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.