Saturday July 09, 2005
MOSUL, Iraq (AP) Masked gunmen opened fire at the an official with the country's largest Shiite Muslim group Saturday in Mosul, wounding him and three of his bodyguards, hospital officials said.
Yahya al-Haidari, a provincial official of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, was shot as he drove in the Hadba neighborhood of the northern city, said Dr. Baha al-Din al-Bakri of the Jumhuri Hospital.
Al-Haidari was hit by three bullets and was in stable condition, al-Bakri said. His bodyguards were being treated at the same hospital and were in stable condition.
A member of Ninevah province's council, Hamid Ali, confirmed al-Bakri's statements.
Sunni Arab insurgents have been targeting majority Shiites, who dominate Iraq's government.
Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press
Iraq Constitution Drafters Short on Time
By MARIAM FAM, Associated Press Writer
July 9, 2005
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi lawmakers and politicians drafting a new constitution face an abundance of tough issues: the structure of government, federalism and the role of religion — and only five weeks to resolve them.
The daunting task is compounded by the diversity of Iraq's ethnic and religious groups, each clamoring for a charter that accommodates sometimes competing agendas. It took weeks just to agree on the makeup of the committee drafting the document.
Federalism is emerging as the stickiest issue.
Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish member of the drafting committee, said those involved largely agree on a federal Iraq. But some Sunni Arabs cannot accept the concept — a deal-breaker for the Kurds who had been running their own northern region for more than a decade before the 2003 ouster of Saddam Hussein.
"They think that federalism will lead to dividing the country. We think that it will unify the country," Othman said.
Even if all authors accept the concept, difficult details must be worked out, including the boundaries and powers of regional governments, the number of federal entities and the distribution of revenue.
The Iraqi parliament has until Aug. 15 to adopt a draft constitution, which will be put to a nationwide referendum by mid-October. If approved, it will provide the basis for a new election in December — the last of three nationwide votes prescribed in an interim constitution.
Jawad al-Maliki, a senior Shiite lawmaker in the committee, said some Kurds want federal regions to have the right to an army and to sign agreements with neighboring countries, powers he said should only belong to the central government.
The Kurds also want their federal region to include areas "with Kurdish identity" even when they lie outside the provinces they now control, he said. "We object to such ethnic divisions," al-Maliki said.
Othman, a former member of the disbanded Iraqi Governing Council, believes regional governments should have most powers apart from foreign relations, defense and planning affairs. He said a federal system should recognize the uniqueness of ethnic groups that have their own culture and language, adding the Kurds only want their region to include those Kurdish areas that are next to the ones they already run.
Some Shiites also have called for establishing federal regions in central and southern Iraq.
Salih al-Mutlak, a Sunni Arab politician, said he was alarmed by the proposed language. "This is the beginning of dividing Iraq," he said of some Kurdish demands.
Al-Mutlak is among 15 Sunni Arabs added to the 55-member drafting committee after some members of the minority threatened to scuttle the charter by opposing it in an October referendum unless they got more representation in the drafting phase.
Shiite and Kurdish politicians — who struck an alliance after coming first and second in historic Jan. 30 polls — know they cannot afford to alienate Sunnis Arabs, but some worry about including them.
Sunnis boycotted the parliamentary elections and are believed to make up the core of an insurgency that has killed more than 1,475 people since the Shiite-dominated interim government took office on April 28.
"They have different views. There are nationalists and Islamists and some have extremist opinions. This can create complications and problems." Othman said. "But we think that their presence is necessary."
Shiite legislator Jalal al-Deen al-Saghir said discussions with the Sunnis Arabs were "positive," but added: "There is a fear that some ... may want to scuttle the constitution from the inside."
In a recent interview with the Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, said the constitution could be drafted on time if Sunni Arabs "don't come up with impossible conditions," such as scrapping the law banning former senior members of Saddam's Baath party from public institutions.
"This law can be amended, but cannot be canceled," Talabani said.
Parliament recently adopted a statement that forbids the activities of the "fascist" Baath party.
Articulating Iraq's relationship to the Arab and Islamic worlds also is a sensitive issue.
"They should write that the Arabs of Iraq are part of the Arab nation," said Othman. "Or even better, drop the whole sentence."
Al-Mutlak called for stronger language, saying Iraq is an Arab country — despite a Kurdish minority estimated at about 15 percent to 20 percent.
Some secular-minded Iraqis fear the Shiites might demand a bigger role for religion. But politicians said there's general agreement on stating that Islam will be "a main source of legislation."
Also on the table is the shape of the government, with lawmakers favoring a parliamentary system.
U.S. officials have strongly urged Iraqis to honor the set deadlines, but some legislators are skeptical all the issues could be resolved on time.
Some say the thorny subjects should be left out until after the December vote. Others insist the constitution has be comprehensive and complete.
"All these issues won't be big problems if we have the will to reach an agreement," said al-Maliki, the Shiite lawmaker. "But if we want to look for differences, we'll find differences."
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050709/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_constitution_2
July 9, 2005
By Matthew Jones and Jeremy Lovell
LONDON (Reuters) - The three bombs that ripped through London underground trains this week went off almost simultaneously, police said on Saturday, making it more likely they were detonated by timers rather than suicide bombers.
A fourth bomb that blew up a bus almost an hour later was probably left in a bag and not triggered by a suicide bomber, they added.
The blasts killed more than 50 people. Police did not speculate why the fourth bomb went off on a bus but media and security experts speculated that it had initially been destined for a train.
Investigators were struggling in extreme heat to retrieve bodies still trapped underground two days after the attacks, and anxious relatives were frantically looking for loved ones missing since the rush-hour blasts on Thursday morning.
Police said the process of recovering bodies could continue for days in a hot, narrow and rat-infested tunnel deep below ground at King's Cross station.
"This is going to be a very long process...the conditions are extremely difficult. They're working their way through and bodies have been removed. We're very conscious of the anguish of those who are awaiting news of their loved ones," said Andy Trotter, deputy chief constable at British Transport Police.
DEADLIEST ATTACK
The government said people across Britain would be asked to observe two minutes' silence at noon on Thursday, a week after the deadliest peacetime attack on the capital.
Police, who have made no arrests, said they were looking for no specific individuals and the bombs were made of high explosive, not home-made materials.
A third Islamist group claimed responsibility for the blasts, which government ministers said bore the hallmarks of the Islamic militant al Qaeda network which was behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
"All three bombs on the London Underground system actually exploded within seconds of each other at around 8:50 in the morning," Scotland Yard Deputy Assistant Commissioner Brian Paddick told a news conference.
He said the fact that the bombs went off within 50 seconds of each other suggested they were set off by timers rather than detonated manually, although police did not rule that out.
Police previously believed the three blasts were spread over nearly half an hour, but revised their information in the light of new technical data and witness statements, he said.
ODD ONE OUT
The fourth bomb exploded on a bus near Euston railway station at 9:47 a.m.
"The most logical explanation is that one of the terrorists was unable to board an underground train -- probably because of the rapid closure of the system -- and ended up with a primed bomb and no target," said Dominic Armstrong, head of research and intelligence at security group Aegis Defense Services.
"In the circumstances, it seems understandable that he should seek another similar target quickly."
Flowers, notes and appeals for information about missing relatives piled up outside King's Cross station. About 30 people, of many nationalities and religions, were still unaccounted for.
"Barbarism will never kill freedom," read one note in French. "Madrid is with London," said another. Train bombings linked to al Qaeda killed 191 people in Madrid last year.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair told BBC radio: "This type of terrorism has very deep roots...it is only when you start to pull it up by the roots that you will deal with it."
BUSH: 'STAY ON THE OFFENCE'
His key ally, President Bush, reiterated this admiration for Britain's calm reaction and resilience.
Warning Americans the threat of attacks remained, he said in his weekly radio address: "We will stay on the offence, fighting the terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them at home."
Police said 49 people were confirmed dead in London, but emergency staff were still trying to retrieve bodies in one of the subway system's deepest tunnels. One expert likened the conditions to working in a "foetid drain."
Police say there could be more attacks and security experts suggest would-be attackers could opt to kill themselves and take as many victims with them as possible if confronted.
"It's perfectly possible ... terrorists could strike again. This time they got through but we are quite determined to redouble our efforts to keep London safe," Trotter said.
Life was returning to normal in the capital on Saturday but there were a number of false alarms, including one at an underground station.
NEW CLAIM
A group which said it had links to al Qaeda called the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades said it was behind the blasts and suggested it could strike again. It was the third such claim by an Islamist group since the explosions.
The group has said it was behind previous attacks in Turkey and Spain. However, intelligence sources treated its statements with skepticism, seeing it as an opportunistic group trying to associate itself with al Qaeda.
Two other groups had already claimed responsibility for the London attacks, saying the blasts were punishment for Britain's involvement in Iraq, and other U.S. allies could be next.
Parts of London's transport network, which carries three million people a day, could be disrupted for weeks.