tagged w/ Baghdad
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U.S. soldiers who allegedly executed four detainees in Baghdad last year were frustrated that dangerous insurgents they had captured in the past were put back on the streets, according to witnesses who testified at a pretrial hearing in Vilseck this week.U.S. soldiers who allegedly executed four detainees in Baghdad last year were... more
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Kept in a derelict warehouse at Baghdad's airport for months, sleeping four to a bed with poor food and no money, hundreds of would-be contract workers are stranded, claiming they were duped by unscrupulous recruiting agents into coming to Iraq for nonexistent jobs.
The recruiters told the men -- from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Uganda -- that jobs were waiting for them with American defense contractor KBR, through a Kuwaiti company called Najlaa Catering Services. The recruiting agents charged them between $3,000 and $5,000 to make the trip to Iraq; many sold their farms or other valuables to raise the money.
But when they arrived in Baghdad, they said, Najlaa housed about 1,000 of them -- 600 in the one-room warehouse -- in the compound within the airport, surrounded by private security guards. Showers are there, but are useless because the taps are nonfunctional. Many have questions about their visas and status in Iraq. Legally unable to stay, they lack the money to return home.Kept in a derelict warehouse at Baghdad's airport for months, sleeping four to a... more
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Iraq's preeminent Shiite spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, has expressed concern about the country's security agreement with the United States, saying it gives the Americans the upper hand and does not do enough to protect Iraqi sovereignty, an official at his office said Saturday.
Sistani, whose words carry great weight in Iraq, did not reject the pact outright and indicated that he would leave it to voters to decide its fate in a national referendum to be held by July 30. His comments will almost certainly bring pressure on the Shiite-led government and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to fulfill their promise to hold the vote.
The agreement, approved by Iraq's parliament Thursday, calls for U.S. troops to withdraw from towns and cities by next summer and from Iraq by the end of 2011. It also calls for Iraqi oversight of American forces; U.S. troops could be prosecuted under Iraqi laws for serious crimes committed when they are off duty and off base although the United States retains the power to determine whether a service member was off duty.Iraq's preeminent Shiite spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, has... more
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BAGHDAD (Reuters) -- A team of journalists working for U.S. media company National Public Radio (NPR) narrowly escaped a car bombing in Baghdad after Iraqi soldiers warned them a device had been attached to the bottom of their armored car, NPR said.
NPR correspondent Ivan Watson, Iraqi producer and translator Ali Hamdani, and two Iraqi drivers who did not want to be named had stopped on November 30 to conduct interviews in a kebab shop, a few yards from an Iraqi Army checkpoint, NPR said.BAGHDAD (Reuters) -- A team of journalists working for U.S. media company National... more
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Baghdad, 01 December 2008 ( Voices of Iraq )
Mortar shells that hit headquarters of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) in the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad earlier this morning are Iranian made, said the official spokesperson for the U.S. forces in Iraq.
Seventeen persons were killed or wounded in a rocket attack that targeted the Baghdad headquarters of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) earlier this morning, a spokesperson for the mission said.
“A preliminary investigation team discovered that the shells are Iranian made,” al-Meqdad Jibreel told Aswat al-Iraq.Baghdad, 01 December 2008 ( Voices of Iraq )
Mortar shells that hit headquarters of... more
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Iraqi security forces have arrested 15 persons in different parts of Baghdad throughout the past 24 hours, a spokesperson for the Baghdad Operation Command (BOC) said on Sunday.
“Security personnel captured 14 wanted persons and one suspect, and defused 32 explosive charges during operations in different parts of the capital Baghdad,” Maj. Gen. Qassem Ata told Aswat al-Iraq.
“Two security personnel were wounded during the operations,” Ata noted.Iraqi security forces have arrested 15 persons in different parts of Baghdad... more
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Two UN contractors were killed and another 15 wounded when a rocket slammed into Baghdad's heavily guarded Green Zone on Saturday, according to the United Nations.Two UN contractors were killed and another 15 wounded when a rocket slammed into... more
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Baghdad authorities killed more than 200 stray dogs on Sunday, the opening day of a campaign to cull dog packs roaming the capital that was prompted by a spate of fatal attacks on residents.
Thirteen people died in August alone in the capital after being attacked by dogs, according to Baghdad's provincial council, which is overseeing the campaign.
People in some neighborhoods have been too frightened to go outside when the dogs are present.
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Suffering continues on many levels.Baghdad authorities killed more than 200 stray dogs on Sunday, the opening day of a... more
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A year ago it would have been unthinkable. After all it was a city where driving to work became a life or death decision and where residents were cooped in enclaves amid murder and mayhem.
But yesterday the mayor of Baghdad surprised everyone by announcing plans for an underground train network that will literally carve a swathe through the city's sectarian lines.
"Sounds like progress to me. Get our men and women out of there. Is it possible that our presence there is causing more harm than good?"- BansheewailA year ago it would have been unthinkable. After all it was a city where driving to... more
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A triple bombing in Baghdad has killed more than two dozen people and wounded scores more in the deadliest attack in the Iraqi capital in almost four months.
The Interior Ministry reported at least 30 dead and 70 wounded in the strikes, and the Health Ministry reported at least 28 dead and more than 60 wounded. Iraqis say it was the deadliest attack in the capital city in almost four months.
The U.S. military is reporting lower casualty figures -- eight dead and 48 wounded.
The casualties in Baghdad occurred when two bombs in parked cars exploded early in the day at Kasrah market in the Adhamiya neighborhood, a ministry official said.
When a crowd gathered around the wrecked cars, a bomber wearing an explosive vest detonated in their midst, the official said.
Abbas Fadhil said he was working in a nearby restaurant that was damaged in the blasts.
"I rushed to the site and saw several girl students trapped in a bus and screaming for help. We took the girls outside the bus and rushed them to the hospitals," he told The Associated Press.
Associated Press Television News video showed the minibus damaged by shrapnel with the floor soaked in blood. Girls' shoes lay scattered amid the wreckage.
Ahmed Riyadh, 54, owner of a nearby grocery, described it as a "vicious attack" that "did not differentiate between Shiites and Sunnis."
Adhamiya is a Sunni neighborhood, but the Kasrah district is predominantly populated by Shiites. As such, the area is controlled by Iraqi security forces and not an Awakening Council.
Awakening councils are mainly made up of former Sunni insurgents who turned against al Qaeda and are credited for being one of the main factors that helped reduce violence in the country.
Among the victims of the Monday morning attack were two police officers, four Iraqi soldiers, five women and a number of students, the ministry official said.
Several soldiers and police personnel were also wounded in the blasts.
On July 28, three female suicide bombers attacked Shiite pilgrims killing at least 32 people and wounding 102 others in the Kadhimiya district in northwestern Baghdad.
Attackers also struck in northern Iraq on Monday. A female suicide bomber killed four people and wounded at least 18 others in Baquba, about 60 kilometers (35 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq's Interior Ministry said.
The incident in Baquba took place at noon when a suicide bomber detonated explosives at a checkpoint manned by local Awakening Council members.
Two council members were among the fatalities. Six other members were wounded.
At least 35 female suicide bombers detonated themselves in 2008. Half of them did so in the Diyala province, where Baquba is located.
A triple bombing in Baghdad has killed more than two dozen people and wounded scores... more
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At least 28 people have been killed by three bombs that exploded just moments apart in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
The first two blasts were car bombs and then a suicide bomber detonated his charges in the crowd that had gathered to help, police say.
Another 68 people were injured in the blasts, which took place during morning rush hour in the Shia area of Kasra.
North of Baghdad, in Baquba, a female suicide car bomber attacked a US-allied militia checkpoint, killing six people.
The triple-bomb attack in Baghdad is one of the deadliest in Iraq in several months.
It is unclear how many people were killed and wounded in each of the explosions, police say.
Although attacks have decreased in number overall in Iraq in the last year, there has been a string of bombings in Baghdad in recent weeks.
Most of these have targeted police or security forces, government officials or commuters going to work in the morning.
The twin-bombing tactic has been much-used by Iraqi insurgents since the US-led invasion in 2003, says the BBC's Andrew North in Baghdad.
There are suspicions that the twin blasts were an al-Qaeda revenge attack against a Sunni neighbourhood that was once an insurgent stronghold, our correspondent says.
Adhamiya has gone over to the government side, with local gunmen joining one of the Awakening Councils that have sprung up to fight the insurgency. At least 28 people have been killed by three bombs that exploded just moments apart in... more
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"One of the last eight Jews in Baghdad, a portly retired accountant, erupts in a bellyful of laughter when asked why he never married.
"I was a playboy. Don't write that!" he jokes, grinning. "How old do you think I am? Wrong. I'm 65! Don't write that! Write that I am 55!"
His government ID proves his age, and on the back it says, unmistakably: "Religion: Jewish."
He has made contact with a reporter, not because he wants to tell the story of his persecuted community, but because he wants to complain about the landlord who is raising his rent.
"Because we are Jewish he knows we can do nothing. He isn't afraid because he knows we have no tribe here. Don't use my name."
Once one of the largest Jewish communities in the Middle East, Baghdad Jews have now nearly vanished while the country has been consumed by sectarian war.
Speaking in fluent English, the ex-accountant launches into a description of the Baghdad of his youth, one of the Muslim world's most cosmopolitan cities.
He recites the names of legendary social clubs where Jews, Christians and Muslims mingled in better days, with music and whisky and parties that ran through the night.
"So many people -- Muslim people -- say if the Jewish people come back it will be nicer," he says.
His family have left. Some are in London, some in the United States. His father was offered a chance to move to Canada, but turned it down because he wanted to die and be buried in Iraq.
The ex-accounted himself stayed, but if he can sell his father's house -- now a ruin bombed out in the Iran war in the 1980s -- he will finally leave.
"I want to sell the house and go. I like Iraq, but I am fed up. We had very nice times in Iraq, but now we don't like it."
Iraq's Jewish community dates from biblical times. According to Charles Tripp's History of Iraq, the country was home to 117,000 Jews in 1947.
Under Ottoman rule, well into the first half of the 20th century, Jews made up about a fifth of the population of the capital. Some of the villas in neighborhoods along the Tigris still have six-pointed stars of David in their stucco.
How many Jews are there now?"
By Peter Graff"One of the last eight Jews in Baghdad, a portly retired accountant, erupts in a... more
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BAGHDAD — The most powerful Sunni Muslim party in Iraq issued an angry statement Saturday accusing Americans of covering up the killing of an innocent member of the party.
The Iraqi Islamic Party of Vice President Tariq al Hashimi suspended all "official communication" with American military and civilian officials in Iraq Saturday until it receives an "explanation . . . official apology . . . and a vow to stop the campaign of harassment against the party."
The statement followed an incident Friday in which U.S. and Iraqi forces raided a home six miles west of Fallujah in predominantly Sunni Anbar province, detained one man and killed another. The Islamic Party accused the American military of detaining five innocent members of the party and killing Sajed Yasseen Hameed, 44, "in his bed in cold blood."
The U.S. military said in a statement that the raid was conducted based on a Ministry of Interior warrant for a member of the Hamas al Iraq insurgent group. When troops raided the home, an armed man shot at them and they returned fire, the statement said. The Iraqi Army found homemade bombs, a detonation cord and blasting caps in the room where the man was arrested, the statement said.
"The individual detained on 24 October was a leader of Hamas al Iraq. The arrest was conducted under Iraqi authority by the Iraqi Army with Coalition forces in support," Rear Admiral Patrick Driscoll, a spokesman for the U.S. military in Iraq, said in an e-mail. "The evidence of an explosives cache found in the suspect's room certainly indicates that this person was involved in terrorist activity, not political activity."
Hamas al Iraq is an offshoot of the 1920 Revolution Brigade, a Sunni insurgent group, and both groups consider themselves part of the resistance against foreign occupation. Some members of both groups, however, have negotiated with the Americans, and many have joined the U.S.-backed mostly Sunni militias known as the Sons of Iraq.
The Islamic Party participated in the political process that other Sunnis boycotted in 2005, but its accusations come as provincial elections approach and the U.S. and Iraqi government are at odds over a long-term security agreement to replace the United Nations mandate that governs U.S. actions in Iraq.
The accusations implied that U.S. forces, which handed security in the western Sunni heartland over to Iraqis in September, were acting on information from the rival party, which is widely credited with helping drive al Qaida in Iraq out of Anbar.
"There is direct and indirect targeting that is visible, audible and touchable by the Americans against leaderships in the Islamic Party in the province," said Omar Abdul Sattar, a leading lawmaker from the Sunni party. "The repeated targeting by al Qaida and Americans against our forces is an ironic coincidence . . . we will not allow for our members to be targeted with false reports and be killed in their beds in cold blood."
The party's statement said that local police "condemned" the incident and said the raid was "political." It also accused the Americans of continuing to control the province after responsibility for security had been handed to Iraq.
"This is very unacceptable, especially when we are pushing the U.S. and Iraq to be in a better relationship," said Alaa Makki, a leading member of the Iraqi Islamic Party and a legislator. "This action put an alarm in our way with the relationship with the Americans."
In Fallujah on Friday, a Muslim cleric repeated a condemnation over loudspeakers and called on local leaders to act.
"We are your people and our security is your job," he said.
McClatchy Special Correspondents Jamal Naji contributed from Fallujah and Mohammed al Dulaimy from Baghdad.BAGHDAD — The most powerful Sunni Muslim party in Iraq issued an angry statement... more
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At least 17 percent of piped water nationwide, and one-third of the water in Baghdad, is not potable, according to a survey by the Iraqi Health Ministry.
"The percentage of dirty water not fit for human consumption could lead to diseases more dangerous than cholera, such as some kinds of life-threatening hepatitis and diarrhea," the ministry said in a statement.
The country is currently grappling with an outbreak of cholera which has left eight people dead.
Hazim Ibrahim, deputy head of Baghdad's water directorate, said the government had earlier this month approved a project to build a huge water treatment plant in Rasafa, eastern Baghdad.
"Our water pipelines are over 30 years old and that is the main reason for contamination as the water gets mixed with either sewage or underground water," he said.
At least 17 percent of piped water nationwide, and one-third of the water in Baghdad,... more
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Four members of Iraq's health ministry were wounded after a bomb attached to their vehicle detonated in central Baghdad. Earlier Sunday, an Iraqi police patrol was struck by a roadside bomb, wounding five.Four members of Iraq's health ministry were wounded after a bomb attached to... more
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At age 14, Ahmad Razaq has worked more jobs than he can count. He's painted houses, cleaned office buildings and supervised a janitorial crew. Lately he spends his days washing cars for a few dollars a week outside a dingy hotel in Baghdad.
He's never set foot inside a classroom. He's only heard about school from friends. He can't read or write, and he figures he never will.
"I want to go to school, but I think it's too late for me now," Ahmad said, standing outside his family's dilapidated shack in Baghdad's Karrada neighborhood. "Besides, you need money to go to school."
This is the way many Iraqi children live, working for meager wages or staying at home instead of going to school. Though Iraq's Education Ministry disputes their statistics, the United Nations and aid organizations estimate that about a fifth of school-aged children here don't attend. Girls and children who live in rural areas are particularly affected.
Violence has dropped dramatically across Iraq in recent months, but fallout from the bloodshed - lost livelihoods, broken families and disrupted institutions - will linger for a long time. Children begging for money or selling cold sodas from the side of the road are everywhere in Baghdad, even during school hours. As much as anything, they bear witness to all the rebuilding that's left for Iraq.
"There are so many ways it will hurt our country's future if more children don't join school," said Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish member of Iraq's parliament. "It hurts our economy, our standard of living, our entire development."
The biggest reason that Iraqi children stay home from school is money. A public education is free in Iraq, but a lot of families are too poor to afford backpacks, notebooks and proper school clothes. The cost of living has risen dramatically across the country in recent years and the unemployment rate is around 50 percent.
"I can't buy milk for them, so how can I buy schoolbooks?" asked Abeer Abdulrahman, a 36-year-old unemployed widow and mother of five. "I want to give them more, but tell me how?"
Two of Abdulrahman's children are old enough for school, 7-year-old Nora and 9-year-old Omar, but neither has ever gone. They spend their days begging on the streets with their mother.
"It's more important for my children to beg so we can eat," Abdulrahman said. "What good will education do?"
Even before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, low school enrollment was a problem. It worsened along with violence after the war began.
By late 2006, many parents had decided it was too dangerous to send their children to school. Other children stopped attending when their families were forced by sectarian violence to flee their neighborhoods. Some have re-enrolled and some haven't.
Instead of going to school, 7-year-old Shahad Tahseen and her 6-year-old brother, Nibras, sit in their grandmother's dirty one-room flat in central Baghdad. They came here from a nearby neighborhood in 2006 after their parents were shot and killed.
"We sold everything we have just to keep paying the rent," said their grandmother, 63-year-old Halema Mohammed Faraj. "We have no electricity, no water, no clean clothes. Reading and writing are not on our minds."
A shortage of schools has added to the problem. Especially in rural areas, the nearest school may be too far away for children to get there every day.
Alaa Makki, a Sunni Muslim lawmaker who heads parliament's education committee, estimates that Iraq needs to build 4,500 primary, middle and high schools to adequately meet the demand.
Teachers are also in short supply. Since 2003, more than 250 educators have been assassinated and hundreds more have left the country, according to the UN.
********CONTINUESAt age 14, Ahmad Razaq has worked more jobs than he can count. He's painted... more
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Alive in Baghdad brings you interviews with Iraqi families struggling to survive the sectarian violence.
Iraq, Baghdad/Saediya/Adhamiya - The sectarian conflict in Iraq was one of the main problems that has continued to limit stability and security in certain Iraqi provinces. Many people were forced to sell their house and flee to other neighborhoods or to leave Iraq entirely. In other cases they were not able to sell any of their property such as cars or furniture, and had to flee immediately.
According to the International Herald Tribune, the highest number of casualties due to violence was in September 2006 when approximately 2600 Iraqis were killed. According to icasualites.org, more than 3300 civilians were killed in this period. At the end of 2006 the Iraqi Minister of Health shocked the world by announcing that 150,000 Iraqis had been killed during the war by October 2006, more than three times previous accepted estimates.
Many of the casualties were because of the actions of Al-Qaeda and other Sunni militias or insurgents. On the other hand Shia militias such as the Badr Brigade and others were taking different techniques, for example kidnapping and assassinating Iraqis, and both sides created a great number of refugees and internally-displaced families.
Sunni neighborhoods like Adhamiya in Baghdad found themselves hosting Sunni refugees who fled death threats from Shia Areas such as Khalis, Karbala, Najaf, and others. The internally displaced families were desperate to find shelter, some forced to live in tents in camps inside Adhamiya. Some local residents of the neighborhoods donated items like heaters, blankets, and food to help those families. Some families who were lucky were able to make a deal with a Shi’a family who was displaced form Adhamiya, and thereby find a home to shelter them during the worst violence.
Shia areas like Sadr City have hosted Shia refugees from Sunni conflict zones like Abu Ghraib, Anbar province, and Falluja specifically. The Sadr movement has provided some of the help for these refugees, like food, blankets, and helping them by sheltering them in properties belonging to the Sadr Movement. Other families in Sadr City decided to host some of the families in their own homes.
The common rumors in Baghdad are that the Badr Brigade is kidnapping Iraqi Sunnis, and the Mahdi Army is kidnapping Sunni Iraqi as well. On the Shia side the common belief is that Al-Qaeda and the Islamic Army’s main purpose is the removal of all Shia from Iraq and to cut any kind of connection with Iran, and the Iraqi citizens find themselves confused whom to believe, the Iraqi government or a religious militia?
Alive in Baghdad brings you interviews with some of those Iraqi who are suffering all those problems every day.
Alive in Baghdad brings you interviews with Iraqi families struggling to survive the... more
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Coverage of Iraq in the U.S. has been all about the surge and its success. But more troops will remain in Baghdad after the surge than before it. Violence may be down but it's all relative. From mass slaughter to acceptable levels of violence, has the surge really worked? Patrick Cockburn, the author of The Occupation and Muqtada al-Sadr and the Battle for the Future of Iraq discusses the recent protests in Baghdad, the rise of al-Sadr, and why Americans are still misreading Iraq.
You can see the full interview at GRITtv.org.Coverage of Iraq in the U.S. has been all about the surge and its success. But more... more
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Saturday, Oct 18, 2008
Thousands of followers of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr took to the streets on Saturday in a demonstration against a pact that would allow U.S. forces to stay in Iraq for three more years.
Marchers waved Iraqi flags and chanted “Yes, yes Iraq! No, no to the occupation!”
A white-turbaned cleric read out what he described as a letter from Sadr calling on parliament to vote down the pact.
“I reject and condemn the continuation of the presence of the occupation force, and its bases on our beloved land,” the letter said, calling the pact “shameful for Iraq.”
Saturday, Oct 18, 2008
Thousands of followers of anti-American cleric Moqtada... more
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