These are the archives for the week ending 23rd September 2005
Basra: Iraqi authorities boycott Brits
The authorities in the southern Iraqi city of Basra say they will not cooperate with the coalition forces, especially British soldiers, until they receive an apology and compensation for a raid by British forces on a police station to release two soldiers.
"All regular meetings between the governorate and British troops have been cancelled and we will not allow British soldiers into the governorate building or any other public office in Basra," Nadim al-Jabiri, spokesman for the provincial governor in Basra, said. British troops, who usually accompany Iraqi police on patrol, were not seen on the streets on Thursday.
The governing council met on Wednesday and decided to halt cooperation until three demands are met; an apology for what happened, a guarantee that it does not happen again, and compensation for damage caused during the operation.
AKI, Italy, 22/9/05
UN food programme in crisis
The U.N. World Food Program warned on Wednesday that its emergency operations in Iraq, which feed about 3 million people, were at risk because donors have only come up with 44 percent of the necessary money. The Rome-based agency is aiming to provide 73,700 tons of food to 1.7 million extremely poor primary school children, 220,000 malnourished children and their families, 350,000 pregnant and nursing women, and more than 6,000 tuberculosis patients this year.
But the $66 million operation is at risk because it has only received $29 million from donors, the agency said. Last year, a Norwegian research group, in conjunction with the United Nations and the Iraqi government, reported that malnutrition among Iraq's youngest children had nearly doubled since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, from 4 percent to 7.7 percent.
A separate WFP food security survey published last year found that more than 27 percent of all children under 5 were chronically malnourished despite receiving government food rations.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 21/9/05
US death count continues to climb
The war in Iraq passed a sobering milepost yesterday when U.S. officials reported 12 more Americans were killed - eight of them members of the armed forces, raising to more than 1,900 the number of U.S. service members who have died in the country since the invasion.
Seattle Times, 21/9/05
Police demonstrate against 'British terrorists'
Iraqi police staged an angry anti-British protest in Basra today as London and Baghdad sought to quell tension over a British raid to free two undercover soldiers held in the southern city. About 200 policemen who work at the police station damaged during the British raid marched through the streets, calling for the city police chief to be fired and for the "British terrorists" to be returned to Iraqi jurisdiction.
Calcutta Times, 22/9/05
5 civilians killed in British rescue mission
Five Iraqi civilians died in clashes surrounding the controversial operation to free two British SAS men captured in Basra, it was claimed today. Iraqi police said the latest two died in hospital today after being wounded as British troops stormed a police station jail on Monday.
Iraqi police are reported to have taken part in anti-British demonstrations in the southern Iraqi city today.
Telegraph, 21/9/05
'Breakdown of trust' in Basra
The BBC's Paul Wood said none of Basra's 20,000 police officers had helped the UK troops "partly because of reticence by their commanders, partly because, I am afraid, they have been infiltrated by these militants". He added: "Now we are in the situation where presumably revenge will be sought by relatives of the dead Iraqis - and our allies in the police, I think there has been a complete breakdown of trust and it's going to be very difficult for British troops to call on them."
Defence Secretary John Reid said: "We remain committed to helping the Iraqi government for as long as they judge that a coalition presence is necessary to provide security."
BBC News, 20/9/05
Britain attacks Iraqi prison
Two British servicemen, dressed in civilian clothes, were held at Basra's main police station after the incident. Outside, rioting began as the city threatened to descend into anarchy. Last night, British forces used up to 10 tanks - supported by helicopters - to smash through the walls of the jail and free the two British servicemen. John Reid, the Defence Secretary, later confirmed they were back with UK forces.
Around 150 prisoners were said to have escaped during the assault, which was condemned as "barbaric, savage and irresponsible" by Mohammed al-Waili, the provincial governor.
Independent, 20/9/05
Undercover Brits' car "packed with explosives"
Iraqi police detained two British soldiers in civilian clothes in the southern city Basra for firing on a police station on Monday, police said. "Two persons wearing Arab uniforms opened fire at a police station in Basra. A police patrol followed the attackers and captured them to discover they were two British soldiers," an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua.
The two soldiers were using a civilian car packed with explosives, the source said. He added that the two were being interrogated in the police headquarters of Basra. The British forces informed the Iraqi authorities that the two soldiers were performing an official duty, the source said.
Xinhua, China, 19/9/05
Undercover troops were planting bombs
Iraqi security officials on Monday variously accused the two Britons they detained of shooting at Iraqi forces or trying to plant explosives. Photographs of the two men in custody showed them in civilian clothes.
Washington Post, 20/9/05
British soldiers shoot Iraqi policemen
The latest violence in the oil city of Basra, 340 miles south of the capital, began early Monday when local authorities reported arresting the two Britons, described as special forces commandos dressed in Arab clothing, for allegedly shooting two Iraqi policemen, one of whom died.
ABC News, 20/9/05
Iraq now Al Qaeda training ground
The al Qaeda terror network has capitalized on the insurgency in Iraq by creating a new training ground to replace the bases it lost in Afghanistan in 2001, a U.N. expert panel said on Monday. The chaos in Iraq will thereby likely increase the danger of future terrorist attacks considerably, the panel said in its latest status report to the U.N. Security Council on al Qaeda and Afghanistan's former Taliban leaders.
"Recruits travel there from many parts of the world and acquire skills in urban warfare, bomb-making, assassination and suicide attacks," the panel said. "When these fighters return to their countries of origin or residence and join those at home who are well integrated locally, the combination is likely to increase the threat of successful terrorist attacks considerably," the experts said.
The Star, Malaysia, 20/9/05
Iraq invasion boosts Al Qaeda
Hundreds of Saudi fighters who joined the insurgency in Iraq showed few signs of militancy before the U.S.-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein, according to a detailed study based on Saudi intelligence reports. The study by the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies also said Saudis made up just 350 of the 3,000-strong foreign insurgents in Iraq -- fewer than many officials have assumed.
"Analysts and government officials in the U.S. and Iraq have overstated the size of the foreign element in the Iraqi insurgency, especially that of the Saudi contingent," it said. Non-Iraqi militants made up less than 10 percent of the insurgents' ranks -- perhaps even half that -- the study said. Most were motivated by "revulsion at the idea of an Arab land being occupied by a non-Arab country".
The study by Middle East analyst Anthony Cordesman and Saudi security adviser Nawaf Obaid may offer further fuel to critics who say that instead of weakening al Qaeda, the 2003 invasion of Iraq brought fresh recruits to Osama bin Laden's network.
Reuters, 18/9/05
British army overstretched
Secret plans by the Government to reduce troop numbers in Iraq have been shelved - and there is now no official date for the withdrawal of British soldiers. The decision comes as ministers prepare to announce an unexpected redeployment of up to 6,000 members of the 7th Armoured Brigade - the renowned Desert Rats - in the conflict zone next month. This follows growing concerns that Iraq is heading into full-scale civil war.
Under the original withdrawal plans of John Reid, the Defence Secretary, up to 8,500 troops should have returned to Britain by next month with the rest coming home by the middle of next year. But the confirmation of a new large-scale troop redeployment, and the news that there is no end-date for British withdrawal, have sparked fears among serving soldiers and senior military figures that Iraq may be developing into Britain's own "Vietnam".
Last night, senior officers accused the Government of having a "head-in-the-sand mentality" over Britain's defence requirements and its involvement in Iraq, where more than 200 civilians were killed in terrorists attack last week alone. They said the Army - which is also sending 3,000 extra troops to Afghanistan next April - was under-manned, "strapped for cash" and being "dangerously overstretched".
Telegraph, 18/9/05
Thousands homeless after Tal Afar
The number of families who have fled their homes in Talafar, northern Iraq, due to ongoing fighting between Coalition forces and insurgents has risen to about 5,000, the Iraqi Red Crescent Society said. "We are talking 20-25,000 people," Jette Soerensen, spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva said on Saturday.
The displaced have taken refuge in surrounding towns and villages. However, while some were staying with friends or relatives, others were living in abandoned villages or small camps, with no access to such basic items as food, water or bedding. Hundreds of those displaced could be seen in the improvised camps, with the children suffering in the hot weather and without access to clean and potable water.
A spokesperson for the Coalition forces had said earlier food and medical assistance could not be delivered to the city yet. "If we allow the entrance of food and medicines to the city we are just feeding the insurgents. Those who are not [insurgents] and are not afraid, will ask to leave. It is not a human disaster but the prevention of it," Lt. Col. Hassan al-Medan, a senior Iraqi officer in the operation and spokesperson, said on Wednesday.
Reuters, 17/9/05
Hundreds flee Samara
Hundreds of families from the Iraqi city of Samara were fleeing their town Saturday in fear of a massive military campaign. Residents who arrived in Baghdad from Samara, 62 miles north of the capital, said hundreds of cars have fled the city in the past two days as they sought refuge in nearby towns for safety.
The massive emigration came after Iraqi Defense Minister Saadoun al-Duleimi last week warned of a military attack against the city to "cleanse it from the terrorists." In a meeting with Samara tribal leaders, al-Duleimi gave the residents one month to expel the "terrorists" from their city or face a military raid similar to the bloody one taking place in Tal Afar. Last October, Iraqi-U.S. forces invaded Samara, killing more than 300.
Washington Times, 17/9/05
Poor planning and corrupt contractors hobble reconstruction
Najaf would seem to be one of Iraq's most promising places to rebuild. As a Shiite holy place, it has few Sunnis and, as a result, none of the insurgent attacks and sabotage that plague other parts of the country. The United States has poured more than $200 million into reconstruction projects in this city, part of the $10 billion it has spent to rebuild Iraq.
Najaf is widely cited by the military as one of the success stories in that effort, but American officers involved in the rebuilding say that reconstruction projects here, as elsewhere in the country, are hobbled by poor planning, corrupt contractors and a lack of continuity among the rotating coalition officers charged with overseeing the spending.
"This country is filled with projects that were never completed or were completed and have never been used," said a frustrated civil affairs officer who asked not to be identified because he had not been cleared to speak about the reconstruction.
New York Times, 18/9/05
Taliban fighting classic guerrilla war
Afghanistan votes in historic elections tomorrow, but they are taking place against the backdrop of a forgotten war. A war which British soldiers will be plunged into in the middle of next year under plans to expand Nato-led peacekeeping forces.
When last year's presidential elections passed without any major attacks, the Taliban were written off as has-beens. But this year the Taliban are back with a vengeance. More than 1,200 people have died in insurgent violence already, making 2005 by far the bloodiest year since the overthrow of the Taliban government. "Why should they stick to a Western timetable? Why hit the elections when they can hit any time they want?" says Joanna Nathan of the International Crisis Group think-tank.
"What happened is that during the winter, someone sat down with the books and learnt how to fight a guerrilla war," says a security source. The Taliban's strategy and tactics have been transformed this year. Instead of trying to take on US and Afghan forces head-on, they have adopted classic guerrilla hit-and-run tactics, targeting anyone they consider a collaborator.
It is into all this that British troops will have to wade under plans to lead the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) into the south. The US wants Isaf to move into the troubled south and east so it can start scaling back its forces.
Independent, 17/9/05
Iraq restructures debt
Iraq is poised to announce Friday the successful completion of the first phase in the restructuring of Saddam-era commercial debt. The first phase of the deal, orchestrated by JP Morgan and Citigroup, the US banks, involves about $750m (£410m) of debt owed to the private sector. This first batch is only a small portion of what is thought to be more than $20bn in commercial claims.
Claims owed to the private sector amount to about 15 per cent of some $125bn of total outstanding debt that makes Iraq, relative to the size of its economy, one of the most indebted countries in the world. The rest is owed to various creditor nations. However, it is a rare piece of good news for Iraq and is likely to be welcomed as a sign that the war-torn country is making headway in putting long-standing financial issues behind it. Resolving these debts is also seen as a critical step towards creating a cohesive policy for economic reconstruction in the future.
Financial Times, 16/9/05
Support for war in US at all-time low
With Hurricane Katrina already costing the federal government tens of billions of dollars, more than 8 in 10 Americans are very or somewhat concerned that the $5 billion being spent each month on the war in Iraq is draining away money that could be used in the United States, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
Support for the war in Iraq has fallen to an all-time low, according to the poll. Only 44 percent now say the United States made the right decision in taking military action against Iraq, the lowest rating since the question was first asked by this poll more than two years ago.
When asked how long American troops should remain in Iraq, for example, 52 percent of people interviewed called for an immediate withdrawal, even if that means abandoning President Bush's goal of restoring stability to that country.
New York Times, 17/9/05
Muslim scholars denounce Zarqawi
Abu Musab Zarqawi, a Jordanian militant who claims to lead Al Qaeda in Iraq, has taken responsibility for some of the worst violence. He declared war on Shiites in retaliation for a joint Iraqi and American offensive on the northern city of Tall Afar.
The declaration so shocked Iraqis that even the Muslim Scholars Assn., an organization of hard-line Sunni clerics with alleged ties to the insurgency, demanded in a statement issued today that Zarqawi "retract these threats" because it hurts the Sunni Arab cause. "It harms the image of jihad, obstructs the success of the resistance in Iraq, and leads to more innocent Iraqi bloodshed," the statement said.
Los Angeles Times, 16/9/05
Zarqawi dead?
Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, is dead but Washington continues to use him as a bogeyman to justify a prolonged military occupation, an Iraqi Shia cleric said in an interview published here on Friday. Sheikh Jawad Al Kalesi, the imam of the al-Kazemiya mosque in Baghdad, told Le Monde newspaper: "I don't think that Abu Musab Al Zarqawi exists as such. He's simply an invention by the occupiers to divide the people."
Kalesi claimed that Zarqawi was killed in the Kurdish northern region of Iraq at the beginning of the US-led war on the country. "His family in Jordan even held a ceremony after his death."
Khaleej Times, 16/9/05
British forces stretched
More than one-third of Britain's overstretched soldiers and most of its frontline combat troops will be on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan by next May or training to replace those who are. A deployment of up to 4000 men to Afghanistan in the spring comes on top of the continued maintenance of an 8500-strong garrison in Iraq.
John Reid, the defence secretary, dismissed rumours earlier this week that UK forces around Basra were to be cut to allow army planners enough leeway to field a brigade to Afghanistan while avoiding overstretch. He is now understood to have given a personal assurance to the chief of staff of the fledgling Iraqi army that British manpower levels will remain the same for the foreseeable future unless the security situation improves dramatically.
Herald, 16/9/05
US threatens more strikes
U.S. forces are ready to launch air strikes on towns in western Iraq as they search for Iraq's al Qaeda leader, who has declared war on the nation's Shi'ite Muslims in response to the Iraqi-U.S. offensive in Tal Afar.
"Towns close to the Euphrates river valley, including Qaim and Haditha, are towns that we focus on. And as soon as we see him trying to establish a safe haven there, we will conduct operations just like we did in Tal Afar," according to U.S. army spokesman Major General Rick Lynch.
His remarks followed a recent statement by Iraqi Defense Minister Saadoun Dulaimi that government forces were ready to hit insurgents in four other northwestern towns after the strike against the rebel stronghold of Tal Afar in northern Iraq. Dulaimi singled out the towns of Ramadi, Samarra, Rawa and Qaim as targets for future attacks against insurgents, but gave no indication of when the attacks might take place.
Yahoo News, 15/9/05
Police die in more attacks
Iraq's capital Baghdad has been hit by a series of blasts for a second day running, killing at least 29 people. In the first attack, at least 16 police commandos were killed when their patrol was struck in southern Doura district. Hours later, 10 more policemen died in the same area following two more bomb attacks and ensuing gun battles. Others died in Baghdad and elsewhere.
The incidents follow Wednesday's attacks, in which more than 182 people died, making it the deadliest day since the 2003 US-led invasion.
BBC News, 15/9/05
Opposition to war growing in US
Chicago on Wednesday became the nation's largest city to urge the Bush administration to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq at once. The resolution, approved 29-9, seeks an "immediate and orderly" withdrawal. The City Council has 50 aldermen.
Chicago joins other cities - including San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Calif., 50 communities in Vermont and the Chicago suburb of Evanston - in calling for the withdrawal of troops.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 14/9/05