenton Herald | 01/06/2007 | New ambassador in Iraq gives hope

Cheers!
DayDream

New effort aimed at taming violence in Baghdad

By Steven R. Hurst and Qassim Abdul-Zahra
Associated Press


BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi forces backed by U.S. troops will begin a neighborhood-by-neighborhood assault on militants in the capital this weekend as a first step in the new White House strategy to contain Sunni insurgents and Shiite death squads, key advisers to the prime minister said Friday.

The first details of the plan - a fresh bid to pacify the capital - emerged a day after President Bush and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki spoke for nearly two hours by video conference. Both leaders were expected to detail their vision of a new strategy in the coming days.

The al-Maliki aides would not address the scope of the planned assaults nor where specifically they were planned.

The Iraqis did, however, signal continuing disagreement on key issues, including al-Maliki's unease over the introduction of more U.S. troops.

Another point of contention has been the Iraqi leader's repeated refusal of U.S. demands to crush the militia of anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, one of the prime minister's most powerful backers.

Any serious drive to curb the extreme chaos and violence in the capital would put not only American forces but al-Maliki's Iraqi army in direct confrontation with al-Sadr's Mahdi Army.

The militants are gaining more and more ground as they kill Sunni residents of the city and drive others from their neighborhoods. The explosion of vengeance began after the Feb. 22 bombing by al-Qaida in Iraq militants of an important Shiite shrine, the Golden Dome mosque in Samarra north of the capital.

Sami al-Askari, an al-Maliki political adviser, told The Associated Press on Friday that al-Maliki had not acquiesced to the reported White House plan to send as many as 9,000 more U.S. troops to Baghdad alone.

"President Bush told the prime minister he was ready to send additional troops, but al-Maliki said he would have to talk that over with his senior military officers to see if they were needed," al-Askari said.

Bush reportedly wants to increase troop strength as part of his developing plan to shake-up the U.S. military effort in Iraq, now in its fourth year.

Without a substantial U.S. troop increase there were questions about the success of any new drive to curb violence.

Last summer the U.S. military and Iraqi army flooded the capital with 12,000 additional troops for the same purpose. By October, the U.S. military spokesman said the operation had not met expectations and the situation was disheartening. The last half of 2006 was one of the most violent periods in the center and west of the country since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein.

In his discussions with Bush, al-Maliki continued to press for a rapid U.S. withdrawal from the capital to bases "on the outskirts of Baghdad," al-Askari said. The prime minister has claimed his forces will be ready to assume control of security for the whole country by summer. The Americans, perhaps optimistically, hope that can happen by year's end.

Al-Askari and Hassan al-Suneid, another top al-Maliki aide and lawmaker from his Dawa Party, said the fresh security push would be open-ended once initiated this weekend.

"The Iraqi Interior, Defense and National Security ministries will take part using information we have gathered from a new intelligence network," al-Suneid said. "There will be no time limit, and there will be many stages to the operation."

Al-Suneid said American forces would take part in a supporting role.

As forces apparently began to get ready, the powerful Association of Muslim Scholars voiced Sunni agitation and claimed the coming drive was really a joint operation by Interior Ministry commandos, the Iraqi army and the Mahdi Army to further cleanse mixed neighborhoods. Iraq's security forces are dominated by Shiites.

Sheik Mohammed Bashar al-Fayadh, a spokesman for the organization, claimed residents had seen 150 vehicles massing Friday in the Shula region in northwest Baghdad in advance of the assault.

"We fear a huge attack," al-Fayadh said on Al-Jazeera satellite television.

Throughout Iraq on Friday, at least 31 people died violently or were found dead, including two beheaded victims of the sectarian slaughter found floating in the Tigris river.

The body of an Associated Press employee was found shot in the back of the head Friday, six days after he was last seen by his family leaving for work. Ahmed Hadi Naji, 28, was the fourth AP staffer to die violently in the Iraq war and the second AP employee killed in less than a month. He had been a messenger and occasional cameraman for the AP for 21/2 years.

"All of us at AP share the pain and grief being felt by Ahmed's family and friends," said AP President and CEO Tom Curley.

The circumstances of Naji's death were unclear. Dozens of Iraqis are found slain almost every day in Baghdad, many believed to be victims of sectarian death squads.

An American contractor was abducted Friday along with his driver and translator, and the two Iraqis were later found dead near a stadium in the southern city of Basra, police said. The fate of the American was unknown.

"The two victims were the translator and a driver," said a Basra police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

Basra's police chief, Gen. Mohammed Humadi, confirmed that a U.S. citizen had been kidnapped and said he was an American of Iraqi origin. The contractor's name and the company for which he worked were not disclosed.

The Cincinnati Post - New effort aimed at taming violence in Baghdad

Cheers!
DayDream

Iran resumes exports to Iraq via Mehran border point





06 January 2007
Iran resumed export of non-oil goods to Iraq via the international border point of Mehran on Saturday, a local official said here on Saturday.


Governor General of Mehran Khaled Rahimi told IRNA that Iraqi border guards stopped export of non-oil commodities to Iraq via Mehran international border point (in western Ilam province) due to a four-day holiday on the occasion of Eid-Ul Adha (Feast of Sacrifice).


He added that Iranian tradesmen could resume export of non-oil goods to Iraq via Mehran border point, stressing they would face no legal problem in this regard.


Mehran border is considered one of the most important points for travel of Iranian pilgrims and export of commodities to Iraq.


© IRNA 2007

Kurdistan Parliament
The postponement of the winter holiday Kurdistan Parliament 15 days

Saturday, 06 January 2007

Arbil - (Voices of Iraq)
He said Media Advisor to the President of the Kurdistan Parliament today, Saturday, the parliament decided to postpone this year's winter vacation for 15 days to complete the discussion of some bills and conduct preliminary reading for others.

He said Tariq essence News Agency (Voices of Iraq) Independent today that "Kurdistan parliament meeting will be held tomorrow, Sunday, to complete discussions on some bills and continue to hold meetings until 16 January this January."

He added that "winter recess of the parliament was scheduled to begin on the first of January this January, so I turned next March, but was postponed for the holiday beginning on the 16 of January."

He added, "Among the most prominent of the draft laws which will be discussed during this period of a bill to improve the living conditions of the families of the martyrs."

ßÑÏÓÊÇä - ÈÑáãÇä :: Aswat al Iraq :: Aswat al Iraq

Cheers!
DayDream

Bush offers Democrats cooperation on budget deficit, not Iraq





ATTENTION - EMBARGO, RELEASABLE at 1506 GMT ///

WASHINGTON, Jan 6, 2007 (AFP) - US President George W. Bush on Saturday offered leaders of Congress cooperation in eliminating the budget deficit and improving education as he searched for common ground with his Democratic rivals.

But he avoided the issue of the war in Iraq, which threatens to balloon into a major political battle in coming weeks.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote Bush a letter Friday, pressuring him to end the war.

"After nearly four years of combat, tens of thousands of US casualties and over 300 billion dollars, it is time to bring the war to a close," the congressional leaders said.

But Bush, who is expected to unveil a new strategy for victory in Iraq this coming week, chose to entirely skip the issue in his weekly radio address, instead offering cooperation on purely domestic issues.

"Some Democrats have indicated that balancing the budget is a top priority for them as well," Bush said.

"By holding the line on spending and continuing our pro-growth policies, we can balance the budget and address the most urgent needs of our nation, which are winning the war on terror and maintaining a strong national defense, keeping our economy growing, and creating jobs," he added.

The United States ended fiscal 2006 on September 30 with a budget deficit of about 296 billion dollars.

The president has promised to outline a plan for balancing the federal budget by 2012 in his upcoming budget proposal.

"Another area where Democrats and Republicans can work together is in the effort to improve our schools," Bush suggested. "We have done so before."

mk/gk

US-politics-Bush-Democrats-X%

Juvenile Aziziyah demands for improved services

Wasit - (Voices of Iraq)

Yesterday hundreds of residents of the district military juvenile Aziziyah in Wasit governorate today, Saturday, in front of the headquarters of the municipal council to eliminate demanding better services provided to them by the local government and the service.

He said one of the participants in the demonstration asked not to be named, told News (Voices of Iraq) Independent "today organized a peaceful demonstration in front of the headquarters of the Municipal Council in the judiciary to demand improved services in the neighborhood where we lived it."
He added, we feel that there is a significant lack of municipal services, sewage and water in addition to electricity and fuel shortages, which led us to demonstrate.

The military district, which is located north-east of the town of Aziziyah a residential district introduced about five years through the distribution of plots of residential land for the military and internal security forces.

The protestors demanded another local government in the judiciary and the municipal council when coverage of the above-mentioned granting the year 2007 and implement service projects where Perhaps in the forefront of tiling the streets and organizing public squares extending sewerage networks and the development of networks for lighting.

The board Wasit governorate, recently approved a budget plan to accelerate the reconstruction and development of regions in the province this year, amounting to 148 billion dinars for the implementation of infrastructure projects throughout the city to maintain the 17 city-hand and the judiciary.

æÇÓØ-ÎÏãÇÊ-ÊÙÇåÑÉ :: Aswat al Iraq :: Aswat al Iraq

Cheers!
DayDream

PM announces big new Baghdad crackdown
(Reuters)

6 January 2007



BAGHDAD - Iraq’s prime minister on Saturday announced a major crackdown on both Shia militias and Sunni insurgents in Baghdad to stem the rise of killings that are now running at hundreds a week.


Nuri Al Maliki, who has been under pressure from Washington to stamp out death squad killings and ethnic cleansing in the city that is blamed on militias loyal to fellow Shia leaders, said commanders in each neighbourhood would come down hard on illegal groups, “regardless of their sect or politics”.

But there was no sign of the crackdown on the streets of the capital.

As U.S. President George W. Bush shuffled his diplomatic and military leadership in Iraq and prepared a new strategy that many expect will involve thousands more American soldiers for Baghdad, Maliki said U.S. troops would support Iraqi forces.

A US-drafted plan to clear Baghdad of militants, block-by-block, was launched in August but, after a brief initial success, the daily death tolls started to rise once again. Analysts have said time is running out to prevent an all-out sectarian civil war.

“We completely reject any interference from any political parties in this plan. There will be no refuge from this plan for anyone who is operating beyond the law, regardless of their sect or their political affiliation,” Maliki said, adding that the plan would continue until its objectives had been achieved.

“We will come down hard on anyone who does not carry out their orders and who does their job according to his political or sectarian background. We will pursue those people under the law and punish them most severely,” he said, in an Army Day address to troops at a parade ground built by Saddam Hussein.

Offensive

Senior Shia politicians told Reuters last week that the U.S. and Iraqi force planned a new, limited offensive specifically against the Mehdi Army militia of radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, blamed by many in Saddam’s once dominant Sunni Arab community for the worst of the atrocities.

Sadr, whose supporters played a key role in Maliki’s appointment as a compromise prime minister in April, denies any involvement in such violence. Maliki has repeatedly rejected criticism that he has not confronted the Mehdi Army before, saying the Shia armed groups can be tamed through politics.

U.S. commanders say that one of the key difficulties in controlling sectarian violence has been the questionable loyalties of the hastily recruited police and army. As such, any new crackdown in Baghdad will be a crucial test for the ability of Iraqi forces to take over from Americans, as Washington’s current plans dictate, over the course of this year.

The U.S. military urged Maliki last week to reach out to the disaffected Sunni minority after the sectarian tension generated by his decision to rush through the execution of Saddam before the New Year and by an Internet video showing pro-Sadr officials taunting the former president on the gallows.

Possibly responding to fierce criticism of the conduct of the execution on Friday by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who called it “revolting and barbaric”, Maliki defended the judicial process and said the government would “review its relations with any country that does not respect the will of the Iraqi people”.

Like most Arab states, Egypt, the biggest Arab nation, does not have a full ambassador in Baghdad. Its envoy to Iraq was kidnapped and killed by al Qaeda Sunni militants in 2005.

The rise to power of Iraq’s Shia majority, many of whose leaders have close ties to non-Arab, Shia Iran, has fuelled wider sectarian tensions in the Middle East, with the mostly Sunni leaders of the rest of the Arab world suspicious of Iraq.

Al-Maliki - plan (by the first)

Maliki : "We will not allow any militia to take up arms instead of the Iraqi army

Baghdad - (Voices of Iraq)
06 January 2007

The Iraqi prime minister said today, Saturday, in a speech marking the anniversary of the Iraqi army that the Baghdad security plan are ready, and that the Iraqi armed forces is that the implementation of the plan will support and assistance of the multinational forces, said in not allowing any militias to bear arms instead of the Iraqi army.

Nouri Al-Maliki said in a televised speech delivered at the Monument of the Unknown Soldier in Baghdad that "Baghdad security plan prepared after reviewing calculated for the previous plans."

He added : "We will use our armed forces to implement the plan with all its strength and ability."

He went on to say "The multinational forces attribution and support our armed forces, and would ask the assistance of the field commanders of those forces when their need for more of them."

He refused Maliki any reaction might play political parties in the implementation of the plan, and said, "We categorically reject the intervention of political parties in the implementation of the security plan in line with our responsibilities and our interest to the supreme interests of the country."

He added : "Baghdad security plan will provide a haven for outlaws, regardless of their ethnicity or political, as both Sanhasp slackens in implementing orders or acting on political or sectarian backgrounds and face prosecution and legally punished severest punishment."

He said Maliki "according to the plan, the military commander will give all powers to implement the plan for the firm which will oversee it."

He added that "the plan will continue to be implemented until the completion of tasks including full contribute to the strengthening of security and to serve the citizens."

Al-Maliki said, "We will not allow any militia to take up arms instead of the Iraqi army, and we will not allow anyone to carry weapons is not the Iraqi army."

He added that "the government of National Unity attaches great importance Iraqi army is the true guarantee of security and stability."
He continued : "We will not allow any political point of trying to weaken the Iraqi army."

He said "the Iraqi army will not be a tool for attacking Iraq's neighbors as in the past."

He continued, Al-Maliki, saying, "The attempt to weaken the Iraqi army mean delay in the receipt of the security functions, and the task of protecting citizens is one of the duties of the Iraqi army and no quarter."

On the other hand, Al-Maliki said in his speech that "the current year will witness a large-scale campaign to eradicate unemployment through the campaign ages."

He reiterated that "the door is open for participation in the political process, only tarnished their hands the blood of the Iraqi people."

ÇáãÇáßí - ÎØÉ ( ãÞÏãÉ Ãæáì ) :: Aswat al Iraq :: Aswat al Iraq

Wonder if this plan will include Al-Sadr's militia?

Cheers!
DayDream