Iraq Watch: September 22, 2005
BAGHDAD, Iraq - British forces greatly reduced their visible presence in the southern Shiite city of Basra for a second straight day on Thursday in an effort to diffuse some of the tension created after British military forces, late Monday, stormed a jail in the city to release two undercover British soldiers who had been apprehended earlier in the day by Iraqi security forces.
Yesterday Basra's governor Mohammed al-Waili along with the Basra provincial council voted unanimously to end all cooperation with British troops in the area.
On Thursday al-Waili threatened to punish any citizen found cooperating with the British.
Iraq's National Security Advisor, Mowaffak al-Rubaie, called the incident, "a flagrant violation of Iraqi sovereignty." Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, however, stated that the event was not, "an unsurmountable obstacle."
Meanwhile, the U.S. military announced the deaths of two service members on Thursday. One Task Force Baghdad soldier was killed in an IED attack late last night near the Dora disrict of the capital while a Task Force Liberty soldier died yesterday from wounds suffered in a vehicle accident near the northern city of Kirkuk.
Some 25 gunmen wearing Iraqi police uniforms raided a residential house in the New Baghdad district of the capital killing three people and kidnapping another.
Four members of Iraq's Displacement Migration Ministry were killed and two others wounded when armed insurgents attacked their car near al-Qanat street in eastern Baghdad.
In Baquba, 40 miles north of Baghdad, local Iraqi police Col. Fadil Mahmoud Mohammed was assassinated along with his driver this morning.
Accoding to two of his senior officials, Iraq's most powerful and influential Shiite religious figure, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, formally endorsed the proposed Iraqi draft constitution. The charter, which is scheduled to be voted on in a national referendom October 15, is largely opposed by Iraq's minority Sunnis and some Shiite figures such as radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
The New York Times reports that al-Sistani is expected to issue a fatwa, or religious edict, within the next several days.
In other violence Thursday, two Iraqi policemen were killed in separate drive-by shootings in the capital.
Yesterday Basra's governor Mohammed al-Waili along with the Basra provincial council voted unanimously to end all cooperation with British troops in the area.
On Thursday al-Waili threatened to punish any citizen found cooperating with the British.
Iraq's National Security Advisor, Mowaffak al-Rubaie, called the incident, "a flagrant violation of Iraqi sovereignty." Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, however, stated that the event was not, "an unsurmountable obstacle."
Meanwhile, the U.S. military announced the deaths of two service members on Thursday. One Task Force Baghdad soldier was killed in an IED attack late last night near the Dora disrict of the capital while a Task Force Liberty soldier died yesterday from wounds suffered in a vehicle accident near the northern city of Kirkuk.
Some 25 gunmen wearing Iraqi police uniforms raided a residential house in the New Baghdad district of the capital killing three people and kidnapping another.
Four members of Iraq's Displacement Migration Ministry were killed and two others wounded when armed insurgents attacked their car near al-Qanat street in eastern Baghdad.
In Baquba, 40 miles north of Baghdad, local Iraqi police Col. Fadil Mahmoud Mohammed was assassinated along with his driver this morning.
Accoding to two of his senior officials, Iraq's most powerful and influential Shiite religious figure, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, formally endorsed the proposed Iraqi draft constitution. The charter, which is scheduled to be voted on in a national referendom October 15, is largely opposed by Iraq's minority Sunnis and some Shiite figures such as radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
The New York Times reports that al-Sistani is expected to issue a fatwa, or religious edict, within the next several days.
In other violence Thursday, two Iraqi policemen were killed in separate drive-by shootings in the capital.
posted by Todd @ 10:22 PM
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