Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Media: The Associated Press
Byline: By SINAN SALAHEDDIN
Date: 18 September 2006
Body:
BAGHDAD, Iraq_Bombers and gunmen killed eight people in a tense city
northeast of Baghdad on Monday as Iraqi security forces prepared to further
tighten security ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, when violence
traditionally spikes across Iraq.
In the area in and around Baqouba, 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of the
capital, three Iraqi army soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb blast that
targeted their patrol. A gunman on a motorcycle killed a woman walking down
a street and, in a separate incident, a group attacked a family in their
home killing two brothers. In Muqdadiyah, northeast, an armed group attacked
and killed two civilians.
In southern Basra, police found the body of Lt. Col. Fawzi Abdul Karim
al-Mousawi, chief of the city's anti-terrorism department. Al-Mousawi was
kidnapped late Sunday in front of his house by a group of armed men using
two cars. He had been handcuffed and shot seven times.
Gunmen killed a former member of the defunct Ba'th Party in Hillah, south of
Baghdad.
Police in the capital also found the bodies of three men in eastern Baghdad.
All were bound, blindfolded and had been shot in the head.
The violence came after a particularly bloody day north of the capital and
as the government was preparing to announce new security measures for
Baghdad ahead of Ramadan, which is expected to start on Sept. 24.
Six bombs killed 24 people and wounded 84 in Kirkuk, a northern oil city the
Kurds want added to their self-ruled region.
The violence came as politicians argued over federation legislation that a
Sunni Arab party warned could tear Iraq apart.
The tortured bodies of 15 people were found elsewhere, probable victims of
worsening sectarian reprisals, and the U.S. military announced that a sailor
assigned to the Marines died Saturday from wounds suffered during combat in
Iraq's restive western Anbar province.
There was no indication who was behind the bombings on Sunday in Kirkuk, a
city 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of Baghdad that lies in the center of
Iraq's vast northern oil fields and is the subject of rival claims by the
region's Arabs, Kurds and Turkomen.
The worst assault involved a suicide truck bomb that exploded in the city
center, killing 18 and wounding 55. A few hours later, a suicide car bomb
rammed into a joint U.S.-Iraqi army patrol in the south of the city, killing
at least three bystanders and wounding eight people.
Two roadside bombs and two parked car bombs went off in other parts of the
city, killing three civilians and wounding 21 people, including two
policemen and four soldiers.
In the biggest bombing, a gunman in the truck also fired on civilians before
the vehicle exploded near Kirkuk's criminal court and the headquarters of
the two main Kurdish political parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and
the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, police said.
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan is headed by Iraqi President Jalal
Talabani, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party is led by the president of the
autonomous Kurdistan region, Massoud Barzani.
Barzani angered many Iraqis when he ordered Sept. 1 that the national flag
be replaced by the Kurdish banner on all government buildings in the Kurdish
self-rule zone. Sunni Arabs, in particular, fear Kurds will use a federal
system to push for full secession.
Thousands of Kurds were forced to flee the Kirkuk area during Saddam
Hussein's regime, which pursued an "Arabization" campaign to force out
ethnic Kurds and Turkomen. Kurds now want to incorporate Kirkuk into their
autonomous region, an idea that has been caught up in the heated debate over
the proposal to transform Iraq into a federated state.
The second largest Sunni Arab party, the National Dialogue Front, on Sunday
rejected proposed legislation to pave the way for a federal system, arguing
that would result in the division of the country.
The Front's call for the bill to be dropped came a day before a planned
informal meeting of leaders from all parties in parliament to discuss the
legislation, which was proposed last week by the main Shiite Muslim
alliance.
The idea of federalism is enshrined in the Iraqi constitution adopted last
fall, but before it can be implemented the mechanics have to be legislated
and approved in a national referendum.
Last week, the Iraqi parliament suspended a legislative session after two
major Sunni Arab blocs boycotted the proceedings to protest the draft
submitted by the Shiites' United Iraqi Alliance.
Some Shiites want to create an autonomous region in the oil-rich south where
they are dominant. The Kurds already have their region in the north, so
Sunni Arabs would be left with Iraq's western provinces _ which are mostly
desert and lack oil resources.
Byline: By SINAN SALAHEDDIN
Date: 18 September 2006
Body:
BAGHDAD, Iraq_Bombers and gunmen killed eight people in a tense city
northeast of Baghdad on Monday as Iraqi security forces prepared to further
tighten security ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, when violence
traditionally spikes across Iraq.
In the area in and around Baqouba, 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of the
capital, three Iraqi army soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb blast that
targeted their patrol. A gunman on a motorcycle killed a woman walking down
a street and, in a separate incident, a group attacked a family in their
home killing two brothers. In Muqdadiyah, northeast, an armed group attacked
and killed two civilians.
In southern Basra, police found the body of Lt. Col. Fawzi Abdul Karim
al-Mousawi, chief of the city's anti-terrorism department. Al-Mousawi was
kidnapped late Sunday in front of his house by a group of armed men using
two cars. He had been handcuffed and shot seven times.
Gunmen killed a former member of the defunct Ba'th Party in Hillah, south of
Baghdad.
Police in the capital also found the bodies of three men in eastern Baghdad.
All were bound, blindfolded and had been shot in the head.
The violence came after a particularly bloody day north of the capital and
as the government was preparing to announce new security measures for
Baghdad ahead of Ramadan, which is expected to start on Sept. 24.
Six bombs killed 24 people and wounded 84 in Kirkuk, a northern oil city the
Kurds want added to their self-ruled region.
The violence came as politicians argued over federation legislation that a
Sunni Arab party warned could tear Iraq apart.
The tortured bodies of 15 people were found elsewhere, probable victims of
worsening sectarian reprisals, and the U.S. military announced that a sailor
assigned to the Marines died Saturday from wounds suffered during combat in
Iraq's restive western Anbar province.
There was no indication who was behind the bombings on Sunday in Kirkuk, a
city 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of Baghdad that lies in the center of
Iraq's vast northern oil fields and is the subject of rival claims by the
region's Arabs, Kurds and Turkomen.
The worst assault involved a suicide truck bomb that exploded in the city
center, killing 18 and wounding 55. A few hours later, a suicide car bomb
rammed into a joint U.S.-Iraqi army patrol in the south of the city, killing
at least three bystanders and wounding eight people.
Two roadside bombs and two parked car bombs went off in other parts of the
city, killing three civilians and wounding 21 people, including two
policemen and four soldiers.
In the biggest bombing, a gunman in the truck also fired on civilians before
the vehicle exploded near Kirkuk's criminal court and the headquarters of
the two main Kurdish political parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and
the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, police said.
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan is headed by Iraqi President Jalal
Talabani, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party is led by the president of the
autonomous Kurdistan region, Massoud Barzani.
Barzani angered many Iraqis when he ordered Sept. 1 that the national flag
be replaced by the Kurdish banner on all government buildings in the Kurdish
self-rule zone. Sunni Arabs, in particular, fear Kurds will use a federal
system to push for full secession.
Thousands of Kurds were forced to flee the Kirkuk area during Saddam
Hussein's regime, which pursued an "Arabization" campaign to force out
ethnic Kurds and Turkomen. Kurds now want to incorporate Kirkuk into their
autonomous region, an idea that has been caught up in the heated debate over
the proposal to transform Iraq into a federated state.
The second largest Sunni Arab party, the National Dialogue Front, on Sunday
rejected proposed legislation to pave the way for a federal system, arguing
that would result in the division of the country.
The Front's call for the bill to be dropped came a day before a planned
informal meeting of leaders from all parties in parliament to discuss the
legislation, which was proposed last week by the main Shiite Muslim
alliance.
The idea of federalism is enshrined in the Iraqi constitution adopted last
fall, but before it can be implemented the mechanics have to be legislated
and approved in a national referendum.
Last week, the Iraqi parliament suspended a legislative session after two
major Sunni Arab blocs boycotted the proceedings to protest the draft
submitted by the Shiites' United Iraqi Alliance.
Some Shiites want to create an autonomous region in the oil-rich south where
they are dominant. The Kurds already have their region in the north, so
Sunni Arabs would be left with Iraq's western provinces _ which are mostly
desert and lack oil resources.