Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

 
  
IRAQI NEWS, 23 JAN 05
·         Woman killed as US forces respond to soldier's shooting - TV
·         Iraqi PM Allawi urges Basra residents to vote
·         Twenty-seven voter registration centres opened in Kirkuk
·         Power outage in Iraq after sabotage
·         US forces in Iraq reportedly open "indiscriminate fire" after soldier's death
IN THE IRAQI NEWS PAPERS
·         Violence against Iraqi media surges- Al-Zamman
·         Washing-Al-Sabah
·         Tomorrow, Iraqis Will Celebrate Democracy Day -Al-Sabah
IRAQI MEDIA PROGRAMME SUMMARIES, 23 JAN. 05
·         Programme summary of Baghdad Al-Diyar TV 23 Jan 05
·         Programme summary of Iraqi Al-Sharqiyah TV news 23 Jan 05
·         Programme summary of Al-Iraqiyah TV news 23 Jan 05
UPDATES FROM THE IRAQI KURDISH PRESS, 23 JAN 05
·         Nigroponte Assures Kurds US Will Fulfil Its Promises
·         Chemical Ali to Be Tried in Halabja, Peaple Compensated
·         Iraqi Ministry Bans Kurdistan Journalists from Covering Elections
·         Kurdistan Signitures for Referendum Sumitted to UK Parliament
·         IECI To Open 27 Registration Centers for Kirkuki IDPs
·         US-Kurdish Relations Annoy Turcoman Front, Shiite Turcomans Vote for Shiite Coaition
·         Ansar-ul-Sunna Responsible for Governor Assassination Attempt
·         Iraqi Jews Can Vote for Iraq Elections

IRAQI NEWS, 23 Jan 05

Woman killed as US forces respond to soldier's shooting - TV

A US soldier was killed on 23 January when gunmen in car opened fire on a US army foot patrol in Al-Dubbat District in central Mosul, Al-Sharqiyah TV reported on 23 January. Eyewitnesses said that the US patrol responded by "opening intensive and indiscriminate fire", leading to the death of a woman, who was on the street, while the gunmen escaped. (Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad, in Arabic 23 Jan 05)

 
Iraqi PM Allawi urges Basra residents to vote
Iraqi Al-Sharqiyah TV on 23 January carried a speech by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi in which stressed the importance of unity in Iraq. During the meeting with a delegation of Iraqi chieftains, intellectuals, and journalists in Basra, Allawi also called on the Basra residents to participate in the 30 January elections. (Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad, in Arabic 23 Jan 05)


Twenty-seven voter registration centres opened in Kirkuk
Iraqi Al-Sharqiyah TV on 23 January reported that the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI) had opened 27 voter registration centres in Kirkuk governorate to register the voters who were forced to leave the city during the former regime's rule. The IECI reportedly called on the non-registered voters, who had left and then returned to city, to register their names in these centres before 25 January. (Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad, in Arabic 23 Jan 05)
Power outage in Iraq after sabotage

Iraqi Al-Sharqiyah TV reported on 23 January that electric power lines had been sabotaged, which had led to power outages in the northern, central, and southern areas. An official at the Electricity Ministry was reported as saying that the acts of sabotage coincided with bad weather conditions that prevailed in Iraq on the third day of Id al-Adha holiday, and led to damaging electricity power generating plants. He added that the engineering and technical teams at the ministry started to fix the damage and it is hoped that these plants will be functioning in the next few hours. (Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad, in Arabic 23 Jan 05)

US forces in Iraq reportedly open "indiscriminate fire" after soldier's death

A US soldier was killed today when gunmen, who were riding in car, opened fire on a US army foot patrol in Al-Dubbat [officers] District in central Mosul. Eyewitnesses said that the US patrol responded by opening intensive and indiscriminate fire, leading to the death of a woman, who was on the street, while the gunmen escaped. (Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad, in Arabic 23 Jan 05)

IN THE IRAQI NEWS PAPERS

Violence against Iraqi media surges- Al-Zamman

Al-Zaman website [daily, independent, Baghdad edition of London-based Al-Zaman] An Editorial By Asamaa al-Khalidi, Azzaman, 2005-01-17/: There has been a surge in violence targeting Iraqi journalists in the past few weeks, according to the head of Iraqi Journalists Syndicate, Shihab al-Tamimi.
Tamimi criticized international media for paying lip service to the fate of Iraqi reporters who go missing, are kidnapped, killed or abused.
When foreign reporters are involved in similar incidents, the case grabs international media attention, he said.
He said several Iraqi journalists and their families ``have been targets of kidnapping and assassination'' in the past few weeks.
Tamimi mentioned Imad Adulamir, a member of the syndicate's council who was kidnapped on January 11 and his fate was still unknown.
He said a military unit stormed the headquarters of al-Qarar newspaper and took away its editor Hassan Jumaa.
``The unit took Jumaa to an undisclosed location and still there is no word about his whereabouts,'' Tamimi said.
In December another journalist, Jamal Abdujabbar al-, was kidnapped in the southern city of Hilla.
``We still do not know which group is behind Samaraai's abduction,'' Tamimi said.
He said the body Salem Issa al-Harbi, a reporter for the Wifaq newspaper, mouthpiece of interim Prime Minister Ayad Alawi's group, was found close to Meidan in the heart of Baghdad.
Dhiya al-Hassan, the syndicate's secretary-general when former President Saddam Hussein was in power, had his two sons killed and his car stolen, according to Tamimi.
Hundreds of Iraqi journalists gathered last week at the syndicate's headquarters to protest the kidnapping and killing of colleagues.
``We take no sides in the current strife in the country and our only task is carry truth to Iraqi readers,'' Tamimi said.
``We expected freedom of expression and writing will be respected in the new Iraq. We thought there will be no room for arrests, killing and kidnapping and the storming of media centers by troops or police,'' said Tamimi

Washing-Al-Sabah

Al-Sabah Website, Baghdad, by the Iraqi Media Network, 24 Jan 05, Editorial, By Mohammed Abdul Jabbar al-Shaboot: So many washing will be hanged within the electoral battle which has begun heating with quick rates with the ongoing of the countdown, arriving to Jan 30, the scheduled date of election.
This is not a strange matter, in each democratic country, the electoral battle witnesses days similar to these Iraqis are witnessing now; the essence of the electoral competition is to convince electors with the high quality of each candidate product and the bad quality of the other competitor.
The matter then, not calling for sadness and sorrow... but the important question is connecting with details, including the way of running the competition battle.
Principally, competition has taken place among several political programs, each program represents competitors' goods, and one of them is undertaking to clarify the good merits of his program and the extent of achievements that he would be realized to the country and citizen, especially if program's concentration be on assumption of constitution and its cases, not for service promises present by competitors as happing here. While another competitor is undertaking the responsibility of pointing out the weakness points in his competitor's program in the same constitution cases which will be point of discussion and debate or may be point of disputes among members of the patriotic front.
We have to admit with a kind of sorrow, that we are not witnessing until now such kind of competition: i.e. the competition of political programs between each others, especially in what connecting with the introduced ideas or positions which these sides have been adopted. On the contrary, we have heard accusations close to be personal, may be they are correct or incorrect, the most important thing, that they have a personal feature, whereas "character" of the candidate has became connected with his past and acts, the personality of candidate has became the subject and the goods, neither the candidate's program, nor his constitution aspirations, of course we don't want to veil lights on the importance of each personal candidate but the fear is rising from considering personal side the general feature of the electoral battle as well as the informational competition.
The second side of the problem... is the informational argument which we are witnessing now among symbols gathering between each others by certain point which is they are all active members in the same political elite which has assumed the responsibility of ruling, power, management and authority since the collapsing of the former al-Ba'th regime. Those symbols, at least, most of them know each others personally and directly since long years, supposed that one of them has no new information towards the other.
May be this argument have a negative reaction by citizens and this may be effected the citizens' enthusiasm towards elections, thus we catch the eyes of competitors to attribute attention to this matter.

Tomorrow, Iraqis Will Celebrate Democracy Day -Al-Sabah

Al-Sabah Website, Baghdad, by the Iraqi Media Network, 24 Jan 05,An Editorial: Iraqis will celebrate tomorrow with the first day of Ed al-Adhah (Greater Bairam), far away from complication of the security scene which is witnessing remarkable improvement during the last period, preparing for democracy celebration which will be near, whereas millions of Iraqis will head on Jan 30 to select 275 candidates represent the National Assembly which will assume the responsibility of writing 1^st permanent constitution in the country.
The Iraqi markets are witnessing great demand on shopping, as a preparedness to continue Ed joy, after the Iraqi government has decided to spend personals salaries before its scheduled, before 10 days. Notably personals standard of living is witnessing a great improvement, since the collapsing the former regime, whereas this segment had suffered from poverty and shortage along more than two decades, a matter that force some of personals to leave their jobs and heading to free works.