Iraq Watch: December 31, 2005

Violence Strikes Iraq on New Year's Eve

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Violence showed no signs of abating as Iraq sat on the precipice of a new year; a year that many Iraqis hope will finally bring peace to a war-torn nation. Noor Ali, interviewed by the AP, stated that, "God willing, the occupation of our country will end and we will get rid of the Americans." Also interviewed by the AP, Mohammad Jassem said that he hoped the new year would bring "water and electricity, security and stability."

In violence Saturday, five members of the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) were killed in a roadside bombing near party headquarters in Al-Khalis. Two others were wounded in the blast east of Baqouba.

In an apparently sectarian attack, five members of a Sunni family were killed when gunmen raided their house in Iskandariyah, 30 miles south of the capital. On Thursday, at least 11 Shiite family members were executed about 13 miles south of Baghdad in Latifiya.

Elsewhere Saturday, two Iraqi policemen were killed in a roadside bomb attack in Baghdad while another died in a mortar strike. Also in Baghdad, police discovered the executed bodies of six men. The victims were found blindfolded in a sewage canal in a southeastern district of the capital city.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military announced the death of a U.S. soldier who died from wounds sustained in a Baghdad mortar attack. The soldier's death brings the number of U.S. service members killing in 2005 to at least 842. Additionally, at least 9,157 U.S. service members were wounded during the course of the year.

In another development, five Sudanese hostages being held by the militant group al-Qaida in Iraq were reportedly released a day after Sudan announced its intentions to close its Baghdad embassy and sever its ties with the Iraqi government. Abdel Moneam Mohammad Tom, Sudan's second secretary in Iraq, and four additional embassy employyes were seized by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's group December 23 in Baghdad.

Iraq Watch: December 30, 2005

Violence Kills Scores; Sudan to Close Embassy

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Sudan announced on Friday its plans to close its Baghdad embassy in an effort to win the release of five Sudanese nationals - including a high-ranking diplomat - currently being held by al-Qaida in Iraq. Yesterday the militant group, which is led by Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, released a video showing the five embassy employees. The video was accompanied with a statement threatening the five with death unless Sudan severed its ties with the Iraqi government within a 48-hour period.

Meanwhile, violence killed scores of people throughout Iraq on Friday, the traditional day of Muslim prayers. Nine people were killed and 16 injured in a drive-by shooting Friday evening in eastern Baghdad's al-Sarafiya district. Those killed were said to be drinking alcoholic beverages along the banks of the Tigris. Islamic hard-liners, who view consuming alcohol as haraam (forbidden) under Sharia law, frequently target liquor stores and distributors.

Elsewhere, three Iraqi civilians were killed when a suicide car bomber detonated his explosive-laden vehicle next to a passing Iraqi police patrol. A mortar round, meanwhile, landed near an outdoor market killing at least five and injuring an additional 23.

In another development, the U.S. military announced the deaths of two U.S. service members. A U.S. soldier, assigned to Task Force Baghdad, was killed by an IED while on patrol Friday in southern Baghdad. The other soldier, a member of the II MEF, died yesterday from wounds received during a firefight with insurgents in the former rebel-bastion of Fallujah.

Iraq Watch: December 29, 2005

International Team Agrees to Review Vote

BAGHDAD, Iraq - An international group has agreed to review the results of Iraq's highly disputed December 15 parliamentary elections. Sunni and secular Shiite groups have demanded an inquiry into electoral returns in which preliminary results showed the staunchly conservative Shiite United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), led by Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) cleric Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, leading by a wide margin.

The International Mission for Iraqi Elections (IMIE) will conduct a broad overview of the election process and attempt to address the over 1,500 voting complaints registered - of which at least 50 are considered as "serious" by the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI).

In ongoing violence Thursday, at least 12 members of a Shiite family were systematically executed south of Baghdad in the ethnically mixed city of Latifiyah. Reports indicate that the family had been warned to move out of the Sunni district of the city, located about 20 miles south of the capital in the infamous 'Triangle of Death'.

Elsewhere, a suicide bomber blew himself up near the Iraqi Interior Ministry killing at least four Iraqi police and injuring five others. Meanwhile, Lebanese engineer Camile Nassif Tannous has been abducted according to Lebanon's Foreign Ministry. In another hostage crisis, the insurgent group al-Qaida in Iraq, led by Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, released a video of five kidnapped Sudanese nationals. The video's accompanying message announced that the groups Sharia council has decided to give Khartoum a 48-hour ultimatum to renounce its ties with the Iraqi government or the five will be executed.

Also Thursday, a U.S. soldier, assigned to Task Force Baghdad, was killed by an IED in eastern Baghdad the U.S. military announced.

Iraq Watch: December 28, 2005

Attempted Prison Break Leaves at Least Nine Dead

BAGHDAD, Iraq - In an apparent escape attempt Wednesday morning a group of about 16 inmates at Baghdad's Camp Justice (A'dala Prison) overpowered a prison guard, seized his automatic weapon, and began opening fire. The intense firefight that ensued left at least nine people dead, including four guards, an interpreter, and four inmates. Additionally, five prisoners and a U.S. soldier were wounded in the clash.

Meanwhile, senior U.N. official Craig Jenness on Wednesday said that Iraq's parliamentary election results were credible and that no electoral rerun was needed. Many of Iraq's minority Sunnis and secular Shiites have dismissed the elections as "fraudulent" and have demanded a re-vote take place after preliminary election results showed the conservative Shiite bloc the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) commanding a dominate lead.

In further violence Wednesday, four civilians were killed in a car bombing targeting an Iraqi police patrol in Samarra, about 80 miles north of Baghdad. A separate bombing in the northern, oil-rich city of Kirkuk left two Iraqi soldiers dead.

Also Wednesday, a previously unknown militant group calling itself "Monitoring For Iraq" released a video threatening abducted French engineer Bernard Planche. The group denounced France's "illegal presence" in Iraq. Planche, an employee of NGO AACCESS, was kidnapped while on his way to work December 5 in Baghdad.

Iraq Watch: December 27, 2005

Iraqis Protest Vote; Saddam-Era Mass Grave Found

BAGHDAD, Iraq - About 10,000 Iraqis took to the streets of Baghdad on Tuesday protesting against the parliamentary election results and for a unified national government. The demonstrators chanted "No Sunnis, no Shiites, yes for national unity." Many held posters of former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite who heads the Iraqi National List (INL), and the Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front's (IAF) leader Adnan al-Dulaimi.

The mass grave - discovered by municipal workers in the southern city of Karbala - is believed to date back to the crushed Shiite uprising against Hussein in 1991. Many of Iraq's Shiites and Kurds rose up against Saddam following the nations defeat in the first Gulf War.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military announced the deaths of three U.S. service members. Two Task Force Baghdad pilots were killed in a non-hostile helicopter accident late Monday in western Baghdad while a U.S. soldier, assigned to the II MEF, died from wounds sustained in a small-arms fire attack yesterday near Khalidiyah.

In other violence, a clash between militants and Iraqi police in Baghdad left two police and two civilians dead. Another policeman died in a shooting in the southern part of the capital city. Separately, two Iraqi police officers were killed south of Baghdad in a roadside bombing.

In al-Mahawil, 40 miles south of Baghdad, four Shiite workers were executed after gunmen stormed their poultry farm. The bodies were found with a note attached saying that the victims "deserve[d] to die" because they were Shiites.

Iraq Watch: December 26, 2005

Insurgents Attack Police Positions; Six Car Bombs Explode in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Militants on Monday launched a coordinated assault against an Iraqi police checkpoint north of Baghdad in Buhriz. The attack involved insurgents using an array of weapons including mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, along with hand grenades. The clash, which lasted several hours, left at least five Iraqi police dead and four wounded. Six attacking militants were also slain in the intense battle. Police reinforcements sent to aid the isolated checkpoint were delayed due to a multitude of roadside bombs littering the road leading to the position.

The notorious militant group al-Qaida in Iraq, led by Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claimed responsibility for the ambush.

Separately, gunmen killed five Iraqi soldiers as they left for work in the village of Dhabab.

In the capital city itself, six car bombs exploded killing at least seven Iraqis and wounding 40 more. The worst attack occurred when a suicide car bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into an Iraqi police patrol instantly killing three.

Politically sectarian violence also plagued Iraq on Monday. Suad Jaafari, a member of the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), was gunned down along with three of her bodyguards. Elsewhere, Shiite political figure Fattah Dabhawi, from the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), was assassinated in the southern holy city of Najaf. Meanwhile, gunmen abducted a Sunni politician in the volatile Diyala province.

Also, the governor of Diyala province, Rashid Mula al-Timimi, was injured in an assassination attempt against him. One of the provincial governor's bodyguards was killed in the early-morning roadside bombing. Later Monday, Soaad Ubed, a member of Diyala's provincial council, was killed along with her driver in southern Baqouba.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military announced the death of a U.S. service member, assigned to Task Force Baghdad, who was killed when a rocket-propelled grenade struck his vehicle in the capital on Monday.

Iraq Watch: December 24, 2005

Shiite Bloc Rejects Re-Vote Request

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The conservative Shiite United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), Iraq's largest and most powerful political bloc, on Saturday rejected calls from Sunnis and some moderate Shiites demanding a re-vote in provinces where voting irregularities were reported. Yesterday, tens of thousands of angry Iraqis took to the streets to protest the balloting results calling the elections "fraudulent." In rejecting the calls for a re-vote senior UIA official Jawad al-Maliki claimed that the massive demonstrations were orchestrated by former Baath party officials and Islamic militants.

In another political development likely to stir sectarian tensions, Knight Ridder reported on Saturday that the Iraqi Committee for De-Baathification has disqualified numerous Sunnis who were likely to occupy seats on the nations new parliament. The controversial committee, created soon after the U.S.-led overthrow of former President Saddam Hussein in 2003, has earned the hatred of many Sunnis who see it as a way for majority Shiites to punish the minority sect for the years of brutality endured under the Sunni former dictator.

In reported violence Saturday, three employees of Iraq's Ministry of Health were among the, at least, eight people gunned down throughout the capital on Saturday. Also in Baghdad, the executed bodies of seven unidentified civilians were found in the southern part of the city.

Elsewhere, the previously unknown militant group the "Hawk Brigades" released a video threatening to kill Jordanian hostage Mahmoud Suleiman Saidat within three days if its demands are not met. Saidat, who is a driver for the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad, was abducted earlier in the week. On the grainy video Saidat, who is seated in front of three masked and armed militants, pleads with the Jordanian government to "withdraw its diplomatic mission from Iraq and not to deal with this illegitimate government (in Baghdad)." Saidat also asks for Sajida al-Rishawi to be released from Jordanian captivity. Al-Rishawi was the failed female suicide bomber in the November Amman hotel bombings, which were later claimed by al-Qaida in Iraq.

Iraq Watch: December 23, 2005

Demonstrators March Against Vote as Violence Swells and U.S. Announces Planned Troop Reductions

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Tens of thousands of Iraqis marched in protest of the nations parliamentary elections Friday following traditional mid-afternoon prayers. Demonstrators chanted slogans chastising the "rigged" and "fraudulent" balloting with some demanding a re-vote.

Preliminary electoral results, announced earlier in the week, showed the conservative Shiite bloc, the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), wrangling nearly 59% of the votes in Iraq's largest electoral district - Baghdad province. Iraqis appeared to vote on largely on sectarian lines with secular political blocs like Ayad Allawi's Iraqi National List (INL) and Ahmad Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress (INC) having poor showings. Final voting tabulations are not expected to be released until early January.

Although Friday's anti-election demonstrations were largely peaceful, violence struck other parts of the war-torn nation. Insurgents launched a well-coordinated attack on an Iraqi army outpost 45 miles north of the capital near Adhaim. The assault began in the early-morning hours Friday when militants launched a mortar barrage on the area's main base. While attention was diverted, the insurgents attacked the outlying post with automatic fire and rocket-propelled grenades killing at least 10 soldiers and wounding an additional 20. The operation was claimed by the militant group al-Qaida in Iraq.

Near Adhaim, in the town of Balad Ruz, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a Shiite mosque killing at least 10 worshippers. Elsewhere, in Baqouba, the executed bodies of three civilians were discovered. The bodies were found blindfolded and bound in the southern part of the volatile city.

Meanwhile, a Sudanese Foreign Ministry official announced that six Sudanese nationals, including diplomat Abdel Moneam Mohammad Tom, were abducted Friday in Baghdad. The six were kidnapped as the left prayers at a local mosque. Insurgents have frequently abducted and executed foreign officials in an effort to deter governments from developing diplomatic relationships with Iraq.

Also Friday, the U.S. military announced that two U.S. soldiers, assigned to Task Force Baghdad, were killed Friday when their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device, or IED.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, speaking in the former rebel-stronghold of Fallujah, announced the decision to not deploy two U.S. brigades (1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division and 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division) to Iraq. The decision affect's nearly 7,000 U.S. soldiers and will bring the total number of U.S. forces serving in the Iraqi combat theater to approximately 138,000 by early next year.

Iraq Watch: December 20, 2005

Violence Persists as Sunnis Protest Vote Results

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The main Sunni political bloc in Iraq protested the electoral results in the nations parliamentary elections held last Thursday. The Iraqi Accordance Front, which is comprised of three prominent Sunni political groups and is headed by Adnan al-Dulaimi. In a press conference the group called the voting results "fraudulent" and further went on to state that there would be "grave repercussions on security and political stability" if the mistakes they claimed were not corrected.

Preliminary results released yesterday showed the conservative Shiite bloc, the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), leading by a wide margin. Final voting tabulations are not expected to be released until early January.

Following a relative lull in bloodshed - due to increased security measures implemented during the election period - violence flared throughout Iraq for a third straight day on Tuesday.

Outside of the former insurgent-held city of Fallujah, a joint U.S.-Iraqi patrol discovered the executed bodies of 14 people, many of whom were handcuffed and bore signs of torture.

In the capital itself, insurgents attacked two separate convoys of supply trucks transferring goods for the U.S. military. According to Reuters, at least two truck drivers were killed in the ambush on Baghdad's al-Adel highway.

Also Tuesday, Jordanian authorities announced that gunmen had abducted Mahmoud Suleiman Saidat, a driver for the Jordanian Embassy. Saidat was kidnapped near his residence in Baghdad's Sadiya district.

Iraq Watch: December 17, 2005

Security Relaxed as Vote Lockdown Period Ends

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Security measures put in place to protect voters participating in Iraq's parliamentary elections were eased Saturday. Commercial vehicles were once again allowed onto the streets and the nations' borders and airports were opened, with the one exception being the Syrian border crossing.

Meanwhile, election officials continued to manually sort through the ballots of the estimated 11 million Iraqi's who voted in Thursday's landmark elections. Political wrangling also was in full affect Saturday with prominent Iraqi politicians publicly reaching out to other sects and political blocs in an effort to garner partnerships in order to increase their power in Iraq's new parliament. The conservative Shiite United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) is anticipated to finish on top once all the ballots are tabulated although they are not expected to gain enough seats to be a dominate majority on the Council of Representatives without making at least some compromises with other blocs.

Adnan al-Dulaimi, head of the Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF), was one of the first prominent politicians to extend the olive branch to opposing sects. On Friday al-Dulaimi stated that he would be willing to join forces with secular Shiites and Kurds.

In violence Saturday, Sheik Kerim Al-Asadi, a member of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) - which is part of the aforementioned UIA - was assassinated outside of his eastern Baghdad home. Elsewhere, two Iraqi police were killed in separate incidents in eastern Baghdad and Kirkuk.

Also, Maj. Gen. Mushriq Ibrahim Abdul Hamid, a former officer in the Iraqi air force, was slain near his home in Baghdad's Sadiyah district. Following the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, there have been a rash of killings of former members of the Iraqi air force. There have been reports that Iranian intelligence officers have been carrying out the targeted assassinations in reprisal for the Iraqi air force's role in the devastating and bloody Iran-Iraq war of the 1980's.

The U.S. military, meanwhile, announced that a U.S. Marine, assigned to the 2nd Marine Logistics Group based out of Fallujah, died west of Baghdad yesterday as the result of a non-hostile gunshot wound.

Iraq Watch: December 16, 2005

Vote Counting Begins

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq began the monumental process of tallying the votes of the estimated 70% of eligible voters who turned out to cast their ballots in yesterday's landmark parliamentary elections.

Final results are not expected to be disclosed for approximately two weeks although preliminary results could be released within the coming days. The conservative Shiite bloc, the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), is anticipated to once again garner the most slots on Iraq's 275 seat parliament.

In violence Friday - the traditional Muslim day of prayer - an Iraqi soldier and four Iraqi children were killed by a mortar near a school used as a polling station yesterday in Parwana. Elsewhere, the bodies of five Iraqi security forces were discovered in the northern Baghdad suburb of Kazimiyah. Four of the executed bodies were wearing Iraqi Interior Ministry uniforms while the fifth body, which was found decapitated, was dressed in Iraqi army garb.

In another development, Iraq's deputy interior minister, Maj. Gen. Hussein Kamal, announced that Iraqi forces had apprehended the most wanted militant in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, last November during the U.S.-led incursion into the former rebel stronghold city of Fallujah but was subsequently released because his identity was unknown. Kamal stated that the Jordanian-born leader of al-Qaida in Iraq was unarmed when captured and that "[al-Zarqawi] was like any other citizen who was suspected. There was a simple interrogation with him and he was released."

Iraq Watch: December 15, 2005

Iraqis Turn Out in Waves to Vote

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqis throughout the country, from Mosul to Basra, turned out in mass on Thursday to vote in the nations landmark parliamentary elections. Despite sporadic violence Iraqis of all religious sects and ethnicities came out to the polling stations in large numbers. For the majority of participating Iraqis the vote was a celebratory affair with many proudly displaying their purple ink-stained fingers.

Even minority Sunnis, who largely boycotted the January elections, streamed to the ballot box. Voting in the largely Sunni city of Ramadi, Yahya Abdul-Jalil stated, "We lost a lot during the last elections, but this time we will take our normal and key role in leading this country." Other Sunnis said they were voting in an attempt to speed up the withdrawl of foreign occupation forces. "I came to vote because I want the Americans to leave Iraq. Things will be much better after they leave" said Ahmed Jassim of Mosul.

Iraqi electoral officials estimated, according to the New York Times, that the turnout from Thursday's election might be as high as 11 million. AFP put the turnout at 60-80%. Final election results will not be known for approximately two weeks although preliminary results will likely be released within the coming days. The conservative Shiite bloc, the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), is expected to once again garner the most seats on Iraq's new parliament. Abbasiya Ahmad, a Baghdad native said she cast her ballot for the UIA because "They are clerics, and clerics do not steal our money."

Government spokesman Laith Kubba said simply but poignantly, "It's been a good day for Iraq."

Elsewhere, the U.S. military announced that a U.S. Marine, assigned to the II MEF, was killed in an IED attack yesterday near Ramadi.

Iraq Watch: December 14, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The nation of Iraq was largely quiet Wednesday as strict security measures went into effect throughout the country in preparation for Thursday's landmark parliamentary elections. Voter turnout is expected to be high with minority Sunnis', who largely boycotted the January balloting, vowing to head to the polls, which are scheduled to open at 7:00 a.m. (11:00 p.m. EST). Numerous Iraqi insurgent groups, including the Islamic Army in Iraq (IAI), have promised to refrain from attacking polling stations.

Iraq was unusually calm on Wednesday, although two Iraqi police officers from Iraq's Interior Ministry were killed and four injured in a roadside bombing near the northern city of Mosul. The AP described Baghdad's usually bustling city streets as "eerily quiet." Security officers could be seen guarding empty roads and deserted checkpoints.

However, Iraq was not free of controversy on the eve of elections. Thousands of conservative Shiites rallied against the Dubai-based Arab satellite network Al-Jazeera after an Iraqi commentator on the channel criticized Shiite clerics for "conspiring with the Americans against the mostly Sunni insurgents." By late Wednesday thousands of protestors had amassed in cities throughout southern Iraq to denounce the popular Arab television station.

In Nasiriyah, also in Shiite-controlled southern Iraq, demonstrators attacked and burned the offices of former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi along with the offices of the Iraqi Communist Party (ICP). Allawi heads a secular Shiite political bloc that is running under the banner of the Iraqi National List (INL).

Iraq Watch: December 13, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - As Iraqi expatriates began voting in the nations landmark parliamentary elections four U.S. soldiers, assigned to Task Force Baghdad, were killed in a roadside bombing northwest of the capital.

Meanwhile in political related violence Tuesday, a Sunni candidate was assassinated in the volatile Sunni city of Ramadi, located west of Baghdad. Mezher al-Dulaimi, who was running as head of the Free Progressive Iraqi Party, was gunned down as he was filling up his car at a gas station in Ramadi's Bakir neighborhood. Three of al-Dulaimi's bodyguards were wounded in the shooting. South of Baghdad, in Latifiyah, prominent Shiite politician Jalal Eddin al-Sagheer escaped an assassination attempt when a roadside bomb exploded next to the convy he was traveling in.

In other political developments, a group of over 1,000 Sunni clerics issued a fatwa, or religious edict, urging Sunnis to participate in Thursday's election. Tuesday's fatwa all but solidifies a large Sunni turn out for the parliamentary electoral process. Elsewhere, the insurgent group the Islamic Army in Iraq (IAI) released a statement ordering its followers to refrain from attacking polling stations on Thursday. The militant group reiterated, however, that this does not mean they support or approve of the political process and vowed to continue the jihad against occupation forces and their Iraqi counterparts.

2005 Iraqi Parliamentary Elections Primer

Shiite and Kurdish Blocs to Dominate Once Again

United Iraqi Alliance (UIA)
Conservative Shiite
Key Parties: Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), Dawa Party
Key Leaders: Ibrahim al-Jaafari & Abdul Aziz al-Hakim

Iraqi National List (INL)
Secular Shiite
Key Parties: Iraqi National Accord (INA), Assembly of Independent Democrats (AID), The Iraqis
Key Leaders: Ayad Allawi, Adnan Pachachi, Ghazi al-Yawer

Iraqi National Congress (INC)
Secular Shiite
Key Leaders: Ahmed Chalabi

Kurdistan Coalition
Kurdish
Key Parties: Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP)
Key Leaders: Jalal Talabani, Masoud Barzani

Iraqi Accord Front (IAF)
Sunni
Key Parties: Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP)
Key Leaders: Adnan al-Dulaymi, Tariq al-Hashimi

The United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), which is composed of 18 Shiite parties, will once again garner the majority of seats in Iraq's parliament although their domination will not equal that of their January showing in which they received over 48% of the votes and 140 seats in parliament. The bloc includes Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari's Iranian-backed Dawa Party and influential sheik Abdul Aziz al-Hakim's Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI). A new addition to the bloc is that of the Sadr movement, led by firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Sadr, who has orchestrated two uprisings against occupation forces, has a substantial following among Iraq's impoverished Shiite youth. Despite failing to receiving an official endorsement from Iraq's most powerful religious figure, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the UIA is still expected to run away with the elections and once again obtain the most seats on Iraq's parliament, or Council of Representatives.

The Kurdistan Coalition – like that of the United Iraqi Alliance – will do very well in the parliamentary elections. The coalition is made up of eight predominately Kurdish parties including President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP), which is led by Kurdistan's President Masoud Barzani. Although they will not receive the nearly 26% of total votes as they did last time – due to increased Sunni participation – the bloc will sweep Iraq's Kurdish north and, in all likelihood, finish with the second most seats on Iraq’s new parliament. The Kurdish Coalition former prior to last January's elections in an effort to compete with the aligning Shiites.

Although January's two dominant blocs will once again have strong showings, the elections' biggest winners may, in fact, be the more secular Shiite political organizations like the Iraqi National Congress (INC) and the Iraqi National List (INL). The parties have grown in popularity since the January elections and are looking to gain votes from moderate Shiite's who have become dissatisfied with the current UIA-dominated government as well as moderate Sunnis. Dissatisfaction with the current government is reportedly what led to al-Sistani's decision to refrain from endorsing any single party. The Iraqi National List is headed by former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi while one-time Pentagon favorite Ahmed Chalabi leads the Iraqi National Congress. Secular in nature – growing uncommon in an increasingly sectarian society – the INL also includes some moderate Sunni groups like former Iraqi Vice President Ghazi al-Yawar's The Iraqis party and the Assembly of Independent Democrats (AID), which is led by longtime politician Adnan Pachachi. Of the two secular Shiite groups the INL is anticipated to have a better showing after having received almost 14% of the January vote.

The wild card in the entire voting process, as it so often has been in Iraq, is the minority Sunni's. Largely boycotting the landmark January election, Sunni's are anticipated to vote in high numbers December 15. Seeing that the boycott left Sunni's largely unrepresented in Iraqi politics, Sunni clerics are now calling on their brethren to turn out to the polls. Some clerics belonging to the influential Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS) – who boycotted January’s electoral process – have recently conveyed that it was every Sunni's religious duty to participate in the parliamentary elections. Although the Sunnis are more politically fragmented than their Shiite or Kurdish counterparts, the Iraqi Accord Front (IAF) is expected to make a formidable showing on December 15. Consisting of three Sunni parties the IAF is the largest Sunni bloc participating in the parliamentary elections. The largest and most widely known party in the bloc is the prominent Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) that is led by Tariq al-Hashimi. A smaller Sunni group participating in the voting process is secular Sunni political figure Saleh al-Mutlaq's Iraqi Front for National Dialogue (IFND).

Iraq Watch: December 9, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Clerics, both Shiite and Sunni, across Iraq on Friday - the Muslim holy day of prayer - urged their followers to go out and cast their vote in the upcoming December 15 parliamentary elections.

Sunnis, believed to compose 20 percent of Iraq's total population, largely boycotted the nations January elections that in turn left the Sunnis with few representatives in parliament.

This time around, however, Sunnis are expected to turn out in mass to cast ballots despite threats and condemnations from largely Sunni insurgent groups such as al-Qaida in Iraq, who view participation in the elections as tantamount to abiding the occupying forces.

Despite anticipated Sunni participation, Shiite and Kurdish political parties are once again expected to dominate the balloting.

Also at Friday sermons, numerous clerics called for the immediate release of the four anti-war Christian peace activists who are currently being held by a group calling itself the "Swords of Righteousness Brigade." The abduction of the four westerners (two Canadians, an American, and a Briton), nearly two weeks ago, has sparked a wave of international outrage. The group has threatened the four with death by Saturday unless its demand that all prisoners currently being held in Iraqi detention centers are released is met.

Ahmed Hassan Taha, cleric at Baghdad's Sunni al-Imam al-Aadam Mosque, said, "We ask those who have authority and power to do their best to release the four European people who work in Christian peace organization, in fact those activists were the first who condemned the war on Iraq."

The influential Sunni group, the Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS), has also condemned the kidnappings and on Friday Abdel-Salam al-Qubaisi, a spokesman for the organization, called the captives "doves of peace." Al-Qubaisi went on to state that the four, "must be rewarded not imprisoned."

In violence Friday, a roadside bomb exploded in the southern Baghdad neighborhood of Dora killing one Iraqi police officer. In western Baghdad police discovered the executed bodies of two unidentified people.

North of the capital, in Buhriz, two brothers were gunned down by militants according to the AP. Elsewhere, in Balad, the body of an assassinated Iraqi intelligence officer was found.

Iraq Watch: December 8, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A man detonated an explosive-filled satchel upon boarding a crowded bus destined for the southern, Shiite city of Nasiriyah on Thursday killing at least 32 people and wounding 44. The suicide bomber triggered the device around 10:45 a.m., shortly after the bus had left Baghdad's Nahda terminal. U.S. officials blamed al-Qaida in Iraq, led by Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, for the blast although no group immediately claimed responsibility for the deadly incident.

At the nearby al-Kindi Hospital, where many of the burn victims were taken, distraught relatives waited impatiently outside the packed medical facility for word on the condition of their loved-ones. Many of the victims were burned beyond recognition.

U.S. and Iraqi officials have warned about the possibility of increasing violence as Iraq nears parliamentary elections scheduled for December 15. Al-Qaida in Iraq has been distributing flyers commanding Iraqis to "steer clear" of the polls on election day.

Also Thursday, the U.S. military announced the death of two U.S. service members. A Task Force Baghdad soldier was killed by an IED Thursday morning in eastern Baghdad while a U.S. Marine, assigned to the II MEF, died yesterday as a result of an IED attack near Ramadi.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Army in Iraq (IAI) announced that it had executed American hostage Ronald Alan Schulz. The militant group first announced that it had captured Schulz, who worked as a security consultant for the Iraqi Ministry of Housing, on Tuesday releasing a video of the North Dakota native who was shown bound, sitting in a plastic chair.

Iraq Watch: December 7, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The trial against Saddam Hussein and seven co-defendants continued Wednesday albeit without the presence of the deposed dictator who was irked over the treatment he has received calling the court "unjust."

Wednesday's session saw two witnesses testify against the defendants regarding the alleged massacre of over 140 Shiites after a failed 1982 assassination attempt against Hussein in Dujail, north of Baghdad.

The unprecedented court will now by adjourned until December 21 following Iraq's scheduled December 15 parliamentary elections.

In violence Wednesday, approximately 20 gunmen stormed a Kirkuk hospital killing three Iraqi police officers guarding the Al-Jumhuriya facility and subsequently freed a wanted militant recovering from a gunshot wound stemming from his November 26 arrest. At least six security forces were injured in Wednesday's early-morning clash.

In Baghdad, gunmen abducted the eight-year-old son of a bodyguard for one of the Hussein trial judges. Karim Salam was taken from in front of his eastern Baghdad home. West of the capital near the former rebel-stronghold of Fallujah, the bodies of three civilians were discovered. All three of the victims were bound and shot in the head.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military announced that a U.S. soldier, assigned to the II MEF, was killed by a mine yesterday while conducting a combat patrol near Habbaniyah.

As more people - including the Rev. Jesse Jackson and radical Islamic cleric Abu Qatada (Omar Abu Omar) - pleaded with the hostage-takers of four anti-war Christian peace activists, word came late Wednesday that the "Swords of Righteousness Brigade" had extended their execution deadline until Saturday. The previously unknown militant group issued a video, accompanied with a statement, announcing the extension.

Iraq has witnessed a recent uptick in abductions with at least seven westerners kidnapped in four separate incidents within the last 10 days.

Yesterday the Islamic Army in Iraq (IAI) announced that it had abducted U.S. citizen Ronald Alan Schulz, an industrial electrician and native of North Dakota. The insurgent group threatened to kill Schulz within 72 hours if its demands are not met.

Iraq Watch: December 5, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Saddam Hussein was outspoken and combative in the third day of legal proceedings against him and seven co-defendants stemming from the alleged 1982 massacre of over 140 Shiites in the small town of Dujail, north of Baghdad, after an assassination attempt against the deposed Sunni leader.

During the course of Monday's chaotic session Saddam threatened the trials' Kurdish chief judge, defense layers for the accused staged a walkout forcing a 90 minute court recess, and Saddam's half-brother - and fellow defendant - Barazan Ibrahim engaged in a verbal sparring match with a testifying witness.

In violence Monday, five Iraqi soldiers were killed when their patrol was ambushed by armed insurgents in Baghdad. North of the capital, in Baquoba, Ammar Kamil Ashur, a local official for the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI) was gunned down by militants.

In yet another kidnapping of a westerner, French engineer Bernard Planche - an employee of AACCESS NGO - was abducted by militants near his home in Baghdad's up-scale Mansour district.

Plance joins four anti-war Christian peace activists (two Canadians, an American, and a Briton) and a German archeologist who have been kidnapped in Iraq within the last 10 days.

In a related development, the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) issued a joint-release, signed by Muslim leaders from around the world, appealing for the release of the four aforementioned Christian peace activists currently being held by a group calling itself the 'Swords of the Righteousness Brigade'. The statement lashed out at the abductors stating that, "Such peace activists should have been welcomed into Iraq and treated as honorable guests instead of being kidnapped and used as bargaining chips."

Meanwhile, a Task Force Baghdad soldier was killed by an IED yesterday in the eastern part of the capital the U.S. military announced on Monday.

Also Monday, the U.S. military announced that former Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Hamza al-Zubaydi has died of heart failure at the age of 67. Al-Zubaydi, a Shiite, passed away Friday at a U.S. military hospital in Baghdad. He was number nine on the infamous list of Iraq's 55 most wanted and was captured on April 20, 2003 near Hillah.

Iraq Watch: December 2, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - 10 U.S. Marines, assigned to RCT 8, were killed in a massive IED attack near the former rebel-bastion of Fallujah yesterday the U.S. military announced on Friday. 11 Marines were injured in the bombing although seven of the wounded have returned to active duty. The Marines were on a foot patrol when the roadside bomb, which consisted of several large artillery shells, exploded.

Separately, the U.S. military announced the deaths of four additional U.S. service memebers on Friday. Three 48th BCT soldiers died in a vehicle accident southeast of Ali Air Base at around 2:00 p.m. today. Elsewhere, a U.S. soldier was killed yesterday in a rocket attack near Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad and 40 miles west of Fallujah.

Ramadi, a predominately Sunni city of 400,000 located along the banks of the Euphrates River, has long been considered an insurgent-stronghold.

On Thursday bands of masked militants, claiming to be from the terrorist group al-Qaida in Iraq, roamed throughout the capital of al-Anbar province brandishing weapons and setting up checkpoints. Militants also launched mortars at a meeting being held between U.S. officials and local tribal leaders.

'Operation Shank' was launched on Friday in an effort to disrupt and suppress the resistance in Ramadi American military officials said. The operation includes 300 U.S. Marines and 200 Iraqi soldiers.

Meanwhile, in another development, militants have threatened to kill four western hostages - two Canadians, an American, and a Briton - unless all prisoners held at detention camps inside Iraq are released by December 8. The anti-war Christian peace activists were abducted by a group calling itself the "Swords of Righteousness Brigade" on Saturday. The four were employed by the Chicago-based Christian Peacemaker Teams.

The influential Iraqi Sunni group, the Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS), has demanded the immediate release of the four humanitarian workers saying that the captives have done "good efforts in helping those in need."