Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
February 25, 2007
Pg. 6
By Richard A. Oppel Jr.
BAGHDAD, Feb. 24 — A truck bomb detonated beside a Sunni mosque and public market near Falluja on Saturday, killing 36 people and wounding at least 62 more worshipers a day after the imam there condemned Sunni militants, according to Iraqi security authorities.
The blast, which struck during a prayer service in Habbaniya, a town between Falluja and Ramadi in one of the most dangerous areas of Sunni-dominated Anbar Province, was unusual in that such bombings are a staple of Sunni insurgents. Attacks of that sort are usually directed at Iraqi police and soldiers, or at Shiite sites or mixed neighborhoods.
Residents of Habbaniya said the mosque’s imam had condemned Qaeda militants during Friday Prayer the day before, and there was immediate speculation that the attack was linked to his sermon.
A statement issued by the American military said the blast struck about 4:30 p.m. near a school and Iraqi police station, in addition to the mosque. “The target of the attack is not known,” the statement said. The military said American forces arrived quickly to help secure the area and transport victims to hospitals.
The bombing was the worst of several attacks in Iraq on Saturday, including one that left at least eight Iraqi national policemen dead at a checkpoint about two miles south of Baghdad International Airport.
According to the American military, witnesses said as many as 10 insurgents rushed to the checkpoint and leaped out of a vehicle, firing assault rifles and lobbing grenades at the police.
Two attackers were killed, but a military statement did not say what had happened to the other attackers. The statement also said American forces arrived and were fired on by the attackers, and then called in unspecified “aviation support.”
In another car bombing, at least three people were killed and nine wounded in Baghdad near the compound of Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the powerful Shiite party Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the Interior Ministry said.
On Friday, American forces detained and then released Mr. Hakim’s eldest son, Amar, after he crossed the border from Iran back into Iraq. The detention spurred demonstrations in Basra and the Shiite holy city of Najaf, and prompted the American military to issue a statement on Saturday calling the episode “unfortunate” but suggesting members of Amar al-Hakim’s convoy had provoked the scuffle.
Reiterating both his earlier comments as well as assertions made on Friday by a senior aide to his father, Amar al-Hakim complained at a news conference in Najaf that American forces had physically abused his guards and treated him roughly and disrespectfully.
President Jalal Talabani, whose Kurdish political coalition is the primary governing partner of the dominant Shiite coalition headed by the elder Mr. Hakim, released a statement sharply criticizing the detention and demanding that American commanders hold accountable soldiers who he said had mistreated Mr. Hakim.
Mr. Hakim is considered an heir to his father’s political dynasty, and in recent years he has spent much of his time in Shiite southern Iraq building support for his father’s ambitions, including a controversial proposal to carve out an autonomous state made up of nine Shiite provinces.
Initially, an American military official said Amar al-Hakim was seized because his passport had expired and because he was traveling with men possessing a large number of weapons.
On Saturday, the military released a longer but less specific statement that said Mr. Hakim was never mistreated. And while Iraqi border officials and associates of Mr. Hakim have said he was detained by American troops, the military on Saturday asserted that Iraqi border forces led the detainment and were merely “supported” by American forces.
Mr. Hakim’s convoy “was initially stopped because the vehicles met specific criteria for further investigation in an area where smuggling activity has taken place in the past,” the military said. “At the time, members of the convoy did not cooperate with Coalition Forces and displayed suspicious activities which subsequently led to Mr. Hakim’s detention.”
Mr. Hakim “was treated with dignity and respect throughout the incident,” the military said, adding that “unfortunate incidents such as this occasionally occur as Iraq endeavors to secure its borders.”
Qais Mizher contributed reporting from Baghdad, and Iraqi employees of The New York Times from Najaf and Habbaniya.
February 25, 2007
Pg. 6
By Richard A. Oppel Jr.
BAGHDAD, Feb. 24 — A truck bomb detonated beside a Sunni mosque and public market near Falluja on Saturday, killing 36 people and wounding at least 62 more worshipers a day after the imam there condemned Sunni militants, according to Iraqi security authorities.
The blast, which struck during a prayer service in Habbaniya, a town between Falluja and Ramadi in one of the most dangerous areas of Sunni-dominated Anbar Province, was unusual in that such bombings are a staple of Sunni insurgents. Attacks of that sort are usually directed at Iraqi police and soldiers, or at Shiite sites or mixed neighborhoods.
Residents of Habbaniya said the mosque’s imam had condemned Qaeda militants during Friday Prayer the day before, and there was immediate speculation that the attack was linked to his sermon.
A statement issued by the American military said the blast struck about 4:30 p.m. near a school and Iraqi police station, in addition to the mosque. “The target of the attack is not known,” the statement said. The military said American forces arrived quickly to help secure the area and transport victims to hospitals.
The bombing was the worst of several attacks in Iraq on Saturday, including one that left at least eight Iraqi national policemen dead at a checkpoint about two miles south of Baghdad International Airport.
According to the American military, witnesses said as many as 10 insurgents rushed to the checkpoint and leaped out of a vehicle, firing assault rifles and lobbing grenades at the police.
Two attackers were killed, but a military statement did not say what had happened to the other attackers. The statement also said American forces arrived and were fired on by the attackers, and then called in unspecified “aviation support.”
In another car bombing, at least three people were killed and nine wounded in Baghdad near the compound of Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the powerful Shiite party Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the Interior Ministry said.
On Friday, American forces detained and then released Mr. Hakim’s eldest son, Amar, after he crossed the border from Iran back into Iraq. The detention spurred demonstrations in Basra and the Shiite holy city of Najaf, and prompted the American military to issue a statement on Saturday calling the episode “unfortunate” but suggesting members of Amar al-Hakim’s convoy had provoked the scuffle.
Reiterating both his earlier comments as well as assertions made on Friday by a senior aide to his father, Amar al-Hakim complained at a news conference in Najaf that American forces had physically abused his guards and treated him roughly and disrespectfully.
President Jalal Talabani, whose Kurdish political coalition is the primary governing partner of the dominant Shiite coalition headed by the elder Mr. Hakim, released a statement sharply criticizing the detention and demanding that American commanders hold accountable soldiers who he said had mistreated Mr. Hakim.
Mr. Hakim is considered an heir to his father’s political dynasty, and in recent years he has spent much of his time in Shiite southern Iraq building support for his father’s ambitions, including a controversial proposal to carve out an autonomous state made up of nine Shiite provinces.
Initially, an American military official said Amar al-Hakim was seized because his passport had expired and because he was traveling with men possessing a large number of weapons.
On Saturday, the military released a longer but less specific statement that said Mr. Hakim was never mistreated. And while Iraqi border officials and associates of Mr. Hakim have said he was detained by American troops, the military on Saturday asserted that Iraqi border forces led the detainment and were merely “supported” by American forces.
Mr. Hakim’s convoy “was initially stopped because the vehicles met specific criteria for further investigation in an area where smuggling activity has taken place in the past,” the military said. “At the time, members of the convoy did not cooperate with Coalition Forces and displayed suspicious activities which subsequently led to Mr. Hakim’s detention.”
Mr. Hakim “was treated with dignity and respect throughout the incident,” the military said, adding that “unfortunate incidents such as this occasionally occur as Iraq endeavors to secure its borders.”
Qais Mizher contributed reporting from Baghdad, and Iraqi employees of The New York Times from Najaf and Habbaniya.