Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

 
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IRAQI NEWS, 12 APRIL 05
·         Rumsfeld in talks with Prime minister-designate Ibrahim al-Ja'fari
·         Defence ministry official escapes murder bid
·         Former Ba'th Party official said killed
·         Allawi urges review of detainees
·         Vatican appe
·         als for "mercy" to Romanian hostages
IRAQI PRESS HEADLINES (12 APRIL)
·         Al-Bayan
·         Al-Zaman
·         Al-Dustur
·         Al-Adalah
IRAQI PRESS QUOTES (12 APRIL)
·         Al-Bayan
·         Al-Zaman
·         Al-Dustur
PROGRAMME SUMMARY OF AL- SHARQIYAH TV NEWS 12 APR 05
PROGRAMME SUMMARY OF AL-IRAQIYAH TV NEWS 12 APR 05

IRAQI NEWS, 12 April 05
Rumsfeld in talks with Prime minister-designate Ibrahim al-Ja'fari
Prime minister-designate Ibrahim al-Ja'fari told reporters after meeting Rumsfeld that he was confident he would succeed in forming a government of qualified people who would represent the whole social spectrum and be able to face the challenges of the current stage, Al-Sharqiyah TV reported. Al-Ja'fari pledged his government would fight corruption. On the foreign military presence in Iraq, he stressed the determination to enable the army and security service to develop their capabilities to be able to take on responsibility for the country's security. That, he emphasized, would pave the way for a timetable for the withdrawal of the foreign forces. Rumsfeld called on the incoming Iraqi government not to distribute tasks and responsibilities according to loyalty and the reward principle, but based on the interest of the country, the TV said. (Al-Sharqiyah TV, Baghdad, in Arabic 1000 gmt 12 Apr 05)
Defence ministry official escapes murder bid
A high-ranking Iraqi Defence Ministry official escaped an assassination attempt in which one of his aides was killed in Baghdad early on Tuesday (12 April), Al-Sharqiyah TV reported. Police said unknown assailants attacked the convoy of Tariq al-Baldawi, the minister's secretary, in the Al-Adl district, killing one of his guards and wounding his son, an escort and two civilians. Local shopkeepers said masked men had ordered them to close their shops and move away from the area. They said the masked men's gunfire began as Al-Baldawi's convoy was passing by. Police arrested 15 people. (Al-Sharqiyah TV, 1002 gmt, 12 Apr 05)
Al-Iraqiyah TV broadcasts more "confessions"
Baghdad's Al-Iraqiyah TV continued its regular series of "confessions" by terrorist suspects on 11 April with a 50-minute programme, including one suspect recalling how he was recruited for "jihad" against the Americans, taking part in thefts and attacks on police stations. He acknowledged that his acts were not jihad, but outright terrorism. A Palestinian suspect said he belonged to a terrorist group under the command of a former Iraqi intelligence officer. He received 200,000 Iraqi dinars for every operation he took part in. He maintained that he was not directly involved in killings or kidnappings, as he merely kept watch while his colleagues carried out various operations. His first assignment was smuggling weapons into Fallujah. Another suspect said he received 50 dollars for each attack on police patrols and the National Guard. Another suspect said a man urged him and his colleagues to join the jihad while they were praying in a mosque. (Al-Iraqiyah TV, 11 Apr 05)
Mass grave found south of Baghdad
A mass grave containing remains of a large number of women, children and elderly people was found in the eastern part of Al-Salman Administrative District in the city of Al-Samawah [south of Baghdad]. The mass grave is located near a prison built by the deposed regime in 1938 [presumably 1983] in the area.
According to information at hand, the main victims of this grave are Kurds, who were driven by the deposed regime out of the Kurdistani cities to the southern desert regions so as to exterminate them there. The nature of the grave embodies the extent of the hideousness, heinousness and terror of the former regime in repressing the Iraqi people. (A report by Iraqi Patriotic Union of Kurdistan satellite TV on 12 April)
 Former Ba'th Party official said killed
A military patrol has found the bodies of former Ba'th Party official Mahmud Jasim al-Shati, his nephew and another relative in Jalawla, north of Baghdad, Al-Sharqiyah TV reported on 12 April. Army sources said gunmen attacked the three men on 11 April outside the city while they were driving home in their car. (Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad, in Arabic 1412 gmt 12 Apr 05)
Allawi urges review of detainees
Former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi on 12 April sent a letter to General George W. Casey, commander of the multinational forces in Iraq, urging him to review the cases of detainees being held in US prisons in Iraq, Al-Sharqiyah TV reported. Allawi suggested that a ministerial committee be formed to look into the cases. Iraqi and US officials had earlier said that there are 17,000 Iraqi detainees being held in prisons around the country. One third are being held in US prisons, while the rest are being held in Iraqi prisons "under very poor conditions", the TV added. (Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad, in Arabic 1705 gmt 12 Apr 05)
Vatican appeals for "mercy" to Romanian hostages
The Vatican has called on the kidnappers of three Romanian journalists in Iraq to show their hostages "mercy", Al-Sharqiyah TV reported on 12 April. The Vatican urged the captors to consider the journalists' humanitarian mission to inform the international community of the conditions of the Iraqi people. Fernando Filoni, Vatican charge d'affaires in Iraq, also appealed for the release of French journalist Florence Aubenas and her aide Husayn Hannun. (Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad, in Arabic 1407 gmt 12 Apr 05)

IRAQI PRESS HEADLINES (12 APRIL)
Al-Bayan
 [Baghdad, general political daily newspaper published by the Islamic Al-Da'wah Party]:
·         National Assembly discusses current issues ...
·         Al-Ja'fari congratulated by Kuwaiti Dep PM al-Sabah, say agencies ...
·         Central Criminal Court issues verdicts on more terrorists ...
·         Accountability programme launched to scrutinize senior officials' private assets ...
·         Vice Pres Al-Yawar says incoming administration must be government of national salvation ...
·         Investigation into administrative corruption to apply retroactively ...
·         Some 92 infiltrators caught trying to cross Iraqi-Saudi border, say agencies ...
·         Saddam's nephew Ibrahim Sab'awi arrested, agencies report ...
Al-Zaman
 [Baghdad edition of London-based independents daily newspaper]:
·         Allawi adamant on demands, backed up by Kurdish coalition ...
·         Talks under way to spare Saddam capital punishment ...
·         Arms caches seized in Al-Dawrah ...
·         Baghdad mayoralty alleges corruption in contracts given by US forces to Iraqi contractors ...
·         Constitutional Monarchy leader Sharif Ali accuses Assembly of adopting quota system, expresses support for new government while pursuing talks with resistance factions to get them to join political process ...
·         Several dead and wounded in car-bombings in Al-Qa'im, Reuters reports ...
·         Five suspects held in Kirkuk ...
·         Oil officials say two weeks to repair northern pipelines, Reuters reports ...
Al-Dustur
 [Baghdad, independent general political daily newspaper]:
·         Cabinet proposes 5m dinars compensation for martyred new army recruits ...
·         Allawi's slate to participate in government, agencies say ...
·         Islamabad says Pakistani kidnapped in Iraq is well, agencies report ...
·         High Commission on Elections reassessing its work ...
·         Zebari says drawing up foreign policy one of the most important National Assembly tasks ...
·         Mullah Qadir: We have not reached agreements with Talabani on unifying Peshmerga, INA reports ...
·         Anbar soldiers training in Qarqawsh ...
·         Abu Sufyan, Abu Bakr and Shaikh Abd al-Wahid captured in Al-Dawrah ...
·         Ninawa provincial council member murdered ...
·         Washington urges Kuwait to back new Iraqi government, says INA ...
Al-Adalah
 [Baghdad, general political daily newspaper published by the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq]:
·         Cabinet line-up reaching final stage after Allawi bloc announces intention to join in, KUNA reports ...
·         National Assembly yesterday discussed statutes, speaker's and MPs' functions, criteria for monitoring government performance, KUNA reports ...
·         Issue of internally displaced citizens and compensation to take two years to resolve, agencies say ... ...
·         Outgoing public works minister Barwari demands women be assigned more government portfolios, agencies report ...
·         Syria, Iran stress importance of political process continuing in Iraq, KUNA reports ... Commander of Wolf Brigade [Interior Ministry counter-insurgency unit] visits Marji'iyah in Najaf ...
·         Kidnapper of French journos Chesnot and Malbrunot arrested, AFP reports ...
·         Some 17 terrorists held in Mosul ...
·         Kurdish politician Mahmud Uthman says Barzani to get post of President of Kurdistan Region in line with Kurdish people's demand, agencies report ...
IRAQI PRESS QUOTES (12 APRIL)
Al-Bayan
 [From editorial]:
"Now that the United Iraqi Alliance has succeeded in transcending factional calculations in its dialogue with other political blocs both within and without the National Assembly, acting out of a sense of responsibility and concern for national unity, it is the duty of all those who will have seats on the upcoming government to work in good faith as one harmonious team, for only thus can they prove themselves worthy of the trust vested in them by the Iraqi people."
Al-Zaman
 [From commentary by Fatih Abd al-Salam]:
"The phoney self-publicity now being raised by some to emphasize a total renunciation of the past do not impress generations of Iraqi civil servants who have had their good service acknowledged by various kings, presidents and prime ministers who successively ruled Iraq over the past 80 years. After all, it is quite unfair to hold employees of former governments accountable for their seniors' mistakes, just as it would be to blame present ones for the crimes committed by their seniors, whether in theft through Iraq reconstruction contracts, incitement to covert liquidation of political rivals, or espionage for countries they see as their guardian mentors."
Al-Dustur
 [From editorial by Bassim al-Shaikh]:
"If the cursed Saddam was responsible for the notorious oil-for-food-vouchers scandal, the scandals our present-day leaders are implicated in are such that, if honestly publicized, would make a baby's hair turn grey."
Programme summary of Al- Sharqiyah TV news 12 Apr 05
·         Talabani meets Rumsfeld in Baghdad, tells him new Iraqi government to be formed shortly ...
·         US administration requests explanation from Talabani about his statements on pardoning armed militants ...
·         Al-Ja'fari pledges to form government that will fight corruption ...
·         Senior Interior Ministry official escapes assassination attempt this morning in Baghdad
·         Booby-trapped car explodes near US military convoy in Mosul ...
·         Vatican pleads for mercy for three Romanian journalists held hostage ...
·         Three Iraqis killed, 27 wounded in explosion of car bomb yesterday in northern Baghdad ...
·         Hundreds of Iraqis demonstrate in Samara against American military presence ...
·         US warplanes kill 13 Iraqi civilians and wound 17 others yesterday in Al-Arish near Iraqi-Syrian border ...
·         US embassy in Baghdad reports an American kidnapped in Baghdad yesterday ...
·         Iraqi actor passed away today ...
·         Iraqi representative to UN demands UN Security Council lifts restrictions on Iraq ...
·         Gunmen kill three Iraqi civilians north of Baghdad ...
·         Polish government to withdraw forces by end of this year
Programme summary of Al-Iraqiyah TV news 12 Apr 05
·         President Jalal Talabani says cabinet to be formed by weekend. Video report covers his comments following talks with US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld. (0:34)
·         Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi hails Rumsfeld visit and ties with US. Video report covers meeting between Allawi and Rumsfeld in Baghdad, joint presser, Allawi praising US role in Iraq, Rumsfeld hailing level of Iraqi army.
·         Prime Minister designate Ibrahim al-Ja'fari says Rumsfeld in Baghdad to see democratic experiment; Rumsfeld says troops to be reduced as soon as Iraqis capable of taking over security. Video report covers talks, joint presser. (3:00)
·         Five killed, three hurt in car bomb in Mosul. Video report covers blast. Former Ba'thist captured; 24 terror suspects arrested in Mosul; six others held by army in the city. Video report covers security operation, weapons seized.
·         Iraqi army arrests 30 terror suspects in Baghdad, seizes weapons. (0:38)
·         Kin of victim slain by former regime commemorates his death. Video report covers human rights festival in Maysan marking collapse of former regime, shows photographs of torture and mass graves. (1:34)
·         Conference in Arbil on children's health. Video report (1:30)
·         Drug problem focus of medical conference in Basra. Video report
·         Basra university marks 41st anniversary. Video report (2:00)
·         Minister of Culture announces death of Iraqi artist Ja'far al-Sa'adi. Video report covers conference in Baghdad for Iraqi intellectuals, announcement of artist death, comments.
·         Palestinian Authority says final peace talks should be unconditional. Video report covers American-Israeli talks. (1:59)
·         Iranian foreign minister says Teheran has no secret nuclear programme. Video report
·         Prospective American UN envoy John Bolton pledges to strengthen organisation. Video report (2:29)
·         Man trying to blow up bus arrested in Washington. Video report (1:02)
·         Business bulletin. Tax forum held by Iraqi industrialists. Iraq share market. Prices of fresh produce rise in Baghdad. Report highlights public grievances over spiralling prices and low salaries. Sunken ships in Shatt-al-Arab obstruct navigation.