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.