LA Times says that 11 members of The Salam (Peace) tribal council of Baquba, were kidnapped at gunpoint as they were driving back from the Green Zone toward Baquba, where they are based. They had been conducting talks with the office of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Although the kidnapping occurred in a largely Shiite district […]
Muqtada al-Sadr Says Freeze on Al-Mahdi Army’s Military Action Still in Effect
The USG Open Source Center summarizes and translates a recent statement of Shiite clerical leader Muqtada al-Sadr, issued two weeks ago, insisting that the suspension of military operations by his Mahdi Army is still in effect. ‘Muqtada al-Sadr Says Freeze on Al-Mahdi Army’s Military Action Still in EffectIraq — OSC SummarySunday, October 28, 2007 The […]
Major US Anti-War Protests Karbala turned over to Iranian-backed Badr
Tens of thousands of Americans rallied against the war in major cities on Saturday. The US military is turning over security duties in Karbala to the Iraqi security forces (dominated in that city by the Badr Corps, the paramilitary trained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps). This turn-over has now been carried out in 8 […]
Turkish, Iranian Presidents Condemn Kurds
AFP reports that Prime Minister Rejep Tayyib Erdogan of Turkey said Saturday, of the Kurdish Workers Party guerrillas holed up in Iraq, “We will launch an operation when it will be necessary, without asking for anybody’s opinion . . .” The USG Open Source Center translates an article about Turkish President Abdullah Gul calling Iranian […]
Iraqi Sunni, Shiite Preachers Denounce al-Qaeda
The USG Open Source Center reports on Iraqi sermons on Friday. Round-up of Iraqi Friday Sermons 26 OctIraq — OSC SummarySaturday, October 27, 2007 Al-Iraqiyah . . . “Shaykh Jalal-al-Din al-Saghir, [Shiite] imam and preacher of the Buratha Mosque, said that the recent statements by terrorist Usama Bin Ladin to the remnants of his followers […]
Basra and a Mahdi Army Resurgence?
AP reports that Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani is concerned about a wave of assassinations and killings in the southern port city of Basra: ‘ A spokesman for Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s top Shiite cleric, called on the Iraqi government to stop violence he said was increasingly plaguing southern Iraq and warned the inaction could […]
US Sanctions on Iran
The Bush administration announced wideranging new sanctions on Iran on Thursday, which target three Iranian banks, nine companies associated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, and several individuals, as well as the IRGC (roughly analogous to the National Guard in the US, i.e. a populist adjunct to the formal Iranian army). These unilateral sanctions clearly […]
Iraqi Delegation Pleads with Turkey not to Invade; Turkish Shelling of Iraqi Villages KRG: No PKK Offices in Iraq
The USG Open Source Center translates television news concerning the crisis between Turkey and Iraq over the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) guerrilla actions against Turks; the PKK fighters are given safe haven inside Iraq by the Kurdistan Regional Authority, led by Massoud Barzani. In a second item, OSC translates a Kurdish t.v. report on the […]
2 US GIs Killed, 8 Wounded; Turkish Air Strikes against Kurds; Bombs in Baghdad Kill 8; Basra Police Chief Escapes Attempt on his Life
Turkish war planes and helicopter gunships attacked Kurdish guerrillas in eastern Anatolia on Wednesday, making at least one raid into Iraq according to wire services. An Iraqi delegation is going to Ankara to try to resolve the crisis, which may eventuate in a Turkish incursion into Iraqi territory. A bombing of the Shiite Diyala Bridge […]
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