Naseer Al-Nahr, Asharq Al-Awsat
Iraqi insurgents yesterday kept up the pressure on occupying forces and their perceived collaborators, killing the judge behind the creation of a judicial commission to probe officials of Saddam Husseinâs ousted regime. Muhan Jabr Al-Shuwaili, the top judge in the central governorate of Najaf, was kidnapped along with Najaf prosecutor general Aref Aziz, from the judgeâs house in the city early yesterday, Aziz said. The two were taken in cars to a deserted area eight kilometers (five miles) north of Najaf. âOne of the assailants said âSaddam has ordered your prosecution.â Then they fired two shots into his head,â Aziz said. âAs for me, they told me âthis does not concern youâ. They released me,â he added.
| I guess Sammy approved of him... |
Shuwaili had signed onto the decision to create the Baath Investigative Commission, made up of four attorneys who probe complaints before raising them with an investigative judge.
| I wonder how the Iraqis are buying this gangster stuff? |
Also in Najaf, the president of the cityâs municipal council, Sheikh Khaled Al-Numani, said he had escaped an assassination bid late Sunday when assailants opened fire on his house, triggering retaliatory fire by his guards. âTwo of the three assailants were caught. One of them is an Egyptian named Rabih Al-Masri who has been living in Najaf for a long time,â Numani said.
| I hope Rabih's having a very uncomfortable time of it right now... |
Late at night, guerrillas launched a mortar attack in central Baghdad near the headquarters of the US-led administration in Iraq. Witnesses heard four loud explosions echoing across the city from the western bank of the Tigris River, where the US-led administration occupies a large palace complex previously used by Saddam. âThree to four mortars impacted in central Baghdad, but we donât yet know the point of impact,â a US military spokesman said. In Washington, an official said the palace complex had not been affected by the attack.
| Usually the mortar attacks, especially at night, aren't remotely accurate. I slept through one once — got bitched out royally for it, too... |
Also last night, a bomb exploded outside a hotel used by Iranians in Karbala, killing at least three people. Witnesses said the bomb appeared to have been planted in a nearby car and had destroyed much of the front of the hotel.
| The car bomb makes me think Ansar al-Islam, but it could be lotsa people, to include Hezbollah... |
On Sunday night near Balad, north of Baghdad, US forces fired on a pickup truck, killing six Iraqis, residents said. US soldiers said the vehicle was suspected of carrying insurgents and that the incident was being investigated.
| Good. Six bad guy deaders. Though it'll take a lot more to remotely even the score... |
The US-led administration said in a statement that Mustafa Zaidan Al-Khaleefa, head of Baghdadâs Karkh Neighborhood Council, was killed on Sunday evening while walking near his home. Two gunmen shot him as they drove by, it said. |