Posted on 08/22/2005 3:53:57 PM PDT by Gucho
Monday, Aug 22, 2005
The Iraqi parliament has failed to agree on a draft constitution and will take a few more days to try to solve the impasse.
Parliament was adjourned at midnight on Monday night in Baghdad to get more time to try to win over the Sunni Arab minority.
Sunni support is key to ending the insurgency.
Negotiators representing majority Shiites, Kurds and Sunni Arabs finished the draft on Monday and prepared to submit it to parliament as the lawmakers convened minutes before midnight.
But they withdrew the draft in the final minutes because of fierce resistance over issues including federalism, which Sunnis fear could cut them out of most of the country's vast oil wealth.
The 15 Sunni Arab members of the drafting committee issued a statement early Tuesday saying they had rejected the constitution because the government and the committee did not abide by an agreement for consensus.
The main outstanding issues were federalism, the formation of federal units, problems related to mentioning the Baath Party in the constitution, and the division of powers between the president, the parliament and the Cabinet.
Repeated delays are an embarrassment for the Bush administration at a time of growing doubts within the United States over the mission in Iraq.
The first deadline to adopt a constitution expired a week ago, with parliament voting to extend it for seven days. The legislature supposedly had to disband if the deadline was not met, but lawmakers said nothing about that late Monday.
Shiites and Kurds have enough seats in parliament to win approval for a draft without the Sunni Arabs. But the Sunni minority could scuttle the constitution when voters decide whether to ratify it in the Oct. 15 referendum. Under current rules, the constitution would be defeated if it is opposed by two-thirds of the voters in three of Iraq's 18 provinces. Sunni Arabs form the majority in at least four provinces.
The Kurds demand federalism to protect their self-rule in three northern provinces. Sunni Arabs oppose that, fearing Kurds want to declare independence.
Shiites are divided, with factions supporting federalism wanting to build a Shiite region in the south.
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The rules should be changed. 20% or less of the entire population should not be able to halt the country.
Monday, August 22, 2005
Mon Aug 22, 3:58 PM ET - A US soldier watches the sunset over the desert in Afghanistan while on patrol. US and Afghan forces have killed at least 105 Taliban militants in the past three weeks as they try to secure the country before key legislative elections, the American military said.(AFP/Pool/File/Jim Hollander)
August 22, 2005
FORWARD OPERATING BASE GABE, Baqubah, Iraq -- Coalition Soldiers sat back as local Iraqi leaders discussed issues of concern in the Al-Abarra area Aug. 11.
The meeting, at the Al-Abarra Government Building, brought together the members of the city council, the local Iraqi army commander and the Iraqi police chiefs from the area to discuss topics ranging from water to voting on Iraq’s new constitution.
The Coalition Soldiers’ job at these meetings has been to mentor the Iraqi leaders and provide advice on how they should run things, but recently the Soldiers have taken a back seat, said Capt. Jason Spencer, acting commander of Company C, 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor and native of Tecunsch, Okla.
"Within the six months that we’ve been here it has been a pretty drastic change," he said. "The Iraqis are handling a lot of the problems themselves and it is just us going along with them for mentorship and to guide them in the right direction."
Staff Sgt. Anthony R. Franke, Headquarters noncommissioned officer in charge of civil military operations for 2nd Battalion, 24th Armor agreed that the city council has experienced a lot of growth.
"The city council meetings have progressed from being basically a group of guys who come together and gripe and complain about everything, to having an agenda and getting situations fixed, or raising issues and coming up with solutions to their problems," Franke said. "It has been very rewarding to watch this happen."
Specialist Tiffany Dalagelis, civil affairs specialist with Company C, 445th Civil Affairs Battalion, from Mountain View, Calif., speaks to women about upcoming elections and projects that they might like to see happen in their community. (Photo by Sgt. Jennifer J. Eidson, 22nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)
City council members have come a long way, but one issue they still need to work on is informing the local Iraqis on their council success, said Capt. Todd Van Orsdel, a civil affairs team leader for Company C, 445th Civil Affairs Battalion and native of Minneapolis.
"The city council does a lot of great things," Van Orsdel said. "The problem is that information is not getting down to the people. The people want that information. People want to be part of the process and they want to here from their personal city councilman."
Van Orsdel said the Coalition Soldiers are trying to help the council out by letting the locals know what their leaders are doing for them, but it is something he is encouraging the council members to start doing.
"The next step that we (hope to do) when we go out and meet the villagers is to be able to take their city council leader with us, just as we do a military mission where the Iraqi army is the tip of the spear and we are behind them in a supporting role," he said. "We need to do the same thing with the local politicians; where they are out there meeting the people and we are behind them in a supporting role."
The council members still have work to do, but Van Orsdel said he has seen a lot change in Iraq and knows that the Iraqi leaders are working to better their country.
"A year ago today, you wouldn’t have a Iraqi company commander and (city council) working hand in hand and you wouldn’t have a city council that comes to a meeting with a prewritten agenda of what they want to accomplish and what they want to talk about," Van Orsdel said. "They’re focused on where they want to go and the Coalition has been a big part of that. It was through our guidance that they got there, but it is the Iraqi people themselves that have done this and we celebrate all their successes."
The changes that the Iraqi people and Coalition Soldiers have endured to better the country and develop their government and military did not happen over night and Van Orsdel said he knows, with continued combined efforts, the Iraqis will be prepared to run their country without Coalition help.
"We move slowly sometimes," Van Orsdel said. "But we constantly move towards them being able to stand on their own in a legitimate and safe secure government, so some day we can all go home."
Story by Sgt. Jennifer J. Eidson - 22nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
23rd August 2005
ISLAMABAD: Kidnappers in Iraq have released 11 Pakistanis, three Egyptians and two Indians who were abducted earlier this month, the foreign office in Pakistan said yesterday.
The Pakistanis, who worked with a Kuwaiti firm, went missing while travelling by bus from the southern Iraqi city of Basra to the capital Baghdad on August 13, foreign office spokesman Naeem Khan said.
"We have just been informed by the Kuwaiti company that all 11 Pakistanis have been freed," he said.
They were currently in Basra and would be transported to Kuwait in the next 24 hours.
Two Indians and three Egyptians abducted at the same time had also been freed, Khan said.
There was no immediate confirmation from either Cairo or New Delhi.
Pakistanis in Iraq have suffered a number of attacks and abductions despite Islamabad's opposition to the US-led invasion in March 2003.
In July, Pakistan closed its mission in Baghdad when its ambassador was attacked. Envoy Younis Khan was evacuated to the Jordanian capital Amman shortly after militants opened fire on his convoy in the capital.
BAGHDAD, Aug 22 (KUNA) -- Eight Iraqi policemen and three civilians were killed Monday by gunmen north of Baghdad.
An Iraqi police source asserted during a statement to the press that policemen had left a local police station wearing civilian clothes and were travelling in a minivan along with three civilians when gunmen followed them in three cars and opened fire on them.
The source added the attack occurred in the small town of Tarmiya, north of the capital.
KUWAIT, Aug 22 (KUNA) -- Three soldiers were injured in a mine explosion in Kuwait on Monday, the Kuwaiti army said.
It added in a statement the mine went off when a military team was clearing mines left by the Iraqi forces after the 1990-91 Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, injuring the three servicemen.
The injured soldiers were rushed to hospital and the blast was being investigated, added the statement.
The statement did not specify the location of the blast, neither nationalities nor names of the soldiers.
Monday, August 22, 2005
(NOTE): Scroll down.
By Samantha Maiden
August 23, 2005
PETER Costello is urging radical Muslim clerics to leave Australia if they do not share the nation's values ahead of today's national terrorism summit organised by the Prime Minister.
As Muslim leaders gather in Canberra to discuss the spread of Islamic fundamentalism, the Treasurer has warned Australia cannot afford to be ambivalent about the teachings of extremists.
John Howard has urged Islamic leaders to take a greater role in rejecting violence but he has been more restrained than the Treasurer.
"If you don't like those values, then don't come here. Australia is not for you," Mr Costello said yesterday.
"This is the way I look at it: Australia is a secular society, with parliamentary law, part of the Western tradition of individual rights."
In an interview with The Australian, Mr Costello said migrants needed to understand and respect the "core values" of democracy, a secular society and the equality of women.
And he warned that Australia needed to be clear that the nation's core values would not change.
"If you are looking for a country that practises theocracy, sharia law - which is anti-Western - there are those countries in the world ... you will be happy there. But you won't be happy in Australia."
But he stopped short of supporting the deportation of radical Muslim leaders, in the wake of similar debates in Britain and France.
Mr Howard said in Sydney that he would be reminding the Islamic leaders at the summit that "our common values as Australians transcend any other allegiances or commitments".
He said Muslim leaders had a "particular responsibility" to make clear that Islam totally rejected violence and terrorism and that he wanted them to take ownership of the process of dealing with extremists' views.
"The purpose of this meeting is to underline to the leadership of the Muslim community that it has responsibilities," Mr Howard said.
He refused to budge on suggestions he should include extremists in the summit and said they would flood the media with extreme remarks.
"It would undermine the good work of the leaders of 99 per cent of the Muslim community in Australia who are trying to do the right thing, are trying to work with their fellow Australians and don't want prominence given to extremists," he said.
Kim Beazley and Labor foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd said it was important to speak as widely as possible but said the Government would be receiving sensible advice on who should be included.
"I want to see the determination that we're going to uphold respect for Australian values - Australian values of tolerance, Australian values of ensuring that we respect another person's rights, both in religious terms and their own dignity - and to make sure that this notion of respect is included in the curriculum of all schools," Mr Beazley said.
Mr Costello also threw his support behind Australia maintaining a strong skilled migration policy. "Immigration overall helps our country in a security sense and an economic sense. I think there is an acceptance of immigration, more so than 10 years ago. I would like to see a strong immigration policy. I am not putting numbers on it."
Earlier this month, the Treasurer said the notion that terrorists secured a reward in the afterlife for waging jihad against Westerners was "repulsive".
Yesterday he said: "I have seen people that say they believe in sharia law and theocracy. If that's their view, don't come to this country. This one is not for you. I don't think we can afford to be ambivalent about this point to young people or anyone else."
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer also compared fundamentalist Muslims to Nazis as he defended the decision not to invite radical clerics to today's summit.
BAGHDAD, Aug 21 (KUNA) -- The US forces arrested on Sunday eight gunmen, including a leader of an armed group, in Tikrit Province, north of Baghdad.
Spokesperson for Task Force Liberty told Kuwait News Agency that members of the force arrested eight gunmen in a burst and search operation, noting that the gunmen were involved in a number of attacks with explosives against the coalition forces.
The source said that one of the gunmen is a leader of an armed group, noting that the detainees were possessing weapons and different types of explosives.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi Police on Sunday found a weapons hideout in a voting center in Kirkuk, northern Iraq.
A press release issued by the Informational Team in north central Iraq said today that the members of Kirkuk Police found the hideout in a school used currently as a polling station in northern Kirkuk Province.
It added that the hideout contained six 60mm mortar rounds, two rocket lunching assemblies, detonator, and an explosive belt, noting that the weapons were clean and wrapped in fabrics.
The Independent Commission for Elections in Iraq opened 25 voting centers in Kirkuk Province in preparation for the referendum process on the permanent Iraqi constitution.
281 people arrested in Iraq for terror-related attacks -- spokesman
BAGHDAD, Aug 21 (KUNA) -- Up to 281 people have been arrested around Iraq for being implicated in terror-related attacks, said spokesman for the Iraqi government Laith Kibba on Sunday.
Speaking at a press conference, he said that among those arrested were 80 Egyptians, 64 Syrians, 41 Sudanese, 22 Saudis, 17 Jordanians, 10 Palestinians, seven Libyans, six Tunisians, as well as 12 Iranians, four Turks and one British national.
He added that all those arrested would stand before Iraqi courts, warning that terrorism in Iraq may spread to neighboring states if not countered.
Kibba expressed hope that Jordan would sign a security agreement with Iraq so as to allow for the pursuit of terrorists in its territories, adding that new laws would be passed allowing for aiding families for those killed in terrorist attacks.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/home/Story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=762244
Monday, August 22, 2005
AMMAN, Jordan — A Syrian linked to an Iraqi-based terrorist group has been arrested as the prime suspect in the rocket attack that barely missed U.S. warships docked in the port of Aqaba (search), the Jordanian government said Monday.
The government statement, read on state television, said the suspect, Mohammed Hassan Abdullah al-Sihly (search), plotted and carried out the attack along with two of his sons and an Iraqi.
The statement said the plotters were part of an Iraq-based terrorist group, which was not named. more...
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
NETZARIM: Settlers left the Gaza Strip’s last Jewish enclave on Monday to complete the evacuation of the territory after nearly four decades of occupation.
“It’s basically finished,” Maj Gen Dan Harel, chief of Israel’s southern command, told reporters in Netzarim, where soldiers were trying to coax a last scattering of settlers to board buses to Israel.
But in the West Bank, radicals opposed to ceding settlements dug in for a last stand at two enclaves that also are due to be removed under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s pullout plan.
In Netzarim, there was no sign of the noisy protests or burning barricades that greeted the evacuation of some of the other 20 settlements in Gaza last week. Soldiers joined settlers in two hours of tearful prayers. Then, men hugged each other and set off on a mournful last procession carrying on their shoulders the large candelabra, or menorah, they removed from the synagogue. “We are leaving against our will, but we are not going with our heads bowed,” said Rabbi Tzion Tzion-Tawil.
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