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30 beheaded bodies found in Iraq
Today's Headlines
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Africa Horn
Blasts in Ethiopia capital kill one, injure several
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - A series of blasts killed one person and injured several others in Addis Ababa on Monday, the first fatality in a string of mysterious explosions in the Ethiopian capital. One person was killed and three others injured when the first blast ripped through a minibus in the southern part of the city.

Over the next six hours in different parts of Addis Ababa, explosions went off in a small cafe, a guard shack and at an abattoir. An employee in the cafe said the explosion there injured 10 people and ambulances could be seen leaving for the hospital. Police who had cordoned off the area around the cafe, littered with broken glass, had no immediate comment. The fourth explosion, in the busy Mercato trading district, tore the tin roof off a guard shack near some warehouses. A sidewalk vendor was seriously injured, witnesses said.

A Reuters reporter at the scene of the bus explosion said the rear of the 11-seat vehicle was torn apart by the blast. The bus owner, Berhanu Gebremichael, told Reuters: "One person was killed in the explosion. Three others were injured slightly and they are in hospital for treatment."

It was the first death in a wave of attacks that began in January with minor blasts targeting public buildings and hotels. Although grenade attacks to settle scores are relatively common in Ethiopia, the unexplained blasts have boosted tension in Addis, which was shaken by two bouts of unrest in the wake of disputed parliamentary elections last May. At least 80 people were killed in clashes between police and opposition demonstrators in June and November. On March 7 this year, three separate explosions injured at least four people at a restaurant, a market and outside a school.

Ethiopia's government said the plastic explosives used in those blasts were smuggled from neighboring Eritrea and used by what it called Eritrean-backed "terrorists." Eritrea, which has been locked in a dispute with Ethiopia over their border since a 1998-2000 war that killed 70,000 people, ridiculed the charges. The Ethiopian government has also accused the chief opposition coalition of trying to plan such attacks, and has blamed explosions in the past on Oromo Liberation Forces rebels. The group has fought for the independence of the southern Oromo region since 1993.
Posted by: Steve || 03/27/2006 09:02 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Round up the Bangladeshis usual suspects.
Posted by: ed || 03/27/2006 11:23 Comments || Top||


Somali hard boyz seize Mogadishu port, airstrip
Some 300 armed Islamic militiamen seized a key port and airstrip on the northeastern outskirts of Somalia's capital on Saturday adding to some of the heaviest of four days of bloodshed between the rival factions, which has killed at least 73 people. Militia commanders have said that the fighters who are loyal to a group of radical Islamic clerics attacked a rival militia force in control of the main road leading to El Maan port and the Issaley airstrip.

Heavily armed fighters with rocket launchers, anti-aircraft guns, rocket-propelled grenades, assault rifles and trucks mounted with heavy weapons participated in Saturday’s battle .At least 300 Islamic militiamen were involved in the assault, witnesses said. There were reports of deaths, but an exact toll was unknown because intense fighting was continuing.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/27/2006 03:16 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  mine the port and carpet the runway with cluster bombs. nice victory, asshats
Posted by: Frank G || 03/27/2006 8:55 Comments || Top||


Somali holy man urges talks after 93 killed in recent violence
Radical Islamic militiamen and rivals buried their dead Sunday and brought in more fighters during a lull after four days of combat on the outskirts of Mogadishu, witnesses said. So far, at least 93 people have died and nearly 200 have been wounded in the violence. A prominent moderate Islamic scholar appealed to the warring sides not to restart the fighting, which ranks among the deadliest in recent years in the nominal capital of this Horn of Africa country. "I offer the warring sides a venue for them to talk to resolve their differences," Sharif Sheik Muhidin said.

Only junior commanders in the Islamic militia responded positively to Muhidin's call. Key leaders in the group remained silent, and the rival warlords and businessmen were wary of the offer. The two sides have been fighting for supremacy in the city's northern and northeastern outskirts since Wednesday.

On Saturday, 300 Islamic militiamen staged a pre-dawn attack to capture the area's only working port, El Maan, and an airstrip on Mogadishu's northeastern outskirts. At least 20 people were killed in the fighting, but the attackers failed to reach the port and airstrip. With the lull Sunday, combatants buried dead comrades and repaired their vehicles while the groups sent in more fighters with weapons and ammunition, witnesses said.

Somalia has had no effective government since 1991, when warlords ousted a dictatorship and then turned on each other, carving the nation of 8.5 million people into a patchwork of fiefdoms. The International Crisis Group, a nonprofit organization that tracks conflicts, said al-Qaeda contributed to attacks on U.S. and U.N. peacekeepers in Somalia in the early 1990s. The group also said al-Qaeda used the country as a transit zone for terrorist attacks in neighboring Kenya and as a hiding place for some leading members.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/27/2006 02:57 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The International Crisis Group, a nonprofit organization that tracks conflicts, said al-Qaeda contributed to attacks on U.S. and U.N. peacekeepers in Somalia in the early 1990s.
That's news to me. How trustworthy is the ICG's assessment that Al Qaeda's war against the US started that early?

The group also said al-Qaeda used the country as a transit zone for terrorist attacks in neighboring Kenya and as a hiding place for some leading members. As has been said elsewhere before, about just about all of Africa. Which is why Special Forces are expanding, and why a unit of Marines just went off to Chad. (No link -- AP blurb in the local paper the other day.)
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/27/2006 7:14 Comments || Top||

#2  Translation. Muslims are loosing.
Posted by: gromgoru || 03/27/2006 22:22 Comments || Top||

#3  Hudna!
Posted by: Seafarious || 03/27/2006 23:25 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Egypt finally admits al-Qaeda behind Sharm el-Sheikh blasts
Egypt on Sunday for the first time blamed an Islamist movement that has pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda for a string of deadly bomb attacks in Sinai resorts. State security court prosecutor Hisham Badawi said a group calling itself Al-Tawhid wal Jihad (Unity and Holy War) was behind the attacks in the Red Sea resorts of Sharm el-Sheikh in July last year and Taba in October 2004 which together killed about 100 people.
Tawhid is Zark's old group, active in Europe and dedicated originally to bringing down the Jordanian monarchy. I think of it as al-Qaeda's Takfir Corps...
A group with that name pledging allegiance to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his right-hand man Ayman al-Zawahiri had previously claimed responsibility for the attacks, which dealt a new blow to Egypt's vital tourism industry. Badawi made his statement at the resumption of the trial of suspects over the bombings in Taba and nearby resorts in 2004 which killed 34 people including several Israelis. Previously, Egyptian officials have blamed local Bedouin with links to Islamist groups for the bombings and insisted they were not working with international terror groups.

Badawi presented before the high court 13 new accused, in addition to the two already on trial since July 2005 for the Taba attack in a process whose hearings have been regularly adjourned. "During the interrogations in progress for the Sharm el-Sheikh attacks, the accused have acknowledged having carried out similar attacks in Taba," he told the court.

Badawi said Khalid Moussaid Salem, who was killed during a clash with police in the Sinai in September 2005, was the ringleader of the group who obtained the explosives used in the car bombings.

The new accused pleaded innocent and claimed to have been tortured to obtain their confession for participating in the attacks. The next hearing was fixed for May 27. Four groups had claimed the Sharm el-Sheikh bombing, including Al-Tawhid wal Jihad, which said that the attacks were revenge for the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan and out of allegiance to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/27/2006 02:48 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
On Stand, Moussaoui Says He Knew of Plan to Attack W.T.C.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) -- Al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui testified Monday that he and would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid were supposed to hijack a fifth airplane on Sept. 11, 2001, and fly it into the White House.
This is why lawyers don't like clients taking the stand.
Moussaoui's testimony on his own behalf stunned the courtroom as he disclosed details he had never revealed before. It was in stark contrast to Moussaoui's previous statements in which he said the White House attack was to come later if the United States refused to release a radical Egyptian sheik imprisoned on earlier terrorist convictions.

Moussaoui testified Monday he lied to investigators when arrested in August 2001 because he wanted to let the attacks of Sept. 11 go forward. ''Yes, you can say that,'' Moussaoui said when the prosecution asked if that was why he misled them. The statement was key to the government's case that the attacks might have been averted if Moussaoui had been more cooperative following his arrest.

He told the court he knew the attacks were coming some time after August 2001 and bought a radio so he could hear them unfold. Specifically, he said he knew the World Trade Center was going to be attacked, but asserted he was not part of the plot and didn't know the details.

Taking the stand in his own defense in his death-penalty trial, Moussaoui said he declined to become a suicide pilot in some future attack when asked by a senior al-Qaida official in 1999. Nineteen men pulled off the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York in Washington in the worst act of terrorism ever on U.S. soil.

''I had knowledge that the Twin Towers would be hit,'' Moussaoui said. ''I didn't know the details of this.'' Asked by his lawyer why he signed his guilty plea in April as ''the 20th hijacker,'' Moussaoui replied: ''Because everybody used to refer to me as the 20th hijacker and it was a bit of fun.'' Moussaoui testified calmly in his death penalty trial, but against his lawyers' wishes.

Before he took the stand, his lawyers made a last attempt to stop him from testifying, but failed. Defense attorney Gerald Zerkin argued that his client would not be a competent witness because he has contempt for the court, only recognizes Islamic law and therefore ''the affirmation he undertakes would be meaningless.'' Asked by Zerkin if he was supposed to be one of the men who would pilot a plane on 9/11, he said no, adding: ''I'm sorry, I don't know about the number of planes but I was not the fifth (pilot) hijacker.'' The 19 terrorists on Sept. 11 hijacked and crashed four airliners, killing nearly 3,000 people in the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and on the planes.

About his guilty plea, he said: ''I took a pen. I signed it.''

He said talked with an al-Qaida official in 1999 about why a 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center failed to bring the towers down. He said ''was asked in the same period for the first time if I want to be a suicide pilot and I declined.''

Yet, he said he was taking flight training for a separate attack on the White House, when he was arrested in August 2001 on immigration charges. He was vague on whether this attack was to have been after Sept. 11 or on it. ''I know it was something going on,'' he said in French-accented English. ''We don't do single operation. We do multiple strikes.'' He told the court it was ''difficult to say'' whether he was involved in the planning for 9/11. At some point, he said, he received training on what to do if at the controls of a hijacked plane if a fighter aircraft approached.

Just before Moussaoui took the stand, the court heard testimony that two months before the attacks that a CIA deputy chief waited in vain for permission to tell the FBI about a ''very high interest'' al-Qaida operative who became one of the hijackers. The official, a senior figure in the CIA's Osama bin Laden unit, said he sought authorization on July 13, 2001, to send information to the FBI but got no response for 10 days, then asked again. As it turned out, the information on Khalid al-Mihdhar did not reach the FBI until late August. At the time, CIA officers needed permission from a special unit before passing certain intelligence on to the FBI. The official was identified only as John. His written testimony was read into the record.

''John's'' testimony was part of the defense's case that federal authorities missed multiple opportunities to catch hijackers and perhaps thwart the 9/11 plot. His testimony included an e-mail sent by FBI supervisor Michael Maltbie discussing Moussaoui but playing down his terrorist connections. Maltbie's e-mail said ''there's no indication that (Moussaoui) had plans for any nefarious activity.'' He sent that e-mail to the CIA even after receiving a lengthy memo from the FBI agent who arrested Moussaoui and suspected him of being a terrorist with plans to hijack aircraft.

Former FBI agent Erik Rigler, the first defense witness, was questioned about a Justice Department report that he said criticized the CIA for keeping intelligence about two known al-Qaida terrorist operatives in the United States from the FBI for more than a year. Under cross-examination from the prosecution, he acknowledged the report did not link the pair specifically to a civil aviation plot. But he said the report's thrust was about their preparations for what turned out to be the 9/11 attacks, and their ability to elude federal agents. ''That's why they came here,'' he said. ''They didn't come for Disney.''

The two were among the 19 suicide hijackers on 9/11. The report said they had been placed on a watch list in Thailand in January 2000, but not on a U.S. list until August 2001. Prosecutors argue that Moussaoui, a French citizen, thwarted a prime opportunity to track down the 9/11 hijackers and possibly unravel the plot when he was arrested in August 2001 on immigration violations and lied to the FBI about his al-Qaida membership and plans to hijack a plane. Had Moussaoui confessed, the FBI could have pursued leads that would have led them to most of the hijackers, government witnesses have testified.

To win the death penalty, prosecutors must first prove that Moussaoui's actions -- specifically, his lies -- were directly responsible for at least one death on Sept. 11. If they fail, Moussaoui would get life in prison. Moussaoui pleaded guilty in April to conspiring with al-Qaida to hijack planes and other crimes, but he has denied any role in 9/11. He says he was training for a possible future attack on the White House.
Posted by: Steve || 03/27/2006 13:19 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This guy is begging for the death penalty. Watch our courts let him off with 20 to life. I hate to be the cynic but good lord? What next from this French radical??
Posted by: 49 Pan || 03/27/2006 13:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Are we surprised? No. This mofo is the one who should be given a mental evaluation, not the Afgani who converted.
Posted by: Spot || 03/27/2006 14:07 Comments || Top||

#3  Another snake-oil. Koran "defense." I-did-it-but-my-holy-book-makes-it-right.
Posted by: Listen to Dogs || 03/27/2006 14:58 Comments || Top||

#4  He's setting himself up to be a martyr after his execution. I'd say life without non-legal visitation or parole. Gag the lawyer who does visit him. One hour of exercise a day. The rest in solitary. I hope he lives longer than Hess did.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 03/27/2006 15:18 Comments || Top||

#5  If I rememeber correctly, there were two other middle eastern men rounded up in the days following 9/11. They were described as having their bodies clean shaven (but not their beards) and I think the were taken off a train somewhere. Does anyone know what happened to these two (if in fact they were associated with the attack)? Could these have been more muscle for a 5th hijack?
Posted by: Rob06 || 03/27/2006 15:20 Comments || Top||

#6  Clearly he's setting himself up for martyrdom. I'm astonished anyone believes anything he says, without significant outside corroboration. He'd say that he, Robert Reid, Otto the Autopilot, and Rocky the Flying Squirrel planned to hijack a plane, if it would get him to Paradise.

Does anyone know what happened to these two...

They were Indian. Here's a story about how the two were brutally treated while in custody, poor lambs. It also gives the pertinent background on their arrest. One of them, at least, pleaded guilty to credit card fraud, on the advice of his attorney.
Posted by: Angie Schultz || 03/27/2006 15:48 Comments || Top||

#7  They were on a train in Texas if I remember correctly.
Posted by: Thavilet Gluger3137 || 03/27/2006 15:50 Comments || Top||

#8  Just another SoaP.
Posted by: 6 || 03/27/2006 16:14 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Baluchistan attacks leave 3 dead
Suspected rebel tribesmen attacked a mountaintop military post Sunday on a route in southwestern Pakistan being used by hundreds of refugees returning home, triggering a gunbattle that left two attackers and a soldier dead, officials said.

Another attacker was killed in a land mine explosion as he tried to escape after the shootout near Sui, a tribal town in southwestern Baluchistan province, local government official Abdul Samad Lasi said. Two soldiers were reported injured in the gun fight.

The roadside post was attacked before 1,500 former refugees traveled through the area as part of a government-sponsored program to move them back to the ancestral region they left more than a decade ago because of tribal feuding.

Hundreds of heavily armed troops accompanied by helicopter gunships guarded the refugees on the journey from Kashmor, a town in neighboring southern Sindh province. When they reached Dera Bugti in Baluchistan on Sunday afternoon, about 300 town residents lined a street to welcome them, many cheering and clapping their hands.

Colorful buntings and signs were put up at a school building where they were served food. One sign read: "Congratulations on the dismantling of Akbar Bugti's self-created state."

Nawab Akbar Bugti, a rebel tribal chief who is accused of leading recent attacks against government installations in Dera Bugti, allegedly forced the people to leave their homes in 1993. His rival clan has also accused him of killing dozens of their members.

Bugti, who is in hiding, is accused by authorities of using royalties for resources extracted from his area to strengthen his own power rather than to help develop the province. Armed tribesmen loyal to Bugti have been accused of attacking military bases and gas fields near the town.

A spokesman for Bugti denied his men had carried out the killing of rivals.

"They are saying what the government tells them to say," spokesman Amanullah Kanrani said from Quetta, referring to the allegations by the rival clan.

He said the refugees were taken to the area to dilute Bugti's influence and it would incite tribal fighting.

A senior army official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with policy, told reporters at an army garrison in Kashmor that the repatriation of the tribesmen was an effort by the government to peacefully settle the conflict in Dera Bugti.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, who was on a visit to Quetta on Sunday, held talks with senior provincial government officials on the situation in Baluchistan. At a press conference afterward, Aziz said the government will use all its resources against those who challenge government authority and restore peace.

On Saturday, an official said 57 tribesmen have been arrested in recent days in connection with a string of bomb and rocket attacks in Baluchistan which have left more than 250 people in just over a year.

Most of the people were Bugti and Marri tribesmen, Mujeebur Rahman, a senior police official, said Saturday in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan. Marri tribesmen have also been blamed for attacks against the government.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/27/2006 03:18 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


6 children wounded after school bus hits mine in South Waziristan
Six children were wounded when their school minibus hit a land mine in a troubled Pakistani tribal area on Monday, officials in the area said.

Local government officials suspected the mine could have been planted by tribal militants supporting al Qaeda and Afghanistan's Taliban guerrillas.

Two of the children were in a critical condition, said one official, who requested anonymity.

The children were on their way to school at Shakai, 47 miles northwest of Tank town, in the South Waziristan tribal area bordering Afghanistan.

Last week, the Pakistani military reported that troops were believed to have killed up to 20 militants in clashes in neighboring North Waziristan.

Around 200 tribesmen were killed in fighting with the army in North Waziristan earlier this month after they answered a call to arms by militant Muslim clerics following a special forces assault on an al Qaeda camp.

On Thursday President Pervez Musharraf, a key ally in the U.S.-led war on terrorism, warned foreign militants hiding in the tribal region to leave Pakistan or face annihilation.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/27/2006 02:50 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Hard boy greased in Kashmir
Suspected rebels hurled grenades and fired on an army convoy on a key highway in Kashmir on Sunday, provoking a gunfight in which the attacker was killed, an army spokesman said.
"Vijay! Those guys're hurling grenades and firing on our convoy!"
"Damn, Mukkerjee! I suspect they may be rebels!"
Three soldiers were also wounded in the attack at Drangbal, 25 kilometres south of Srinagar, said army spokesman N Jamwal. The convoy was driving on a highway that connects Kashmir to the rest of India when it came under attack. The Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group claimed responsibility for the attack in a call to the local Central News Service in Srinagar.
"We dunnit and we're glad!"
Posted by: Fred || 03/27/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ah, Springtime, when a young man's thoughts lightly turn to love...of blood and death and exploding infidel body parts. Insh'allah!
Posted by: Seafarious || 03/27/2006 8:41 Comments || Top||


Bombs set off near Jam Yousaf’s home
DERA BUGTI: Suspected tribesmen set off two bombs near the home of the chief minister of Balochistan on Sunday, but there were no casualties. The bombs shattered windows and damaged a perimeter wall at Chief Minister Jam Muhammad Yousaf’s home in Lasbela, about 450 kilometres southeast of Quetta, local police official Mohammed Afzal said. Yousaf was not at home when the explosion occurred, Afzal said. Suspected tribal militants also attacked a mountaintop military post, triggering a gun battle that left two attackers and a soldier dead, officials said. Another attacker was killed when his motorcycle hit a landmine as he tried to escape after the shootout near Sui, Dera Bugti District Coordination Officer Abdul Samad Lasi said. Two soldiers were reported injured in the gunfight.
Posted by: Fred || 03/27/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But...is the hat ok? What about the hat, man?
Posted by: Seafarious || 03/27/2006 8:43 Comments || Top||

#2  I noticed the absence of little bells also.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 03/27/2006 8:46 Comments || Top||

#3  The very coolest RB premium. What's the required donation?
Posted by: 6 || 03/27/2006 11:55 Comments || Top||


Militants clash with security forces in Pakistan, 2 killed, 5 wounded
Suspected nationalist militants Sunday clashed with security forces in Southwestern Baluchistan province at a time when thousands of tribal people were starting to return to their tribe after fleeing it for about a decade, said officials. Nationalist militants attacked security forces with rockets and missiles in gas-rich Sui area, about 300 kilometers Southeast of Quetta, the provincial capital, District Coordinating Officer (DPO), Abdul Samad Lasi, told KUNA. He said the attack killed one soldier and wounded five others. He added that following attack security forces opened retaliatory fire that wounded over 10 militants. However, he said, there were no arrests.

The latest incident came amid thousands of tribal people, who had fled their tribe owing to the rivalry with Nawab Akbar Bugti, the main hand behind Baluch nationalist movement, started returning back to their homes after a period of almost 12 years under a government-sponsored program.

Meanwhile, a homemade bomb went off in Khuzdar area near an abandoned mud-house. Police said there were no casualties but the explosion damaged the house. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz addressing a press conference in Quetta said peace will be maintained in Baluchistan at any cost. He said all problems and disputes will be resolved through negotiations. However, he added, if somebody will resort to terrorist activities then the government will use all means to stop them.
Posted by: Fred || 03/27/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
MNF Press Release: Iraqi Security Forces conduct raid, 16 insurgents killed
This is the MNF press release of the raid that Sadr's minions are trying to twist into an atrocity.
Photos from the raid: Iraqi Special Operations Forces conduct operation in Baghdad
The Iraqi Special Forces are equipped like US forces, including armoured Humvees and M-4s.


Iraqi Counterterrorism Forces killed 16 insurgents and wounded three others while conducting a coordinated operation to capture and detain insurgents responsible for kidnapping and execution activities in northeast Baghdad Sunday.

Soldiers from the 1st and 2nd Battalions, 1st Iraqi Special Operations Forces Brigade, also detained 18 other individuals, discovered a significant weapons cache, and secured the release of an Iraqi being held hostage.

The discovered weapons cache included AK-47 assault rifles, grenades, RPGs, two RPG launchers, heavy machine guns, crush switch indicators used to make improvised explosive devices, and several rounds of ammunition. The cache was destroyed on the scene along with two vehicles that contained weapons and IED making material.

The hostage, a dental technician with the Ministry of Health, was kidnapped earlier Sunday as he was walking outside of his office. During the next 12 hours, his captors beat him and threatened to torture him.

After the ISOF soldiers rescued him, they took him to an undisclosed location where he received medical care from Iraqi doctors.

Military officials have issued two statements correct errors in the civilian media.

“No mosques were entered or damaged during this operation," military officials said. "The building was not a party headquarters but a community meeting room, and there was substantial intelligence on this building showing that that was not, in fact, what it was used for.”

U.S. Special Forces troops were on hand only as advisors.

In other news around Baghdad , a major step forward in helping to improve the quality of life in Iraq took place Sunday as the Baghdad Provincial Reconstruction Team officially stood up. The PRTs mission is to help the provincial government develop a transparent and sustained governing capability and to promote security, stability and rule of law through.

“We are committed to helping Iraqis stand on their own feet again, and the improvement of local governance and communities is an integral part of this overall effort,” said U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad. “Working together with the Iraqis and the international community we will succeed.”

Provincial Reconstruction Teams are multi-agency civil-military initiatives led by the U.S. State Department and work directly with the Iraqi Provincial Governments. Personnel within a PRT come from the State Department, MNF-I, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Justice, and U.S. Agencey for International Development.

PRTs are an example of an Iraqi - Coalition partnership to rebuild Iraq 's physical and institutional structures, a critical step in establishing a stable and secure Iraq .

Three other teams have already been established in the provinces of Ninewa, Ta'mim and Babil.

One region of Iraq is taking steps toward a unity government. Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani announced Sunday he will form his cabinet within the next 30 days. Barzani said he would fill his cabinet with men and women who are “capable, progressive and responsive to all the people of Kurdistan region.”

“Today is an important step in the Kurdistan region's march toward more peace, prosperity and progress,” said the Prime Minister. “I want to build a team that holds the values that the people of Kurdistan expect; integrity, leadership and vision.”

In a brief statement the Prime Minister expressed his commitment to build a unified Government which will be “a model for economic growth.”

“Our team will add to the progress the last government made in the redevelopment of the Kurdistan Region, said Barzani. “We will use the resources of Kurdistan , based on constitutional rights, for the prosperity of all our people.”

Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers discovered a large weapons cache while conducting a search Sunday. The cache contained nearly 200 mortar rounds six boxes of fuses.

Soldier from the 4th Infantry Division found a weapons cache Saturday while conducting a patrol southeast of Iskandariyah. The cache contained hand grenades and fuses, blasting caps, timer parts, artillery rounds, accelerant rods, bags of artillery propellant, propaganda rounds filled with leaflets and four ammo cans of unidentified content.

The day prior, MND-B Soldiers discovered two weapons caches while on a patrol in southern Baghdad . The caches consisted of mortar rounds of various sizes. An explosive ordnance disposal team destroyed the cache.

In a progress report released Sunday the Iraqi Ministry of Interior stated their forces along with Iraqi Ministry of Defense forces had defused five IED's in Ubaydi, Yarmouk, Salam and Biea'a areas “within the last three days.” They also reported killing eight terrorists during an attack on a security checkpoint, arrested six other terrorists after finding blood spots inside their car. The MOI report said three of the terrorists tested positive for explosive residue.

In Nineveh , Iraqi security forces captured 18 insurgents in Mousl. In Tal Afar, 16 terrorists and 70 mortar rounds were seized.

Posted by: ed || 03/27/2006 17:50 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Kidnap interuptus
COALITION FORCES INTERRUPT KIDNAPPING
3/27/2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition Forces, while conducting operations near Tarmiya, rescued two Iraqi men kidnapped during a “carjacking” March 25.

Coalition Forces witnessed a car stop a semi-truck along the highway. Four men got out of the car and pulled two men from the truck cab and threw them into the trunk of the car.

Two of the men drove off in the truck; the other two got back in the car and drove off with the hostages in the trunk. Coalition Forces interdicted the car and rescued the two hostages.

After the rescue, troops questioned the hostages about the incident; neither of the men knew their assailants.

The white semi-truck has not been recovered.

Sounds like an Iraqi mafia job; what happened to the two assailants in the car? Who got to do the interrogation?
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/27/2006 11:59 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So this will be in The New York Times when????

If so, do they have a page where it can be buried so deep that the sun never shines on it?
Posted by: Bobby || 03/27/2006 12:11 Comments || Top||


New body armor shelved in Iraq
HUSAYBAH, Iraq (AP) -- Extra body armor -- the lack of which caused a political storm in the United States -- has flooded in to Iraq, but many Marines here promptly stuck it in lockers or under bunks. Too heavy and cumbersome, many say. Marines already carry loads as heavy as 70 pounds when they patrol the dangerous streets in towns and villages in restive Anbar province. The new armor plates, although only about 5 pounds per set, are not worth carrying for the additional safety they are said to provide, some say. "We have to climb over walls and go through windows," said Sgt. Justin Shank. "I understand the more armor, the safer you are. But it makes you slower. People don't understand that this is combat, and people are going to die."

Staff Sgt. Thomas Bain shared concerns about the extra pounds. "Before you know it, they're going to get us injured because we're hauling too much weight and don't have enough mobility to maneuver in a fight from house to house," said Staff Sgt. Bain, who is assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment. "I think we're starting to go overboard on the armor."

Since the insurgency erupted in Iraq, the Pentagon has been criticized for supplying insufficient armor for Humvees and too few bulletproof vests. In one remarkable incident, soldiers publicly confronted Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld about the problem on live television. Hometown groups across the United States have since raised money to send extra armor to troops, and the Pentagon, under congressional pressure, launched a program in October to reimburse troops who had purchased armor with their own money. Soldiers and their parents spent hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars on armor until the Pentagon began issuing the new protective gear.

In Staff Sgt. Bain's platoon of about 35 men, Marines said only three or four wore the plates after commanders distributed them last month and told them that use was optional. Top military officials, including Secretary of the Army Francis Harvey, acknowledge the concerns over weight and mobility but have urged that the new gear be mandatory. "That's going to add weight, of course," Mr. Harvey said. "You've read where certain soldiers aren't happy about that. But we think it's in their best interest to do this."

Marines have shown a special aversion to the new plates because they tend to patrol on foot, sometimes conducting two patrols each day that last several hours. They feel the extra weight. In Euphrates River cities from Ramadi and Romanna, lance corporals to captains have complained about the added weight and lack of mobility. But some commanders have refused to listen. In the former insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, for example, commanders require use of the plates. Last year, a study by the Armed Forces Medical Examiner said dozens of Marines killed by wounds to the torso might have survived had the larger plates been in use. "I'm sure people who ... lost kidneys would have loved to have had them on," said 2nd Lt. William Oren, who wears the plates. "More armor isn't the answer to all our problems. But I'll recommend them because it's more protection."

Some Marines have chosen to wear the plates, particularly those in more vulnerable jobs, such as Humvee turret gunners. But many think the politics of the issue eventually will make the plates mandatory. "The reason they issued [the plates], I think, is to make people back home feel better," said Lance Cpl. Philip Tootle. "I'm not wishing they wouldn't have issued them. I'm just wishing that they wouldn't make them mandatory."
Posted by: Steve || 03/27/2006 08:03 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  In one remarkable incident, soldiers publicly confronted Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld about the problem on live television.

Forgot to mention that was a setup by a scheming reporter and a planted army guy.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 03/27/2006 9:36 Comments || Top||

#2  This was an expensive CYA from DoD. The Marines made this point clear before the extra body armor was distributed.

It would be nice if the MSM didn't drive the DoD's decisions, and the Marines on the ground did.
Posted by: Captain America || 03/27/2006 9:37 Comments || Top||

#3  They need to offload some of the other shit they are dragging around. If 5 lbs. saves you, you need that 5 lbs. I'm sure they are lugging other items they could do with out.
Posted by: SOP35/Rat || 03/27/2006 11:30 Comments || Top||

#4  WTG MSM another one in the "Win" column for you.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 03/27/2006 11:43 Comments || Top||

#5  They need to offload some of the other shit they are dragging around. If 5 lbs. saves you, you need that 5 lbs. I'm sure they are lugging other items they could do with out.

Like ammo?
Posted by: Iblis || 03/27/2006 12:01 Comments || Top||

#6  Maybe water? That's a great headline - "Troops die of dehydration due to reduction of water bottle size".
Posted by: Mitch H. || 03/27/2006 12:06 Comments || Top||

#7  Well! The nerve of those soldiers and Marines! After all the trouble we went through to help! Just shows how ignorant those folks are, volunteering for war!

But choice is not an option for those that know more than the 'rest of us', so it prolly will be made mandatory, until we see the story about how a guy fell onto a land mine because he lost his balance; then the cry will be, "Too heavy!"
Posted by: Bobby || 03/27/2006 12:09 Comments || Top||

#8  This body armor controversy is a rerun of the combat helmet issue during the Vietnam War. David Hackworth, a battalion commander during the war, wrote about how many soldiers in Vietnam hated wearing their helmets because of the heat and because they got in the way, preferring bandannas. But he always made them wear their helmets, because they slowed down bullet and shell fragments in a way that bandannas wouldn't.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 03/27/2006 12:09 Comments || Top||

#9  Hackworth had a very personal reason for knowing that the helmets save lives. While he was serving in Korea, he got shot in the head. Luckily for him, the act of penetrating his helmet saved him by changing the angle of the bullet and it just sort of skimmed around his head and only damaged his hearing a little. So while yes, the helmet didn't stop the bullet, it kept his brains in his head. Read his book sometime and you'll learn that Hackworth was the cat with 9 lives. The poor guy nearly died and should have died so many times, it's not even funny.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 03/27/2006 12:19 Comments || Top||

#10  "many Marines here promptly stuck it in lockers or under bunks. Too heavy and cumbersome"

I told you so.
Posted by: OldSpook || 03/27/2006 12:43 Comments || Top||

#11  This is a major problem. It has nothing to do with armor but everything to do with who's in command. Patten should have shot the coward. Then, he should have shot the press. This crap is what gets people killed. If the press wants armor, then they can buy and wear their own.
Posted by: wxjames || 03/27/2006 12:55 Comments || Top||

#12  I'm speaking from experience. We rarely wore armor in Nam. But many of us wish we had. And wish we had the current ceramic plates that actually stop some of these rounds. Yeah, ammo is one of the heaviest items to lug around. these guys are basically on roads, unlike us. They can carry the ammo in an accompanying vehicle. I know how heavy these items get, but it's worth it. I know.
Posted by: SOP35/Rat || 03/27/2006 14:32 Comments || Top||

#13  On road?

Nope. On patrol in cities. Foot patrols. and in a firefight you cannot depend on getting back tot he Stryker or LAV for a reload.

You go with what you have.

And its not always about weight. Its about tactical mobility: your ability to bend, twist move, sprint quickly from a stop, crawl, jump up, etc. Quickly.

Some of the body armor provides too much weight. Some of it too much rigidity.

Its each individual squad leader that shoudl be deciding this - based on his commander's intnet and the tactical situation.

If you're pulling airguard out the back hatch or a track, or the top of a Humvee, then you want the extra plate, etc.

If you're doing a tactical cordon and clear, going room to room, dealing with stairs, etc, you need more mobility.

So, providing this array of body armor is good, but mandating this stuff is stupid and wrong.

Funny that Congress, Dems and the Press seem to be playing the role of LBJ (meddling destructive micromanagement) in Vietnam here, and that the President is actually allowing the theater chain of command put responsibility at the echelon where it sits best - letting the professionals do what they have been trianed to do.
Posted by: OldSpook || 03/27/2006 15:40 Comments || Top||

#14  Just think how much armor our troops could wear if we took away their ammo *and* their guns!

Better yet. Seal each soldier into a reinforced concrete bunker! We could call it something catchy, like Maginot Line...
Posted by: Iblis || 03/27/2006 15:56 Comments || Top||

#15  Arac.
This helmet, I suppose,
Was meant to ward off blows,
It's very hot
And weighs a lot,
As many a guardsman knows,
As many a guardsman knows,
As many a guardsman knows,
As many a guardsman knows,
So off, so off that helmet goes.
(Giving their helmets to attendants.)
Chorus.
Yes, yes, yes,
So off that helmet goes!

Arac.
This tight-fitting cuirass
Is but a useless mass,
It's made of steel,
And weighs a deal,
This tight-fitting cuirass
Is but a useless mass,
A man is but an ass
Who fights in a cuirass,
So off, so off goes that cuirass.
(Removing cuirasses.)
Chorus.
Yes, yes, yes,
So off goes that cuirass!
These brassets, truth to tell,
May look uncommon well,
But in a fight
They're much too tight,
They're like a lobster shell,
They're like a lobster shell!
(Removing their brassets)
Chorus.
Yes, yes, yes,
They're like a lobster shell.
Arac.
These things I treat the same
(Indicating leg pieces.)
(I quite forget their name.)
They turn one's legs
To cribbage pegs —
Their aid I thus disclaim,
Their aid I thus disclaim,
Though I forget their name,
Though I forget their name,
Their aid, their aid I thus disclaim!
All.
Yes, yes, yes,
Their aid I thus disclaim!

Posted by: bruce || 03/27/2006 19:08 Comments || Top||


15 killed in Tal Afar suicide bombing
A suicide bomber attacked a joint U.S.-Iraqi military base in northern Iraq in Monday, killing at least 15 people and wounding as many as 30, the Iraqi military said.

The nationalities of the victims were not immediately known.

The attack was reported shortly after noon at an Iraqi army recruiting center in front of the base, which is about 18 miles east of Tal Afar, the ancient city that President Bush singled out in a recent speech as a success story for American and Iraqi forces in the drive to quell the insurgency.

Iraqi army Lt. Akram Eid told The Associated Press that many of the injured were taken to the Sykes U.S. Army base on the outskirts of Tal Afar, which is about 40 miles west of Mosul, Iraq's third largest city.

The U.S. military in Baghdad said it was checking the report.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/27/2006 05:44 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  From AP:
Monday's bomber struck an army recruiting center, which is in front of a joint U.S.-Iraqi military base between Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city, and the ancient city of Tal Afar. The attack shortly after noon killed 40 people and wounded 30 others — civilians and military personnel — who had gathered among a crowd of recruits for the Iraqi army, the Defense Ministry said.

The U.S. military said no American troops were hurt in the bombing and reported only 30 dead. Iraqi army Lt. Akram Eid told The Associated Press that many of the injured were taken to the Sykes U.S. Army base on the outskirts of Tal Afar, about 40 miles west of Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city. The involvement of U.S. troops was limited to helping secure the area after the attack, said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a U.S. military spokesman.
Posted by: ed || 03/27/2006 11:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Bush uses Tal Afar as an example of good, and they get a sucicide bombing.
Has he told anyone lately about the about the good we've done in Tehran and Damascus?
Posted by: plainslow || 03/27/2006 11:41 Comments || Top||

#3  18 miles east of tal afar

its a different tribal area
Posted by: .mhw || 03/27/2006 18:44 Comments || Top||


Al-Douri alive, calls on Arab leaders to support insurgency
Saddam Hussein's chief deputy, who has eluded capture since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq three years ago, purportedly called for Arab leaders to back Iraq's Sunni-backed insurgency, in an audiotape broadcast Monday.

The tape, which Al-Jazeera television said was made by Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, appeared to be an address to the Arab League summit in Khartoum, Sudan, this week.

The voice on the tape said Iraq's Sunni-led insurgency was "the sole legitimate representative of the Iraqi people." It was impossible to determine the tape's authenticity.

Al-Douri was sixth on the U.S. deck of cards that enumerated the most-wanted members of Saddam's regime. He had been Revolutionary Command Council vice chairman and a longtime Saddam confidant.

The voice also said Arab leaders should "boycott the regime of mercenaries and treason and besiege it by taking the necessary decision to support the people of Iraq, its courageous, national resistance and its jihad until liberation."

The tape also sought to distance the insurgency from attacks on civilians and religious targets, calling them "the pinnacle of lowliness, vileness and criminality. Our people and your resistance will take revenge from the culprits sooner or later."

Al-Douri, who is at least 62, was among Saddam's oldest and closest associates.

It was unclear whether al-Douri, who had been in poor health for years, still had a direct role in leading the insurgency. In June, the Iraqi government said he was losing influence among the pro-Saddam wing of the rebellion.

Various reports of his death and capture have proven incorrect in the past.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/27/2006 05:43 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  wow, i'd be suprised if this was for real though, surly he's snuffed it now due to that illness of his. If he is alive hes probably sat in Syria under the protection of Assad i'd imagine.
Posted by: ShepUK || 03/27/2006 7:46 Comments || Top||

#2  Claiming asylum and housing benefit in Tower Hamlets more like it, Shep.
Posted by: Howard UK || 03/27/2006 8:11 Comments || Top||

#3  "The voice also said Arab leaders should "boycott the regime of mercenaries and treason and besiege it by taking the necessary decision to support the people of Iraq, its courageous, national resistance and its jihad until liberation."
In other words, we were headed in the right direction before, down (but with weapons we can't
afford, and Castles to big to clean).
Posted by: plainslow || 03/27/2006 8:42 Comments || Top||

#4  Vampire or Zombie?
Posted by: 3dc || 03/27/2006 16:11 Comments || Top||

#5  Red's running low on cash. I guess the Syrians are looking toward their own retirement, now. This means there's big trouble in (the) Rivercities...
Posted by: Creng Unains3685 || 03/27/2006 17:40 Comments || Top||


81 killed in Iraqi violence
Police found 30 more victims of the sectarian slaughter ravaging
Iraq — most of them beheaded — dumped on a village road north of Baghdad on Sunday. At least 16 other Iraqis were killed in a U.S.-backed raid in a Shiite neighborhood of the capital.

Accounts of the evening raid in Baghdad varied. Aides to the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and Iraqi police both said it took place at a mosque, with police claiming 22 bystanders died and al-Sadr's aides saying 18 innocent men were killed.

The Americans said Iraqi special forces backed by U.S. troops killed 16 insurgents in a raid on a community meeting hall after gunmen opened fire on approaching troops.

"No mosques were entered or damaged during this operation," the military said. It said a non-Western hostage was freed, but no name or nationality was provided.

Associated Press videotape showed a tangle of dead male bodies with gunshot wounds on the floor of what was said by the cameraman to be the imam's living quarters, attached to mosque itself.

The tape showed 5.56 mm shell casings scattered about the floor. U.S. forces use that caliber ammunition. A grieving man in white Arab robes stepped among the bodies strewn across the blood-smeared floor.

Separately, 12 more bodies were found near Baghdad — nine handcuffed and blindfolded, with rope around their necks and three shot in the head, police said Monday.

The latest deaths brought to at least 81 the number of people reported killed Sunday and Monday in one of the bloodiest days in weeks. Most of the dead appeared to be victims the shadowy Sunni-Shiite score-settling that has torn at the fabric of Iraq since Feb. 22 when a Shiite shrine was blown apart in Samarra, north of Baghdad.

Much of the recent killing is seen as the work of Shiite militias or death squads that have infiltrated or are tolerated by Iraqi police under the control of the Shiite-dominated Interior Ministry.

Many of the victims have been found dumped, mainly in Baghdad, with their hands tied, showing signs of torture and shot in the head.

In an apparent effort to clamp down on police wrongdoing, American troops raided an Interior Ministry building and briefly detained about 10 Iraqi policemen after discovering 17 Sudanese prisoners in the facility, Iraqi authorities reported.

The report was reminiscent of a similar U.S. raid last November that found detainees apparently tortured. That discovery set off a round of international demands for investigations and reform of Iraqi police practices to ensure observance of human rights.

In this case the Americans quickly determined the Sudanese were held legitimately and had not been abused, said Maj. Gen. Ali Ghalib, a deputy interior minister.

The U.S. military command here had no immediate comment.

The raid in Baghdad came a day after U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad spoke out on the need to cap the sectarian, militia-inspired killing, saying "More Iraqis are dying today from the militia violence than from the terrorists." He did not say which militias he meant nor did he define who the terrorists were.

The two major militia forces in the country are Shiite organizations — the Mahdi Army of al-Sadr and the Badr Brigades, the armed wing of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. Both have ties with
Iran.

Hours before the raid in Baghdad near Sadr City, al-Sadr personally was the apparent target of a mortar attack at his home in the holy city of Najaf, 90 miles south of Baghdad.

At least one mortar round struck within yards of al-Sadr's home, wounding a guard and a passing child, said Sheik Sahib al-Amiri, an aide to the cleric.

Shortly after the attack, al-Sadr issued a statement calling for calm.

"I call upon all brothers to stay calm and I call upon the Iraqi army to protect the pilgrims as the Nawasib (militants) are aiming to attack Shiites every day," he said, referring to Wednesday's commemoration marking the death of the Prophet Muhammad.

Following the raid, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shiite, expressed concern and telephoned Iraqi military leaders and U.S. Gen. George Casey to "discuss the situation," said spokesman Abdul Rezzaq Al-Kadhimi.

He said the prime minister promised government compensation for families of those killed in the raid and called for Iraqis to be patient until an investigation was completed.

Police Lt. Hassan Hmoud, who put the death toll at 22, said some of the casualties were at the Islamic Dawa Party-Iraq Organization office near the mosque. The incident started when U.S. forces came under fire from the direction of the mosque and the party office, he said. The party is a separate organization from the one headed by al-Jaafari.

Shiite legislator and party spokesman, Khudayer al-Khuzai, said 15 members of the party were holding a "cultural meeting" in an office near the Shiite mosque. "They have nothing to do with the acts of violence," he said.

Al-Khuzai claimed that after coming under attack, U.S. forces raided the party office, "tortured" the men, dragged them out and "executed" them. He said it was not clear who attacked the U.S. troops.

The main Shiite political bloc, the United Iraqi Alliance, would demand a quick investigation "because the Iraqi blood is not cheap," al-Khuzai said.

Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a U.S. military spokesman, denied that the troops targeted a party office.

"The building was not a party headquarters but a community meeting room, and there was substantial intelligence on this building showing that that was not, in fact, what it was used for," he said.

In the north of the country, meanwhile, the Kurdish writer Kamal Karim was handed an 18-month sentence for articles on a Kurdish Web site that accused Masoud Barazani, one of the region's top leaders, of corruption.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/27/2006 02:53 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Confusion over Baghdad violence
Politicians from Iraq's Shi'ite majority accused U.S. troops of massacring 20 worshippers at a Baghdad mosque on Sunday but police and residents said many died in clashes between Shi'ite militia fighters and Americans.

U.S. military spokesmen declined comment on the accusations but issued a statement describing a raid by Iraqi special forces, with U.S. advisers, on a building that was not a mosque in roughly the same area. It said 16 insurgents were killed.

Police said U.S. forces clashed with the Mehdi Army militia of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, killing 20 fighters.

With Baghdad under night curfew it was impossible to pin down what happened. But unusually strident anti-U.S. coverage on government-run state television showed a fierce confrontation between the ruling Shi'ite Islamists and the U.S. administration.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said the premier was "deeply concerned" and had called the U.S. commander in Iraq, General George Casey, who said there would be a full inquiry.

Also on Sunday, U.S. forces arrested 41 officials from the Shi'ite-controlled Interior Ministry and freed 17 foreigners from a secret jail, government, political and U.S. sources said.

Northeast of Baghdad, Iraqi troops found 30 bodies, many of them beheaded, on a village street. And in the same area around Baquba, police arrested one of their own majors, the brother of the regional police chief, over Shi'ite death squad killings.

The events came as Washington raises pressure on the Shi'ites to bring minority Sunnis into government -- it is even planning landmark talks with hostile Shi'ite Iran to break the impasse. Many fear a failure of the plan could plunge Iraq into civil war.

Iraqiya state television carried lengthy footage of the bloodied corpses of men in civilian clothes, in a room where no weapons were visible, calling them victims of U.S. gunfire.

"American forces raid and burn Mustafa mosque. A number of citizens martyred inside," it said in an on-screen headline.

One dead man had a membership card from Jaafari's Dawa party. Jaafari ally Jawad al-Maliki condemned a U.S. "policy of aggression". Leading aides to Sadr denounced the U.S. troops.

Sadr aide Hazim al-Araji later said: "We are calling for calm ... "We do not want to be dragged to a third war."

Though supposedly disbanded in 2004 after two uprisings were crushed by U.S. forces, the Mehdi Army remains a significant force, along with other pro-government militias which Sunnis accuse of running death squads against them.

Since 2004, Sadr, with apparent Iranian backing has become a virtual kingmaker within the dominant Shi'ite Alliance bloc -- he crucially is backing Jaafari to remain prime minister despite opposition from Sunnis, Kurds and some Alliance rivals.

Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, at the heart of urgent U.S. efforts to forge a unity government, said on Saturday the militias must be brought to heel and accused them of killing more people over the last few weeks than Sunni rebel bombings.

Reprisal attacks after the destruction of a Shi'ite shrine a month ago killed hundreds, though Sadr and other Shi'ite leaders called publicly for restraint among their armed followers.

Residents in the Shaab district of northeastern Baghdad said they saw and heard heavy clashes between U.S. troops and gunmen they believed were from the Mehdi Army, close to the Sadr-linked Mustafa mosque. U.S. helicopters were overhead they said.

Police sources said they understood that U.S. troops had raided an area around the mosque and got into a gun battle with the Mehdi Army that left about 20 militiamen dead.

Sadr aides said troops killed unarmed people: "The American forces went into Mustafa mosque at prayers and killed more than 20 worshippers," Araji said. "They tied them up and shot them."

Transport Minister Salem al-Maliki, from Sadr's group, said: "This was part of an escalation programme to drag Sadr's group into another battle or to obstruct the political process."

After declining requests to respond to the allegations, the U.S. military issued a statement saying Iraqi special forces, along with U.S. advisers, killed 16 "insurgents" in Aadhamiya, next to Shaab, and detained 15. The statement denied any mosque was entered and said a foreign, non-Western hostage was freed.

After the statement was issued, U.S. spokesmen declined to elaborate or say if the raid was close to the Mustafa mosque.

There was also mystery over the details of the raid on the Interior Ministry facility, which one political source described as an Education Ministry warehouse in central Baghdad.

A U.S. source confirmed American and Iraqi forces seized 41 Interior Ministry personnel and free 17 foreigners at a secret jail complex. There was no detail on their identities. Many foreign Muslims are accused of being Sunni al Qaeda sympathisers.

Nor were the identities of those arrested clear. Shi'ite militias are accused of infiltrating the Interior Ministry.

In November, U.S. troops freed 173 prisoners, some of them tortured, from a secret Interior Ministry facility in Baghdad.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/27/2006 02:52 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A Sadr hit and they get their BS version on the air in record time. This Iranian plan actually worked... so far.

Jaafari is complicit - he knows US troops don't enter mosques, tie people up and execute them. Puppet Prick.

And, of course, so is Iraqiya state television.

All f..king Iranian puppets.

We've wasted so much hoping these morons will rise above sectarian hate. The only thing they hate worse than each other is everyone else.
Posted by: Whimble Ebberetch1516 || 03/27/2006 5:15 Comments || Top||

#2  Reuters, always first with the (non) news, so long as its import is anti-US.

MNC-I will be doing a briefing later today on the incident. Of course it's 100% nonsense (the Sadr claim). But some have urged our spokesmen to start going way beyond mere factual correction and refutation, and start slamming the Iraqis for their slanders and the media (both flavors) for their parroting of same.

BTW, apparently the 30 "beheaded" bodies may well also be a complete fabrication. So far the Coalition has not been able to confirm the IA report.

Posted by: Verlaine in Iraq || 03/27/2006 6:24 Comments || Top||

#3  Hi Verlaine! It sounds like they are keeping you busy. :-) Please do use the opportunity to say more than just the facts -- openly correct errors, too. Secretary Rumsfeld gets a lot of mileage when he sets his questioners straight. And the Iraqis need to understand we are not there as their Janissaries, and we will not put up with abuse.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/27/2006 7:20 Comments || Top||

#4  I'm so glad the Marines are not tieing up folks and executing them, let alone beheading them.

Hey! Waitaminute! Isn't that a Zarqai modus operandi?
Posted by: Bobby || 03/27/2006 7:35 Comments || Top||

#5  I believe it's a Koran modus operandi.
Posted by: wxjames || 03/27/2006 8:04 Comments || Top||

#6  There's this from.. http://healingiraq.blogspot.com/

American forces clashed with Mahdi army militiamen at the Ur district (Hayy Ur), west of Sadr city in Baghdad. It seems an American force attempted to raid a husseiniya in the area and was resisted by militiamen inside.

Between 18 and 21 militiamen have been killed, and the Al-Mustafa Husseiniya was reported to be badly damaged in the ensuing firefight.

I was on the phone with a colleague who lived there and he described it as a battlefield. Apache helicopters and jet fighters are still circling the area.

Al-Iraqiya TV just aired some images from the husseiniya. 17 'guards' were killed. One of the corpses carried a Da'wa party (Iraq organisation) ID, and another carried an ID issued by the Islamic Conference of Iraqi Tribes.

Someone in the background was asking the cameraman to film grenades lying around the corpses, to which the cameraman responded: "I can't show our guys' grenades."

"No, these are American grenades," the man in the background explained.

"Oh, okay I'll film them."

Al-Iraqiya TV was very critical of the attack, and is describing those killed as martyrs.

# posted by Zeyad : 3/26/2006 09:36:00 PM
Posted by: RD || 03/27/2006 11:33 Comments || Top||

#7  What has become very telling in this backdrop of violence is the lack of refugees. If this were a true civil war wouldn’t thousands of Iraqis fleeing the “violence” for “safer” countries? I am no expert, but I suspect we are seeing more tit-for-tat revenge killings and the run-of-the-mill Iraqi knows they are not a target and doesn’t feel threatened by the killings. Now if somebody can point me to the reports of roaming bands of Sunnia/Shia/Kurds that are grab random people off the streets for execution I will consider my hypothesis null and void. Given the violence of the past it is surprising that more revenge killings are not being carried out.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 03/27/2006 11:39 Comments || Top||

#8  cyber sarge - they dont have to flee to safer countries, because the "civil warrish" stuff is confined to a few areas of Iraq. Heard a story about a refugee camp being set up in Najaf for Shiite refugees from the "triangle of death" south of Baghdad, and from Baghdad itself. Yet another glass half full glass half empty story - Najaf is safe, the "triangel of death" is one of the most ethnically polarized places in the country (its an area where Saddam had been bringing in Sunni "settlers" to a Shiite area) OTOH there DO seem to be internal refugees.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 03/27/2006 11:53 Comments || Top||

#9  This looks like it might be the CentCom press release for the same incident more generally being portrayed as a US execution of worshipers.

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Soldiers from the 1st and 2nd Battalions, 1st Iraqi Special Operations Forces Brigade, conducted a coordinated operation in northeast Baghdad March 26 to capture and detain insurgents responsible for kidnapping and execution activities.

Iraqi Commandos and Soldiers from the Iraqi Counterterrorism Force killed 16 insurgents and wounded three others during a house-to-house search on an objective with multiple structures. They also detained 18 other individuals, discovered a significant weapons cache and secured the release of an Iraqi being held hostage.

The security force of ISOF Soldiers received fire almost immediately from several buildings near the target area. They maintained the outer perimeter that enabled an assault force to move quickly to clear and secure the objective, a compound of several buildings in the Adhamiyah neighborhood in northeast Baghdad.

The weapons cache discovered on the objective included 32 AK-47 assault rifles, five grenades, four rocket-propelled grenades, two RPG launchers, two RPK heavy machine guns, 12 crush switch indicators used to make improvised explosive devices and several rounds of ammunition. The cache was destroyed on the scene along with two vehicles that contained weapons and IED making material.

The hostage, a dental technician with the Ministry of Health, was kidnapped earlier March 26 as he was walking outside of his office. During the next 12 hours, his captors beat him and threatened to torture him. After ISOF Soldiers rescued him, they took him to an undisclosed location where he received medical care from Iraqi doctors. No further information on his condition is available at this time.
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/27/2006 12:12 Comments || Top||

#10  More from Bill Roggio
Powerplay
....
The political maneuvering has begun in the aftermath of the raid on the Mahdi Army headquarters in the Hayy Ur neighborhood. Jawad al-Maliki, an ally of Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and spokesman for the United Iraqi Alliance, has called "for a rapid restoration of (control of) security matters to the Iraqi government," according to Reuters. Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty reports "Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan Jabr today described the killing as 'unjustified.' Baghdad provincial Governor Husayn al-Tahan said he has suspended cooperation with U.S. forces until an independent investigation can be carried out."
.....
It should be noted that the Iraqi politicians condemning the raid in Hayy Ur are allies of Jaafari and Muqtada al-Sadr, and the various other political groups (the Kurdish alliance, the Sunni groups, Allawi's secular party and even SCIRI) have remained silent on this issue.

Posted by: RD || 03/27/2006 13:12 Comments || Top||

#11  Sectarian troops would have to be able to concentrate, in order to carry out a civil war. This operation has shown that small concentrations can be crushed on short notice.

Atrocity propaganda should not issue from Iraq media. Collateral damage is regretable but: blame those who hide behind civilians. A lying press is not a free press.
Posted by: Listen to Dogs || 03/27/2006 16:59 Comments || Top||


Tater's Spuds Get Mashed
Politicians from Iraq's Shi'ite majority accused U.S. troops of massacring 20 worshippers at a Baghdad mosque on Sunday but police and residents said many died in clashes between Shi'ite militia fighters and Americans.

U.S. military spokesmen declined comment on the accusations but issued a statement describing a raid by Iraqi special forces, with U.S. advisers, on a building that was not a mosque in roughly the same area. It said 16 insurgents were killed.

Police said U.S. forces clashed with the Mehdi Army militia of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, killing 20 fighters.

With Baghdad under night curfew it was impossible to pin down what happened. But unusually strident anti-U.S. coverage on government-run state television showed a fierce confrontation between the ruling Shi'ite Islamists and the U.S. administration.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said the premier was "deeply concerned" and had called the U.S. commander in Iraq, General George Casey, who said there would be a full inquiry.

[snip]

Iraqiya state television carried lengthy footage of the bloodied corpses of men in civilian clothes, in a room where no weapons were visible, calling them victims of U.S. gunfire.

"American forces raid and burn Mustafa mosque. A number of citizens martyred inside," it said in an on-screen headline.

JAAFARI ALLY
One dead man had a membership card from Jaafari's Dawa party. Jaafari ally Jawad al-Maliki condemned a U.S. "policy of aggression." Leading aides to Sadr denounced the U.S. troops.

Sadr aide Hazim al-Araji later said: "We are calling for calm ... "We do not want to be dragged to a third war."

Though supposedly disbanded in 2004 after two uprisings were crushed by U.S. forces, the Mehdi Army remains a significant force, along with other pro-government militias which Sunnis accuse of running death squads against them.

Since 2004, Sadr, with apparent Iranian backing has become a virtual kingmaker within the dominant Shi'ite Alliance bloc -- he crucially is backing Jaafari to remain prime minister despite opposition from Sunnis, Kurds and some Alliance rivals.

Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, at the heart of urgent U.S. efforts to forge a unity government, said on Saturday the militias must be brought to heel and accused them of killing more people over the last few weeks than Sunni rebel bombings.

Reprisal attacks after the destruction of a Shi'ite shrine a month ago killed hundreds, though Sadr and other Shi'ite leaders called publicly for restraint among their armed followers.

CONFUSED ACCOUNTS
Residents in the Shaab district of northeastern Baghdad said they saw and heard heavy clashes between U.S. troops and gunmen they believed were from the Mehdi Army, close to the Sadr-linked Mustafa mosque. U.S. helicopters were overhead they said.

Police sources said they understood that U.S. troops had raided an area around the mosque and got into a gun battle with the Mehdi Army that left about 20 militiamen dead.

Sadr aides said troops killed unarmed people: "The American forces went into Mustafa mosque at prayers and killed more than 20 worshippers," Araji said. "They tied them up and shot them."

Transport Minister Salem al-Maliki, from Sadr's group, said: "This was part of an escalation programme to drag Sadr's group into another battle or to obstruct the political process."

After declining requests to respond to the allegations, the U.S. military issued a statement saying Iraqi special forces, along with U.S. advisers, killed 16 "insurgents" in Aadhamiya, next to Shaab, and detained 15. The statement denied any mosque was entered and said a foreign, non-Western hostage was freed.


After the statement was issued, U.S. spokesmen declined to elaborate or say if the raid was close to the Mustafa mosque.
Posted by: Flailet Unoper7560 || 03/27/2006 01:47 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sounds like the one man one vote one time Shiite Islamists are making their move, with the Prime Minister in the lead. And we will have to crush his private army, if democracy is to succeed in Iraq. We don't need a Shiite Saddam ruling the country.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 03/27/2006 12:18 Comments || Top||

#2  I think it is the other way around. The non-islamists in the Iraqi government and the US will attack the Sadrists. While useful in putting down any Sunni pretentions after the Samara mosque bombing, the Sadrists have gone way over the line with the continued massacres and have to be put down. Raids such as this one are useful for labeling them as criminals and destroying them piecemeal vs. the full scale urban destruction that killed thousands of Sadr's boyz in 2004.
Posted by: ed || 03/27/2006 13:10 Comments || Top||

#3  The US needs to hammer Sadr's Tots especially hard, to send a clear message to Iran when the US meets with them next month. We need to emphasize that when we say "end all assistance to agents in Iraq", we meen Sadr and al-Jafari, as well.

In a republican form of government, there can only be one military, one civil government, and one source of power - the people AS A WHOLE. Certain groups in Iraq believe they can set up their own agencies and get away with it. That needs to end, like yesterday.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 03/27/2006 14:02 Comments || Top||


30 beheaded bodies found in Iraq
As Iraq's political leaders remain deadlocked over a new government, the violence continues with 30 decapitated bodies found near Baquba. The bodies were found on a highway near the restive Iraqi city 65km northeast of Baghdad. The police said the bodies, which have not been identified, were tossed out on the side of the road near the village of Mullah Eid, about 30km southwest of the Baquba, notorious for its sectarian killings. Since the dynamiting of a Shia shrine in Samarra on 22 February, large numbers of corpses have been found in Baghdad and surrounding provinces.
Posted by: Fred || 03/27/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It was the second high-level US delegation in less than a week delivering the same message as the Bush administration strives to overcome the political impasse that threatens the start of a possible American troop pullout this summer.

So if the pullout is going to begin this summer, the insurgents only need to hold out a few more weeks ... then start the civil war.

If they believed Bush, they'd lie low until the US was gone. If they believe the MSM/quagmire meme, they'd be ramping up the violence.

So the real winner is the media, with still more shocking, horrifying news every day.
Posted by: Bobby || 03/27/2006 8:31 Comments || Top||

#2  Just noting that Verlaine in Iraq sez (in a comment in another thread today) that Coalition authorities are trying to authenticate this story and so far they've found no proof that this actually happened.
Posted by: Seafarious || 03/27/2006 9:14 Comments || Top||


Big factory to produce explosive found in home in Baghdad
A big factory producing explosives was raided by an Iraqi army unit on Saturday, reported the Interior Ministry. It said in a statement that the raid was based on intelligence reports from the Interior Ministry. The army also found two booby-trapped cars and missiles.

The statement said that the Interior Ministry has provided significant information to the Defence Ministry about the existence of explosives in a home in Baghdad. The raided home belongs to a high-ranking member of an Iraqi party, Abu Rami. He in turn leased the home to a terrorist cell, which was discovered. The home, which was located 100 meters from the Yarmouk Center, was seized.

The government called on all Iraqis to check the identity of those leasing homes and properties before renting the properties. The weapons and ammunitions seized included a Katyusha rocket, six 60 millimeter mortar rounds, equipment for booby trapping of cars, a large quantity of red TNT powder and two booby-trapped cars, one a Dodge and another a Opel.
Posted by: Fred || 03/27/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "The government called on all Iraqis to check the identity of those leasing homes and properties before renting the properties."

This has quite an aroma. As if Abu (WTF?) Rami didn't know who they were. Check. What's with the pseudonym instead of his real name? Isn't it odd that they don't mention which party? I'm sure one of the Iraqi bloggers will do proper justice to the story, unlike the KUNA floggers. Must be a Sunni.
Posted by: Flailet Unoper7560 || 03/27/2006 0:25 Comments || Top||

#2  I suspect that they are treating him with kid gloves because he narked the factory out in the first place. While this doesn't exonerate him, it places him out of the limelight for the time being.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/27/2006 9:31 Comments || Top||


Three Iraqi officials survive assassination attempts
Three Iraqi officials survived assassination attempts in Baghdad, Baaquba and Kirkuk on Sunday, Iraqi security sources told KUNA. Gunmen opened fire at the car of Mohammed Amin Mohammed, judge of Al-Karkh Criminal Court, in Al-Horria area in the capital Baghdad, the sources said on condition of anonymity. The judge was seriously wounded and he was rushed to Al-Kathimiya Hospital for treatment.

In northeastern Baaquba, head of Al-Wajihiya District Ismail Elwan survived an attmpt on his life when an improvised explosive device targeting his motorcade blew up wounding three of his bodyguards. In the same district, gunmen killed an Iraqi policeman and his relative.

Meanwhile in Kirkuk, northern Baghdad, an improvised explosive device planted in front of the house of Al-Muqdad police chief, Adel Zain Al-Abdeen, blew up as the chief was leaving his house and heading to work. Only material damage was sustained.
Posted by: Fred || 03/27/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraqi authorities warn of exploding candy distributed by gunmen in Baghdad
Iraqi Ministry of State for National Security on Sunday warned of touching explosive-packed candy bars found on Baghdad streets. The ministry said that unknown gunmen threw candy bars that contain explosive materials nearby schools and residential areas in Yarmouk Neighborhood. It cautioned citizens against touching these candy bars, asserting that the first layer of which contained cocoa, while the second layer contained explosives.
Posted by: Fred || 03/27/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  no razor blades in halloween apples?
Posted by: 3dc || 03/27/2006 1:13 Comments || Top||

#2  The "Lions of islam" at their best. I guess they ran out of acid to throw in little girls' faces.
Posted by: anymouse || 03/27/2006 1:34 Comments || Top||


MNF detains 52 suspects, seizes weapon caches in Operation Scorpion
The Multi-National Force and the Iraqi Army on Sunday detained 52 gunmen and seized weapon caches in Operation Scorpion nearby Hawijah, northern Iraq. An MNF press release said the cordon and search operation covered eight villages around the town of Hawijah, noting that 24 out of the 52 detainees were part of a list of wanted persons created based upon intelligence, while the remaining detainees were taken for investigative purposes. The force said in a press release that the performance of the Iraqi forces participating in the operation had dramatically improved as the forces were capable of executing complicated operations in Hawijah without losses.
Posted by: Fred || 03/27/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Now, watch the jails for plan B attacks.
Posted by: wxjames || 03/27/2006 8:07 Comments || Top||


Iraqi police officer survives assassination, five terrorists arrested
An Iraqi chief of police survived assassination on Sunday in the city of Kirkuk, northern Iraq. Police sources told reporters that an explosive device targeted the convoy of Chief of Meqdad Police Center, Brigadier Adel Zein Al-Abedin while on his way to work, noting that the blast caused property damages. Meanwhile, Iraqi Army Commander Air Vice Marshal Anwar Amin said the Multi-National Force on Sunday executed a burst and search operation in Safra village, and detained five terrorists involved in armed attacks against the Iraqi security forces.
Posted by: Fred || 03/27/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Six Palestinians injured in Jenin, Hebron
Israeli occupying forces stormed into areas in Jenin early Sunday, opening fire towards homes which led to the injury of one Palestinian. Palestinian sources said that Israeli forces stormed into the area, and stationed over the roofs of several homes, transforming them into military stations. On the other hand, five Palestinians were injured when Israeli settlers opened fire towards them in Hebron city. Settlers attacked the city earlier today.
Posted by: Fred || 03/27/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Al-Quds brigades claims responsibility for "raiding" Al-Majdal city
Normally, we think of raiders riding into town on horses or at least camels, waving swords or guns, and actually attacking something. Blowing a rocket or two in the general direction of somewhere isn't what you'd call a raid.
The Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad Movement on Sunday claimed responsibility for two (Quds 3) missiles, which were fired against the occupied city of Al-Majdal, according to a statement by the group. It said that Zionist sources acknowledged the missile attack against the targeted areas.

Furthermore, Palestinian resistance fighters launched on Sunday three missiles from north Gaza which exploded in the area of Al-Naqb in south Israel. An Israeli army spokesman said that one of the rockets exploded in the town of Yad Mordekhai in south Israel while the second one fell in the agricultural area of Kermia. The third missile exploded in the sea. The spokesman claimed there were no casualties nor damage.

On the other hand, Israeli security authorities said today that they have detained a Palestinian man from Gaza who was intending to carry out a suicidal operation inside Israel. The Israeli daily Haaretz quoted the authorities as saying that the internal security body had detained a youth called Sameh Haddad at the Eretz crossing after finding forged medical documents in his possession. It said that Haddad has been accused of planning to carry out a suicidal operation in one of the Israeli towns.

In Cairo, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reiterated his full objection to the Israeli unilateral measures, pointing out that there was a Palestinian partner ready to sit down and negotiate all issues. He said in statements following his meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that the Israeli unilateral security measures were not acceptable because they conflicted with the Quartet-backed Road Map and with UN resolutions. He said that any Israeli government "should deal with us and not ignore the Palestinian partner and the UN, which was considered the main link between us and them."
"We're relevant, I tell you! Both of us. Really! C'mon, quit laughing...
Posted by: Fred || 03/27/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  pointing out that there was a Palestinian partner ready to sit down and negotiate all issues

Negotiate yes. Actually resolve, not a chance. Keep building the wall, Israel.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/27/2006 7:26 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Filippino corpse count now up to 9 from bombing
An explosion at a grocery store on a violent southern island where U.S. troops recently conducted joint counterterrorism exercises killed at least nine people Monday, police said.

The explosion, which left about a dozen people injured, took place in downtown Jolo on Jolo island, about 590 miles southeast of Manila, said police Senior Superintendent Ahirun Ajirim.

He said it was not immediately clear what caused the explosion on the island, a stronghold of the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf rebels. Initial reports indicated the explosive device was stashed in a bag that was left by someone at a ground-floor baggage counter, he said.

Philippine police and U.S. troops who took part in recent counterterrorism exercises arrived in the area shortly after the explosion.

In February, when the exercises began, a bombing at a karaoke bar killed one person and wounded 28 near Jolo's army headquarters. The incident was blamed on Abu Sayyaf.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/27/2006 03:02 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Jolo bombing kills 2
Two people were killed and seven injured on Monday when a crude bomb exploded at a small retail store in a suspected Muslim extremist attack in the southern Philippines, an army spokesman said.

Major Gamal Hayudini said no group had claimed responsibility for the attack on the island of Jolo, but local police suspected that the al Qaeda-linked militant group Abu Sayyaf was behind it.

"We're still investigating to determine the type of bomb," Hayudini told reporters, adding that troops in the area had gone on alert to ease tension and prevent an escalation of violence.

Last month, a crude bomb ripped through a row of night clubs outside an army base on Jolo, killing a man and wounding 13 people, days before 250 U.S. troops were due to conduct humanitarian missions on the island.

Hayudini said there were still teams of U.S. soldiers on Jolo to complete several construction projects, such as roads, potable water wells and school buildings as part of annual exercises with the Philippine military.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 03/27/2006 02:51 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:



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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2006-03-27
  30 beheaded bodies found in Iraq
Sun 2006-03-26
  Mortar Attack On Al-Sadr
Sat 2006-03-25
  Taliban to Brits: 600 Bombers Await You
Fri 2006-03-24
  Zarqawi aide captured in Iraq
Thu 2006-03-23
  Troops in Iraq Free 3 Western Hostages
Wed 2006-03-22
  18 Iraqi police killed in jailbreak
Tue 2006-03-21
  Pakistani Taliban now in control of North, South Waziristan
Mon 2006-03-20
  Senior al-Qaeda leader busted in Quetta
Sun 2006-03-19
  Dead Soddy al-Qaeda leader threatens princes in video
Sat 2006-03-18
  Abbas urged to quit, scrap government
Fri 2006-03-17
  Iraq parliament meets under heavy security
Thu 2006-03-16
  Largest Iraq air assault since invasion
Wed 2006-03-15
  Azam Tariq's alleged murderer caught in Greece
Tue 2006-03-14
  Israel storms Jericho prison
Mon 2006-03-13
  Mujadadi survives suicide attack, blames Pakistan

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