Najaf under Curfew;
As Sadr Brother-in-Law Killed;
13 Killed in Baghdad Clashes
Al-Zaman reports in Arabic that the Shiite holy city of Najaf is under a strict curfew after a drive by shooting that killed Riyad al-Nuri, the head of the Sadr office in that city. Nuri was Muqtada al-Sadr's brother-in-law, married to one of al-Sadr's sisters. One of Nuri's sisters is married to Murtada al-Sadr, the younger brother of Muqtada.
Muqtada called on the Iraqi government to conduct an investigation into the death.
Sadrist spokesperson Salah al-Ubaydi called on Sadrists to show restraint.
Al-Zaman says that some have implicated al-Nuri in the murder of Abdul Majid Khoie on April 10, 2003.
Amit Paley at WaPo has more.
McClatchy positions the story with regard to Muqtada al-Sadr's assertion that the US was behind al-Nuri's death. The US denied the charge. McClatchy observes, "The timing of the killing — not even two weeks after more than 120 people died and at least 300 were wounded in fighting between Sadr's militiamen and government forces in the port city of Basra — raises the specter of a wider rebellion that could spread to Sadr's strongholds in Baghdad."
American forces in Iraq clashed with the Mahdi Army in Baghdad on Friday evening, leaving 13 dead.
McClatchy reports civil war violence on Friday:
' Baghdad
Iraqi Army found a mass grave containing 25 bodies in Mahmoudiyah, to the south of Baghdad late Thursday. The bodies were in an advanced state of decomposition and investigations are ongoing in an effort to identify them.
1 Katyusha rocket hit the Palestine Meridian Hotel on the Abu Nawas side, in central Baghdad at 3.15 pm Friday. It landed on the second floor causing the death of 3 civilians and the injury of 7.
1 Katyusha rocket fell on the Green Zone at around 3.15 pm Friday. No casualties reported.
A roadside bomb exploded targeting a police patrol in Shaab, northeast Baghdad at around 2 pm Friday, killing 1 policeman and injuring 3.
A roadside bomb exploded targeting a joint US/Iraqi patrol in Baladiyat, north east Baghdad at 3 pm today killing 3 civilians. Clashes broke out with the gunmen after the IED went off. No casualties were reported.
A mortar round fell on a bread bakery in Talbiyah, Square 83 killing 2 civilians and injuring 5.
3 unidentified bodies were found in Baghdad today by Iraqi Police. 1 in Baladiyat; 1 in Shaab and 1 in Hurriyah.
Anbar
A car bomb driven by a suicide bomber targeted al-Hamudhiyah checkpoint, east Ramadi which is manned by Sahwa (CLC) members. The explosion took place at 5.30 pm Friday and caused the death of 4 Sahwa members and injuring 3 civilians.
Salahuddin
A car bomb driven by a suicide bomber targeted a Sahwa checkpoint, 20 km to the north of Baiji on the main route of Baghdad/Mosul at 5.30 pm Friday. 1 Sahwa member was killed and 8 were wounded.
Diyala
A roadside bomb exploded targeting an Iraqi Army patrol in Abu Khamis, 10 km to the south of Baquba at 12.15 this afternoon injuring 2 army servicemen.
A roadside bomb exploded as a civilian car was passing in al-Muradiyah, 20 km to the east of Baquba at 1 pm Friday. In the car was a family of 7. 1 child was killed; the mother, father and 4 other siblings were severely injured.
Najaf
Seyid Riyadh al-Noori, brother in law to Seyid Muqtada a-Sadr, leader of the Sadrist trend and the Mahdi Army was assassinated by gunmen in Adala neighbourhood, Najaf city at 2.20 pm Thursday as he was returning from Friday prayers. Seyid Riyadh was Head of the Sadr office in Najaf city, and a close friend and associate of al-Sadr.
Kirkuk
A police patrol found the body of a policeman in al-Orouba neighbourhood Friday morning. The policeman was 30 years old; he was shot to death.'
Labels: Iraq
posted by Juan Cole @ 4/12/2008 12:30:00 AM
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9 Comments:
This later round of fighting has clear motives . The populistic ,poor oriented , anti-occupation Mehdi Army is set to win elections by a landslide. Colaborationist Maliki will try to provoke a civil war he hopes to win with the help of America and the SCIRI militias disguised as iraki soldiers. Maliki's plan is to , instead of elections , give irakis blood and bullets . Sadr knows democracy will bring him victory , but Mahdi people can not surrender their weapons without been killed or imprisoned in no time . This weapons may be the only hope if America goes for permanent occupation (colonization). That is why neutral grand ayatollah Sistani is silent about the Mahdi weapons and does not order Sadr to disarm . This weapons are the last hope of freedom for Irak and Sistani knows and remains silent. So Maliki and Bush viciously attack the Mehdi Army hoping Sadr will lift his cease fire and hell will get loose and elections be forgotten . I pray Sadr will find a peacefull way out , but when the other side is trying to aniquilate you it is very difficult to find a peacefull outcome . I hope God will give Sadr wisdom for the task.
christ have you seen the onslaught / blitzkreig of Iran boogety boogety boogety stories since crock o' shit and be tray us did their dawg and pony act this past week ??? even gates is gettin' in on the act. gd this s*** is getting old. and wtf are ' special groups ' ???
Anonymous writes...."if America goes for permanent occupation (colonization)"
Why if? There is much evidence to support that the US is there for the long haul as colonizers. There is, literally, no evidence that they are leaving.
The argument at home is simply about how many soldiers does it take to maintain control.
There is no serious argument beyond that.
A Mystery Solved, Another Concern, And An Open Letter To Juan Cole
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/mystery-solved-another-concern-and-open.html
Dear Professor Juan Cole,
I know you are a very busy person, but for personal reasons, I urge you to review Philip Bobbit's new book, Terror and Consent and give it the public evisceration it has, apparentely so well earned. If you are unwilling to do so, and no other expert is, either, then I will feel morally obligated to read it and review it myself. The problem is that I know as little about the topics Bobbitt addresses as Bobbitt does himself.
Therefore, it would take me a whole hour of googling to find the primary sources needed to refute Bobbitt's basic premises. And I would need to provide at least five links to be convincing.
Frankly, Professor Cole, I don't want to waste my time like that, when an expert could dismantle Bobbitt's arguments in a fraction of that time and space. Thanks in advance for your consent.
Best, tristero
There seems to me a sense of an endgame forming. It feels strange to me, remembering that in 2003/04 al-Sadr seemed to be a pretty straightforward militant renegade and sectarian populist. Now he's the closest thing to a leader with a national consensus and most identified with the interests of average people of non-Kurdish Iraq in the Iraqi political arena. (In good part because the others have variously marginalized themselves, but nevertheless.)
The important thing to watch now may not be the militia/Army battles, though they will matter, but Maliki's efforts to keep the alliance against Sadr from breaking down.
"In a telephone interview with Al-Sharqiyah, a senior Al-Sadr Trend official, who asked not to be named, accused Iranian Intelligence elements of planning the assassination of Riyad al-Nuri, one of Muqtada al-Sadr's relatives and one of his most prominent aides. The official added that Al-Nuri turned down requests by the Iranian Qods Force following contacts that were held directly through mediators. Previous reports listed Riyad al-Nuri as one of the people accused of assassinating the Religious Authority Abd-al-Majid al-Khu'i in 2003. On the other hand, a source in Al-Sadr Trend said that this operation seeks to cause some kind of instability in Al-Najaf in order to create an abnormal situation, noting that Al-Sadr Trend will request an investigation after which it will take measures known to those who threatened Al-Nuri, or the mediators who pressed Al-Nuri, who stayed in Iraq with Sayyid Haydar al-Jabiri, and did not accompany Sayyid Al-Sadr along with Walid al-Zamili and Mustafa al-Ya'cubi."
-------
Within its 1900 gmt newscast on 11 April, Dubai-based Iraqi private Al-Sharqiyah TV reported the following developments:
[Al-Thubayti] What is the credibility of the reports which say that Shaykh Muqtada al-Sadr was expelled from Tehran and that he is now in Al-Najaf?
[Al-Ubaydi] Some political and media parties have tried to manipulate this subject. If Muqtada al-Sadr is in Iran, this means that he submits to Iranian orders, or that he is in dispute with Iran, and this will lead to big problems. We are serious about not revealing the location of Muqtada al-Sadr so that it does not become part of the political balance because we stick to something very important, which is that the decisions of the Sadrists are independent and free from international, regional and domestic pressure. Our decisions are only in line with the interests of the Iraqis in general, not in the interest of the parties and politicians who will only consider the apportionment [of seats in parliament], which benefits them only.
Source: Al-Arabiya TV, Dubai, in Arabic 1001 gmt 12 Apr 08
"I pray Sadr will find a peacefull way out , but when the other side is trying to aniquilate you it is very difficult to find a peacefull outcome . I hope God will give Sadr wisdom for the task."
Incredible how Sadr now seems to have become the last defense against the complete colonization of Iraq. Perhaps he always has been. Maliki has turned out worse than I had ever imagined. A puppet to the fullest. Spineless and quite pathetic.
Deadly blast strikes Iran mosque
' At least nine people have been killed and more than 100 wounded in an explosion at a mosque in Iran, local media reports say.
' The blast reportedly occurred during an address by a prominent local cleric in the southern city of Shiraz.
' The city's Law Enforcement Force commander, Col Zamani, told the semi-official Fars news agency that the explosion had been caused by a bomb.
' There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast. '
Several dead in Iran mosque blast
' Nine people have been killed and 66 others wounded in an explosion in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz, a national news agency has reported.
' The explosion on Saturday was caused by "a powerful bomb at Shiraz's Mosque of the Martyrs after evening prayers", a report by Fars news agency said, citing city officials.
' The death toll is expected to rise due to the severity of some people's injuries, officials said. '
The CIA? Scott Ritter has been saying that the CIA/DoD has been active in Iran for months if not years.
Castellio asks if "colonization" is in the cards.
I don't know the answer to that, but I do know that the Army is planning to build a new PX near al-Kut over the next 18 months at a cost of maybe $25 Million.
It's going to be a pre-engineered steel building.
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=df4f03b9133b78422054bca4ac42688c&tab=core&_cview=1
This is to replace the current PX, which is in a temporary tent-like structure, over 20' tall.
An acquaintance of mine just sprayed 2" of PUF foam on the exterior of that structure to cut down on the cost to cool it.
The Army paid over $250,000 for this foam coating.
The new PX won't even open for business until 2010.
I'd say that Army planners are not thinking the adventure in Iraq will end anytime soon.
And remember, al-Kut is one of the areas that have already been turned over to Iraqi control.
Less than 50 miles from the border with Iran,
it straddles the main trade route that is allegedly used to smuggle arms into Iraq.
Yeah, we're settling in for the long haul.
your avid Student
.
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