Iraq Watch: August 31, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Rumors of a potential suicide bomber triggered a massive stampede which resulted in the deaths of over 800 Shiite pilgrims on Wednesday in the single deadlist incident in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion began in March of 2003.

About a million pilgrims, according to estimates, were marching to the Kadhimiya shrine, the largest mosque in the capital city and one of Shia Islam's holiest sites, on Wednesday in an annual ceremony to commemorate the death of 8th-century Shiite Imam Moussa al-Khadhem.

The incident occurred at about 11:30 a.m. as thousands of pilgrims were crossing the al-Aimma bridge, which spans the Tigris river, when an unknown individual yelled out that there was a suicide bomber amongst the crowd. The announcement led to a frenzied stampede, trampling and suffocating to death hundreds, as pilgrims rushed to get away from the area. The throngs of people pushing eventually led to the guard-rails on one side of the 300-yard-long bridge to give way causing many to be thrown 30 feet or so below into the rushing Tigris which splits Iraq's capital city of Baghdad in half.

Casualty figures from the horrific incident varied anywhere between 800 and 1,000. Another 300 or so people were injured in the melee. Victims were taken to at least five Baghdad hospitals. Iraqi officials said the death toll was expected to rise.

The bridge - which connects the Sunni neighborhood of Adhamiya to the Shiite district of Kadhimiya - has been frequently closed over the past few years for security reasons but was open today to help accomadate for the mass amount of people traveling to Kadhimiya.

Tensions were already running high after an earlier mortar attack targeting the pilgrims killed at least seven and injured another 36.

The mortar attack was claimed by a little-known Sunni insurgent group calling itself the Jaysh al-Taifa al-Mansoura or Army of the Victorious Sect. Insurgent groups in Iraq have frequently targeted Shiite processions in the past.

There were also reports of insurgents deliberately poisoning Shiite pilgrims. AFP, citing Iraqi officials, reports that 25 people have died after eating or drinking the contaminated food and water.

Elsewhere on Wednesday, the U.S. military announced the deaths of two U.S. service members. One Task Froce Liberty soldier was killed and three injured today in Samarra after an IED detonated near there patrol. Another soldier was killed yesterday by an IED while conducting combat operations near Iskandariyah.

Iraq Watch: August 30, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Fierce fighting broke out on Tuesday in Iraq's western al-Anbar province, near the Syrian border. The clashes were believed to be between two rival Sunni klans, the pro-government Bumahl tribe and the pro-insurgent Karabilah tribe, in the area. Sporadic clashes between the two Sunni tribes have occurred in the past.

U.S. forces, after receiving tips from local members of the Bumahl tribe, called in airstrikes on multiple suspected insurgent safe houses in the region on Tuesday.

Casualty figures from the clashes and airstrikes varied drastically. The U.S. military said the airstrikes killed an unknown number of 'terroriosts' including purported al-Qaida in Iraq fighter Abu Islam. However, Iraqi police reported that at least 56 people - mostly civilians - were killed in the strikes.

The Washington Post reports that members al-Qaida in Iraq, led by Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, posted statements on local mosques in the area announcing they had lost 17 men in the fighting.

In other violence on Tuesday, the chief of police for the capital's Ghazaliya district, Diya Hilal Taha, was killed and three of his bodyguards were wounded when insurgents opened fire on them in the western Baghdad.

Elsewhere, Mohammad Rashad, a senior security official with the Iraqi oil protection force, was killed early this morning by gunmen in the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk.

In Samarra, 60 miles west of the capital, a suicide car bomber detonated his vehicle next to an Iraqi police patrol killing at least two officers.

Iraq Watch: August 29, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A day after the long worked upon Iraqi draft constitution was officialy finiziled some Iraqis took to the streets to protest the newly finished charter.

In Saddam Hussein's predominately Sunni hometown of Tikrit, more than 2,000 protesters, some carrying posters of the deposed dictator, demonstrated against the draft constitution while others vowed to defeat the charter in the upcoming October 15 national referendum.

The draft constitution can be defeated by a two-thirds against it in any three of Iraq's 18 provinces. Although Sunnis are an overall minority - forming only about 20 percent of the nations total population - they are believed to be the majority sect in at least four Iraqi provinces.

Voter regestration for the referendum and other general elections was extended by a week until September 7 in the volatile al-Anbar province, located west of Baghdad, the Iraqi electoral commission announced today.

In violence on Monday, Brig. Gen. Numan Salman Faris, director of the area's rapid response force, was shot to death in Baghdad's Azamiyah district. Also in the capital city, gunmen killed Gen. Nu'man Selman Thabit, an interior ministry official assigned to the Iraqi electoral commission, and Mohammed Radhi al-Hayderi, the brother of former Baghdad governor Ali al-Hayderi, in separate incidents on Monday.

In the former insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, 43 miles west of Baghdad, police found the bodies of at least 15 Iraqis who were believed to have been executed a day earlier after their vehicle was ambushed in the notorious city by insurgents.

Late Monday, the U.S. military announced that one American soldier was killed and another injured when their helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing under intense hostile fire near the northern city of Tal Afar.

Iraq Watch: August 28, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi officials on Sunday finally finished the nations draft constitution despite strong objections from the minority Sunnis.

The charter was passed without a parliamentry vote. The completed draft constitution will now be presented to the Iraqi people in a planned October 15 national referendum.

Within minutes of the draft being submitted to parliament the 15 Sunni members of the Iraqi drafting committee released a joint statement calling the finalized constitution 'illegitimate' and 'illegal'.

Iraq Watch: August 27, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Top Sunnis, icluding deputy prime minister Abed Mutlaq al-Jbouri, on Saturday spoke out against the proposed draft constitution demanding that changes be made to the current charter.

Shiites and Kurds have already agreed on the document and plan to formally pass it during a parliamentary meeting on Sunday. The draft constitution would then be sent to the Iraqi people who would vote on it during the planned October 15 referendum.

U.S. officials including ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad appealed to the majority Shiites and Kurds on Saturday to reach a general consensus with their Sunni counterparts before sending the document to parliament.

The U.S. has strongly pushed to have Sunni approval and acceptance of the draft constitution in the hope that having Sunnis invloved in the nations politics would help weaken the Sunni-dominated insurgency.

In an apparent concession to the minority Sunnis, who form about 20 percent of Iraq's total population, the U.S. military announced on Saturday that it has released nearly 1,000 - mostly Sunni - detainees from the notorious Abu Ghraib prison over the past few days.

In violence on Saturday, Iraqi army Maj. Ahmad Abdullah was killed when gunmen opened fire on him near his house in the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk.

Iraq Watch: August 26, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The chairman of Iraq's constitutional committee, Sheik Humam Hammoudi, announced late Friday that an 'amended' version of the nations draft constitution has been agreed upon (by Shiites and Kurds) and will be sent to Iraqi parliament on either Saturday or Sunday.

Sunni negotiators and lawmakers said that they had rejected the revised draft charter presented to them earlier on Friday. The decesion to forward the draft constition without a general Sunni endorsement will come as a major blow to the Bush administration. Washington has been pushing hard, with President Bush even calling top Shiite leader Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim late Thursday, to include Sunnis in the Iraqi political process hoping that having them invlolved would weaken the Sunni-led insurgency that has been plaguing the nation and U.S. forces for over two years.

Legally, Iraqi parliament does not have to vote on the proposed charter - as originally planned - but with the majority Shiites and Kurds holding 221 of the 275 seats in parliament the draft constituion would be expected to pass easily despite the Sunnis disapproval if a vote were to take place. The key test for the charter will come October 15 when Iraq is scheduled to have a national referendum on the proposed document.

The draft constitution can be defeated if a simple two-thirds majority in any three of Iraq's 18 provinces vote against it. The Sunnis, who form about 20 percent of the nation's total population, are a majority sect in at least four Iraqi provinces.

If the charter were to be defeated in the mid-October referendum Iraq would essentially start the political process over from 'square one'. The current parliament would be dissolved and voting to elect a new one would take place in December. The newly elected government would then start the process of creating a draft constitution once again.

Protests were held against the proposed draft constitution in the predominately Sunni town of Baquba, 40 miles northeast of Baghdad. Thousands of people, some holding pictures of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, came out to demonstrate.

Similar mass demonstrations against the new charter and the federalism proposed in it, among other things, occurred in at least eight southern Iraqi cities on Friday. The protests, atteneded by an estimated 100,000 people, were organized by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Violence persisted across the country on Friday, the traditional Muslim day of prayer.

In Baquba, north of Baghdad, two Iraqi policemen were killed when their car was attacked by insurgents.

Also to the north, in Tikrit, one Iraqi soldier was killed and four others wounded when gunmen attacked their army patrol.

A roadside bomb near al-Rashad killed two truck drivers transporting supplies to a nearby military base.

In the capital city itself, a senior Iraqi army officer was gunned down in the southern district of Dora. Also in Baghdad, an oil facility guard was killed and two others injured in a roadside bombing.

Late Friday, the U.S. military announced that it had destroyed a suspected insurgent safe house in Husaybah, near the Syrian border, after receiving tips from local residents.

Iraq Watch: August 24, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Armed swaths of insurgents roamed the streets and engaged Iraqi security forces in some of the fiercest street fighting seen in the capital city in recent months on Wednesday afternoon. The fighting broke out on after insurgents launched a series of car bombings against police checkpoints around Baghdad. At least 14 people were killed and 59 wounded in the skirmishes which took place in the predominately Sunni western Baghdad neighborhood of Jamiaa.

Also in Baghdad, a failed assassination attempt against Deputy Justice Minister Bosho Ibrahim resulted in the deaths of four of his bodyguards. At least Five other bodyguards were injured in the mid-morning attack which occurred in the al-Gazalia district of the capital.

To the south, in the holy city of Najaf, clashes broke out between two rival Shiite militias on Wednesday. The fighting, which resulted in the deaths of at least eight people, was between the Mahdi Army - loyal to firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr - and the Badr Brigades, loyal to the nations largest Shiite political group, the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI).

Fighting between the two Shiite factions intensified and spread to other southern cities by late Wednesday. Clashes were rported in Basra, Nasiriyah, and Amarah according to the AP.

Aljazeera reports that fighting had erupted in and around Baghdad as well.

In protest of the reported clashes 21 lawmakers and at least three senior government officials affiliated with al-Sadr have gone on strike indefinitely, further complicating the already tenuous Iraqi political process.

Voting by Iraq's parliament on the proposed draft constitution is scheduled to take place on Thursday.

Demonstrations by both Sunnis and Shiite followers of Muqtada al-Sadr against the proposed constitution, and the federalism included in it, took place on Wednesday in the northern city of Hawija, southwest of Kirkuk.

Four Iraqis were killed and seven others wounded when gunmen attacked their minibus north of Baquba in Khalis. The victims were believed to be Shiites returning from holy cites inside neighboring Iran.

A mortar attack on an army checkpoint south of Baghdad near Musayyib killed one Iraqi soldier and injured another.

Iraq Watch: August 23, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A day after delaying the voting on Iraq's proposed draft constitution lawmakers attempted to resolve the remaining key issues still dividing the nation and its diverse ethnic and religious factions. The next official negotiations are scheduled for Wednesday morning in Baghdad's heavily guarded Green Zone.

Insurgent violence continued on Tuesday with attacks reported thoughout the country.

At the Diyala Provincial Joint Coordination Center in Baquba, 35 miles northeast of the capital, a suicide bomber detonated his device killing at least seven people, including a U.S. soldier and an American contractor. Nine other U.S. soldiers were wounded in the blast which occurred at 12:50 p.m.

The notorious terrorist organization, al-Qaida in Iraq, led by Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claimed responsibility for the Baquba attack through an internet statement.

Three car bombs targeting U.S. forces in the western city of Ramadi exploded in an apparently coordinated insurgent attack according to Reuters. The first car bomb blew up next to a passing American convoy near the center of the predominately Sunni city. Shortly after the first blast, a suicide truck bomber rammed into a building frequently used by U.S. forces on the edge of the city causing part of the structure to collapse. A third car bomb exploded as U.S. forces were arriving to secure the scene of the second blast.

The U.S. military had no immediate word on the incidents in the city located about 60 miles west of Baghdad.

North of the southern Shiite holy city of Najaf in Haydariya, two Iraqi policemen were killed and a third wounded in clashes with insurgents.

Also to the south, in Basra, Zaiki Ibrahim, a former Iraqi army general under Saddam Hussein was killed by gunmen after having been kidnapped three days ago.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military announced the deaths of two American service members today. One marine was killed by an IED near the volatile city of Fallujah yesterday. Another marine was killed on Sunday near Al Karmah while conducting combat operations.

Three bodyguards of Iraqi Environment Minister Nermeen Othman were injured when insurgents opened fire on her convoy in an assassination attempt as she traveled near Oudhaim in northern Iraq.

Iraq Watch: August 22, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi lawmakers once again on Monday decided to delay voting on the nations draft constitution. In a measure to avoid government dissolution, however, the draft constitution was delivered to Iraqi parliament just minutes before the midnight deadline. After parliament officially acknowledged that they had received the draft constitution, it was immediately withdrawn to allow negotiators three more days for final discussion and deliberation.

If all goes well Iraqi parliament will vote on the newly created draft constitution three days from now. If it passes in parliament, the constitution will then be presented to the Iraqi people who would vote whether to recognize the long worked upon document as the countries official constitution in a proposed mid-October referendum.

The majority of Kurds and Shiites on the drafting committe are confident that the draft constitution can be completed within the newly allotted three-day final negotiation period while the minority Sunnis are much more pessimistic about the possibilities of finalization citing numerous key issues that have yet to be resolved.

Outside the fortified walls of Baghdad's 'Green Zone' where the political events were occurring, violence continued throughout the war-torn nation on Monday.

In Taramiyah, eight Iraqi policemen and three civilians were killed when gunmen attacked the minibus they were riding in.

Elsewhere, two separate suicide car bombs in Baghdad killed at least 12 Iraqi police, including eight police commandos on Monday. Also in the capital, police reported finding the bodies of at least six men, all of whom were bound, handcuffed, and shot in the head.

North of Baghdad near the city of al-Sainiya, five Iraqi soldiers were killed when insurgents using mortars attacked their military base. Two other Iraqi soldiers were killed and three more wounded in a roadside bombing near Tulul Al-Baj, about 200 miles north of the capital.

The U.S. military on Monday announced the deaths of four American service members. Two Task Force Liberty soldiers were killed and another two injured today when an IED exploded next to their patrol southwest of Samarra. The other two soldiers died when their vehicle rolled over late last night near the northern city of Tal Afar.

In other violence, a senior counter-terrorism official with the Iraqi army was assisanated along with his wife in oil-rich city of Kirkuk. Two truck drivers were killed in an attack north of Baquba.

Insurgents attacked a power station in central Iraq resulting in the loss of power for numerous cities across Iraq including much of Baghdad and Basra. The attack, which toppled key power pylons according to the AP, also stopped most of Iraq's oil export capacity for much of Monday. AFP reports that some oil exporting was able to resume late on Monday.

Iraq Watch: August 21, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - With the deadline for the draft constitution only hours away insurgent violence continued unabated in Iraq on Sunday.

In the northern town of Baiji, located about 130 miles north of Baghdad, at least five people were kidnapped on Sunday according to AFP. The abducted included two Iraqi soldiers, a Turkish engineer and his bodyguard, and Mohammad Nayef, a local doctor.

Meanwhile in Baghdad, a car bomb exploded near a restaurant killing four civilians in a largely Shiite district of the city. Also in the capital city, two security officials from the Interior Ministry were killed while driving through the western neighborhood of al-Ameriyah. An official of Iraq's largest Sunni political group - the Iraqi Islamic Party - was found dead on Sunday. Amer Abdeljabar Zaein had been kidnapped on August 13th according to the group.

Just south of Baghdad in Latifiya, located in the infamous 'Triangle of Death', a civilian was killed in a roadside bomb explosion.

The U.S. military on Sunday announced the death of a U.S. soldier who was killed in a roadside bomb attack near the northern city of Dwar.

Near Samarra, 80 miles north of Baghdad, an Iraqi policeman was shot to death by insurgents. The attack occureed in the al-Shuhada neighborhood, just east of the city. Another shooting in Samarra killed Farid Jabouri, an Iraqi interpreter. Also in the city, which is home to over 200,000 people, an Iraqi family of five was killed by gunmen late Saturday.

In Baquba, two wokers in a Shiite mosque were gunned down on Sunday. The early-morning attack took place in the Mafraq neighborhood.

Iraq Watch: August 20, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - As the Monday deadline steadily approaches for the draft of an Iraqi constitution a potential breakthrough may have been made Saturday when, according to multiple sources, U.S. diplomats working with the Iraqi drafting committe dropped their long-standing opposition to having Islam used as the main source of legislation in Iraq.

In another potentially positive political development Kurdish leaders on Saturday, showing signs of flexibility, announced that they may drop their demand of being guaranteed self-determination, which could eventually lead to full secession, in the new constitution.

The idea of Kursdish secession or dividing Iraq into three federated states, as previously proposed by some Iraqi lawmakers most notably powerful Shiite Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, is one of the crucial sticking points in agreeing on a draft constitution.

If no agreement can be reached by the Monday, August 22nd, deadline the Iraqi parliament would be dissolved. This would be a major blow for the transition to democracy in the Land of the Two Rivers. The dissolution of government would negate the historic January 30th elections held in Iraq and the political process would, for all intensive purposes, be forced to 'start over'.

Many in Iraq are vehemently opposed to the idea of federalism. This point is evident by the multiple protests held across Iraq over the last two days. On Saturday, thousdands of demonstrators - both Sunni and Shiite - took to the streets in the cities of Ramadi and Kirkuk. Friday's protest, which were organized by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, were held in Baghdad and Baqouba.

Violence persisted throughout Iraq on Saturday. Four Iraqi soldiers were killed in the former insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, 30 miles west of Baghdad. Three other soldiers were wounded in the hand grenade attack.

In the capital city of Baghdad, two police were killed in a gunbattle with insurgents near the Al-Shurta tunnel in the Amiryaa neighborhood. Insurgents also killed two civilians in the Al-Amil district of the city which is home to over five and a half million people.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military announced the death of an American soldier today. The soldier, assigned to the 42nd Military Police Brigade, died from wounds suffered in a roadside bombing.

Elsewhere, in the northern city of Mosul, located about 225 miles northwest of the capital, gunmen killed former Iraqi army brigadier-general Yasser Abed Moussa in a drive-by shooting. Also in the volatile city, located along the banks of the Tigris River, at least six civilians were injured when a roadside bomb exploded near a passing American convoy.

Iraq Watch: August 19, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Three members of the Iraqi Islamic Party - a Sunni political organization, who, in recent weeks has been urging minority Sunnis to register to vote in the upcoming referendum - were kidnapped and later exectued in the northern city of Mosul.

The three were snatched by masked gunmen while hanging up political posters in Mosul's southern district of New Mosul. Later, the kidnappers blocked off a major road in Mosul's nothern Nour neighborhood in front of the Dhi al-Nourein Mosque, then, as witnesses watched, lined the three Sunni political members up against a wall and executed them.

To the south of Mosul, in the cities of Baghdad and Baqouba, both Shiites and Sunnis marched in a demonstration against the federalization of Iraq, one of the key issues still dividing the ethnically and religiously diverse Iraqi drafting committe which has until Monday to agree on a draft constitution which then, if approved by parliament, would be voted on by the Iraqi public in an October referendum.

The event was organizaed by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

In another potential political development, Aljazeera reports that at least six Iraqi insurgent groups have called on Sunni voters to register and reject the draft constitution. The groups named in the joint statement released on Friday were the 1920 Revolution Brigades, Jaish al-Mujahdin, Islamic Army in Iraq, Islamic Front for Iraqi Resistance, Islamic Movement for Iraqi Resistance, and Asaib Ahl al-Iraq according to Aljazeera.

In other violence in Iraq on Friday, two civilians were killed and four wounded in a roadside bomb attack south of Baghdad. Another roadside bombing, this time in Saddam Hussein's hometwon of Tikrit, left two Iraqis dead according to the BBC.

Also, insurgents in the northern city of Hawija assassinated a local city council member. Aswad Omar Nayef was killed when gunmen ambushed him while he was on his way to the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, located about 40 miles northeast of Hawija.

Iraq Watch: August 18, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Four U.S. troops were killed Thursday morning by an IED blast in the northern city of Samarra the U.S. military announced today.

The ancient city of Samarra - famous for its Great Mosque al-Mutawakkil, a unique spiral-shaped minaret constructed in the year 847 - is located about 60 miles north of Baghdad along the eastern banks of the Tigris river. The city has become a hotbed for insurgent activity since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Also to the north on Thursday, two policemen and a civilian were killed by insurgents in Mosul.

Elsewhere, three Iraqi soldiers were killed when a suicide bomber on a motorcycle detonated himself at an army checkpoint near the town of Balad.

In the capital, Jassem Jassim Wahib Doies, an Iraqi judge, was killed along with his driver after they were ambushed by gunmen in the southern district of al-Dora.

As the Monday deadline loomed Iraqi drafting committe members met again on Thursday in an attempt to hammer out some crucial issues, such as federalism and the role of Islam, that still divide Iraq's various ethnic and religious factions.

Meanwhile in Ramadi, insurgents using rocket-propelled grenades and assualt rifles attacked a meeting between senior Sunni leaders and the governor of Al Anbar Province, Mamoun al-Alwani.

Dhahir al-Obeidi, head of the Sunni Endowment - one of the groups attending the meeting - and his deputy were wounded in the brazen attack according to Reuters. Also inujred was a local member of the radical Association of Muslim Scholars.

The terrorist group al-Qaida in Iraq, led by Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, later claimed responsibility for the attack through statements posted on at least a dozen Ramadi mosques. Al-Qaida in Iraq has, in the past, threatened to attack anyone joining in Iraq's political process.

Iraq Watch: August 17, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A coordinated triple car bombing attack in the capital of Baghdad on Wednesday left at least 43 Iraqis dead and another 85 wounded.

The attacks focused on the Nahda bus station in central Baghdad. The first attacker detonated his explosive-laden vehicle near a group of policemen outside of the station shortly before 8 a.m. A short time later a second suicide car bomb exploded in the parking lot of the station near the buses that carry passengers to southern Shiite cities. About 30 minutes after the two initiall attacks a third bomber targeted the nearby Kindi hospital where many of the injured were being taken. Black smoke from the three blasts could be seen rising over the war-torn city's early morning skyline.

The Iraqi Transportation Ministry said four suspects were apprehended in connection with the bus terminal attacks.

Elsewhere, in the Sunni city of Fallujah, another car bomb exploded killing at least three civilians. Eight others were wounded in the blast which occurred on central Wahda street.

Six new Iraqi army recruits were slain on Wednesday when gunmen ambushed the minibus they were riding in near Hawija, 30 miles southwest of Kirkuk.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military announced the deaths of two U.S. soldiers today. A Task Force Freedom soldier was killed by gunfire on Monday in the northern city of Mosul while conducting combat operations. The other soldier, assigned to Task Force Baghdad, died early yesterday in southwest Baghdad when his patrol struck an IED.

In further violence three truck drivers, including a Turkish citizen, were killed in the northern city of Baiji AFP reports. Also to the north, one civilian and a policemen were killed in separate incidents in Mosul.

Also Wednesday, CNN reports a roadside bomb killed a member of the powerful Shiite political group Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) in eastern Baghdad.

On the political front, the largest Sunni group participating in drafting Iraq's constitution - the Iraqi Islamic Party - on Wednesday denounced the drafting committee accusing it of being biased and incompetent according to the AP. Sunni support and approval of the draft constitution is vital if it is to be agreed upon by the newly set deadline of August 22.

Iraq Watch: August 16, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A day after failing to meet the August 15th deadline for the war-torn nations' draft constitution both Iraqi and American politicians and policy makers remained upbeat and attempted to put the best face on the setback.

On Tuesday, both Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and the American ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, expressed confidence that negotiators could agree on a constitution by the new August 22nd deadline despite the major issues that still remain unresolved. The MP's are due to meet again on Wednesday.

Insurgent violence persisted on Tuesday with two Iraqi police being killed when gunmen attacked a civil defense center in the capital city of Baghdad. At least four other police were hurt in the incident.

To the north in Baquba, 37 miles north of the capital, an Iraqi civilian was killed and three others were injured when their car hit a roadside bomb.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military announced the deaths of three American soldiers on Tuesday. The Task Force Baghdad Soldiers were killed in a vehicle accident during combat operations in southern Baghdad early Monday.

In another development, AFP reports that at least 26 Iraqi workers were injured when U.S. troops opened fire on them allegedly mistaking them for enemy forces. The U.S. military had no immediate word on the incident which took place in the Alawi section of Baghdad.

Iraq Watch: August 10, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S. military announced the deaths of five service members on Wednesday including four who were killed late Tuesday night when their patrol came under attack near the city of Beiji, located 155 miles north of Baghdad. Six other Task Force Liberty soldiers were injured in the incident which occurred at 11:30 p.m.

The attack was claimed by al-Qaida in Iraq, the terrorist group led by Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

A fifth soldier was killed on Tuesday by small-arms fire near Habaniyah, located about 50 miles west of Baghdad.

Five other American soldiers were wounded on Wednesday in the western Ghazaliyah neighborhood of Baghdad in a car bombing. At least seven Iraqis, including three police, were killed in the explosion.

Also in Baghdad, Brig. Gen. Khudayer Abbas, a chief officer in the Interior Ministry, was kidnapped by gunmen. The brazen attack, which had no immediate claim of responsibilty, occurred near Andalus Square.

Elsewhere, police Capt. Mahmoud Hassan was gunned down in the capital's western Bayaa district on Wednesday.

Late Wednesday, an Iraqi army checkpoint 12 miles south of Beiji came under insurgent attack leaving at least five Iraqi soldiers dead and two more wounded according to the AP.

Iraq Watch: August 8, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari on Monday sent a government delegation to the southern Shiite city of Samawah, the scene of yesterdays violent demonstrations which left at least one person dead and 75 others wounded.

The protesters, which demanded the resignation of the local governor, were angry over the lack of government-provided basic services such as clean water and electricity. Monday in Samawah, where Japanese peace-keeping troops are based in Iraq, armed insurgents could be seen openly roaming the city streets.

In the capital city of Baghdad a massive sandstorm caused the postponement of an important meeting between key Iraqi politicians scheduled for Sunday evening and today. The meeting, was intended to let leaders from all of Iraq's ethnic groups and sects meet face-to-face in an effort to resolve some key issues that remain in writing Iraq's new constitution that is due a week from today on August 15. The function, organized by President Jalal Talabani, has been tentatively delayed until at least tomorrow.

In violence on Monday, the bodies of five Iraqi policemen were discovered floating in a river near the town of Samarra. Two more executed bodies were found in Numaniya, 110 miles southeast of Baghdad.

Two officials, one from the Ministry of Trade and the other from the Environment Ministry, were killed in separate shootings in the capital.

Elsewhere, Reuters reports that a suicide car bomber attacked an American patrol in the former insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, located about 30 miles west of Baghdad. The U.S. military had no immediate word on the incident.

Iraq Watch: August 4, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S. military announced the deaths of four more service members killed in action on Thursday. Thee soldiers were killed in a car bombing in southwest Baghdad last night. Also, a marine was killed by small-arms fire near Ar Ramadi yesterday.

In further violence on Thursday, at least four people, including two clerics, were killed when a car bomb exploded near a delegation of the Mahdi Army, the group led by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, in the city of Daquq, about 20 miles south of Kirkuk.

Earlier Thursday, thee Iraqi policemen were killed in a drive-by shooting in the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk.

Also, an aide to Iraqi Nationl Congress leader and current Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi was shot to death inside his Baghdad home after gunmen stormed his house early this morning. Haider Mohammed Ali al-Dujaili headed the public relations department for the one-time Washingtion favorite Chalabi.

Insurgents attacked an Iraqi army patrol Thursday morning in the city of Dujail, 50 miles north of Baghdad, killing at least four soldiers. Near Samarra, three more soldiers were killed in a roadside bombing.

Elsewhere, at least four people were killed when a suicide bomber attacked a police checkpoint near the city of Baquba, about 40 miles north of Baghdad.

In an effort to combat the relentless violence plaguing Iraq, Prime Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaafari today unveiled a new 12-point plan to help better fight extremists. Few details of the plan were made public but the AP reports that it includes steps to improve intelligence, protect Iraqi infrastructure, and prevent foreign fighters from crossing into Iraq.