Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

 
  
IRAQI NEWS, 8 FEB 05
·         Gunmen clash with US troops in central Baghdad
·         Iraqi chief of staff "confident" Al-Zarqawi in Mosul
·         AMS doubts 'Islamic Jihad' statement on Italian journalist
·         Article backs VP Al-Ja'fari as next prime minister
·         Iraq promises Kuwait support against terrorism
·         Three Iraqi soldiers killed in attack south of Baghdad
·         Iraqi Sunni group condemns raid on member's home
·         Top SCIRI member said killed near Ba'qubah
·         Over 10,000 illegal votes cancelled in northern Iraq
·         Sistani office denies Islamic legislation call
·         Shi'i leadership said to back Al-Shahristani as PM
IRAQI PRESS 8 FEBRUARY 2005
·         IRAQI PRESS HEADLINES, 8 FEB 05
·         IRAQI PRESS QUOTES, 8 Feb 2005
IRAQI MEDIA PROGRAMME SUMMARIES, 8 FEB 05
·         Summary of Al-Iraqiyah TV news 8 Feb 05
·         Summary of Al-Sharqiyah TV 8 Jan 05
KURDISH NEWS, 8 FEB 05
·         Summary of KurdSat TV news 8 Feb 05
·         Kurdish coalition takes 59 per cent in Kirkuk polls
·         UK allocates fund to help Kirkuk displacees
·         US commander says government to 'normalize' Kirkuk's status
·         Talabani says no minority group to be marginalized
·         Kurdish leader Barzani says no compromise on federalism
·         16,000 Kurdish refugees to return from Iran - report
·         Updates from the Iraqi Kurdish Press, 8 Feb 2005

IRAQI NEWS, 8 Feb 05
Gunmen clash with US troops in central Baghdad

Unidentified gunmen engaged in clashes with US troops in Al-Tala'i Square in central Baghdad on the afternoon of 8 February, Iraqi TV channel Al-Sharqiyah reported. Eyewitnesses told the channel's correspondent that the clashes took place after gunmen closed off the square and blocked all the roads leading to it, which prompted a large US force to intervene to regain control over the area. The eyewitnesses told the correspondent that US snipers took positions over the high-rise buildings encircling the square, while US helicopters hovered over the area. No casualties were reported on either side. (Al-Sharqiyah 8 Feb 05)

Iraqi chief of staff "confident" Al-Zarqawi in Mosul
The Iraqi army's chief of staff, Babakir Zebari, has said that launching a military operation against the armed groups in Mosul Governorate is still under discussion, Iraqi TV channel Al-Diyar reported on 8 February. He said that he does not expect the armed groups to hand over their weapons, noting that these groups are continuing their attacks against the Iraqi authorities. He said that he is confident Jordanian militant Abu-Mus'ab al-Zarqawi is in Mosul. Zebari added that the Iraqi army would probably assume responsibility for security in the country within a few months. He said that the process of rehabilitating Iraqi troops to assume responsibility for security was proceeding in "a sound manner". (Al-Diyar TV 8 Feb 05)
AMS doubts 'Islamic Jihad' statement on Italian journalist
The Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq (AMS) has cast doubts on the motives of the organization that claimed responsibility for the abduction of the Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena and announced its intention to release her out of respect for the association's appeal, Iraqi Al-Sharqiyah TV reported on 8th. It said the AMS "did not dismiss the possibility" that the announcement by the "secret, unknown organization" Islamic Jihad was "nothing but a conspiracy intended to defame the association by implying its involvement in the abduction". AMS spokesman Umar Raghib said that if that organization really respected the association's views, it would have acted upon the appeal issued by the association before Id Al-Adha, in which it called for ending the phenomena of abductions and releasing all hostages. (Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad, in Arabic 8 Feb 05)
Article backs VP Al-Ja'fari as next prime minister

An article by Haytham al-Husayni published in the Islamic Al-Da'wah Party newspaper Al-Bayan on 7th argued that Vice President Ibrahim al-Ja'fari should be Iraq's new prime minister. He listed the reasons as follows: "he possesses a broad popular base that he developed through his past political performance"; "he belongs to one of the most established and original movements in the history of political action in Iraq"; his "cultural and political background"; he had "lived inside the Islamic Al-Da'wah Party that is used to a type of democratic life in electing its collective not individual leadership"; he is "considered today to be one of the most prominent non-clerical Shi'i personalities and is close to the higher religious marj'iya leadership in Al-Najaf al-Ashraf"; he "has excellent relations with all political trends in Iraq". (Al-Bayan, Baghdad, in Arabic 7 Feb 05)

Iraq promises Kuwait support against terrorism

Iraqi Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib has expressed Iraq's readiness to cooperate with Kuwait to confront and eradicate terrorism, Iraqi TV channel Al-Diyar TV reported on 8 February. In a press statement on the sidelines of the international anti-terrorism conference in Saudi Arabia, Al-Naqib said Kuwait was a friendly Arab country which had suffered a great deal. He said Iraq would stand beside Kuwait and offer it support. (Al-Diyar TV 8 Feb 05)

Three Iraqi soldiers killed in attack south of Baghdad

Three Iraqi soldiers were killed and 11 others wounded when gunmen attacked an Iraqi army convoy near Al-Mahawil, south of Baghdad, Iraqi Al-Sharqiyah TV reported. An Iraqi army source quoted by the report said that at 0900 local time (0600 gmt) on 8 February gunmen attacked an Iraqi military convoy near Al-Mahawil on the highway between Baghdad and Al-Hillah. An exchange of fire, in which light and medium-calibre weapons were used, lasted for more than an hour and left three Iraqi army members dead and 11 others wounded, three very seriously. The source added that troops from the Iraqi army and the Iraqi police encircled the area, arrested 18 of the gunmen who carried out the attack, and killed two others in an exchange of fire. Three Iraqi army vehicles were burnt in the clashes. (Al-Sharqiyah 8 Feb 05)

Iraqi Sunni group condemns raid on member's home

The Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS) in Iraq said on 8 February that US troops had stormed the house of an AMS member, Iraqi Al-Sharqiyah TV reported. In a statement, the AMS said that US troops surrounded the house of Shaykh Najm Abd Nasir in Al-Dujayl, north of Baghdad, and stormed it during the night. According to the statement, the US troops arrested four brothers of Shaykh Nasir after failing to find him, and seized his personal computer. The AMS said that similar ongoing house raids, arrests and alleged assassinations by US forces were triggered by the AMS' rejection of the US troops' presence in Iraq. (Al-Sharqiyah 8 Feb 05)

Top SCIRI member said killed near Ba'qubah

Unidentified gunmen have assassinated Ahmad Mahmud Faris, a leading member of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), Iraqi Al-Sharqiyah TV reported on 8 February. A source at Diyala Police said that an armed group, who were riding a civilian car, shot Faris dead near his house in Al-Mu'allim in neighbourhood near Ba'qubah. (Al-Sharqiyah 8 Feb 05)

Over 10,000 illegal votes cancelled in northern Iraq

The Independent Higher Commission for Elections in Iraq revealed that there were violations at some polling centres in the Governorate of Ninawa in northern Iraq, which subsequently cancelled more than 10,000 election votes, Iraqi Al-Sharqiyah TV reported on 8 February. Spokesman Farid Ayar said that 40 ballot boxes, each with the capacity to hold 300 voting slips, would not be counted in the sorting process to determine the results. He explained that some of these boxes were illegally filled with slips, while gunmen stole others from polling centres. (Al-Sharqiyah 8 Feb 05)

Sistani office denies Islamic legislation call

The office of the Supreme Marj'iya [religious authority] Ali al-Sistani has denied issuing a statement on "the call by the religious marj'iya for making Islam the sole source of legislation in the new constitution".
AFP reported on 7th that the call came in a "surprise statement" released on 6th by Sheikh Ibrahim Ibrahimi, a representative of Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Ishaq al-Fayad, one of the five key marj'iya, or Shiite religious leaders. "All of the ulema (clergy) and marja, and the majority of the Iraqi people, want the national assembly to make Islam the source of legislation in the permanent constitution and to reject any law that is contrary to Islam," the statement said. AFP quoted a source close to Sistani as saying that the spiritual leader backed the demand. "The marja has priorities concerning the formation of the government and the constitution. It wants the source of legislation to be Islam," the source said.
Al-Sistani's representative in Karbala, Ahmad al-Safi told the paper that the issue was "premature". "In the event that the members of the National Assembly want the opinion of the marj'iya in the process of formulating the constitution, the office of the Grand Ayatollah Mr al-Sistani is open to everybody and receives all parties that have points of view", he said. (Al-Mada, Baghdad, in Arabic 8 Feb 05)

Shi'i leadership said to back Al-Shahristani as PM

The Iraqi newspaper Al-Mada reported on 8th that according to sources close to the office of Ali al-Sistani "the marj'iya [religious authority] supports Dr Husayn al-Shahristani as the best person to assume the post of Prime Minister in the coming cabinet". The source said Al-Shahristani was independent "and is not linked to any quarter, something that makes him acceptable to all hues of the Iraqi people". (Al-Mada, Baghdad, in Arabic 8 Feb 05)

IRAQI PRESS 8 FEBRUARY 2005
IRAQI PRESS HEADLINES, 8 FEB 05
Al-Adalah
[Baghdad, general political daily newspaper published by the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq]:
·         Political contacts intensify towards building national consensus on forming cabinet, drawing up constitution
·         Sayyid al-Hakim receives a number of political leaders, including members of Muslim Scholars' Association, within the context of comprehensive national dialogue
·         Finance minister meets US official,
·         British ambassador in Baghdad to follow up issues relevant to elections, political process
·         Rumsfeld: Iraqi constitution to incorporate Islamic principles
·         The United Iraqi Slate to come up with single nominee representing its political agenda, says Dr Humam Hammudi
·         Tariq Aziz to be questioned in connection with oil-for-food scandal (Agencies quoted)
·         Terrorist famed as 'Abu-Saba' apprehended Al-Naqib expects Iraq to be fully stabilized in eighteen months (Reuters quoted)
Al-Mada
[Baghdad, political daily newspaper published by Al-Mada Corporation for Media, Culture and Art]:
·         Car bomb detonated on Karbala- Hillah highway
·         Sayyid al-Sistani's office to Al-Mada: "We have not said Islam is the sole legislation source. It is up to the national assembly to decide what to write in the constitution."
·         Shaykh al-Ya'cubi to Al-Mada: "Elected candidates have a duty to those who have brought them to power and neighbouring states had better not be carried away by their bigotry and sectarianism."
·         For eighth day running, villages of eastern Mosul continue their protests, accusations being levelled at Mayoralty, as electoral commission issues report
·         A number of suspects arrested, gunmen killed in Kirkuk
·         Twenty-five policemen martyred in two attacks in Mosul, Ba'qubah (Agencies quoted).
IRAQI PRESS QUOTES, 8 Feb 2005
Al-Zaman [From commentary by Sa'ad Abbas]:

"Hardly were our electoral celebrations over when shrieking extremist voices were heard in some southern cities, singing an odd tune more fanatic than that sung by the Taliban, which eventually dragged Afghanistan into an infamous swamp and brought about its destruction If anything, Iraqis have in fact voted for Al-Sistani's moderation and, I take it, the senior cleric will not hesitate for a moment to end his support for any of the candidates on the slate he originally blessed when that candidate shows signs of swerving towards extremism."

Al-Nahdhah [From commentary by Abd-al-Mun'im al-A'sam]:

"What is worth noting as a positive sign so far is that the candidates of the winning slate whose names have been bandied as potential nominees for the topmost positions in the new political order have distanced themselves in varying degrees from the perilous theory propagated by certain clerics that their particular sect has now earned 'the right to rule'. It is a good sign to hear many of these candidates talk of realism, moderation and the need to resolve competition through compromise."

Al-Sharq al-Awsat [From commentary by Ghassan al-Imam]:

"It is nato try to impose democracy in practice without having first promoted belief in freedom. The Iraqi experiment is a case in point. Democracy has been imposed on Iraq through military intervention with no international legitimacy. With military victory having ended up in defeat for the occupiers, Iraq has been transformed from a land of despotism into a safe haven for terrorism. Embracing a hastened ballot-box democracy has done no more than destroy Iraq's unity and distort its Arab face.

Al-Mada [From commentary by Husayn al-Timimi]:

"Satan's defenders deserve more curses than Satan himself. They ought to be dumped into mental asylums, for they are surely made abnormal through being infected by the hideous disease of dollar-worship. These individuals are a threat, not only to the judiciary system, but to humanity at large because he who justifies the atrocities of a tyrant like Saddam and so brazenly attempts to defend him must be irredeemably insane."

IRAQI MEDIA PROGRAMME SUMMARIES, 8 Feb 05
Summary of Al-Iraqiyah TV news 8 Feb 05
·        

Israeli Prime Minister Sharon, Palestinian President Abbas announce halt to violence at end of Sharm al-Shaykh summit Calls for national unity conference greeted by Iraqis

·         High election turnout greeted internationally and locally
·         Iraqi Turkoman Front and head of National Turkomans Party call on electoral commission to examine poll violations
·         Consultations under way over new Iraqi constitution
·         Iraqis in Karbala hope polls will bring democracy
·         Arabs hail Iraq polls, wish they could have free election in own countries
·         Iraqis look forward to poll result
·         Al-Ummah Party candidate Mithal al-Alusi says his sons killed in Baghdad attack
·         At least 14 would-be army recruits killed in blast in Baghdad
·         Multinational force frees four Egyptian engineers abducted in Baghdad
·         Rumsfeld to ask NATO for more help in training Iraq troops
·         Blair hopes more countries will send troops to train Iraq security forces

Summary of Al-Sharqiyah TV 8 Jan 05
·        

Twenty one people were killed, 27 wounded today in a suicide bomb attack outside a recruitment centre in central Baghdad ...

·         Independent Electoral Commission in Iraq has revealed that there were violations at some polling centres in the Governorate of Ninawa in northern Iraq ...
·         Clashes reported today between unknown armed men and US forces in central Baghdad ...
·         Two Iraqi soldiers were slightly wounded today in a blast in eastern Baghdad ...
·         Iraqi politician Mithal al-Alusi escaped unhurt an assassination attempt in western Baghdad today. The assailants killed two of his sons and his body guard ...
·         Association of Iraqi Scholars has cast doubt on a statement made by an unknown organization which claimed that it would release a foreign journalist kidnapped in Iraq in response to calls made by the Association of Iraqi Scholars to set her free ...
·         Three Iraqi soldiers were killed, 11 wounded this morning following an attack by armed men in the south of Baghdad ...
·         Unknown armed men killed today in a district in western Ba'qubah, a leading member of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq ...
·         Report over video on a new students union, which was set up recently in Iraq ...
·         Two Iraqis killed, seven others wounded including three women, in a blast in the north of Baghdad ...
·         Kofi Annan has suspended the head of the UN oil-for-food program in Iraq and a senior official who dealt with contracts after an independent inquiry accused them of misconduct ...
·         Head of a telecom company operating in Iraq says US forces stormed a house in northern Baghdad and released two kidnapped engineers who work for the company.

KURDISH NEWS, 8 Feb 05
Summary of KurdSat TV news 8 Feb 05
·        

The anniversary of the Ba'th coup of 1963 marked today ...

·         Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, PUK, leader Talabani meets Arab tribal chief Nizar Habib al-Khayzaran in Dukan, near Sulaymaniyah ...
·         A photographic exhibition of in memory of the victims of the Ba'thist coup in 1963 opened in Sulaymaniyah ...
·         The first anniversary of the death of a PUK activist marked today ...
·         Commander of the US forces in Kirkuk holds a news conference ...
·         Material aid allocated to internally displaced people who have returned to their villages in Kirkuk Governorate ...
·         International news: US-Rice-Italy; Egypt-Palestine-Israel-talks; UN-Seven-dismissal ...
·         Twenty people killed in attack on Iraqi National Guard headquarters in Baghdad ...
·         US military official opens a schools in a village in Shwan Administrative Subdistrict, Kirkuk Governorate ...
·         The governor of Kirkuk meets British consulate official.

Kurdish coalition takes 59 per cent in Kirkuk polls

An informed source in Kirkuk has said that, based on partial results, the Kirkuk Brotherhood list has won 59 per cent of the seats on the governorate council in the 30 January elections. The source said about 440,000 votes were cast, of which 260,000 went to the Kirkuk Brotherhood list, guaranteeing it between 25-27 seats of the 41 seats on the Governorate Council. (Jamawar, Arbil, in Sorani Kurdish 7 Feb 05)

UK allocates fund to help Kirkuk displacees

Kirkuk governor Abd-al-Rahman Mustafa received a British consulate official in Kirkuk on 7th who informed his that the UK government has allocated a special budget to provide immediate services to returnees to the city, particularly to secure accommodation, Iraqi Patriotic Union of Kurdistan satellite TV reported (in Sorani Kurdish 1400 gmt 8 Feb 05).

US commander says government to 'normalize' Kirkuk's status

The commander of the 116 Brigade of the multinational forces in Kirkuk, Gen Guy Hard, held his first news conference yesterday at the city airport, Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) newspaper Khabat reported on 8 February. He described the Iraq election as a success, and said that the Iraqi government must to work towards the normalization of the status of Kirkuk. (Khabat 8 Feb 05)

Talabani says no minority group to be marginalized

Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Jalal Talabani met the leader of Al-Izzah tribe, Shaykh Nizar Habib Al-Khayzaran, and his accompanying delegation on 7 February, Iraqi Patriotic Union of Kurdistan satellite TV reported. During the meeting Talabani stressed that no group should be marginalized in Iraq, nor its role and contribution undermined. Al-Khayzaran stressed the importance of the "brotherly coexistence" between the Kurds and the Arabs and his determination to strengthen these ties in the Kirkuk region. (KurdSat TV 8 Feb 05)

Kurdish leader Barzani says no compromise on federalism

In separate interviews with Al-Zaman newspaper and Kurdistan Kirkuk web site, Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Nechirvan Barzani said that the Iraqi elections were a new turning point in the lives of the Iraqis, the cornerstone in the establishment of a democratic and pluralist state and a challenge in uprooting terrorism. Barzani stressed that dealing with the Kirkuk issue would be on the basis of Article 58 of the interim Iraqi State Administration Law and that the question of federalism in Iraq was a fundamental principle which could not be retracted. Barzani remarked on the unification of the two administrations in the Kurdistan region, and said that the necessary decisions on that would be made soon. (Kurdistan Satellite TV 8 Feb 05)

16,000 Kurdish refugees to return from Iran - report

Twenty five Kurdish refugee families comprising 68 people who spent years in exile in Iran crossed the Haji Umran border point to Kurdish areas of Iraq, Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) newspaper Khabat reported on 8 February. The Refugees Reception Committee (RRC) provided reception and support to the returnees at its headquarters in the administrative district of Soran. According estimates quoted by the newspaper, 16,000 Kurdish refugees in Iran are expected to return to the Kurdistan region. (Khabat 8 Feb 05)

Updates from the Iraqi Kurdish Press, 8 Feb 2005

Khabat daily issued by KDP in Erbil:
¾         Only death can stop me from claiming Kurdistani identity of Kirkuk, the KDP leader Massoud Barzani said in an interview with a Kurdish website. On the establishment of an independent Kurdistan state, Barzani said that the had all the right to establish their independent state. ``The neighboring countries regard this right a sin and I want to make them understand that it is our right although we have not claimed it yet,'' the KDP leader elaborated.
¾         In another interview with Az-Zaman Baghda-based newspaper, Barzani said that the Kurdish alliance with other parties in the new Iraqi parliament would be based on the recognition of Kurdistan federation. On Kirkuk issue, Barzani said it would be settled according to Article 58 of the Iraqi Interim Administrative Law (TAL). He also insisted on the necessity of an active Sunni Arab participation in the political system and writing the new constitution.
¾         The implementation of Article 58 of TAL is the duty of the Iraqi government, the new MNFI commander in Kirkuk said in a press briefing Monday.
¾         Kurdistan Parliament hosts the son of Qazi Muhammed, Kurdistan Republic's President, whom the Shah of Iran beheaded in 1946.
Kurdistani Nwe daily issued by PUK in Sulaymanya:
¾         Talabani tells Associated Press that he and Massoud Barzani have decided not to take up any serious decision without consulting with eachother.
¾         In a meeting with senior party affiliates in Rapareen area (northwest Sulaymanya), Talabani reiterates the necessity of reorganizing the PUK ranks and objectives to match the political developments in Iraq.
¾         Iraqi Cumminist Party leader Hamid Majeed Musa says Talabani is well qualified to be President of Iraq.
¾         US State Secretay Rice defended the Kurds and their leadership in her Ankara visit, a columnist wrote in today's Kurdistani New.
¾         An informed MNFI source in Kirkuk announced the arrest of 177 terrorists in the governorate in a number of raids during the past few days.
www.peyamner.com :
¾         The first trail international flight launched from Erbil International Airport at 1000 hrs local time today, 30 passengers were on board of the airplane that was heading to Amman. The next flight is due on 28 February.