29 June 2006
Iraq Marks Two Years of Sovereignty, Progress
Iraqis capture top terrorist linked to Samarra mosque bombing, says spokesman
Washington – Iraq, which is marking two years of sovereignty, has achieved a great deal in that time, a top coalition forces spokesman said June 29.
“In the time it takes a child to sit up, talk, walk, laugh, Iraq has established a constitutionally based, permanent, democratic government with the votes of over 12 million citizens and the efforts of even more,” U.S. Army Major General William Caldwell told journalists in a press briefing in Baghdad.
Caldwell said that in today’s Iraq, free society is growing, as illustrated by increased cell phone coverage from about 1.2 million Iraqis two years ago to 7.4 million today, and an increase in Internet subscribers from 73,000 to more than 200,000. Progress further is illustrated by Iraq’s embrace of more open media with more than 40 new television stations, more than 25 new radio stations and more than 100 new newspapers, added Caldwell
These and other indicators, show the “beginning of a new generation of Iraqis forged in strife but strong in will,” he said.
IRAQIS CAPTURE OPERATIVE LINKED TO MOSQUE BOMBING
Central to progress in Iraq, said Caldwell, are continuing counterinsurgency efforts by the 268,000-strong Iraqi security forces. From June 21-28, Caldwell said, Iraqi forces performed 486 operations, 34 percent of which were independently planned and executed entirely by Iraqis.
Iraqi forces seized 26 caches of weapons, detained 587 “anti-Iraq elements,” and killed 64 terrorists and insurgents, he said.
Also, Iraqi authorities announced the capture of Abu Qudama,a Tunisian-born al-Qaida in Iraq operative who has confessed involvement in the February 22 bombing of the Golden Dome Mosque in Samarra. (See related article.)
“Qadama has stated this divisive attack was executed primarily by foreign terrorists,” including four Saudi nationals, and was part of al-Qaida’s calculated campaign to incite sectarian violence, Caldwell said.
Following the bombing on one of Shi’a Islam’s holiest sites, Qudama also was involved in the kidnapping and murder of Atwar Bajat, a well-known correspondent for Al-Arabiya Television, as well as two of her camera crew. In addition, Caldwell said, Qadama has been involved in several kidnappings and numerous car-bomb attacks on coalition patrols, Iraqi military units and police stations.
Qadama was the sole survivor of a group that attacked Iraqi forces north of Baghdad. Prior to detainment, he was taken to a coalition hospital for medical treatment. Caldwell said that Iraqi and coalition officials are working to ensure that once Qadama fully recovers, he will receive due process through the Iraqi judicial system.
Qadama is among 57 “foreign fighter facilitators” who were killed or captured in recent weeks, Caldwell said. In the wake of the killing of al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, he said, Iraqi and coalition forces are working closer than ever to create the security conditions on the ground necessary to support the new Iraqi government’s agenda of national reconciliation. (See related article.)
"Iraqi and coalition forces are working side by side," Caldwell said, "to eliminate these foreign terrorists who attempt to hijack the development and building of a stable, peaceful Iraq."
A video link to Caldwell’s briefing is available from the U.S. Department of Defense Web site.
For more information, see Iraq Update.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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