From the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI)
This document is provided as a service by UNAMI. The material is drawn from non-UN sources and does not reflect the opinions of the United Nations, nor can the UN vouch for its accuracy
Sunday, May 08, 2005
HEADLINES, Click to follow link
Iraq to return its ambassador to Jordan 7 May
National Dialogue Council member accuses police of killing 14 farmers
PM Ja'fari says cabinet line-up virtually complete
Al-Ramadi residents begin protest sit-in
Badr Organization denounces Arbil attack
Baghdad provincial council chairman accuses city council
Barzani protests at omission of federalism in cabinet oath
IRAQI PRESS HEADLINES, 7 May 05
Al-Sharq al-Awsat [Baghdad edition of London-based independent daily newspaper, Saudi-owned]
Al-Dustur [Baghdad, independent daily newspaper]
Al-Mashriq [Baghdad, independent international daily newspaper]
Al-Mu'tamar [Baghdad, comprehensive daily newspaper published by the Iraqi National Congress]
Al-Zaman [Baghdad edition of London-based independent daily newspaper]
IRAQI PRESS QOUTES & EDITORIALS, 7 May 05
“Tlabani, Barzani dispute”- Al-Sharq al-Awsat
“A strict laws and capable law-enforcement authorities needed”- Al-Dustur
IRAQI PRESS & BROADCAST MEDIA, 7 May 05
Programme summary of Iraqi Al-Sharqiyah TV news 7 May 05
Programme summary of Iraqi Al-Iraqiyah TV news 7 May 05
Kurdish bloc urges "missing words" inquiry
IRAQI NEWS, 7 May 05
Iraq to return its ambassador to Jordan 7 May
Jordan announced on 6 May that Ata Abd-al-Wahhab, Iraq 's ambassador to Jordan , will return to work on 7th. The envoy was recalled on 22 March following a diplomatic spat between the two countries over the Al-Hillah bombing in which a Jordanian was implicated. The attack killed over 100 people. (Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad , in Arabic 6 May 05)
National Dialogue Council member accuses police of killing 14 farmers
Khalaf Ulayan, a member of the Iraqi National Dialogue Council, has accused the Iraqi police of being involved in the killing of 14 Iraqi farmers whose bodies were found in a Baghdad suburb on 6 May, Al-Sharqiyah TV reported on 7 May. Ulayan was quoted as saying that a police car accompanied by two civilian cars had pursued the victims, all of whom were from the Sunni Al-Dulaymi Tribe and lived in the Al-Mada'in area before the formation of the Iraqi government. The police arrested them in the Jamilah area at a wholesale green market. Ulayan said that the detainees were taken to a police station and that their bodies were later found blindfolded and with their hands tied in the Kasra and Atash area to the northeast of Baghdad . They had been shot in the head. (Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad , in Arabic 7 May 05)
PM Ja'fari says cabinet line-up virtually complete
Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Ja'fari said on 7th that an agreement had been reached on his cabinet, virtually completing the line-up, AFP reported. Ja'fari said he wanted to give the fourth deputy prime minister post to a woman but admitted the issue was still being discussed. "We ended up naming five ministers and one deputy prime minister. Their names were submitted to the presidential council, which approved them immediately and unanimously," Ja'fari told reporters. "This list will be submitted to parliamentary approval on Sunday (8th) before it is made official," he said, explaining why he could not yet reveal the names of the new ministers. (AFP)
Iraqi government spokesman Layth Kubbah said the Shi'is and Sunnis had reached an agreement on filling the vacant ministerial posts. He said the two sides had agreed on the names of those who will hold the deputy prime minister post and the five other vacant ministerial posts. Sources at the United Iraqi Alliance and the Kurdistan Coalition lists said Sa'dun al-Dulaymi [a Sunni] would assume the post of defence minister, while Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum [son of a prominent Shi'i cleric] would hold the oil portfolio. (Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad , in Arabic 7 May 05)
Al-Ramadi residents begin protest sit-in
Residents of Al-Ramadi began a two-day sit-in on 7th in protest at alleged US harassment, leaving the city completely paralysed, Iraqi Al-Sharqiyah TV reported. A correspondent for the TV said more than 600,000 people stayed at home in compliance with a call by clerics, chieftains and prominent people made during Friday sermons and through vehicle-mounted loudspeakers and via leaflets. "They called for ending the siege imposed on the city for two months, the departure of the US forces from the city, the release of prisoners, stopping the acts of harassment against the residents of Al-Ramadi, putting an end to raid operations against citizens' houses, and stopping indiscriminate shooting, which has thus far caused the death of more than 1,000 citizens." The correspondent quoted health centre statistics as saying 940 unarmed people had been killed and more than 10,000 young people arrested. Leaders of the sit-in have "threatened to make it an open-ended one unless the US forces respond to their demands by Sunday", the TV said. (Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad , in Arabic 7 May 05)
Badr Organization denounces Arbil attack
The General Secretariat of the Badr Organization has denounced the bomb attack in Arbil on 4th which killed over 46 people and wounded more than 95 others. "We affirm that such dastardly terrorist actions will not deviate us from our resolve and our determination to wipe out terrorism and uproot terrorists everywhere in Iraq regardless of their ugliness and crimes," the group said. (Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq web site in Arabic 6 May 05)
Baghdad provincial council chairman accuses city council
Baghdad Advisory Council Chairman Mazin Makkiyah has accused Baghdad City Council of wasting large amounts of money in "semi-false projects" and refusing to dissolve itself. Speaking in an interview with the Iraqi Hezbollah Movement paper Al-Bayyinah, published on 1st, Makkiyah said that, unlike Baghdad City Council which had been appointed by the US , the provincial council had been directly elected with a mandate to appoint the mayor of Baghdad and the chiefs of police, civil defence and traffic. He said it also has the right to set up local, town, and city councils and to elect heads and deputies of administrative units and senior posts in the province.
"Generally speaking, the city council, according to law, must dissolve itself once the provincial council is set up," Makkiyah said. "But what happened is strife and rebellion over the Transitional Administrative Law and the people's will". He said the city council had refused to dissolve. "It was granted great financial allocations that were wasted in semi-false projects... the city council carried on with its activities. It even broadened its mandate in decision making, and some of the decisions were undermining the Province Council," he said.
Makkiyah said the provincial council was operating with minimal facilities. "Can you believe that the province council has no headquarters from which it can perform its tasks? It is now three months old. Its members are paid 120 dollars a month, and its missions are managed through the bureau of a political movement and with only one administrative staff member. It has no financial allocations from any official authority. Meanwhile, the defunct city council continues functioning with more than 35 staffers. It controls three floors of Baghdad City Hall . The state bodies that grant it financial appropriations should have shifted such appropriations to the legitimate elected body, after the annulment and dissolution of the former council. But it seems that there are relationships that are more significant than the public good." (Al-Bayyinah, Baghdad , in Arabic 1 May 05)
Barzani protests at omission of federalism in cabinet oath
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Mas'ud Barzani has criticized the omission of words which refer to a federal Iraq from the text of the constitutional oath taken by the members of the new government, Al-Sharqiyah TV reported on 6 May. Barzani called on MPs from the Kurdistan bloc in the National Assembly to examine the issue "and resolve it". (Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad , in Arabic 6 May 05)
IRAQI PRESS HEADLINES, 7 May 05
Al-Sharq al-Awsat [ Baghdad edition of London-based independent daily newspaper, Saudi-owned]
- Two suicide attacks leave scores dead, wounded, as fourteen unidentified bodies are found north east of capital, Brigadier gunned down in 'Triangle of Death' (Agencies quoted)
- With four of his followers wounded in clashes with police in Kufah, Al-Sadr demands government release his underlings, threatening: We have our finger on the trigger and will not let you have peace (AFP quoted)
- Barzani considers phrase dropped from constitutional oath one of the most important foundations of the new Iraq , says skipping mention of federalism in oath taken by new government constitutes a violation and a threat to Shiite-Kurdish coalition (AFP quoted)
- Turkey facilitating cross-border passage procedures for Iraqis Poll results reveal two thirds of Iraqis optimistic about future
- Cabinet vacancies discussed at Shiite-Sunni meeting, anti-occupation figures forming legal commission to draw up constitution (AFP quoted)
Al-Dustur [ Baghdad , independent daily newspaper]
- Al-Mahdi Army mobilization ordered in first confrontation with the Al-Ja'fari government
- Talabani in Amman today to discuss border control, counter-terrorism, checks on drug running, besides the Al-Chalabi file
- Al-Dabbagh says Al-Dulaimi's potential nomination for Defence portfolio probed at yesterday's meeting
- Integrity Commission asks government officials to declare their assets
- Sunni nominees dubbed as terrorists by United Iraqi Alliance parties (INA quoted)
- Al-Rubay'ii says use of force part of Al-Ja'fari government's security plan (INA quoted)
Al-Mashriq [ Baghdad , independent international daily newspaper]
- Allawi's former cabinet ministers banned from travelling abroad
- Al-Ja'fari assigns Oil portfolio to Bahr-al-Ulum, Electricity to Shalash, as Ramadi Governor lashes out at Sharrif Ali (Agencies quoted)
- Seventeen Iraqis killed, forty wounded in car bomb blast in Al-Suwairah (AFP quoted)
- Syria detains 137 Saudi nationals bound for Iraq Targeting security forces banned by Sunni
- Arab bloc participation in Kirkuk Provincial Council suspended owing to wrangling over positions (AFP quoted) International airport to be built in Najaf,
- Irbil-Amman weekly flights to be launched
- Jordan gives Zarqawi ten days to turn himself in
Al-Mada [ Baghdad , independent daily newspaper published by Al-Mada Corporation for Media, Culture and Art]
- US exit strategy to be announced at international conference, secret road map envisioning US pullout by the end of this year
- Zarqawi ill or injured, US military admits to raiding Al-Ramadi hospital in search of 'terrorists' (Agencies quoted)
- First passenger plane from London to Iraq in fifteen years
- Renewed UN confrontation with US congress over oil-for-allegiance scandal (Agencies quoted)
- Against backdrop of report published by Al-Mada revealing extortion of US $ 200 from every applicant,
- Karbala Provincial Council adopts new mechanism for employing police commandos Scores fall victim to rocket shelling, fierce clashes in Mosul
Al-Mu'tamar [ Baghdad , comprehensive daily newspaper published by the Iraqi National Congress]
- Anbar Governor says city has turned into terror-export centre
- Detainees, prisoners to have cases settled through new mechanism
- Cheney, Rice congratulate Dr Al-Chalabi, reiterate support for Al-Ja'fari's government (KUNA quoted)
- Canberra : Australian hostage still alive (Reuters quoted)
- Nineteen corpses dug out, blindfolded, hands tied behind back Oil Ministry to get US $ 5m from Norway (MENAFN quoted)
- Japan set to pull troops out of Iraq Car bomb detonated in Tikrit (Reuters quoted)
- Historic win for British Labour Party
Al-Zaman [ Baghdad edition of London-based independent daily newspaper]
- Paris calls on Iraqis to give up violence (AFP quoted)
- United (Iraqi) Alliance says agreement over vacant portfolios imminent,
- Al-Ja'fari urging ministers to embrace transparency
- Talabani heads for Jordan on King Abdallah's invitation
- Al-Shahwani, interviewed by Al-Zaman, says there are no differences with Badr (militia), Intelligence
IRAQI PRESS QOUTES & EDITORIALS, 7 May 05
“Tlabani, Barzani dispute”- Al-Sharq al-Awsat
Al-Sharq al-Awsat [From commentary by Adnan Hussain]:
"I would like to tell Talabani and Barzani that any dispute between them is considered taboo, not only by their own Kurdish people, but by the rest of us, their compatriots and their partners in this fatherland. I would appeal to them to stop this annoying indulgence in playing games before the pirates of the dark ages take over the Iraqi ship and sail with it into the fathomless recesses of hell."
“A strict laws and capable law-enforcement authorities needed”- Al-Dustur
Al-Dustur [From editorial by Bassim al-Shaikh]:
"If there were strict laws and capable law-enforcement authorities in this country, no alien intruders like the Mujahideen-e-Khalq organization or the Iranian embassy in Baghdad would have dared to put pressure on our newspaper, or any other Iraqi newspaper, for that matter, through alternating courteous offers of reward with usually covert, though sometimes brazenly overt, threats of retribution as a means of having their cross-purposes served by the Iraqi media. These people should remember that they are mere guests in our country and that they ought not to take advantage of our hospitality, nor should they be deluded into thinking that their trespasses can be tolerated just because some of our present-day politicians, fleeing Saddam's repression in days gone by, found refuge in Iran ."
IRAQI PRESS & BROADCAST MEDIA, 7 May 05
Programme summary of Iraqi Al-Sharqiyah TV news 7 May 05
- Talabani held talks today in Amman with Jordanian monarch on bilateral relations, to head to Brazil to participate in Arab-Latin summit
- Iraqi prime minister said today at news conference that vacant posts in new government had been filled, to refer complete line-up to National Assembly tomorrow morning, 8 May, announces success of efforts by security operations room
- Spokesman for Iraqi prime minister says negotiators have reached agreement on distribution of vacant posts in new government, complete line-up to be announced this afternoon, referred tomorrow morning to National Assembly
- Iraqi prime minister holds news conference with US Congress delegations, discusses efforts for fostering Iraqi national unity, political process
- US officer reveals that the four foreigners killed in the car bombing this morning in Al-Tahrir Square in central Baghdad are US guards; 13 Iraqis killed, 33 wounded in the bombing
- Medical sources confirms that car bombing in Al-Suwayrah, southern Baghdad , 6 May has left 31 killed, 44 wounded
- Member of National Iraqi Dialogue Committee accuses Iraqi police of involvement in killing 14 Iraqi farmers, whose bodies were found in a Baghdad suburb
- People of Al-Anbar start two-day strike in protest at US troops practices against them, call for lifting US troops siege on the city, withdrawal from the city, release of prisoners, threaten to go on open strike in case of US troops' failure to meet demands. Video shows empty streets, closed shops
- Al-Anbar municipal council sacked 5 May its governor, appointed new one, accused former governor of advising US troops to impose military measures against citizens to maintain order and avert military operations
- Three Iraqi soldiers, woman killed, two children wounded in incidents north of Baghdad
- Seminar organized by the Arab centre for development and national dialogue calls for the need to maintain security and activate role of state to achieve human development in Iraq , discusses report on development in Iraq and the Arab world
- Australia says it will keep its military presence in Iraq in spite of abductors' new threat to kill hostage
- Official in charge of independent investigating commission into oil-for-food programme in Iraq confirms handing over documents to US Congress.
Programme summary of Iraqi Al-Iraqiyah TV news 7 May 05
- President Jalal Talabani holds talks in Amman ; king of Jordan reiterates support for Iraq . Video report highlights Talabani's first foreign visit since he took office. ( 2:10 )
- Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Ja'fari announces agreement on five unfilled cabinet positions. Video report covers his comments on cabinet deal, talks with US congressmen, comments by congressman. ( 2:35 )
- Studio interview with MP Dia' al-Shaqarji. He speaks about drafting constitution, says discussions focus on including in the process parties not represented in parliament, constitution to enshrine freedom of religion. ( 5:53 )
- At least 17 killed, 33 injured in car bombing in Baghdad . Video report covers blast, schoolchildren among dead. ( 1:50 )
- Death toll in Al-Suwayrah car bombing revised. Video report covers funeral of victims, condemnation by Iraqis. ( 1:20 )
- Key terror suspect captured in Rawa; 27 terror suspects killed in security raid; 15 others arrested in another raid. ( 1:00 )
- Iraqis defy terrorists, back cabinet in fight against terrorism. Video report covers comments by Iraqis saying they will fight on, call on cabinet to pursue fight against terrorism. ( 2:39 )
- Conference held in Baghdad on drafting of constitution. Video report covers gathering attended by members of parliament and youths. ( 2:24 )
- Iraqi journalists gather to discuss ways to improve conditions in which media are working. Video report. ( 1:47 )
- At least 22 injured in Lebanon blast. Video report. ( 2:15 )
- Exiled Lebanese Gen Michel Awn lands in Beirut . Video report. (0:27)
- Arab-Latin summit to open in Brazil on 10 May. Video report. ( 2:09 )
- White House warns North Korea against nuclear tests. Video report. ( 1:47 )
- US President George Bush on Baltic tour. Video report. ( 2:22 )
- Business bulletin. Report highlights Iraqis' grievances over reduced food rationing. First passenger plane lands in newly-opened airport in Al-Najaf. Repair work on Basra Sheraton hotel starts.
KURDISH NEWS, 7 May 05
Kurdish bloc urges "missing words" inquiry
Iraqi MP Dr Fu'ad Ma'sum has said that the words "federal democratic system" were removed from the oath of office when the new Iraqi cabinet was sworn in on 4th. He said this was a clear breach of the Interim Iraqi State Administration Law and that the Kurdistan Alliance bloc was calling for an inquiry. But the paper said only two ministers, minister of planning Dr Barham Salih and trade minister Karim Mawlud, had taken the oath of office without the words in question. (Kurdistani Nuwe, Al-Sulaymaniyah, in Sorani Kurdish 5 May 05)
Arbil-Aqabah flights plan
A Jordanian airline company is planning direct flights Aqabah and Arbil from 16 May, the Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) newspaper Khabat reported. The same company has also organised flights between Amman and Arbil. (Khabat, Arbil, in Sorani Kurdish 7 May 05)
- ***
NB: This is not an official document. The information contained therein was compiled by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq , Information Office. If you have any questions/suggestions, please contact us at (+ 962 550 -4631/4632 or Cell. + 962 77 619 731 jarrar@un.org or alsokhni@un.org
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