The Scoop from Key Iraqi Arabic-language Websites
Al-Badeel Al-Iraqi reports that chairman of the foreign relations
committee in Iraqi parliament, Humam Hamoudi (SCIRI), told members
of the Iraqi community in London that the Iraqi government is
planning to increase intelligence activities in its embassies
worldwide. Hamoudi told an audience at the Imam Al-Khoei Center
in London that new “security stations” would be formed
in Iraqi embassies in foreign capitals to monitor the activities
of “figures opposing the new Iraq” and “recruiting
and funding activities for militants in Iraq.” The Iraqi
Az-Zaman newspaper also ran a report on Hamoudi’s statements,
which have been widely criticized and have stirred accusations
of returning to methods employed by the former regime on several
Iraqi websites and forums.
In a chilling interview with the Jordanian state-run Al-Rai newspaper,
Iraqi President Jalal Talibani warned that Kurdish and Shi’ite
militias would “overrun” Iraq in the case of a U.S.
withdrawal. Talibani, speaking from the Al-Hussein Medical City,
where he was recuperating from exhaustion and pulmonary inflammation,
said the Kurds and Shia can prepare “hundreds of thousands
of trained fighters” to quickly control all of Iraq, adding
that he does not wish to see this scenario take place. “We
in the Kurdistan region can take control of Mosul and surrounding
Arab areas within hours,” said Talibani. “This is
not in the interest of Iraq because there has to be an Iraqi force
that represents all components of the Iraqi people.” President
Talibani arrived Wednesday afternoon at the Suleimaniya International
Airport in the Kurdistan Region north of Iraq.
The Haqq Agency reports that Iraqi security forces raided the
Palestinian apartment compound in Baladiyat, northeast of Baghdad,
this morning and detained 60 people. Eyewitnesses said that ten
people were killed in the raids and several others wounded after
Iraqi troops opened fire randomly. The Baladiyat compound is the
largest Palestinian residential area in Iraq, and an estimated
15,000 Palestinians live there. The agency also reports that Mahdi
Army militiamen abducted a Palestinian citizen from outside his
house in the Tobchi district, west of Baghdad. His family found
his corpse dumped near the railroad in the area, which is where
Shi’ite militias that control the district dispose of bodies.
The Ministry of Refugees Affairs in the Palestinian authority
published a report Wednesday revealing that Palestinian refugees
in Iraq have suffered 31 attacks from militias, Iraqi security
and U.S. forces. The report found that nine Palestinians were
killed and 15 abducted by militias, two of which were found dead
later and two others released, while the fate of the rest is unknown.
Also, 136 Palestinians have taken refuge in the Waleed camp on
the Iraqi-Syrian border, bringing the total of Palestinian refugees
in the camp to 517, according to the Palestinian Media Center.
Several Shi’ite families in the upscale mixed district
of Mansour west of Baghdad have been forced to leave their houses
by Sunni militants over the last two days, according to Al-Melaf.
The website said the district continues to witness sectarian violence
despite the strict security measures in neighboring areas. Residents
say that fundamentalist Sunni militants dump unknown headless
corpses on the streets every day, some of which have not been
removed for days.
A number of displaced Shi’ite families in Hilla said they
would not return to their original areas of residence in Baghdad
even if security improves, the Al-Badeel Al-Iraqi website reported.
The refugees from Abu Ghraib and Dora in Baghdad said they would
prefer to remain in refugee camps in Hilla, even if deprived from
basic necessities, rather than return to the cycle of threats
and sectarian violence in Baghdad. They also criticized governmental
officials, including PM Nuri Al-Maliki, for the difficult conditions
of refugees in Hilla.
The Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq issued a press statement
condemning the attack against the worshippers of the Hudhayfa
bin Al-Yeman mosque in the Risala district, south of Baghdad,
Tuesday afternoon. Six old men were killed in a drive-by shooting
as they were leaving the mosque after prayers. The association
accused “sectarian militias” of carrying out the attack.
The association also issued a press statement accusing “terrorist
militias of a well-known political movement” of blowing
up the Dhakireen mosque in the Asriya village near Iskenderiya,
south of Baghdad, during the nighttime curfew.
SCIRI’s Buratha News Agency reports on a meeting between
MP Sheikh Jalal Al-Din Al-Sagheer and Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani
in Najaf. Sistani said that he regards the pilgrimage season to
Karbala with millions of Shi’ite pilgrims from all over
the country as a “triumphant victory.” Sistani also
said that it is important to stand ground in Baghdad despite all
the hardships they are going through, adding that their patience
will pay in the end.
The agency’s correspondent in the Karrada district of Baghdad
reported that the heavy artillery bombardment of the Sunni-majority
Arab Jubour and Al-Bu Aitha rural suburbs south of Baghdad by
Iraqi security forces has resumed.
