Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Sunday, 6 Dec 2004

IRAQI NEWS FOR 5 DEC 2004
·         Kidnapped woman found murdered- Al-Sharqiyah
·         Northern Iraq national guard chief escapes assassination bid- Al-Sharqiyah
·         Nine bodies of Iraqi soldiers found in Mosul- Al-Sharqiyah
·         US troops storm mosque in Mosul- Al-Sharqiyah
·         Arms cache, weapons found in Baghdad- Al-Sharqiyah
·         Local Iraqi guard commander killed by car bomb- Al-Sharqiyah TV
·         "Huge quantities" of arms, rockets found near Tikrit, Iraq- Al-Sharqiyah
·         US spokesman has "no information" on Al-Sistani aide arrest- Al-Sharqiyah
·         Local Iraqi guard commander killed by car bomb- Al-Sharqiyah TV
·         US troops arrest Al-Sistani's election mediator - Voice of the Mujahidin
·         Nine arrested for allegedly planning attacks on polling stations- Al-Diyar TV
·         Arms cache found in Al-Awjah, 11arrested- Al-Sharqiyah
·         Baghdad-Jordan road to be placed under aerial surveillance- Al-Sharqiyah,
·         Shi'i radio criticizes Iraqi PM over visit to Amman- Voice of the Mujahidin
ELECTIONS
·         Iraqi president: Poll in January, but "no holy dates"- Al-Sharqiyah TV
·         Iraqi Sunni cleric, justice minister call for election delay- Dar al-Salam radio
·         Iraqi National Congress paper criticizes Al-Pachachi- Al-Mu'tamar
·         Iraqi paper reports rumours of voting card fraud- Al-Ufuq,
·         Al-Sadr to run in Iraqi elections - Al-Sharqiyah
·         Government determined to hold vote on schedule - Al-Diyar TV
·         Security minister says Iraqi forces will oversee poll security- Voice of the Mujahidin
IRAQI BROADCAST MEDIA PROGRAMME SUMMARIES, 5 DEC 04
·         Al-Sharqiyah TV news 5 Dec:
·         Al-Iraqiyah TV news 5 December 04:
·         Dar al-Salam Radio Arabic 5 Dec 04:
IRAQI PRESS HEADLINES 5 DEC 04
·         Al-Nahdah [Baghdad, political daily newspaper]:
·         Baghdad [Baghdad, political daily newspaper published by the Iraqi National Accord Movement]:
IRAQI PRESS QUOTES AND COMMENTS 5 DEC 04
·         ``A tactic adopted by insurgents; attacking and controlling police stations''- Al-Dustur
·         "What is more important than the elections''- Al-Zaman
·         Some Iraqi people use every means imaginable, to obstruct the political process - Al-Bayyinah
·         "Can there ever be a winner among us?''- Al-Mada
·         ``Our present-day official seem to be too busy touring the world'' - Al-Adalah
UPDATES FROM IRAQI KURDISH PRESS 5 DEC 2004
·         Khabat daily, issued in Erbil by KDP, 4-5 December 2004
·         www.peyamner.com 5 December 2004

IRAQI NEWS FOR 5 Dec 2004

Kidnapped woman found murdered- Al-Sharqiyah

Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad, in Arabic 5 Dec 04: Bayji Police found the corpse of Tamadir Shakir al-Sudani, a member of Salah al-Din Governorate Council, on a road 4 km north of Bayji, Iraqi Al-Sharqiyah TV reported on 5 December. Doctor Mahmud Marah, from Bayji Hospital, said Al-Sudani had been killed by seven bullets after she was kidnapped on 2 December while on her way from Bayji to Tikrit.

Northern Iraq national guard chief escapes assassination bid- Al-Sharqiyah

Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad, in Arabic 5 Dec 04: Maj-Gen Anwar Ahmad Amin, Iraqi National Guard commander in Kirkuk, northern Iraq, escaped an assassination attempt on 4 December, it emerged the next day. Iraqi Al-Sharqiyah TV quoted Maj-Gen Amin as saying that an explosive charge went off while his motorcade was travelling on the road between Kirkuk and the Khabbaz oil field. Neither Amin nor his guards sustained any wounds in the explosion. Maj-Gen Amin was on an inspection tour of a site where six oil wells have been ablaze since 11 November when unidentified people blew them up. Amin said that Canadian experts had been summoned to Iraq to extinguish the oil wells.

Nine bodies of Iraqi soldiers found in Mosul- Al-Sharqiyah

Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad, in Arabic 5 Dec 04: The Iraqi Police on 5 December found the bodies of nine Iraqis near Mosul, in northern Iraq, Iraqi Al-Sharqiyah TV reported. The director of Tall Afar Hospital said he received the decapitated bodies of four National Guard members while Sinjar Hospital, west of Mosul, received the bodies of five Border Guard soldiers killed by gunfire. More than 27 corpses of Iraqi National Guard members have been discovered in Mosul in the last 10 days, the TV pointed out.

US troops storm mosque in Mosul- Al-Sharqiyah

Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad, in Arabic 5 Dec 04: US troops on the night of 4-5 December stormed and searched Al-Sabirin Mosque in Mosul in northern Iraq, without arresting anybody, Iraqi Al-Sharqiyah TV reported on 5 December. Mosque imam Shaykh Abd-al-Sattar Abdallah Muhammad, who was inside the mosque when it was stormed, said that US troops, backed by armoured vehicles, stormed the mosque in Al-Wahdah neighbourhood, in eastern Mosul, after midnight. Shaykh Muhammad noted that the two armoured vehicles escorting these troops destroyed the fence of the mosque, which he dubbed as provocative.

Arms cache, weapons found in Baghdad- Al-Sharqiyah

Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad, in Arabic 5 Dec 04: : The Iraqi Interior Ministry seized a number of shells, mines and rockets that were prepared to be used in armed operations in Baghdad, Iraqi Al-Sharqiyah TV reported on 5 December. A security source at the Interior Ministry told Al-Sharqiyah that the competent security detachments found a 60-mm mortar barrel, three anti-armoured and anti-personnel mines, and rocket propelled grenades. The source added that all weapons and ammunition that have been seized at a tyres warehouse at Al-Mission Compound in Baghdad were handed over to the Criminal Evidence Department, affiliated with the Interior Ministry. The source did not say how many were arrested or when the cache was found.

Local Iraqi guard commander killed by car bomb- Al-Sharqiyah TV

Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad, in Arabic 5 Dec 04: A ranking Iraqi National Guard officer was killed in the city of Bayji, in northern Iraq, in a suicide-attack by a car bomb today.A National Guard officer said the attack targeted a convoy in which Muhammad Jasim, the local commander of the National Guard, was travelling killing him along with three of his bodyguards. The officer said that 14 National Guard soldiers who were in the convoy were wounded in the attack. [Video shows the scene of the attack.]
"Huge quantities" of arms, rockets found near Tikrit, Iraq- Al-Sharqiyah

Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad, in Arabic 5 Dec 04: Mltinational forces discovered an arms cache in the village of Al-Awjah, near Tikrit, [160 km] north of Baghdad, today. They also arrested 11 Iraqi suspects, as an Iraqi National Guard source said.The same source said that multinational and National Guard forces discovered huge quantities of weapons and ammunition in Al-Awjah, including 1,000 anti-armoured rockets and 1,000 anti-aircraft rockets, in addition to huge quantities of weapons.

US spokesman has "no information" on Al-Sistani aide arrest- Al-Sharqiyah

Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad, in Arabic 5 Dec 04: Iraqi Al-Sharqiyah TV on 5 December, A source at the office of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said today that the US forces have arrested the coordinator of the six-man committee, which was formed by Al-Sistani to prepare his electoral list.The source said that the US forces yesterday arrested the coordinator of the committee without giving a reason for this step.Meanwhile, a US military spokesman said he heard about this issue but has no information about it.

Local Iraqi guard commander killed by car bomb- Al-Sharqiyah TV

Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad, in Arabic 5 Dec 04: : A senior Iraqi National Guard officer was killed in the city of Bayji, in northern Iraq, in a suicide-attack by a car bomb on 5 December, Al-Sharqiyah TV reported. The attack targeted a convoy in which Muhammad Jasim, the local commander of the National Guard, was travelling killing him along with three of his bodyguards. The officer said that 14 National Guard soldiers who were in the convoy were wounded in the attack.

US troops arrest Al-Sistani's election mediator - Voice of the Mujahidin

SCIRI's Voice of the Mujahidin in Arabic, 5 Dec 2004: : Sources from the office of Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani have announced that US troops arrested Muhammad Hashim al-Yahya, the coordinator of the six-member committee formed by Al-Sistani and the Independent Higher Electoral Commission, Voice of the Mujahidin reported on 5 December. The sources said Al-Yahya had been arrested in Baghdad the night before. They said that Muwaffaq al-Rubay'i was mediating with the US ambassador to secure the release of Al-Yahya, and added that the office of Al-Sistani "would take strict measures if Al-Yahya was not released".

Nine arrested for allegedly planning attacks on polling stations- Al-Diyar TV

Al-Diyar Satellite Channel In Arabic, Baghdad, 5 Dec 04 :Nine people were arrested in a raid in Suq al-Shuyukh district for allegedly planning to attack polling stations in January, Al-Diyar TV reported on 5 December. The group was found in possession of weapons, explosives, and maps during the raid. Official sources said the group was planning to bomb the National Guards headquarters in Al-Nasiriyah and attack some polling stations on the eve of the Iraqi elections in January. Some of the suspects are said to have confessed that they received military training from a National Guards major in Mosul "whose loyalty is in doubt", the TV said.

Arms cache found in Al-Awjah, 11arrested- Al-Sharqiyah

Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad, in Arabic 5 Dec 04: Multinational forces discovered an arms cache in the village of Al-Awjah, near Tikrit, north of Baghdad, on 5 December, Al-Sharqiyah TV reported. They also arrested 11 Iraqi suspects, according to an Iraqi National Guard source. The source said that multinational and National Guard forces discovered huge quantities of weapons and ammunition in Al-Awjah, including 1,000 anti-armoured rockets and 1,000 anti-aircraft rockets, in addition to huge quantities of weapons.

Baghdad-Jordan road to be placed under aerial surveillance- Al-Sharqiyah,

Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad, in Arabic 5 Dec 04: : The Interior ministry has said the road between Baghdad and the Jordanian border will be put under aerial surveillance, Iraqi Al-Sharqiyah TV reported on 5 December. Adnan al-Asadi, undersecretary of the Interior Ministry, said the ministry has recently received four helicopters which will be used for aerial surveillance between Al-Turaybil border checkpoint and Baghdad to strengthen the protection of trucks from attacks.

Shi'i radio criticizes Iraqi PM over visit to Amman- Voice of the Mujahidin

Voice of the Mujahidin, in Arabic 4 Dec 04: Iraqi Shi'i group's Iran-based radio station Voice of the Mujahidin criticized on 4 December Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's visit to Jordan to participate in what the radio called "the Amman Iraqi opposition conference". It expressed concern about the nature of the opposition in Jordan, saying it was unknown and could have links to the former Saddam regime. The radio also criticized the fact that the conference was held in Jordan, even though Bahrain had asked to hold the conference, saying that Jordan's links with Israel were well-established and that the conference was a way of linking the new Iraq with "the Zionist entity".

ELECTIONS
Iraqi president: Poll in January, but "no holy dates"- Al-Sharqiyah TV

 Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad, in Arabic 5 Dec 04: Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawar said in the United States today that the general elections in Iraq would be held in January in spite of the continuation of armed operations in the country.Answering a question on how long the US forces would stay in Iraq, Al-Yawar, who will meet with US President George Bush in the White House tomorrow, said: We are speaking about months, and I do not think that this will take years.He said the withdrawal should be carried out after the Iraqi security force is built.Speaking about the elections, the Iraqi president said: There are no holy dates, but the Iraqis should be up to the election challenges.

Iraqi Sunni cleric, justice minister call for election delay- Dar al-Salam radio

Dar al-Salam radio, Baghdad, in Arabic 5 Dec 04: The Iraqi Sunni Waqf Department called on 4 December for the postponement of the Iraqi elections for six months in order to create a more appropriate security situation, Iraqi Islamic Party radio Dar al-Salam reported. The radio quoted Justice Minister Malik Duhan al-Hasan as stating that there was no harm in postponing the elections for six months at most, as such a postponement would have many positive points. He also said both voters and candidates should be protected during the elections. Speaking at a news conference, Adnan Muhammad Salman from the Sunni Waqf Department also condemned the storming of mosques in Iraq by US and Iraqi National Guard forces, saying it was considered to be a serious development, unprecedented in Iraq's history.

Iraqi National Congress paper criticizes Al-Pachachi- Al-Mu'tamar

Al-Mu'tamar [Baghdad, daily newspaper in Arabic published by the Iraqi National Congress] 5 Dec 04: Iraqi National Congress (INC) weekly newspaper Al-Mu'tamar criticized on 2 December Adnan al-Pachachi's wish to postpone the elections. Calling it a "mere media fabrication", Al-Mu'tamar said Al-Pachachi was opposed to the elections for the sake of opposition: "I oppose therefore I am". The paper found it "even more irritating" that Al-Pachachi wished to postpone the elections despite having signed the Interim Constitution Law with no objections, in the face of opposition from many Iraqis. How could someone who had signed the law stipulating the holding of elections before 31 January, subsequently oppose them, the paper asked.

Iraqi paper reports rumours of voting card fraud- Al-Ufuq,
Al-Ufuq, Baghdad, in Arabic 4 Dec 04: Iraqi Al-Ufuq Cultural Foundation newspaper Al-Ufuq reported on 1 December stories of how Iraqis were being swindled into giving up their voting cards, either because of "corrections" that supposedly needed to be made to the cards, or through the offer of money for the cards. The paper said "mysterious groups" who wanted democracy to fail were then tearing up the cards. It said rumours such as this were rife in the country.
Al-Sadr to run in Iraqi elections - Al-Sharqiyah

Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad, in Arabic 5 Dec 04: Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr has decided to run in the general elections, Al-Sharqiyah TV reported on 5 December. Ali Al-Sumaysim, one Al-Sadr's most prominent aides said that Sayyid Muqtada will run in the elections as part of the unified list supported by Ayatollah Al-Sistani.

Government determined to hold vote on schedule - Al-Diyar TV

Al-Diyar Satellite Channel In Arabic, Baghdad, 5 Dec 04 :The spokesman for the Iraqi Interior Ministry has said that the government is determined to hold the election on 30 January as scheduled, Al-Diyar TV reported on 5 November. Responding to a call by a number of Iraqi groups that the vote be postponed by six months, Sabah Kazim said he believes it is "a grave mistake to postpone the vote". He said: "We want to start at least with this political beginning for a democratic Iraq. Later we can follow it up with economic, political and social issues and the building of institutions. We have to start sometime, somewhere."

Security minister says Iraqi forces will oversee poll security- Voice of the Mujahidin

Voice of the Mujahidin, in Arabic , 5 Dec 04: Qasim Dawud, state minister for national security affairs, has said that Iraqi security forces alone will be responsible for the security of election centres and that the multinational troops will not be present in these centres, Voice of the Mujahidin reported on 5 December. Dawud added that preserving security is not the responsibility of the government only, adding that the Iraqi society has to shoulder a part of this responsibility.

IRAQI BROADCAST MEDIA Programme summaries, 5 Dec 04
Al-Sharqiyah TV news 5 Dec:
·         US forces raid a mosque in Mosul causing damage ...
·         Bodies of nine Iraqis found in Mosul ...
·         Interior and Oil Ministries agree to implement procedures to control distribution of fuel ...
·         Seventeen Iraqis working with an American company killed in attack by insurgents near Tikrit ... Iraqi National Guard commander killed in suicide attack in Bayji ...
·         Iraqi Ministry of Interior security officers recover arms used in armed activities in Baghdad ...
·         Security official says that Iraq-Jordan road will be monitored by four helicopters ...
·         German authorities release Lebanese man arrested in connection with planned attack on Iraqi premier ...
·         Iraqi National Guard commander in Kirkuk survived assassination attempt overnight ...
·         Health Ministry orders border forces to check goods entering Iraq, to ensure all foods are fit for human consumption ...
·         Japanese defence minister visited today his country's forces in Iraq ...
·         Explosion in Samarra destroys car and kills its driver; two mortars hit police station in Samarra injuring two police officers ...
·         Defence team of two defendants in the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal say their clients are scapegoats for failures of their leaders ...
·         Muqtada Al-Sadr has decided to run in the Iraqi elections
Al-Iraqiyah TV news 5 December 04:
·         Seventeen Iraqi civilians killed and 13 others injured in attack on their buses near Tikrit ...
·         Three members of National Guard killed and 10 injured in car bomb in Baiji; two soldiers from multinational force killed in Mosul; commander of National Guard survives assassination in Kirkuk ...
·         Political groups call for election delay ...
·         Independent electoral commission says voters can be registered in new election centre in commission offices in Baghdad ...
·         US embassy says election to be held on schedule; US troops to stay out of polling areas; Iraq security forces to protect polling stations ...
·         Germany arrests Lebanese on suspicion of assisting in attempt to kill Prime Minister Iyad Allawi ...
·         Chief of US Central Command General John Abizaid says less infiltrators enter Iraq than a month ago ...
·         Health conditions improved following collapse of regime - Minister of Health ... Human rights to be included in university curriculum ...
·         Passport applications down following increase in fees ...
·         World Bank agrees to funding infrastructure projects in Iraq


Dar al-Salam Radio Arabic 5 Dec 04:
·         The Sunni Waqf condemns the storming of Iraqi mosques by US and National Guard forces as "a serious precedent" and calls for postponing the elections ...
·         Iraqi justice minister says there is no harm in postponing the election for six months ...
·         The Association for Muslim Scholars in Iraq calls for UN supervision of the election, withdrawal of US forces from Iraqi cities, and the formation of a technocrat government ...
·         Media sources say that the British Black Watch Battalion withdrew from the Baghdad area to Basra area on 4th ...
·         US sources say that two US soldiers are killed in an attack north of Baghdad, and two other soldiers are killed in Mosul and Ba'qubah
IRAQI PRESS HEADLINES 5 DEC 04
Al-Nahdah [Baghdad, political daily newspaper]:
·         Truck detonated, car bomb seized at Turaybil, prompting closure of Jordan-Iraq border outlet (AFP quoted) ...
·         Car bomb goes off near Green Zone entrance ...
·         Two implicated in Adhamiyah assault captured ...
·         Minister of justice: Deferring elections sounds logical ...
·         Brahimi: Elections unthinkable amid current rate of violence (Reuters quoted) ...
·         US diplomats barred from using road to Baghdad International Airport (Agencies quoted) ...
·         Electoral Commission gets candidate lists from 44 political entities.
Baghdad [Baghdad, political daily newspaper published by the Iraqi National Accord Movement]:
·         Allawi wins greater German support for Iraq reconstruction (Agencies quoted) ...
·         After ten-day-long operation in 'Triangle of Death', 204 terrorists captured, 11 arms caches seized (AFP quoted) ...
·         Bush to meet with Al-Yawar tomorrow (AFP quoted) ...
·         Poland: Withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Iraq will have serious consequences (AFP quoted) ...
·         Norway to dispatch military trainers to Iraq (AFP quoted).
IRAQI PRESS QUOTES AND COMMENTS 5 DEC 04
``A tactic adopted by insurgents; attacking and controlling police stations''- Al-Dustur

Al - Dustur, independent daily published by former journalist Basim al-Sheikh published an editorial by Chief Editor 5 Dec 04: discussing the new tactic adopted by the insurgents in Iraq of attacking and controlling, for short periods of time, the police stations and other security forces' headquarters in various Iraqi cities. The editorial says that these attacks aim at challenging the authority of the government and revealing the weakness of the Iraqi security forces, which cannot ensure their own safety. Al-Shaykh adds that such acts are premeditated murder crimes against a number of Iraqi people who have not committed any particular crime, which contradict all traditions and religious teachings, adding that the insurgents deserve being killed and destroyed. Al-Shaykh maintains that by doing so, the conflict in Iraq is no longer a conflict between an occupier and a resistance; it has become a conflict between an Iraqi party that lost its positions and privileges against the other Iraqi party that got hold of them.

"What is more important than the elections''- Al-Zaman
Al-Zaman [From commentary by Sa'ad Abbas]: "What is more important than the elections that we are all looking forward to is the promulgation of clear and comprehensive national programme that includes elections as an essential component. This is something we have failed to accomplish so far, but rather than attempting to apportion blame for this failure on this and that party, we should try our best to catch up on what we have missed while we still have a chance. Would it not be wise for those who call the shots in our society to put their heads together and find a safe way out of this horrible dilemma? Is it too much to hope for a meeting involving members of the Iraqi elite such as Al-Sistani, Al-Barzani, Al-Dhari and (Abd-al-Ghafur) Al-Samarra'i? This is a question only Iraqi wisdom can provide an answer to."
Some Iraqi people use every means imaginable, to obstruct the political process - Al-Bayyinah
Al-Bayyinah [From commentary by Sattar Jabbar]: "All the peoples of the world aspire to gain their freedom and strive hard for it, willingly sacrificing hundreds of thousands of their best men and women in order to enable the rest to get to the ballot boxes and exercise their free will in building their homeland on the bases of democracy and justice. Strangely enough, this general fact, observable everywhere in the world, does not seem to apply to Iraq, where there are people who use every means imaginable, from bullets to car bombs, to obstruct the political process. These people, many of them professional killers and torturers employed by the ousted regime, cannot come to terms with the reality that their erstwhile power and privileges are gone for ever, along with their fallen idol."
"Can there ever be a winner among us?''- Al-Mada
Al-Mada [From commentary by Ahmad al-Sa'dawi]: "Can there ever be a winner among us, Iraqis, if our country continues to deplete itself like this? No sensible Iraqi at this critical juncture should think in terms of either winning all or losing all. Present realities in Iraq cannot accommodate such utopian logic. Whoever seeks greater legitimacy can only do so by coming to terms with a greater number of the other parties operating on the ground, for it is only through general consent that stability can be secured and development can be set on track."
``Our present-day official seem to be too busy touring the world'' - Al-Adalah
Al-Adalah [From editorial]: "We, among many other columnists, have written countless articles, pointing out the numerous problems infesting our society and making life unbearable for our fellow citizens, but to no avail. Our present-day officials, who invariably blame all our problems on violence and terrorism the same way as former regime officials used to blame all ills on international sanctions, seem to be too busy touring the world, trying to spend as much time as they could flying from one capital to another, as if they were scheduled to cover the whole globe before their 180-day tenure expired."
Updates from Iraqi Kurdish Press 5 Dec 2004

Khabat daily, issued in Erbil by KDP, 4-5 December 2004
¾        

In an interview with Kurdistan Satellite TV, KDP politburo executive Fadhil Mirani said the strategic way to normalize the situations in Kirkuk is for the [Iraqi] government to issue a directive for re-attaching the [Kurdish] districts to the governorate and restoring the past situation there. Politicians and political forces in Kurdistan demand the return of IDPs to their places in Kirkuk and sending back Arab settlers to their original places [in central and southern Iraq] but this would be a long-lasting process and an incomplete solution, Mirani added.

¾        

NATO Secretary-General visited Iraq Friday and opened a representation office in Baghdad.
¾         Dahuk Governor escaped a second assassination attempt. Governor Nechirvan Ahmed was heading to his office Saturday morning when a bomb exploded into his convoy. The Kurdish official survived a similar attempt in mid-September. The perpetrator of the first assassination attempt is now in the custody of the security department in Dahuk.
¾         Terrorists in and around Kirkuk escalate threats against citizens. In Haweeja town, terrorist intruded citizens' houses and torn their election coupons and threatening them not to participate in the elections. In Nasir district downtown Kirkuk, terrorists have been threatening the Kurdish returning IDPs to leave the place or face death. Following the threats, the police launched a hunt operation in the district and arrested a number of Arab suspects. Also in Kirkuk, insurgents kidnapped a Christian lady, whose daughter reportedly worked for the Coalitions and overlooked previous warnings by those insurgents to quit. In related news, the police and ING in Dyala launched a series of hunt operations throughout the governorate and arrested 29 Arab terrorists. In preliminary investigations, the arrestees, 7 of them were from Jordan and Syria and the rest from southern Iraq, confessed their connections with terrorists.

www.peyamner.com <http://www.peyamner.com> 5 December 2004
¾        

Zarqawi's terrorist group declares its responsibility for yesterday's Mosul suicide terrorist explosion that resulted in the immediate death of 7 Kurdish Peshmargas and injury of others. The death toll rose to 18 last night as a number of the seriously wounded Peshmargas passed away.

¾        

A spokesperson for Kurdistan Toilers' Party politburo announced that his party was considering formation of a joint list with a number of independents to compete with the joint list of KDP, PUK and other political parties in Kurdistan elections. ``If the formation of the KDP-PUK list is a move to prevent another Kurdish infighting, then existence of other competing lists will enrich the Kurdish democracy,'' the spokesperson said.
¾         After sustaining 6 deaths in Talaafar Friday evening, the US forces invaded the town in cooperation with the Iraqi National Guards (ING) and arrested 200 suspects inside the HQs of the Iraqi Turcoman Front (ITF). 70 of the arrestees are still in the custody of the US forces for their possible involvements in the terrorist act there.
¾         Due to the prevailing security in Sulaymanya, the number of Arab labors coming from central and southern Iraq to the city to earn their bread is persistently increasing. This labor transfer serves and speeds up the implementation of Kurdistan reconstruction projects but the security authorities should keep their eyes open to prevent the terrorists groups from using some of the labors for their wicked purposes.