*IRAQ: latest news and developments

[Barking_Mad]

Ok, who woke this lot?

Recalled Parliament urged amid Iraq crisis

Demands for the recall of Parliament are being made as the crisis in Iraq deepens.

The calls come a year after scenes of euphoria at the liberation of Baghdad were broadcast around the world, including the symbolic tearing down of a statue of dictator Saddam Hussein. http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_917111.html?menu=news.topheadlines

 

[Barking_Mad]

This must be god awful for those families....

In Japan, the families of the three Japanese civilians being held hostage in Iraq have pleaded with the Government to accept the kidnappers' demands. A group calling itself the Mujahedeen Brigades says it will burn the hostages alive unless Japan withdraws its troops from Iraq within three days.

The mother of one of the hostages has tearfully begged the Government to save her son's life. The sister of another hostage says Japan should do as the kidnappers ask and recall the troops.

There are more than 500 Japanese soldiers in Iraq, providing humanitarian assistance.
Late last night the top government spokesman declared that there was no reason to stop the mission

In Japan, the families of the three Japanese civilians being held hostage in Iraq have pleaded with the Government to accept the kidnappers' demands.

A group calling itself the Mujahedeen Brigades says it will burn the hostages alive unless Japan withdraws its troops from Iraq within three days.

The mother of one of the hostages has tearfully begged the Government to save her son's life.

The sister of another hostage says Japan should do as the kidnappers ask and recall the troops.

There are more than 500 Japanese soldiers in Iraq, providing humanitarian assistance.

Late last night the top government spokesman declared that there was no reason to stop the mission. http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1084650.htm

 

[Leo JP]

Just heard that the Yanks are suspending 'offensive operations in Fallujah' (in other words they're pulling out). Any confirmation, guys?

 

[j26]

Fox have announced that offensive operations have been suspended for 24 hours in Fallujah to allow humanitarian aid and to initiate talks with Iraqi fighters (not insurgents or terrorists!). It sounds like things ain't going as well as the spin would tell you.

 

[Kaka Tim]

report on BBC website -

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3613299.stm

outbreak of sense amongst the occupying forces?

They are also reporting that Kut has been retaken - but no independant confirmation.

 

[Leo JP]

Breaking news: Fox reporting that 9 dead in attack on US Convoy, no more details given.

 

[j26]

The other side of the coin..

Al-Jazera has reported that minutes after Bremmer announced the cessation of offensive action in Fallujah that the city was bombed from the air. Scores of people were injured in the attack. They are also reporting at least 300 dead & 500 injured. Significant portions of the city have been flattened by ariel assaults and tanks that did reach the centre of the city.


http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C1FC177A-9A9F-4933-9F33-73CD512990A0.htm

 

[Bernie Gunther]

Guardian reports ceasefire lasted 90 mins

 

[Barking_Mad]

At least nine dead in attack on US convoy in Iraq

BAGHDAD - Insurgents attacked a US convoy carrying fuel west of Baghdad on Friday, killing at least nine people, witnesses said.

A Reuters photographer on the scene said he saw bodies burning inside the vehicles, which were still on fire near Abu Ghraib. He said the convoy included US military vehicles and fuel tankers. Huge clouds of black smoke hung over the area, visible from several kilometres away. There was heavy fighting between US troops and guerrillas in Abu Ghraib on Thursday.

Truckloads of people from the area have also tried to head further west to help other insurgents battling US forces in Falluja and Ramadi.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/Display...l/focusoniraq_April78.xml&section=focusoniraq

 

[Barking_Mad]

Sky reports British soldiers dead in Amara and 2 loud explosions in Baghdad.

 

[Bernie Gunther]

On C4 News just now Jon Snow interviewed Lee Gordon, a journalist who has been inside Fallujah for the last few days. He says that streams of citizens are fleeing Fallujah after US psyops types started announcing 'leave or you will be killed' and that he witnessed sniper fire taking a toll on civilians.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Unconfirmed news reports state that groups of Fallujah Iraqis, last seen laughing and smiling while parading around with charred body parts of foreign workers, are not smiling as much when faced with scorched remains of own family members.

 

[Bernie Gunther]

AP reports suggest that the US are refusing to allow men of military age to leave Fallujah. Some families have turned back.

 

[Backatcha Bandit]

AP reports suggest that the US are refusing to allow men of military age to leave Fallujah. Some families have turned back.

Confirmed by BBC World Service, who have been saying for the last few hours that coalition forces have stopped their [what sounds like a bombardment, but thats not their word] on Fallujah to allow 'women, children and old people' to leave the city. This has apparently led to a 'lull in the fighting'.

Reports suggest that the coalition (US) forces have suggest that they leave, but have not indicated where exactly they should go.

From BBC site:

Iraqi allies warn US over Falluja

Reports from Falluja say food and medical supplies are low
Members of Iraq's US-appointed governing council have condemned the US military operation in Falluja after four days of bitter fighting.

One member described the operation as "genocide" after doctors in the Sunni Muslim city of 300,000 reported 450 deaths and 1,000 injured this week.

The fugitive leader of the country's parallel Shia unrest has demanded the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3615189.stm

 

[Barking_Mad]

Ambush, murder and kidnap: another day in 'post-war' Iraq

The violence has spread from the Sunni cities of Fallujah and Ramadi, 30 miles up the main road, to the fringes of the capital. Just a few hours before we were plunged into the middle of a ferocious firefight, we saw three huge, black, oily clouds of smoke rising. This is Abu Ghraib, on the western outskirts of Baghdad. It is a district of scattered houses, old factories and palm groves. They provide ideal cover for guerrillas.

It was here, yesterday, that an American convoy was ambushed. It was here witnesses said they had seen as many as nine bodies burning inside the wrecked vehicles. It was here insurgents were later to claim to have seized six foreigners.http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=510184

 

[Gumbert]

Aljazeera targeted in Falluja

'in war first casualty is truth'...

Aljazeera journalists have come under fire in the flashpoint Iraqi town of Falluja.

The only television crew to be reporting from inside the besieged town, Aljazeera crew members on Friday complained they had been fired at twice during the day.

The staffers have since been forced to move to a safer location within the restive town, transformed into a ferocious battleground between US soldiers and Iraqi resistance fighters.

Aljazeera correspondent in Falluja, Ahmad Mansur said US F16 planes also bombed places disconcertingly close to the news channel's office.

Target

Aljazeera journalists have found themselves at the receiving end of US-aggression often in the past.

The only television crew to be reporting from inside the besieged town, Aljazeera crew members on Friday complained they had been fired at twice.

During the war in Afghanistan, Aljazeera's office in capital Kabul was bombed.

Aljazeera correspondent, Tariq Ayyoub, was killed in capital Baghdad by US-tank fire as he prepared to broadcast during last year's Iraq war.

Reporting from Falluja, Mansur said the situation inside the besieged town was grim.

Surrounded on all sides by the US occupation soldiers, residents inside have run out of supplies.

Public appeals were being made from the local mosques for shrouds to wrap the many dead. A local doctor put the Iraqi toll in the town at 450.

Ambulances arriving from Baghdad to evacuate the seriously injured had difficulty in gaining access to the town.

US soldiers opened fire, forcing six of the ambulances to retreat as they attempt to reach the Talib al-Janabi clinic.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3B3253DC-F741-4F90-B568-2C9CBDEFECD4.htm

 

[Barking_Mad]

Id like to say I cant believe this, but this sad thing is I can....

A stream of hundreds of cars carrying women, children and elderly headed out of the city after Marines announced they would be allowed to leave. Families pleaded to be allowed to take out men, and when Marines refused, some entire families turned back. http://www.620ktar.com/news/article.aspx?id=350483

What exactly do they expect they are going to do with the men left in Fallujah? Throw them in jail? Give them weapons and a job as soldiers...?

 

[Barking_Mad]

Iraqi allies warn US over Falluja

Reports from Falluja say food and medical supplies are low
Members of Iraq's US-appointed governing council have condemned the US military operation in Falluja after four days of bitter fighting.
One member described the operation as "genocide" after doctors in the Sunni Muslim city of 300,000 reported 450 deaths and 1,000 injured this week.

Gunfire and mortar blasts echoed across Falluja, and a marine officer who spoke to AFP news agency on condition of anonymity predicted it would "get worse before it gets better".

Moqtada Sadr, the radical cleric whose followers have been directing violent unrest in Shia areas since Sunday, has demanded the withdrawal of coalition troops from Iraq.

Speaking in a sermon read out at Friday Prayers by an aide in the town of Kufa, he said US President George W Bush could no longer point to Saddam Hussein or weapons of mass destruction as reasons to be in Iraq.

"You are now fighting an entire nation, from south to north, from east to west, and we advise you to withdraw from Iraq," said Mr Sadr, who is the subject of a coalition arrest warrant.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3615189.stm

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

'in war first casualty is truth'...



http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3B3253DC-F741-4F90-B568-2C9CBDEFECD4.htm

If you go to the al jazeera site and check out the photo exclusive on the Falluja seige, every picture is of a dead baby. Makes it seems like the only causalties were babies. Also makes you wonder about the objectivity of al jazeera.

 

[Barking_Mad]

If you go to the al jazeera site and check out the photo exclusive on the Falluja seige, every picture is of a dead baby. Makes it seems like the only causalties were babies. Also makes you wonder about the objectivity of al jazeera.

And when you watch any western channel Johnny do you see any pictures of babies or those who have died in Fallujha?

Why is that Johnny? Is it because there are no wester cameras in Fallujah? Hmmm now who lacks objectivity?

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

And when you watch any western channel Johnny do you see any pictures of babies or those who have died in Fallujha?

Why is that Johnny? Is it because there are no wester cameras in Fallujah? Hmmm now who lacks objectivity?

Perhaps the BBC subjects you to that kind of censorship, but Iraqi casualties, adult and child, have been pictured in our media.

 

[infobomb]

Stuff on factions - concentrating on Sadr

Necessary reading for background:
http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=1674&l=1
International Crisis Group - before the war. Without fault or bias, IMHO.

Other stuff on Sadr (bias isn't mine, just searching for stuff)
Crisis group page http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=2436&l=1
beeb http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2975340.stm
csmonitor http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0220/p01s02-woiq.html
time http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,449442,00.html
benador assocs http://www.benadorassociates.com/article/3198
payvand http://www.payvand.com/news/04/apr/1032.html
PINR (front page at the mo, will change) http://www.pinr.com/index.php

 

[the scouser]

If you go to the al jazeera site and check out the photo exclusive on the Falluja seige, every picture is of a dead baby. Makes it seems like the only causalties were babies. Also makes you wonder about the objectivity of al jazeera.

Still using this thread to propagate your Uncle Sam Worship eh?

Meanwhile......

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two American troops and an unknown number of civilian contractors are missing in Iraq after an attack on a fuel convoy west of Baghdad, a Defense Department official said on Friday.
"We do have the two U.S. service members unaccounted for, and an unknown number of contractors," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

No other details of those missing were immediately available.

In the past week, at least 51 American and allied soldiers and hundreds of Iraqis have been killed in the fighting.

Reuters website

 

[Barking_Mad]

- more chaos

Before dawn, the Marines engaged in psychological warfare, broadcasting ear-splitting “death metal” music to wear down the defenders’ nerves. Battles continued to flare elsewhere in Iraq as Hojatoleslam Moqtada al-Sadr, the firebrand Shia cleric, issued a chilling message to President Bush.

“I address my enemy Bush. ‘You are now fighting an entire nation — from south to north, from east to west, and we advise you to withdraw from Iraq’,” he said.....

.....Marines made little progress into the city yesterday before the lull in fighting. In one gunfight a tank shell hit the minaret of a mosque compound bombed two days earlier after a gunmen opened fire from the tower. In the no man’s land on the edge of an industrial zone, where some of the heaviest fighting has been concentrated, Iraqi bodies lay decaying in the heat, chewed on by wild dogs.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-1068986,00.html

 

[infobomb]

I never heard that he was Hojatoleslam before...

A quick google to back up my previous reading seems to indicate that few people think he is...

 

[Gumbert]

infobomb, that rightwing christian science monitor group alongside the daily telegraph had to retract spurious bullshit about george galloway in court or settled outside. Cos all he said was this war is illegal and the troops should disobey orders in an illegal war.

Now their prey is Sadr..

Did say the political intrigue guff would start though eh?

 

[infobomb]

Erm concerns about Sadr have been around along time, you've just picked up on that one reference by the looks of things.

Did you read the crisis web report I said was essential reading?

Read that first.

Whatever the bias of the media sources, the fact of the matter is that Sadr does want to be anothe Khomeini. Listen to the guy for fucks sake.

 

[bigfish]

Whatever the bias of the media sources, the fact of the matter is that Sadr does want to be anothe Khomeini. Listen to the guy for fucks sake.

I don't remember Khomeini making a direct appeal for the American people to support the Iranian revolution info. This guys different gravy altogether.

From Najaf, where he and thousands of his supporters are preparing for the same type of onslaught that the US military is conducting against Fallujah, Sadr declared yesterday: “I call upon the American people to stand beside your brothers, the Iraqi people, who are suffering an injustice by your rulers and the occupying army, and to help them in the transfer of power to honest Iraqis. Otherwise Iraq will become another Vietnam for America and the occupiers.”

Sadr’s call displays a degree of political sophistication that is completely absent in the American political establishment. It is a direct appeal to the objective common interest between the Iraqi masses and American working class—who are both victims of the policies of the Bush administration and the American corporate elite. Contrary to the propaganda of the US media, there is no popular support for the occupation of Iraq among the majority of the American working class

The appeal in full

 

[infobomb]

mutatis mutandi - The guy seems to want a theocracy, but he's playing to a different audience than Khomeini was.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Fighting north of Baghdad

Baqouba, Iraq-AP -- The U-S military estimates that at least 40 Iraqis are dead after a battle north of Baghdad overnight. Several U-S troops were wounded in the fighting in Baqouba. The military says insurgents attacked the Americans, sparking the battle.

The insurgents launched simultaneous rocket attacks on an Iraqi police station, the governor's office and a compound housing the U-S military's civil affairs office. During the battle, U-S forces fired heavy artillery at about 100 gunmen who had gathered near a bridge leading into town.

The fighting has tapered off, but shops remained closed and few residents are on the streets. U-S forces also bulldozed the local headquarters of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose militiamen have been battling coalition forces throughout southern parts of the country.

http://www.kbcitv.com/x5154.xml?Par...rsh601.xml&NewsSection=InternationalHeadlines