Iran has closed its border with Iraqi Kurdistan. This move appears to come in part in reaction to the US kidnapping of an Iranian commercial agent, on the grounds that he is a covert operative, from Sulaimaniya (a city in Iraqi Kurdistan). In addition, Kurdish guerrillas of the PEJAK organization have been taking refuge in Iraqi Kurdistan and carrying out terrorist attacks inside Iran, in response to which Iran has shelled Kurdish border villages.
The closure of the border will hurt Kurdistan, which is landlocked and already has bad relations with Turkey and Syria, its other windows on the world.
McClatchy also reports on the Kurds that Iran is seeking.
The LAT reports on Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s popularity in the Arab world, which is mostly Sunni. They take him as a symbol of anti-imperialism.
Reuters reports civil war violence for Monday:
‘ BAQUBA – A suicide bomber killed 26 people including the police chief of the city of Baquba in a mosque compound where local Shi’ite and Sunni Arab leaders were holding reconciliation talks, police said. They said 50 people were wounded in the attack in Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad.
TIKRIT – A U.S. soldier died after being wounded by gunfire in Salahuddin province, the U.S. military said. . .
MOSUL – A suicide truck bomb killed at least six people, including two policemen and a soldier, and wounded 17 in an attack on a checkpoint near a village between Tal Afar and Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
KIRKUK – A bomb in a parked car wounded six people near a police brigadier-general’s house in Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
KUT – Gunmen killed one man and wounded another in Kut, 170 km (105 miles) southeast of Baghdad, police said. . .
LATIFIYA – A roadside bomb killed one soldier and wounded three others in Latifiya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.
MOSUL – A roadside bomb killed one person and wounded three west of Mosul, police said.
BAGHDAD – Gunmen killed Jawad al-Daami, a journalist for Baghdadiya television, on Sunday in al-Qadissiya district of southwestern Baghdad, an Iraqi journalists’ association said.
KIRKUK – Kirkuk province police chief Jamal Tahir escaped unhurt from a roadside bomb attack on his convoy in the city of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. One of his guards was wounded. . .
BAGHDAD – U.S. forces killed one suspected insurgent and arrested four members of an Iranian-backed special groups cell during an operation in eastern Baghdad, the U.S. military said.
KIRKUK – A car bomb targeting a local mayor’s convoy killed one of his bodyguards and wounded seven, including three civilians in Kirkuk, police said. . . ”
McClatchy has more, including the discovery of 9 bodies in the streets of Baghdad.
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