Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Media: The Associated Press
Byline: By ELENA BECATOROS
Date: 19 September 2006
Body:
BAGHDAD, Iraq_Iraqi police found the blindfolded bodies of three people
dumped in two separate parts of eastern Baghdad on Tuesday, while the U.S.
military command in Iraq said two American soldiers had been killed.
The deaths come as U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in New York warned that
Iraq was in "grave danger" of collapsing into civil war, and urged the
government to do more to foster national unity.
"If current patterns of alienation and violence persist much longer, there
is a grave danger that the Iraqi state will break down, possibly in the
midst of a full-scale civil war," Annan told a meeting of foreign ministers
at the United Nations.
But he said that if Iraqi leaders could "address the needs and common
interests of all Iraqis, the promise of peace and prosperity is still within
reach."
Two U.S. soldiers were killed on Sunday, the U.S. military command said in a
statement Tuesday. One was killed by small arms fire in north-central
Baghdad, while the other died after his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb
in the northeastern part of the capital.
Their identities were not released while military authorities contact their
families.
In eastern parts of the capital, Iraqi police recovered three bodies, said
police Lt. Bilal Ali. All three had been shot and blindfolded, and bore
signs of torture, he said.
On Monday, bombers and gunmen killed at least 41 people and injured dozens
across Iraq, while the country's politicians again failed to agree on
legislation some fear could divide the country and lead to further violence.
Political leaders postponed a parliamentary debate that had been set for
Tuesday on a draft bill to establish autonomous regions as part of a
federated Iraq.
At a meeting in New York, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul warned that
a federal system that could lead to autonomous Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish
regions in Iraq could break up the country and threaten regional stability.
"The core of the problem is that if Iraq is divided, definitely there will
be civil war and definitely neighboring countries will be involved in this,"
said Gul, whose country borders Iraq to the north. "The Middle East can't
shoulder this. It's too much."
Iraqi Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni Arab leaders on Monday discussed the
federalism bill submitted to parliament earlier this month by the largest
Shiite bloc, the United Iraqi Alliance.
The leader of the largest Sunni Arab alliance, Adnan al-Dulaimi, said the
leaders would meet again for talks on Tuesday, but that the bill would not
be up for debate in parliament until a later _ as yet unspecified _ date.
Sunni Arabs fear that creating autonomous regions could deprive them of a
share of Iraq's oil riches, which are concentrated in the Shiite-dominated
south and the largely Kurdish north.
They say that before such legislation can be passed, parliament must set up
a committee to amend the constitution, a key demand they made when they
agreed to join Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's national unity
government. One of the amendments they seek would weaken the ability to set
up self-ruling cantons.
Al-Dulaimi, as well as Shiite and Kurdish lawmakers, said the Kurds had
proposed doing both at once, setting up the committee and submitting the
draft bill for future debate. He said it would take about a year for both to
work their way through parliament.
As political discussions continue, hundreds of Iraqis have been killed in
bombings and shootings that show few signs of abating.
The government has said it will announce increased security measures ahead
of the holy month of Ramadan, which begins next week, when violence tends to
spike in Iraq.
Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari told The Associated Press the
measures would be adopted two or three days before the holy month begins to
"protect citizens from terrorists attacks during this month."
Security measures could include a series of trenches and berms the
government has said it plans to create to help secure Baghdad. Vehicle and
pedestrian traffic entering the city would also be restricted to just 28
entry points with manned checkpoints. The berms and trenches would funnel
vehicle traffic to those 28 checkpoints.
In one positive development for the government, predominantly Sunni Arab
tribes in one of the most volatile provinces joined together to fight the
insurgency in their region. They also called on the government and the
U.S.-led military coalition to supply them with weapons, a prominent tribal
leader said Monday.
Tribal leaders and clerics in Ramadi, the capital of violent Anbar province,
met last week and have set up a force of about 20,000 men "ready to purge
the city of these infidels," Sheik Fassal al-Guood, a prominent tribal
leader from Ramadi, told The Associated Press.
"People are fed up with the acts of those criminals who take Islam as a
cover for their crimes," he said. "The situation in the province is
unbearable, the city is abandoned, most of the families have fled the city
and all services are poor."
Byline: By ELENA BECATOROS
Date: 19 September 2006
Body:
BAGHDAD, Iraq_Iraqi police found the blindfolded bodies of three people
dumped in two separate parts of eastern Baghdad on Tuesday, while the U.S.
military command in Iraq said two American soldiers had been killed.
The deaths come as U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in New York warned that
Iraq was in "grave danger" of collapsing into civil war, and urged the
government to do more to foster national unity.
"If current patterns of alienation and violence persist much longer, there
is a grave danger that the Iraqi state will break down, possibly in the
midst of a full-scale civil war," Annan told a meeting of foreign ministers
at the United Nations.
But he said that if Iraqi leaders could "address the needs and common
interests of all Iraqis, the promise of peace and prosperity is still within
reach."
Two U.S. soldiers were killed on Sunday, the U.S. military command said in a
statement Tuesday. One was killed by small arms fire in north-central
Baghdad, while the other died after his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb
in the northeastern part of the capital.
Their identities were not released while military authorities contact their
families.
In eastern parts of the capital, Iraqi police recovered three bodies, said
police Lt. Bilal Ali. All three had been shot and blindfolded, and bore
signs of torture, he said.
On Monday, bombers and gunmen killed at least 41 people and injured dozens
across Iraq, while the country's politicians again failed to agree on
legislation some fear could divide the country and lead to further violence.
Political leaders postponed a parliamentary debate that had been set for
Tuesday on a draft bill to establish autonomous regions as part of a
federated Iraq.
At a meeting in New York, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul warned that
a federal system that could lead to autonomous Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish
regions in Iraq could break up the country and threaten regional stability.
"The core of the problem is that if Iraq is divided, definitely there will
be civil war and definitely neighboring countries will be involved in this,"
said Gul, whose country borders Iraq to the north. "The Middle East can't
shoulder this. It's too much."
Iraqi Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni Arab leaders on Monday discussed the
federalism bill submitted to parliament earlier this month by the largest
Shiite bloc, the United Iraqi Alliance.
The leader of the largest Sunni Arab alliance, Adnan al-Dulaimi, said the
leaders would meet again for talks on Tuesday, but that the bill would not
be up for debate in parliament until a later _ as yet unspecified _ date.
Sunni Arabs fear that creating autonomous regions could deprive them of a
share of Iraq's oil riches, which are concentrated in the Shiite-dominated
south and the largely Kurdish north.
They say that before such legislation can be passed, parliament must set up
a committee to amend the constitution, a key demand they made when they
agreed to join Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's national unity
government. One of the amendments they seek would weaken the ability to set
up self-ruling cantons.
Al-Dulaimi, as well as Shiite and Kurdish lawmakers, said the Kurds had
proposed doing both at once, setting up the committee and submitting the
draft bill for future debate. He said it would take about a year for both to
work their way through parliament.
As political discussions continue, hundreds of Iraqis have been killed in
bombings and shootings that show few signs of abating.
The government has said it will announce increased security measures ahead
of the holy month of Ramadan, which begins next week, when violence tends to
spike in Iraq.
Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari told The Associated Press the
measures would be adopted two or three days before the holy month begins to
"protect citizens from terrorists attacks during this month."
Security measures could include a series of trenches and berms the
government has said it plans to create to help secure Baghdad. Vehicle and
pedestrian traffic entering the city would also be restricted to just 28
entry points with manned checkpoints. The berms and trenches would funnel
vehicle traffic to those 28 checkpoints.
In one positive development for the government, predominantly Sunni Arab
tribes in one of the most volatile provinces joined together to fight the
insurgency in their region. They also called on the government and the
U.S.-led military coalition to supply them with weapons, a prominent tribal
leader said Monday.
Tribal leaders and clerics in Ramadi, the capital of violent Anbar province,
met last week and have set up a force of about 20,000 men "ready to purge
the city of these infidels," Sheik Fassal al-Guood, a prominent tribal
leader from Ramadi, told The Associated Press.
"People are fed up with the acts of those criminals who take Islam as a
cover for their crimes," he said. "The situation in the province is
unbearable, the city is abandoned, most of the families have fled the city
and all services are poor."