Twenty-one defendants accused of bombing the U.S. and French Embassies last December were formally arraigned today, as their trial began under extreme security.
To be tried in absentia are four defendants who are at large, the prosecutor general said.
Five people were killed and 86 injured in the rash of bombings on Dec. 12. Besides the U.S. and French embassies, four Kuwaiti targets were bombed.
The prosecution has demanded the death penalty for 19 of the defendants. The others are believed to have played a lesser role in the bombings in and around the capital of this oil-rich Arab nation . . . Of the other defendants, 17 are Iraqis; two, Lebanese, three, Kuwaitis and two are stateless. Most of them said they belonged to Al-Dawa (Islamic Call) Party, an Iraqi movement of Shiite Moslem fanatics who are pro-Iranian, said court sources who asked not to be identified. ~~ http://www.juancole.com/2006/07/congress-expects-islamic-dawa-to.html
Are the Embassy bombers ruling Iraq from foreign jail cells?
Where do you get articles from the 1980's? Algore hadn't invented the Internet by then.
It means: call, summon, or invite.
Hope that helps.
The entire name is The Islamic Call Party and has a few extra words in it besides Al Dawa.