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 After parliament officially acknowledged that they had received the draft constitution, it was immediately withdrawn to allow negotiators three more days for final discussion and deliberation.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.
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.
posted by Todd @ 10:55 PM
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