Moqtada al-Sadr's movement will not take part in provincial elections

Powerful Iraqi Cleric Recalibrates Strategy
By Amit R. Paley and Saad Sarhan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, June 15, 2008; A14

BAGHDAD, June 14 -- The movement of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said Saturday that it would not take part in provincial elections this year, one day after it formed a new paramilitary group to fight U.S. troops.

The back-to-back moves suggested that Sadr is trying to bolster his position as the chief opponent of both the American troops in the country and the Iraqi government, following a year in which he ordered his Mahdi Army militia to observe a cease-fire and moved deeper into the political process.

Sadr's aides said he is recalibrating his strategy as the American military drawdown transforms the U.S. role in Iraq.

"We don't want anybody to blame us or consider us part of this government while it is allowing the country to be under occupation," said Liwa Smeisim, head of the Sadr movement's political committee.

The announcement came as Iraqi officials deployed tens of thousands of security forces across southern Iraq in response to the creation of the new Sadr group. The new secret paramilitary wing, which Sadr called "the special companies," might start launching attacks within the next week, his aides said.

In the holy city of Najaf, officials said 20,000 Iraqi soldiers and police officers were being put on high alert and deployed to protect the Imam Ali shrine and the grand ayatollahs. They said an additional 17,000 security forces were deployed in and around the nearby holy city of Karbala.
And in the eastern city of Amarah, a stronghold of the Sadr movement, Iraqi forces massed in preparation for an operation against Shiite militiamen. U.S. officials have said Amarah, the oil-rich capital of Maysan province, is used as a center for smuggling weapons from Iran.

Speaking about provincial elections, which are scheduled for this fall, aides to Sadr said the movement would support "technocrats and independent politicians" to prevent rival political parties from dominating local governments. But they said the movement would not put forward its own candidates.

"Sayyid Moqtada does not believe in elections or in the coming provincial governments as long as the occupation forces are here," said Salah al-Obaidi, a top aide to Sadr and his chief spokesman, using an honorific to signify Sadr's descent from the prophet Muhammad.
But some Iraqis saw both of Sadr's recent decisions as a sign of his movement's frailty following military offensives by the Iraqi and U.S. militaries against his supporters in the southern city of Basra and the Sadr City area of the capital.

Critics of Sadr say he is pulling out of the elections to avoid embarrassing losses and keeping most of the Mahdi Army from fighting so that it will not face defeat by U.S. and Iraqi troops.
"These statements and allegations of special companies are nothing but attempts to cover up their weakness," said Kassim Ali, 24, a student at the Kufa Technical Institute. "The Mahdi Army cannot face up to the well-trained and well-equipped Iraqi army."

Abu Zainab al-Garawie, the head of Sadr's office in Diwaniyah, said the newly formed special companies would assert their strength by launching attacks within a month, and possibly by next week.

Several top aides to Sadr said they would not be involved with the new group and said they knew nothing about it. Garawie said the members would have classified names and that some of their military activities might not be publicized.

Mohammad Saeed, 31, commander of a Mahdi Army company in Najaf, said thousands of militia members have been training "inside and outside Iraq." "We believe that now the time has come for these companies to be given the green light to achieve our aims," he said.

Several Mahdi Army fighters, who have been frustrated at the orders of the past year to stop fighting, welcomed the announcement and said they were eager for revenge against the American military and Iraqi forces that they believe have persecuted them.

"From now on, there will be violent unexpected actions that will astonish the Iraqi people, the Iraqi government and even the occupation forces," he said. "Now we will be assigned to fight openly, and we will fight till the last drop of our blood."

Sarhan reported from Najaf.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/14/AR2008061401960_pf.html

Gunmen killed 2 Turkmen Sheikhs in Telafer city

TÜRKMENELİ TV – Reports that gunmen have attacked the Telafer Aga Council Members.

Their correspondent in Mosul city reported the assassination of Sheikh Mohamed Faisel the Chairman of Telafer Aga Council and Turkmen Council Member and the attack on his assistant Sheikh Abdulnur Tahan in the Mosul neighborhood last Monday.

Türkmeneli TV Corresondent said the assassination was carried out at midday in Alislah alzirahi district in Mosul. One of the sheikhs’ bodyguards was also killed in the attack.
Police forces had sealed off the crime scene and began investigations to find the killers. Several statements have been issued to condemn the attack against the Telafer Sheikhs.

The Iraqi Turkmen Council which is considered as Turkmen Parliament has strongly condemned the act in a statement issued by its Chairman.
The statement demanded Iraqi security forces to open an investigation to find the criminals.
The statement also urged the Turkmen people in Telafer to remain calm and not to give way to sectarian violence.
The statement said that this criminal act is an attempt to break Turkmen unity and principles of brotherhood.

The Iraqi Turkmen front has issued a statement in which it condemns the assassinations and declares that the attack targeted the unity of Turkmen people from north to south.

Remember! Remember!

Hussein Al-alak, the Iraq Solidarity Campaign

So have you decided whose side your on, when asked in the article Action for Iraqi children if you are with us or against us? When in knowledge of the fact that 1.5 million children died under the US/UK backed UN Sanctions, the “cabinet of war criminals”, have further destroyed the lives of millions of Iraq’s young, through "the supreme international crime", which was and still remains the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Dare you ask how many children have vanished since that day, when the invasion was launched in 2003, as a consequence of Prime Minister Tony Blair’s lies about Weapons of Mass Destruction. When those now dead British soldiers were mobilised for the American’s false claims about Saddam Hussain working in collaboration with Osama Bin Laden.

Have you ever enquired about what has happened to the estimated 4.5 million orphaned Iraqi children, or the estimated 500,000 homeless orphans, whose only guardians are the watchful eyes of the stars, who look down upon them from a darkened sky.

Are you so frightened of being alone in Britain, that the bogey man under your bed, is no longer the mockery of your own imagination but just one of 513 Iraqi children, who the USA no longer view as being human beings but "imperative threats to security“, that having survived the IRA and the Lockerbie, that the unelected “Prime Minister” Gordon Brown, wants to lock every “suspected terrorist” up for 42 days without charge.

But as the unelected Gordon Brown barricades every Government department behind concrete walls, as a result of Labours fear of the British public, a December 2007 UNICEF report stated that 2.2 million Iraqi children lack adequate nutrition and an estimated 75,000 children are living in tents because of displacement caused by the war.

The UN has also reported that 80% of Iraqi families can't separate sewage water from water used for other household needs and that 70% lack access to potable water but as Britain combats terrorism, the campaign of fear is used solely to distract attention away from the 400,000 Iraqi children who are suffering from "wasting", which is characterized by chronic diarrhoea and high deficiencies of protein.

Are you convinced that your government is right and how does it feel to watch the “Mother of Parliaments” being degenerated beyond recognition, that it no longer represents the interests of either the people of Great Britain or even the façade of the beliefs it claims to uphold.

How does it feel to know, that when your troops came rolling into Iraq and mission was proclaimed “accomplished“, in 2003-4, 22,000 British people over the age of 65 died as a result of the cold and how does it feel to know that the hunt for imaginary weapons and chasing “terror suspects“, has resulted with "2.2 million British pensioners living below the poverty line”.

And with a shocking 3.9 million UK children living in poverty, in the year 2006/07, which is an increase of 100,000 on the previous year and the dismal Labour “forty year low” in the May elections, is it any wonder why any government would want to detain its “terror suspects” and spread its values around the world.

So have you now decided whose side your on? Remember, remember the fifth of November , Gunpowder, treason and plot. I see no reason, why the gunpowder treason, Should ever be forgot!

Iraq Kurd oil sales, signing bonus waiting for Baghdad

Ashti Hawrami, Kurdistan Regional Government minister of natural resources, in his office in Erbil, Iraq. (Ben Lando/UPI)



By BEN LANDO, UPI Energy Editor
Published: June 10, 2008

ERBIL, Iraq, June 10 (UPI) -- Iraq's Kurdish region has been collecting millions of dollars in signing bonuses for 19 oil deals inked with international oil companies but is waiting for a federal revenue-sharing law before turning it over to Baghdad.

The signing bonuses vary from between $1 million and $5 million "to sometimes more than that," said Kurdistan Regional Government Minister of Natural Resources Ashti Hawrami, though he wouldn't give details "until we publish the information."

"It will be published probably within a month or two. We're currently working on compiling all of our agreements, and then we will just put all the information on the KRG Web site," he told United Press International at his office in the KRG capital. He said the funds are being held in an account "in Erbil."

"The signing bonuses are part of the oil revenue, and they should be accounted for as such. That money hasn't been touched by the regional government. It's basically accounted for to be deposited when we have an agreed revenue sharing law."

Also to be published are details of what is required of the contractors, aside from searching for and producing oil and gas.

"We have placed quite a lot of burden on the contractors on the local content, i.e., through employment, training, capacity building, expats (foreigners) coming in to help us, technology transfers, just to make sure that we can benefit from the contract in a variety of ways, also this includes environmental fund and so on," he said. "We want the contract area to benefit from the contractor's good will and corporate responsibilities. You're going there and you're disturbing everybody's life in terms of seismic activities, drilling, housing, expats coming and going.
"We're basically putting the burden on the contractor to really make an impact locally at the contract area, the villages, the area affected, to contribute to them. Maybe building a couple schools, a hospital, or maybe contributing to a government program. We call that local capacity support.

"We're also doing some sales of crude oil internally now," he said. "A few million dollars of revenue is accumulated, again this revenue is accounted for in the same way."

The 19 oil and gas deals with foreign companies are part of a dispute with Baghdad over control of the hydrocarbons development. The federal Oil Ministry has called most of them illegal. This contention has stalled talks on a package of oil-related legislation including a new oil law, a revenue-sharing law and laws reconstituting the national oil company and reforming the Oil Ministry.

And although only two of the 19 oil deals have resulted in oil production, none is being exported, he said.

"The government share of the revenue belongs to all Iraqi people. We will deal with that and account for it, but in practice we haven't reached there yet."

Small local refineries are taking what is produced by Norwegian firm DNO and the Taq Taq Operating Co., the joint venture of Turkey's Genel Enerji and Canada's Addax Petroleum. But as these and the other contracts start increasing flow, the KRG plans to have the capacity to keep some crude at home.

"Cumulatively probably we're going to build about 100,000 barrels per day refinery capacity, which basically should solve most of our domestic problems," Hawrami said. One is to be built by Heritage Oil of Canada and the other by Genel, both at the site of their respective exploration blocks.

"It is difficult to forecast these things because they are not entirely under our control," he said. "Typically I think two years from the date of the award is about right for these refineries, which under the current environment is considered to be a fast track, because the refinery builders have full orders, much bigger orders, and so on."

İstanbul’da Kerkük Gecesi

"Yâdıma Düştü Kerkük"

İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi ile Türkmeneli İnsan Hakları Derneğinin ortaklaşa düzenlediği ve Türkmen kültürünün tanıtılacağı geceye tüm sanat severler davetlidir.

14 Haziran Cumartesi akşamı saat: 19.30 da, Cemal Reşit Rey Konser Salonunda düzenlenecek olan "Yâdıma Düştü Kerkük" adlı geceye, ünlü ses sanatçıları Kerkük Türkülerini seslendirecekler.

Türkmeneli Televizyonundan canlı olarak yayınlanacak olan etkinliklere, resim ve kitap sergisi 'de sanat severlerin beğenisine sunulacaktır.

Mehmet Özbek, Adulraham Kızılay, Adile Kurt Karatepe gibi Türkiye'de Kerkük türkülerine gönül veren sanatçıların yanı sıra geceye Kerkük'ten katılacak olan Fethullah Altunses, Hasan Nacar, Mehmet Nacar, Ercan Şahap ve Mehmet Kaya gibi birbirinden değerli sanatçılar konuklara müzik ziyafeti sunacaklar.

Geceye katılım ücretsiz olup tüm Türkmeneli dostları davetlidir.

"Yâdıma Düştü Kerkük"
Yer: Cemal Reşit Rey Konser Salonu, Harbiye-Şişli / İstanbul
Tarih : 14 Haziran Cumartesi, Saat: 19:30
İrtibat: 0532 2169599 - 0532 4028580
Kerkuk.net

Conference on Assyrians in Iraq at the EU Parliament

MEPs Esther de Lange and Dimitrakopoulos

and Ninos Warda, Assyria Council of Europe, Brussels

Ambassador of Iraq to Brussels H.E. Mohammed Al-Doreky and ITF Europe Representative Dr. Hassan Aydinli

Ms. Esther de Lange, MEP and ITF Europe Representative

Conference on Assyrians in Iraq on 11 June 2008

Chaired by Esther de Lange, MEP

Co-chaired by Dimitrakopoulos MEP and M. Mladenov MEP

Session one : The Situation of Minorities in Iraq

Speakers:

Madeline Garlick, UNHCR, Brussels

Ninos Warda, Asyria Council of Europe, Brussels

Karin Gatt-Rutter, European Commission, Brussels

Session two: Looking towards the future

Speakers:

Michael Youash, Iraq Sustainable Democracy Project, Washington DC

Willy Fautré, Human Rights Without Frontiers, Brussels

Pascale Warda, former Iraqi Minister, Hammorabi Human Rights Organization, Baghdad

H.E. Mohammed Al-Doreky, Ambassador of Iraq to Brussels

General concluding remarks by : Mrs. Ria Oomen-Ruijten, MEP

During Question and Answers Dr. Hassan Aydinli, Iraqi Turkmen Front Europe Representative, addressed the Members of the Panel, drawing their attention to the fact that ALL the communities in Iraq - and particularly in the north of Iraq - who do not possess militias and weapons are threatened and oppressed by the groups who possess militias and weapons.

He said that Iraq today is divided in two groups: those who have armed militias and the others, such as Turkmens and Assyrians who do not, and that unfortunately those who possess militias are imposing their will on the government in Baghdad to serve their own interests.

Dr. Aydinli insisted on the necessity for the EU to get more involved in Iraq to make sure that the rules of democracy are applied in order to preserve the rights of ALL communities and to make sure that EU aid is shared equitably among ALL the communities in Iraq.

------

At the end of the conference Dr. Aydinli spoke to Ms Esther de Lange, MEP, about the situation prevailing in Iraq today, he brought up the subject of the so-called "contested territories, including Kerkuk" which are concerned by Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution.

He explained that the concept of the so-called "contested territories" is an invention of the Kurdish parties to annex Turkmen territories to their autonomous region, indeed, the majority of the so-called "contested territories" are populated by Turkmens and are historically Turkmen territories.

During the writing of the new Iraqi Constitution the Kurds have opportunistically taken advantage of the abnormal situation prevailing in Iraq to include Article 140 in the Iraqi Constitution. Since then, Kurds are using this Article as a means to obtain extra concessions and extra rights from the Iraqi government. For the Turkmens as well as for the majority of the Iraqis, this Article is null and void since 1st January 2008.

It is unfortunate that the UN Secretary General's Representative in Iraq, Mr. Estefan De Mistura, has proposed to prolong the duration of this Article for a further 6 months, ending 30th June 2008. This initiative of Mr. De Mistura is unconstitutional and it has been strongly disapproved by the majority of Iraqis.

Dr. Aydinli insisted that the EU should be involved in the upcoming provincial elections by sending observers to make sure that the elections this time will be democratic and fair, reminding Ms. de Lange that the last two general elections (Jan and Dec 2005) were rigged.

Kucinich introduces Impeachment Articles Against Bush

· Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) enumerated examples of "high crimes and misdemeanors" as justification for moving forward with impeachment proceedings against President George W. Bush late Monday on the House floor.(Photo: Stefan Zaklin / EPA)
·
Truthout
Kucinich Introduces Impeachment Articles Against Bush
Tuesday 10 June 2008
by: Christopher Kuttruff, t r u t h o u t Report

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) introduced 35 articles of impeachment against President George W. Bush late on Monday during a speech on the House floor.

Kucinich, a former contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, pointed to "high crimes and misdemeanors" committed by the Bush administration, including misrepresenting intelligence in the lead-up to the war, violating domestic and international laws against torture, illegally spying on American citizens, obstructing justice and governmental oversight, and dozens of other violations.

The impeachment resolution came four days after a June 5 Senate Select Intelligence Committee report that vigorously challenged statements made by the Bush administration regarding military intelligence in the runup to the invasion of Iraq. Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee John D. Rockefeller said in a press release, "Before taking the country to war, this Administration owed it to the American people to give them a 100 percent accurate picture of the threat we faced. Unfortunately, our Committee has concluded that the Administration made significant claims that were not supported by the intelligence."

"It is my belief that the Bush Administration was fixated on Iraq, and used the 9/11 attacks by al Qa'ida as justification for overthrowing Saddam Hussein," Rockefeller noted.

While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and other members of the Democratic leadership maintain that such a resolution is "off the table," Kucinich, along with a group of his colleagues, has consistently pressed for a more urgent and direct response to the often unilateral and controversial actions of the Bush administration.

Despite the unlikeliness of impeachment gaining much traction in Congress, advocates of such a resolution continue to demand greater accountability of the executive branch.
As Kucinich began to issue his remarks, shuffling and talking could be heard in the background of the House chamber. Responding to the disarray, Kucinich objected to the Speaker, "The House is not in order." After several strikes of Pelosi's gavel, Kucinich started reading his articles into the record.

"In violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of president ..." Kucinich stated, "George W. Bush ... both personally and through his subordinates ... illegally spent public dollars on a secret propaganda campaign to manufacture a false cause for war against Iraq."

Kucinich started his speech by referencing a variety of news and intelligence reports regarding White House communications, specifically the White House Iraq Group, which was composed of senior officials (then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, then-Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, Karl Rove, then-Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes, former chief of staff Andrew Card, then-chief of staff to the Vice President I. Lewis Libby, then-White House press secretary Scott McClellan and others) who "produced white papers detailing so-called intelligence of Iraq's nuclear threat that later proved to be false." These papers included later-debunked claims that Iraq sought uranium and specialized centrifuges for enrichment.

These claims, which were central to the administration's rationale for preemptive action against Iraq, were used, according to Kucinich, to "market an invasion of Iraq to the American people."
Kucinich also noted that the White House Iraq Group papers "were written at same time and by the same people as speeches and talking points prepared for President Bush and for some of his top officials."

Congressman Kucinich went on to challenge the administration's policies toward Iran, as well as its conduct regarding military interrogations.

The resolution comes days after a sharply written letter by 56 Congress members requesting that Attorney General Michael Mukasey investigate potential crimes committed by the Bush administration during the course of its interrogation program. The letter, signed by House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, Barney Frank, Jan Schakowsky, Dennis Kucinich and other House Democrats, urged that the seriousness of the evidence on the program warrants a thorough investigation by a special counsel.

Revelations about the Bush administration's interrogations policies, along with its systematic practice of controlling information provided to the media and the American people, led Kucinich to conclude that the president has "misled the Congress and the citizens of the United States" and should be held accountable for violating his oaths of office to "faithfully execute the office of the president" and "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution."

http://www.truthout.org/article/kucinich-introduces-impeachment-articles-against-bush

Daylight Robbery: BBC uncovers lost Iraq billions

Judge Radhi Al-Radhi

By Jane Corbin BBC News

A BBC investigation estimates that around $23bn (£11.75bn) may have been lost, stolen or just not properly accounted for in Iraq.

For the first time, the extent to which some private contractors have profited from the conflict and rebuilding has been researched by the BBC's Panorama using US and Iraqi government sources.

A US gagging order is preventing discussion of the allegations.

The order applies to 70 court cases against some of the top US companies.

War profiteering
While George Bush remains in the White House, it is unlikely the gagging orders will be lifted.
To date, no major US contractor faces trial for fraud or mismanagement in Iraq.
The president's Democrat opponents are keeping up the pressure over war profiteering in Iraq.
Henry Waxman who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said: "The money that's gone into waste, fraud and abuse under these contracts is just so outrageous, its egregious.

"It may well turn out to be the largest war profiteering in history."

In the run-up to the invasion one of the most senior officials in charge of procurement in the Pentagon objected to a contract potentially worth seven billion that was given to Halliburton, a Texan company, which used to be run by Dick Cheney before he became vice-president.
Unusually only Halliburton got to bid - and won.

Missing billions
The search for the missing billions also led the programme to a house in Acton in West London where Hazem Shalaan lived until he was appointed to the new Iraqi government as minister of defence in 2004.

He and his associates siphoned an estimated $1.2 billion out of the ministry.

They bought old military equipment from Poland but claimed for top class weapons.
Meanwhile they diverted money into their own accounts.

Judge Radhi al-Radhi of Iraq's Commission for Public Integrity investigated.
He said: "I believe these people are criminals.
"They failed to rebuild the Ministry of Defence , and as a result the violence and the bloodshed went on and on - the murder of Iraqis and foreigners continues and they bear responsibility."

Mr Shalaan was sentenced to two jail terms but he fled the country.
He said he was innocent and that it was all a plot against him by pro-Iranian MPs in the government.

There is an Interpol arrest out for him but he is on the run - using a private jet to move around the globe.

He stills owns commercial properties in the Marble Arch area of London.

Panorama: Daylight Robbery will be on BBC One at 9pm on Tuesday 10 June 2008.
Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/7444083.stm

Published: 2008/06/10 17:25:48 GMT