*IRAQ: latest news and developments

[Barking_Mad]

Updates

11/29/04 13 US marines wounded in mortar attack south of Baghdad
Thirteen US marines and two civilians were wounded Monday when mortar shells struck a military base south of Baghdad, a marine spokesman said.

11/29/04 Hoshyar Zebari escapes car bomb
Assassins tried to kill Hoshyar Zebari, the Iraqi Foreign Minister, yesterday morning by leaving a car packed with explosives on a road where he was about to travel. His guards discovered the bomb shortly before his convoy went past.

11/29/04 Troops Survive Roadside Bomb Attack
British troops in Iraq were hit by a roadside bomb today. The crew were inside their tank and were shielded from flying shrapnel, although one of them suffered a minor injury. The Scimitar was also damaged in the explosion.

11/29/04 Two Soldiers Killed, Three Wounded in IED Attack
Two Task Force Baghdad Soldiers were killed when their patrol struck an improvised explosive device at about 11:30 a.m. in northwestern Baghdad. Three other Soldiers were wounded in the attack.

11/29/04 Centcom: ONE SOLDIER KILLED, TWO INJURED IN VEHICLE ACCIDENT
A 13th Corps Support Command Soldier is dead and two more were injured in a vehicle accident 50 km northwest of Al Kut at about 1 p.m. on Nov. 29.

11/29/04 Iraqi security chief arrested in alleged assassination plot
The governor of Iraq's Shiite-dominated Najaf province says police have arrested his own security chief in an alleged plot to assassinate him.

11/29/04 Explosion hits oil pipeline in south Iraq; exports not affected
An explosion on a pipeline in southern Iraq today caused a fire and disrupted the flow of oil from wells in Rumaila field toward the Basra terminal but did not affect exports, an oil company official said

11/29/04 Signal Brigade Soldiers Head From Bragg To Iraq
About 8,000 troops from units in the 18th Airborne Corps are due to deploy through early 2005. The signal brigade alone will send 1,700 soldiers to handle battlefield communications

11/28/04 Two Humvees Destroyed
a car bomb exploded early Sunday near a U.S. military convoy on the road leading to Baghdad's airport, Iraqi police said, and a witness said two Humvees were destroyed.

11/28/04 Clashes Flare Across Iraq
Elsewhere, a US military tank was destroyed when it was hit by an explosive device in al-Dhuluaiya district south of Tikrit, Aljazeera has learned. Casualties among US soldiers are not yet known.

11/28/04 U.S. uses napalm gas in Fallujah – Witnesses
Residents in Fallujah reported that innocent civilians have been killed by napalm attacks, a poisonous cocktail of polystyrene and jet fuel which makes the human body melt.

11/28/04 Roadside bomb kills five in Samarra
A car bomb exploded as a US convoy was passing in Samarra north of Baghdad on Sunday, killing five civilians and wounding four, police said.

11/28/04 Two U.S. Marines Killed South of Baghdad
Two U.S. Marines were killed in action south of Baghdad Sunday...they were killed in the northern part of Babil province where U.S. Marines and Iraqi and British forces have been involved in aggressive raids against Sunni insurgents

11/28/04 Car bomb explodes near school
A CAR bomb exploded today near a high school in the central Iraqi city of Samarra, killing three people and injuring five others, police said.

11/28/04 Nearly 3,000 British medical evacuations
Nearly 3,000 British soldiers have been evacuated from Iraq to Britain for medical reasons since the beginning of hostilities there last year.

 

[richtea]

'cos everyone's dead maybe..?

CRIME FALLS IN FALLUJAH

(Al-Taakhi) - Prime Minister Iyad Allawi last Monday said the crime rate had fallen after the last offensive launched by US and Iraqi forces on Fallujah. "The crime rate is still decreasing. Although cleaning up the city continues, we are taking steps to bring Fallujans back," he added. Large parts of Fallujah have been described as an arsenal and an underground camp where explosives were hidden. (Al-Taakhi is issued daily by the Kurdistan Democratic Party.)

 

[Barking_Mad]

Iraqi forces wilting under relentless attacks

Mosul, Iraq -- Iraqi police and national guard forces, whose performance is crucial to securing January elections, are foundering in the face of coordinated efforts to murder and intimidate them and their families, say American officials in the provinces facing the most violent insurgency. For months, Iraqi recruits for both forces have been the targets of assassinations and car bombs aimed at lines of applicants and police stations. On Monday morning, a suicide bomber rammed a car into a group of police officers waiting to collect their salaries west of Ramadi, killing 12 people, Interior Ministry officials said.

While Bush administration officials say the training is progressing and that the Iraqis have proved tactically useful and have fought bravely in some instances, local American commanders and security officials say both Iraqi forces are riddled with problems. In the most violent provinces, they say, the Iraqis are so intimidated that many are reluctant to show up and do not tell their families where they work, have yet to receive adequate training or weapons, present a danger to American troops they fight alongside and are unreliable either because of corruption, desertion or infiltration.

Given the weak performance of Iraqi forces, any major withdrawal of U.S. troops for at least a decade would invite chaos, a senior official at the Interior Ministry, whose name could not be used, said in an interview last week.

GI threatens suicide over return to Iraq

STRATFORD — A serviceman, apparently distraught over the prospect of being sent back to the war in Iraq, threatened to kill himself as he stood naked and screaming outside his house. Police took the man into custody at his Fernwood Drive house. He was taken for treatment to Bridgeport Hospital. Dispatched to investigate a report of a possible suicide attempt Thursday, officers saw the man naked with blood on his body in front of the garage area, police said. As officers approached, the man yelled at them and ran back into the house, according to police.

After struggling with officers, the man told police that he was scheduled to be sent back to Iraq in January, but didn't want to because he would be forced to kill more people, police said. The man, who said that he had been drinking, told officers that "he just wanted to die," police said.

 

[Barking_Mad]

'cos everyone's dead maybe..?

Well they claimed that there was no one left in the city, which might account for the fact there isnt any crime. Hardly something to brag about I'd have thought!

 

[Barking_Mad]

Iraq health care 'in deep crisis'

Hospitals are unable to cope with Iraq's relentless violence
Iraq's health system is in a far worse condition than before the war, a British medical charity says. Doctors from the group Medact conducted surveys with international aid groups and Iraqi health workers in September.

They exposed poor sanitation in many hospitals, shortages of drugs and qualified staff and huge gaps in services for mothers and children. Medact, which monitors healthcare in post-conflict areas, called for an inquiry into the situation.

From Monday

Deadly car bombs hit Iraq police

At least 10 Iraqi policemen have been killed in car bomb attacks on police stations in central Iraq, local officials and medics say. They say at least six Iraqis died in a blast near a police station in Ramadi, in Iraq's violence-torn Sunni Triangle. Four Iraqi national guards were killed in a separate attack on a checkpoint in the nearby town of Baghdadi. In Baghdad, two US soldiers were killed and three hurt in a roadside bomb blast, the US military said. The Ramadi blast happened when officers were queuing up to receive their salaries at the police station, officials and doctors said.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Red Cross says up to 6,000 dead in Fallujah

The US prevented aid entering the city for weeks. Aid is finally flowing into Falluja, following the heavy US-led offensive that began nearly three weeks ago to wrest the city from rebel control. The Iraqi Red Crescent told the BBC it was delivering aid on a daily basis.

But a spokesman says it is feared more than 6,000 people could have died in the assault and thousands of families are in critical need of assistance.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Up to 40 drown in Iraq accident

A crowded boat has overturned while crossing a section of the Tigris river in northern Iraq, killing at least 40 people, witnesses and relatives say.
The accident happened near the town of Zakhu, close to the border with Turkey. Four passengers from the boat were rescued alive. Some five bodies had also been recovered, witnesses said. The flat-bottomed vessel is said to have been carrying Kurdish migrant workers travelling to Turkey following the easing of border restrictions.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Embassy sounds alarm over growing dangers in Iraq

By Patrick Cockburn in Baghdad
30 November 2004

Disintegrating security in Baghdad was underlined in a sombre warning yesterday from the British embassy against using the airport road or taking a plane out of Iraq. The embassy says a bomb was discovered on a flight inside Iraq on 22 November. It shows that insurgents have been able to penetrate the stringent security at Baghdad airport. The embassy says its own staff have been advised against taking commercial planes.

The warning is in sharp contrast to more optimistic statements from US military commanders after the capture of Fallujah in which they have spoken of "breaking the back of the insurgency".

The embassy says that the road between Baghdad and the international airport, perhaps the most important highway in the country, is now too dangerous to use. The advice says starkly: "With effect from 28 November, the British embassy ceased all movements on the Baghdad International airport road."

 

[Barking_Mad]

Hmmm, not seen this in the headlines elsewhere. Hard to think why.

Coalition of 38 Shiite parties breaks off talks with al-Sistani followers

A group of 38 Shiite Muslim political parties broke off negotiations Tuesday with backers of Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric, claiming a candidate list under discussion was dominated by religious extremists.

``We don't want to be an extension of Iran inside Iraq,'' said Hussein al-Mousawi, spokesman for the Shiite Political Council. ``We found out that the top 10 names in the list are extremist Shiite Islamists who believe in the rule of religious clerics.'' Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has assigned a committee of six of his aides to try to put together a unified Shiite ticket for the Jan. 30 national election, during which Iraqis will select a 275-member assembly.

Under Iraq's election laws, there will be no electoral districts; instead, voters nationwide will cast ballots for the same candidates. A party will gain seats based on the percentage of votes it receives, meaning the top positions on the list are the most assured of victory.

Al-Mousawi said the committee putting together the list allocated only 10 names from his coalition for the 275 spots on the ticket. The Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq known for its ties with Iran was given 33 places on the ticket and the Islamic Dawa party got 27. Those two groups also won places on the ticket for independents who share their views, al-Mousawi said.

He also said followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have been promised at least 27 places and were negotiating for more. The rest of the slots are supposed to go to independents, he said.

``We will appeal to al-Sistani because we believe that the ayatollah is looking for an assembly that represents all Iraqis and is not dominated by extremists,'' he added.The Shiite Political Council is a coalition of 38 political parties including the Iraqi National Congress of Ahmad Chalabi, the former Pentagon-backed exile, Hezbollah, the Islamic Democratic party and the Free Republicans.

Hussain al-Shahristani, a nuclear scientist who heads the al-Sistani committee, could not be reached. Shiites form about 60 percent of Iraq's nearly 26-million strong population and it is widely assumed they will dominate the new government.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Chemical caches found in Fallujah, US says

US forces say they are continuing to find large caches of arms in the city of Fallujah several weeks after they gained total control of the former insurgent stronghold. Army commanders say they are continuing their house-to-house searches in the devastated city.

They say they have made about 500 large weapons discoveries. But Major General Richard Natonsky says they have made other more sinister finds as well. "We found - and I've been in one of them - but I know we've found at least two or three chemical caches," he said.

"I know cyanide was part of it, glycerin."

 

[Barking_Mad]

Piece worth reading on the BBC site - speaks to people about life in Iraq. Updated regularaly

I went to work today and people were talking about the elections. They were saying they are afraid to vote because the polling centres could be bombed. We are feeling helpless.

Yesterday three men were killed in our street in front of everyone and in the middle of the day. No one dared to interfere. The bodies were left lying in the street covered with blood. We didn't know who they were or why they were murdered. Our neighbour called the ambulance but they said it wasn't safe so they didn't come. After a few hours a car came and took the bodies away.

We are worried all the time here. My mother prays almost all the time for our safety. During these hard times most Iraqis are becoming closer to God, praying and becoming believers in fate. Most of the time we pray at home because it is too unsafe to go to the mosques. Even places of worship are being attacked.

I hope a day comes when we can live in peace. This is the wish of all good people here.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/middle_east/2004/iraq_log/default.stm

 

[laptop]

Wounded soldiers

It's been suggested here and there that the relatively low level of US deaths in Iraq is down to efficient medevac and treatment of soldiers who, in any previous war, would have died. I've not seen any breakdowns of the type of injury - until this in yesterday's Le Monde:

9,326 soldiers have been wounded, slightly more than half of them so seriously that they cannot return to active service. Two-thirds of these have suffered head injuries, more than a hundred have lost limbs and about forty are paralysed.

http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3230,36-388925,0.html
​

I think that means two-thirds of the incapacitated half have suffered head injuries, which would be 3100.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Dear oh dear - this reads like a catalgoue of disasters..........

Insurgents strike in Iraq

A resurgence in armed actions broke out Tuesday in areas west of Fallujah along a key highway leading to Jordan, just weeks after a massive U.S.-led military offensive in the city. American troops in Iraq ended November with 135 deaths, the biggest toll since April, when fighting flared across north and west Iraq in the "Sunni triangle," a region dominated by supporters of toppled Sunni Muslim dictator Saddam Hussein.

Heavily armed anti-American insurgents on Tuesday took over and briefly held nine police stations and highway checkpoints, blowing up two buildings, police said. Drivers reported that insurgents also took control of large sections of the highway leading west out of Iraq, stopping traffic and shaking down passengers.

"The government will send elements from the National Guard to control the highway since the insurgents are now controlling a large part of it," police Lt. Hameed al Delemi said.

The takeover of police installations came on a day of bombings against U.S. military convoys elsewhere. The worst was in Beiji, an oil-refining town in the north, as a U.S. military convoy went through a bustling area of shops. A car bomb killed seven civilians and wounded at least 15 people. Two of the wounded were American soldiers.

In a simultaneous attack elsewhere in Beiji, 110 miles north of Baghdad, insurgents fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a U.S. tank, wounding a soldier. Five American soldiers were wounded when a suicide bomber blew up his car along the perilous road from Baghdad to its international airport, destroying an armored military truck. The blast left a large crater in the road. U.S. forces said an American soldier died late Monday after an explosion hit his patrol north of Baghdad.

The armed actions west of Fallujah came just weeks after some 10,000 American troops stormed the city in the bloodiest urban military campaign for U.S. forces since the Vietnam War. The offensive left 53 American soldiers dead. Many U.S. troops remain in and near the city. Insurgents blew up two badly damaged buildings Tuesday in Khaledia, between Fallujah and Ramadi, a small city on the highway leading to Jordan, police said.

"One of them was a police station. It had been attacked so many times before that one side was collapsed and it had already been evacuated," police 1st Lt. Basam al Kubaisi said. "The other building was sometimes used by the U.S. Army." Insurgents also took over six checkpoints west of Ramadi, al Delemi said.

Raykan Ali, 34, who drives passengers between Iraq and Jordan, said insurgents stopped his vehicle, searched it and took gold jewelry from his passengers. "I didn't see any policemen on the road. There was some American (military presence), but it was scattered," he said.

Insurgents seized other police checkpoints and stations near the town of Baghdadi, al Rutba and Tanaf, policeman Jomaa A'atia said. "The insurgents killed one of my colleagues because he didn't give them his car, and they took two cars from the al Rutba police station and confiscated more than 25 weapons," he said.

Another highway policeman, Mohammed Hamadi, said insurgent groups seemed to be marauding for weapons, and that one of their leaders was not Iraqi."I think he was Saudi, and I think all of these actions happened because of the attack on Fallujah," Hamadi said.

 

[bigfish]

 

[bigfish]

deleted link

 

[someoneelse]

US raises force levels in Iraq

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200412/s1256099.htm

"...The moves will increase US force levels in Iraq to their highest levels since President George W Bush declared the end of major combat operations last year...."

 

[Barking_Mad]

137 US troops died in November making it the highest number of deaths in any month. (135 in April being the previous highest). 1,258 US troops have now died in Iraq - up to the 30th November.

 

[jwexford]

Daily Telegraph (UK)
By Jack Fairweather in Amman
(Filed: 02/12/2004)

A network of Syrian mosques is sending men, money and weapons to Iraq, fuelling the insurgency.

An investigation by the Telegraph has shown that Arab volunteers are streaming across the border despite Damascus government claims that it is curbing cross-border terrorism.

Insurgents can earn £1,600 a month fighting in Iraq
Much of the traffic is financed by former members of Saddam Hussein's regime living in the Syrian capital and has the backing of prominent tribal leaders.

Under intense pressure from America and the Iraqi government, Syria recently began building an earthern rampart along its 400-mile frontier with Iraq and has closed crossing points.

"We are doing our best," said Adham Marmadi, a Syrian foreign ministry official. "We have long borders that cannot be controlled fully."

Such assurances have done little to change the reality. Support for the Iraqi resistance is widespread in Syria amid fears of an American invasion of the country.

Several hundred Syrians are recruited, equipped and sent to Iraq every month.

Iraqi exiles say that members of Saddam's former Ba'athist regime pay £1,600 a month to the families of the fighters.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Israel's Battle in Fallujah

It has become clear that Israel played a major role in the battle for Fallujah, despite the American concern to conceal this fact. What news leaked of officers, soldiers, and even rabbis of dual citizenships that took part in the battles, some of which were killed by the resistance's bullets, is only the tip of the iceberg. The killing of an Israeli officer in Fallujah exposed the existence of a large number officers, snipers, and paratroopers in Iraq. Based on Israeli press statistics, Israel currently has no fewer than 1,000 officers and soldiers scattered around the American units working in Iraq. In addition, 37 rabbis are operating within the American troops, which leads to believe that the real number is greater; since Ha'aretz admitted that others are concealing their Jewish identities, which makes them self-driven Israeli citizens. Currently, there is a recruitment campaign coinciding with the escalation of the operations in Iraq, which seeks to send further assistance there. Amongst these campaigns is the incitement of Rabbi Irving Elson in his latest speech given in New York to allocate further "Fighting Rabbis" and encourage them to enlist in the American forces, in addition to another rabbi's advisory stating that those killed in Fallujah are "martyrs."

America needs the Israelis' experience in gang wars in order to manage the battles in the Iraqi cities; given that two generations of its armed forces lack this experience since the end of the Vietnam War. However, the Israeli role is neither technical nor complementary to the American plan. Rather, it is part of the vision established by its military and political leadership prior to the launching of the war, which aims at annulling any regional role for Iraq and eliminating any threat it might cause to its future. The Israeli plan became clear due to various headlines, most prominent of which is dispatching Mossad operatives to establish offices and networks in the north, south, eliminate the Iraqi scientists and intensify the real estate purchase of property and land in the north; specifically in Arbil, Kirkuk and Mosul. This comes as a completion of the previous project, launched ten years prior to the fall of Baghdad, through Jewish Turks.

 

[Barking_Mad]

updates....

Mortar barrage kills 1 in central Baghdad
A mortar barrage hammered the heavily fortified Green Zone and elsewhere in central Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least one person

Writer describes dangerous Iraq highway
The driver barreled down the road from Baghdad International Airport, his eyes darting from side to side for signs of trouble. A few hundred yards ahead, a convoy of U.S. contractors stopped on an overpass. Armed men jumped from the vehicles..

National Guard and Reserve Mobilized as of December 1, 2004
This week, the Army and Air Force announced an increase in the number of reservists on active duty, while the Navy and Marines had a decrease. The Coast Guard remained unchanged. The net collective result is 659 more reservists..

Six Iraqis Die In Iraq
Four military servicemen from the Iraqi National Guard and two civilian Iraqis have been killed during separate attacks today North of Baghdad, AFP informed, citing medical and police sources.

Norway to send military instructors to Iraq
The Norwegian Government wants to contribute up to 20 military instructors to the NATO force in Iraq. The Norwegian officers will not in any way participate in the planning of or carrying out of military operations.

Macedonian to reinforce army presence in Iraq
The Macedonian parliament on Wednesday approved a proposal to to reinforce its army presence inIraq, the MIA news agency reported. They will send a new platoon of 32 special troops to Iraq in December with a six-month mandate.

Mutilated body is not Hassan's
FRESH doubts have emerged over the fate of a British aid worker taken hostage in Iraq in October after tests revealed the mutilated body of a Western woman found a fortnight ago was not Margaret Hassan.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Report: Iraq abuse was known about

Washington, DC, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- A leaked confidential military report shows U.S. Army generals were told of Iraqi prisoner abuse by U.S. soldiers a month before the story broke in January. The report was written last December by retired Col. Stuart Herrington and was obtained by the Washington Post. It concluded some U.S. arrest and detention practices at the time could "technically" be illegal. It also said coalition fighters could be feeding the Iraqi insurgency by "making gratuitous enemies" by netting hundreds of detainees who probably did not belong in prison.

The investigation also found members of Task Force 121 -- a joint Special Operations-CIA mission searching for weapons of mass destruction and high-value targets including Saddam Hussein -- had been abusing detainees throughout Iraq and had been using a secret interrogation facility to hide their activities. U.S. military officials have repeatedly insisted the problem was largely confined to the military prison at Abu Ghraib in Baghdad, which came to light in January 2004.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Between Nov 4th and Nov 30th the US DoD reported that 1,265 US soldiers were injured in combat - the highest total since the invasion began

 

[bigfish]

Daily Telegraph (UK)
By Jack Fairweather in Amman
(Filed: 02/12/2004)

A network of Syrian mosques is sending men, money and weapons to Iraq, fuelling the insurgency.

An investigation by the Telegraph blah blah blah

I wonder if this investigation by the Spookegraph is up to the same exacting standard as their investigation into George Galloway who is currently suing them for gross libel...

A network of British institutions is sending highly trained gunmen to murder innocent Iraqi civilians and steal their oil.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Are there any police stations left in Iraq?

Rebels storm police stations in Baghdad

Armed rebels stormed a police station near the airport road in western Baghdad today, killing six policemen and torching two cars, officers said. In a separate attack, rebels clashed with policemen at a station in the capital's northern Adamiyah district, an officer said on condition of anonymity. There was no information on casualties, he said.

Thick black smoke rose from the burning vehicles after the attack in the western Amil district. Government forces sealed off the area.

Police Cap. Mohammed al-Jumeili said the insurgents began the attack by shelling the station with mortars, and then about 15 of them stormed its main courtyard and clashed with police inside. Two officers were among the dead, and several police were wounded.

Detainees being held at the station were also hurt, al-Jumeili said. There was no word on the insurgents' casualties. Another policeman at the scene told reporters that the rebels had looted weapons from the station.

The highway leading to Baghdad International Airport on the capital's western outskirts is considered one of the most dangerous stretches of road in Iraq. Rebels have repeatedly targeted U.S. troops and Iraqi government forces on the busy thoroughfare.

In addition, rebels have frequently attacked Iraqi police. They accuse the country's nascent police force of complicity with the Americans.

 

[Barking_Mad]

US launches more raids near Baghdad

Hundreds of US and British troops have raided homes near Baghdad as part of an ongoing operation to quell Iraqi opposition to January elections. Scottish soldiers from the Black Watch regiment and a force from the US 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) cordoned off several kilometres of the west bank of the Euphrates river on Wednesday, 50km south of Baghdad.

They said they were scouring villas and farms for anti-US fighters and hidden stocks of weapons. US and Iraqi troops rounded up 15 suspected anti-US fighters during the operation, the military said in a statement, raising to 210 the number detained in the past eight days of raids.

It was the latest in a series of aggressive raids across the region since the launch a week ago of what American commanders have called Operation Plymouth Rock.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Shia call raises Iraq election tension

Iraqi Shia parties have insisted that elections planned for the country on 30 January should go ahead as planned, rejecting calls by other parties and politicians to postpone them. The election-date dispute threatens to widen sectarian divisions as Iraqi fighters and US troops, backed by Iraqi National Guard, clash in most of the country's main cities.

A statement by 42 Shia and Turkmen parties, including the influential Dawa Party and the Shia Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), said a postponement would be illegal. SCIRI spokesman Ammar al-Hakim told Aljazeera that the council was in favour of holding the elections as planned on 30 January rather than delaying them.

The Shia statement followed a petition on Friday by 17 political groups calling for a delay of up to six months to ensure the broadest possible participation in the elections.

 

[invisibleplanet]

London confirms the found body is not for Margaret Hassan
Iraq-UK, Military, 12/2/2004

In another development, the British foreign office announced that medical tests proved that the body found in Iraq two weeks ago is not for the head of the British Care Charity organization, Margaret Hassan. However, the foreign office still believes that Margaret was killed.

source: http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/041202/2004120204.html

This is not exactly receiving world-wide coverage, but dna tests are back and the body of the woman in Fallujah was not Margaret Hassan's.

also reported in http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=588535

 

[Barking_Mad]

Bloody Baghdad attacks kill 25

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A car bomb has killed at least 14 people in the tense northern Baghdad neighbourhood of Aadhamiya, police say. Earlier on Friday, gunmen stormed a police station in southern Baghdad, killing 11 policemen. Aadhamiya is a mainly Sunni area that has seen frequent attacks by insurgents. There was no immediate information on the target of the car bomb attack.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Ten killed in Mosul clash

Ten insurgent fighters were killed in a clash with Iraqi security forces during a raid in the northern city of Mosul, an Iraqi military commander said today. Major General Rasheed Feleih said two rebels were captured during the fight, which flared overnight when a police special forces unit was conducting a sweep through the city's volatile al-Isla district.

Mosul's 5,000-strong police force disintegrated during an insurgent uprising last month, forcing the US military and interim Iraqi government to divert troops from the offensive in Falluja. Two police officers were injured in the fighting, said Maj Gen Feleih, who heads the police special forces group in Mosul.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Reconstruction? A few holes in roads?!

Baghdad's Sadr City embraces reconstruction ahead of Iraqi elections

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) The outdoor markets are busy again and the gridlocked traffic is back. The bands of excited children who walked behind local militiamen heading to battle in the fall now clamor around machinery laying down new water pipes.

After spending much of the year as a battlefield between militiamen and U.S. forces, Baghdad's Sadr City district is now embracing peace and reconstruction. Anticipation is high for what the residents of the mainly Shiite district say is their overdue empowerment through elections Jan. 30.

Workers in orange jumpsuits are laying asphalt in dozens of potholes dug by the fighters to conceal roadside bombs meant to kill American soldiers. The clerics who replaced their turbans and robes with track suits to join the fight are back in mosques and seminaries.

The daily lives of Sadr City's estimated 2.5 million people have not seen much improvement in the two months since fighting ended. But the large Baghdad neighborhood appears on such a euphoric high that the mounds of festering garbage, the constant seepage of sewage and shortage of clean water seem to matter little.