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</div> </form> </div> </div> <hr/> <div id="content" class="span-13 append-1"> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-13536"> <div class="postmetadata"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/06/16/%d8%b3%d8%b9%d9%88%d8%af%d9%8a%d9%88%d9%86-%d9%8a%d8%aa%d9%82%d8%a7%d8%b0%d9%81%d9%88%d9%86-%d8%b7%d9%81%d9%84%d8%a7-%d9%81%d9%8a-%d9%85%d8%a7-%d8%a8%d9%8a%d9%86%d9%87%d9%85-%d9%85%d8%ab%d9%84-%d9%83/#respond" title="Comment on سعوديون يتقاذفون طفلا في ما بينهم مثل كرة يد">No Comments</a> Posted on June 16th, 2011 by Mohammed Al-Hamadani</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/06/16/%d8%b3%d8%b9%d9%88%d8%af%d9%8a%d9%88%d9%86-%d9%8a%d8%aa%d9%82%d8%a7%d8%b0%d9%81%d9%88%d9%86-%d8%b7%d9%81%d9%84%d8%a7-%d9%81%d9%8a-%d9%85%d8%a7-%d8%a8%d9%8a%d9%86%d9%87%d9%85-%d9%85%d8%ab%d9%84-%d9%83/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to سعوديون يتقاذفون طفلا في ما بينهم مثل كرة يد">سعوديون يتقاذفون طفلا في ما بينهم مثل كرة يد</a></h3> Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/category/children/" title="View all posts in Children" rel="category tag">Children</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/child-abuse/" rel="tag">Child Abuse</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/saudi/" rel="tag">Saudi</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/saudi-arabia/" rel="tag">Saudi Arabia</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d8%b1%d8%a8%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b3%d8%b9%d9%88%d8%af%d9%8a%d8%a9%e2%80%8e%e2%80%8e/" rel="tag">العربية السعودية‎‎</a> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <a title="saudis_abusing_a_child_by_throwing by Gorillas Guides, on Flickr" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.flickr.com/photos/gorillasguides/5839350031/" class="external" target="_blank"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; float: none" alt="saudis_abusing_a_child_by_throwing" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135im_/http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3421/5839350031_6d80c8eab1_o.jpg" width="350" height="250"/></a> طالب ناشطون اجتماعيون بتدخل جمعية حقوق الإنسان في السعودية لكشف أشخاص ظهروا على مقطع مصور وهم يتقاذفون بينهم أحد الأطفال الذي لم يتجاوز عمره الثلاث سنوات. الناشطون ذكروا في المواقع الاجتماعية أن هذا الفعل يدخل ضمن انتهاك حقوق الأطفال وممارسة نوع من العنف الجسدي عليهم، مطالبين الجهات الحقوقية والمختصة باتخاذ إجراءات سريعة للقبض عليهم ومعاقبتهم. ويظهر مقطع فيديو جرى تداوله على نطاق واسع بين العديد من مستخدمي أجهزة بلاك بيري، أربعة رجال يقومون باللعب والمرح بطفل صغير قد لا يتجاوز عمره 3 سنوات وهو يصرخ من شدة الفزع والهلع والألم، في حين يظهر الأربعة وهم يتقاذفونه بينهم وكأنه كرة . ويُظهر المقطع، الذي نُشر وتم تناقله عبر أجهزة البلاك بيري، الشبان الأربعة وهم يتقاذفون الطفل فيما بينهم بشكل شبه هستيري، دون الاكتراث لصراخ الطفل الذي تحول إلى كرة بين أيديهم. </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-13440"> <div class="postmetadata"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/06/01/%d8%aa%d9%88%d8%b1%d8%b7-%d8%b3%d8%b9%d9%88%d8%af%d9%8a-%d9%81%d9%8a-%d8%aa%d8%b4%d9%83%d9%8a%d9%84-%d9%81%d8%b1%d9%82-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%ba%d8%aa%d9%8a%d8%a7%d9%84-%d9%81%d9%8a-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9/#comments" title="Comment on تورط سعودي في تشكيل فرق الاغتيال في العراق بالتنسيق مع الامريكيين لتصفية الضباط الشيعة">1 Comment</a> Posted on June 1st, 2011 by Nur Hussein Ghazali</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/06/01/%d8%aa%d9%88%d8%b1%d8%b7-%d8%b3%d8%b9%d9%88%d8%af%d9%8a-%d9%81%d9%8a-%d8%aa%d8%b4%d9%83%d9%8a%d9%84-%d9%81%d8%b1%d9%82-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%ba%d8%aa%d9%8a%d8%a7%d9%84-%d9%81%d9%8a-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to تورط سعودي في تشكيل فرق الاغتيال في العراق بالتنسيق مع الامريكيين لتصفية الضباط الشيعة">تورط سعودي في تشكيل فرق الاغتيال في العراق بالتنسيق مع الامريكيين لتصفية الضباط الشيعة</a></h3> Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/category/iraq/" title="View all posts in News" rel="category tag">News</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/american-saudi-alliance/" rel="tag">American-Saudi alliance</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/assassination-campaigns/" rel="tag">Assassination campaigns</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/assassinations/" rel="tag">Assassinations</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/death-squads/" rel="tag">Death Squads</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/nahrainet/" rel="tag">Nahrainet</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/saudi/" rel="tag">Saudi</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/saudi-arabia/" rel="tag">Saudi Arabia</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/saudi-fomenting-violence-in-irak/" rel="tag">Saudi fomenting violence in Irak</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%b1-%d9%85%d9%82%d8%b1%d9%86-%d8%a8%d9%86-%d8%b9%d8%a8%d8%af-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d8%b2%d9%8a%d8%b2/" rel="tag">الامير مقرن بن عبد العزيز</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d8%b1%d8%a8%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b3%d8%b9%d9%88%d8%af%d9%8a%d8%a9%e2%80%8e%e2%80%8e/" rel="tag">العربية السعودية‎‎</a> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <div dir="rtl" align="right"> <a title="20110601_nahrainnet_captioned by Gorillas Guides, on Flickr" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.flickr.com/photos/gorillasguides/5787614188/" class="external" target="_blank"><img style="margin: 5px 10px 5px 0px; display: inline; float: left" alt="20110601_nahrainnet_captioned" align="left" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135im_/http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3062/5787614188_73225db619_o.jpg" width="253" height="248"/></a>اكد مصدر امني مطلع " ان ظاهرة اغتيال الضباط والسياسيين الوطنيين والكوادر الاعلامية والعلمية ، تقف وارءها شبكة معقدة من الدعم والتاييد الذي تقدمه اجهزة المخابرات السعودية وقوات الاحتلال لشبكات الاغتيالات هذه ، و بالتنسيق مع اعوان النظام السابق". وقال هذا المصدر الذي فضل عدم ا ذكر اسمه لشبكة نهرين نت الاخبارية ، "ان التحقيقات التي تمت مع عناصر متورطة في تنفيذ بعض عمليات الاغتيال هذه ، كان قد القي القبض عليها في وقت سابق قبل نحو شهرين ، اكدت ان معظم عمليات الاغتيال التي شهدتها بغداد باسلحة كاتمة للصوت ، هي عمليات ممولة من قبل المخابرات السعودية ، والهدف هو اغتيال الضباط الشيعة والكوادر العلمية والاعلامية والشخصيات السياسية الشيعة ، وكذلك استهداف الضباط العراقيين السنة المتعاونين مع الشيعة في العراق ". </div> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/06/01/%d8%aa%d9%88%d8%b1%d8%b7-%d8%b3%d8%b9%d9%88%d8%af%d9%8a-%d9%81%d9%8a-%d8%aa%d8%b4%d9%83%d9%8a%d9%84-%d9%81%d8%b1%d9%82-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%ba%d8%aa%d9%8a%d8%a7%d9%84-%d9%81%d9%8a-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9/#more-13440" class="more-link">» أقرأ التفاصيل .. | Read the rest of this entry »</a> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-12818"> <div class="postmetadata"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/03/22/why-libya-is-being-bombed-but-bahrain-is-not/#respond" title="Comment on Why Libya Is Being Bombed But Bahrain Is Not">No Comments</a> Posted on March 22nd, 2011 by Mohammed Ibn Laith</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/03/22/why-libya-is-being-bombed-but-bahrain-is-not/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Why Libya Is Being Bombed But Bahrain Is Not">Why Libya Is Being Bombed But Bahrain Is Not</a></h3> Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/category/analysis-briefings-commentary/" title="View all posts in Analysis Briefings Commentary" rel="category tag">Analysis Briefings Commentary</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/american-imperialism/" rel="tag">American Imperialism</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/bahrain/" rel="tag">Bahrain</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/libya-assault-on/" rel="tag">Libya - assault on</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/saudi/" rel="tag">Saudi</a> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> Dear Mr. Ibn Laith, Thank you for your question asking why we are bombing the tyrant of Tripoli but not bombing the tyrant of Bahrain, or even the tyrant of Saudi. Well you see it’s like this. When I made those  <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-cairo-university-6-04-09" class="external" target="_blank">Remarks at Cairo University,</a> <blockquote>That does not lessen my commitment, however, to governments that reflect the will of the people. Each nation gives life to this principle in its own way, grounded in the traditions of its own people. America does not presume to know what is best for everyone, just as we would not presume to pick the outcome of a peaceful election. But I do have an unyielding belief that all people yearn for certain things: the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed; confidence in the rule of law and the equal administration of justice; government that is transparent and doesn’t steal from the people; the freedom to live as you choose. These are not just American ideas; they are human rights. And that is why we will support them everywhere. (Applause.) </blockquote> What I meant was: <blockquote>˙ǝɹǝɥʍʎɹǝʌǝ ɯǝɥʇ ʇɹoddns ןןıʍ ǝʍ ʎɥʍ sı ʇɐɥʇ puɐ ˙sʇɥbıɹ uɐɯnɥ ǝɹɐ ʎǝɥʇ ؛sɐǝpı uɐɔıɹǝɯɐ ʇsnظ ʇou ǝɹɐ ǝsǝɥʇ ˙ǝsooɥɔ noʎ sɐ ǝʌıן oʇ ɯopǝǝɹɟ ǝɥʇ ؛ǝןdoǝd ǝɥʇ ɯoɹɟ ןɐǝʇs ʇ,usǝop puɐ ʇuǝɹɐdsuɐɹʇ sı ʇɐɥʇ ʇuǝɯuɹǝʌob ؛ǝɔıʇsnظ ɟo uoıʇɐɹʇsıuıɯpɐ ןɐnbǝ ǝɥʇ puɐ ʍɐן ɟo ǝןnɹ ǝɥʇ uı ǝɔuǝpıɟuoɔ ؛pǝuɹǝʌob ǝɹɐ noʎ ʍoɥ uı ʎɐs ɐ ǝʌɐɥ puɐ puıɯ ɹnoʎ ʞɐǝds oʇ ʎʇıןıqɐ ǝɥʇ :sbuıɥʇ uıɐʇɹǝɔ ɹoɟ uɹɐǝʎ ǝןdoǝd ןןɐ ʇɐɥʇ ɟǝıןǝq buıpןǝıʎun uɐ ǝʌɐɥ op ı ʇnq ˙uoıʇɔǝןǝ ןnɟǝɔɐǝd ɐ ɟo ǝɯoɔʇno ǝɥʇ ʞɔıd oʇ ǝɯnsǝɹd ʇou pןnoʍ ǝʍ sɐ ʇsnظ ‘ǝuoʎɹǝʌǝ ɹoɟ ʇsǝq sı ʇɐɥʍ ʍouʞ oʇ ǝɯnsǝɹd ʇou sǝop ɐɔıɹǝɯɐ ˙ǝןdoǝd uʍo sʇı ɟo suoıʇıpɐɹʇ ǝɥʇ uı pǝpunoɹb ‘ʎɐʍ uʍo sʇı uı ǝןdıɔuıɹd sıɥʇ oʇ ǝɟıן sǝʌıb uoıʇɐu ɥɔɐǝ ˙ǝןdoǝd ǝɥʇ ɟo ןןıʍ ǝɥʇ ʇɔǝןɟǝɹ ʇɐɥʇ sʇuǝɯuɹǝʌob oʇ ‘ɹǝʌǝʍoɥ ‘ʇuǝɯʇıɯɯoɔ ʎɯ uǝssǝן ʇou sǝop ʇɐɥʇ </blockquote> ɯopǝǝɹɟ is more than just a word for me and my administration and we’ll ˙ǝsıʍɹǝɥʇo sʎɐs ʇɐɥʇ qɐɹʎɐ buıʞɔnɟ ʎuɐ sʇıq oʇ qɯoq Yours Sincerely Barak Hussein Obama </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11986"> <div class="postmetadata"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/12/24/christian-exodus-from-iraq-gathers-pace/#respond" title="Comment on Christian exodus from Iraq gathers pace">No Comments</a> Posted on December 24th, 2010 by Nur Hussein Ghazali</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/12/24/christian-exodus-from-iraq-gathers-pace/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Christian exodus from Iraq gathers pace">Christian exodus from Iraq gathers pace</a></h3> Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/category/human-rights/" title="View all posts in Human Rights" rel="category 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Now <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/iraq" class="external" target="_blank">Iraq</a>’s Christians face two further unthinkable realities: that Christmas this year is all but cancelled, and that few among them will stay around to celebrate future holy days. It has been the worst of years for the country’s Christians, with thousands fleeing in the past month and more leaving the country during 2010 than at any time since the invasion nearly eight years ago. Christian leaders say there have been few more defining years in their 2,000-year history in central Arabia. <a title="20102412_captioned_memorial_murdered_christians by Gorillas Guides, on Flickr" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.flickr.com/photos/gorillasguides/5287899085/" class="external" target="_blank"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto 5px" height="276" alt="20102412_captioned_memorial_murdered_christians" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135im_/http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5245/5287899085_689e1097d8_o.jpg" width="460"/></a> The latest exodus follows a massacre led by al-Qaida at a Chaldean Catholic church in central Baghdad on 31 October, which left about 60 people dead, almost 100 maimed and an already apprehensive community terrified. Since then, the terrorist group has targeted Christians in their homes, including family members of those who survived the attack. In Baghdad, as well as the northern cities of Mosul and Kirkuk, Christmas services have been cancelled for fear of further violence. Church leaders said they would not put up Christmas decorations or celebrate midnight mass. They told families not to decorate their homes, for fear of attack after al-Qaida reiterated its threat to target Christians earlier this week. "Now more than 80% of Christians are not going to the churches," said the head of Iraq’s Christian Endowment group, Abdullah al-Noufali. "There is no more sunday school, no school for teaching Christianity. Yesterday we had a discussion about what we would do for Christmas. We took a decision just to do one mass. In years before we had many masses." Noufali’s church was closed and barricaded in 2005 when violence was consuming Baghdad. Many others had stayed open since then. Until now. In the wake of the attack on the Our Lady of Salvation church, at least 10 churches are believed to have been closed. At others, congregations are down to a handful. Iraq’s Christian population has halved since the ousting of Saddam Hussein. But in the past two months, the rate of departure has soared. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees is reporting high numbers of registrations by Christians in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. And in Iraq’s Kurdish north, the number of refugees is overwhelming. Christians have been arriving since the president of the Kurdish regional government, Massoud Barazani, offered them protection and refuge days after the massacre. Kurdish officials say at least 1,000 families have taken up the offer. Noufali believes the number is far higher. He says the Kurds have been warm and welcoming, but fears that moving there does not offer his community a long-term solution. "We have seen in Kurdistan that they have no ability to accept the Kurdish students in the universities," he said. "There are not enough chairs in the university for them. They must have opportunity to learn and work. The problem is not just security." In Lebanon, the plight of Iraq’s Christians is being carefully scrutinised. Father Yusef Muwaness, of the Council of Catholic Churches in the Middle East, said: "We understand the shock [the Iraqis] are enduring. We want them to know that they won’t be left alone. "There are ancient issues at work. These people [al-Qaida] are killing because of a fatwa. There has not been a mufti who has stood up and said this is wrong." Lebanon’s Christians once held a demographic majority. Emigration and a brutal civil war has whittled numbers away. Amin Gemayel, a former Lebanese president and now patriarch of many of the country’s remaining Christians, believes far more could be done by Muslim leaders to ensure that the exodus is not total. "The Christians were very nationalistic," he said. "They are part of the foundations of this area. We can’t understand such extremity then passivity from the leaders. When the region is completely cleansed of other religions (apart from Islam) it will be a surrender to the fundamentalists." In the Chaldean archdiocese in Baabda, above Beirut, Father Hanna has been receiving Iraqi families fleeing their homeland. "I would go back there to give a service in front of one person, if I had to," he said. "But even that may not be possible now. Since 1 November, we have seen 450 families register here. Many more have gone to the UN." Among those who have stayed in Iraq and tried to build a new life in the north, there are mixed feelings. "Three days after the church attack I left my house (in Baghdad) and came to the KRG," said Georges Qudah, 30, a pharmacy assistant. "At the main checkpoint I said we are a Christian family, and they said we are welcome to stay as long as we want. I feel safe and comfortable here, but the problem is how to live. The council here has given us blankets and beds, but housing is very expensive." In Baghdad, there are few signs of the joy of Christmas. "There is no hope here anymore," says Noufali. "No one can believe they [the Christians] will stay. Christmas came with two messages, peace in the world and hope for the people and we need these two things for our life in Iraq. If there are no more Christians here, I am certain Iraq will become a more dangerous country." <h3>Christianity in the Middle East</h3> Freedom of worship for Christians varies greatly across the Middle East. In Lebanon, where about half the population are Christian, believers are allowed to practise their faith without fear of persecution. The Maronite Church is the largest, most politically active and influential denomination, holding 34 of the 64 Christian seats in the Lebanese parliament. In Jordan, Christians are free to profess their faith, build churches, schools, hospitals and universities. They attend mass and there are public celebrations of religious festivals and ceremonies. They experience less discrimination and more freedom than fellow believers in Egypt and Iraq. There is a similar portrait of stability and freedom in Syria, where Christians comprise up to 10% of the population. Evangelising bvy Protestants in Jordan has prompted a crackdown on churches, visas and summer camps. Attempting to convert Muslims is illegal, but there is no law against proselytising to other Christians and some Catholic and Orthodox groups have complained of energetic wooing from Protestants. It is this evangelising that has offended authorities, keen to avoid religious zealotry of any sort. What Saudi Arabia lacks in violent persecution it makes up for in outright intolerance. There is no religious freedom in Saudi Arabia, which counts a million Catholics in its population. The country allows Christians to enter for work purposes but severely restricts the practise of their faith. Christians worship in private homes and there are bans on religious articles including Bibles, crucifixes, statues, carvings and items bearing religious symbols. The religious police bar the practice of any religion other than Islam. Conversion of a Muslim to another religion is considered apostasy and carries a death sentence if the accused does not recant. Still, Christians in Saudi Arabia are positively blessed compared with those of Iraq. Riazat Butt <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/23/iraq-christian-exodus-christmas" class="external" target="_blank">Christian exodus from Iraq gathers pace</a> | by Martin Chulov in Baghdad |  <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.guardian.co.uk/" target="_blank" class="external">The Guardian</a> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11944"> <div class="postmetadata"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/12/14/analysis-an-exodus-of-christians-from-iraq/#respond" title="Comment on Analysis: An exodus of Christians from Iraq">No Comments</a> Posted on December 14th, 2010 by Yusuf Al-Jezani</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/12/14/analysis-an-exodus-of-christians-from-iraq/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Analysis: An exodus of Christians from Iraq">Analysis: An exodus of 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border-left: black 1px solid; width: 360px; padding-top: 5px; border-bottom: black 1px solid"> “What is often unnoticed in the Middle East is the devastating effect of U.S. policy on Christians in the region. U.S. policymakers have never taken the plight of Christians seriously, whether in Iraq or in Lebanon. There may be protests of specific violations, but not in those areas where the U.S. or Israelis have other strategic interests. For all the communication with U.S. government over the past 20 years, I have seen no serious action from any administration to improve protection for Christians. Religious freedom is basically a reporting matter and no more.”<img style="display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto 5px" height="286" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135im_/http://gorillasguides.com/images/UNHCRstartstohelphundredsofIraqiChristia_33C/20081024_christian_refugee_child_syria.jpg" width="359"/> "Iraqi Christians represent only 3 percent of the population, they account for 20 percent of the Iraqis who have emigrated abroad." "That’s largely because they have the connections to Western churches and family members who are already abroad in places like Detroit, Toronto, Los Angeles and elsewhere and therefore have a better chance of getting out." </div> WASHINGTON — A steady exodus of Christians from the Middle East and — most dramatically — from Iraq since the October slaughter of 57 churchgoers in Baghdad, has a long and layered history. The diminishing Christian presence in the land where the faith began some 2,000 years ago is an issue about which anyone — of any faith, or of no faith — who is concerned about the future of the Middle East, should care deeply. But when it comes out of a simple, emotional response by a Christian West wanting to defend a Christian minority in the East during Christmas time, it leads down a dangerous road in history. It’s a perilous path that sets out from the Crusades, when England and France marched off to save the Holy Land and its Christians from Muslim conquest, and one littered with moral hazards and potential for even greater violence. The whole message of the New Testament would be to care about all who are suffering in war-torn Iraq, not just Christians. And there are lots of people suffering in Iraq. So the starting point to understanding the lessons of the recent Iraqi Christian exodus is to not allow the religious extremists — neither Muslim nor Christian nor any other faith — to exploit the attacks and present them out of context as a “clash of civilizations,” that self-fulfilling prophecy coined by the late Harvard University historian, Samuel Huntington. A glimpse of the writing on the wall can be seen along the back alleys in the Iraqi Christian neighborhoods of Baghdad and Mosul. That’s where a militant fringe has for years been scribbling anti-Christian hatred in the form of graffiti. A particularly ominous anti-Christian bit of graffiti, which I first saw spray-painted on walls at least 12 years ago in Egypt when Islamic fundamentalists were targeting Coptic Christians, has reportedly resurfaced in Iraq in recent months. The translation from the Arabic slogan is this: “First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people.” The phrase is an overt threat intended to say that Muslims, who worship on Friday, have already pushed many Jews, who worship on Saturday, out of the Middle East and that now they will do the same to the Christians. Long before Sept. 11 and the “War on Terror,” it often felt like Selma, Ala. circa 1960 in many Christian minority communities of the Middle East. This climate of threat and intimidation and sometimes violence has been boiling to the surface in places around the world where the Muslim majority collides with a Christian minority, such as Egypt, Pakistan, Sudan, Iran, Nigeria and elsewhere. But nowhere is a palpable sense of fear and a Christian exodus from the Middle East more dramatic right now than Iraq, where analysts estimate that fully half of the country’s Christians have left since 2003. It was Oct. 31, a Sunday, at the Syrian Catholic Church of Our Lady of Salvation in Baghdad that the climate of fear was made horrifyingly real and where it became clear that Al Qaeda-inspired elements were going to go right to the third rail of the Western influence in the Middle East by targeting indigenous Christians — trying to break the 2,000-year continuum of a living Christian presence in Iraq. It was at the very end of an All Saints Day mass, when eight heavily armed men, purportedly inspired by Al Qaeda, invaded the church in the heart of Baghdad just as Wassim Sabih, the priest, was about to conclude the service with the words, “The Mass has ended, go in peace.” According to published reports based on eyewitness accounts, Sabih never got the words out as the militants opened fire. They pointed their weapons at him and silenced him as he began pleading for the release of his parishioners. They took the parishioners hostage and demanded the release of two Muslim women who were supposedly held by Egyptian Coptic Christians. Iraqi Security Forces responded and in the wild gun battle that ensued, grenades were thrown by the militants, and in the end of that Sunday’s mass, 57 people were dead, including two priests. A group calling itself The Islamic State of Iraq claimed responsibility for the attack. Believed to be an offshoot of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the group issued a bulletin, saying, “All Christian centers, organizations and institutions, leaders and followers are legitimate targets.” And that they will kill Christians “wherever they can reach them.” In the historical comparison of Selma, the Ku Klux Klan, which in this context would be Al Qaeda, has always been menacing, but now it is on the rise and openly attacking churches. It is attempting to stoke the emotional fury of a Christian West to defend the indigenous Christians, and draw it deeper into a fight, to draw us into an understanding that this is indeed a “clash of civilizations.” That is precisely how Al Qaeda sees this historical moment. And it is precisely why it’s wise for the United States and the West to avoid seeing it that way. Al Qaeda is a tiny criminal, terrorist organization with a warped, 12th-century ideology. It is not a civilization. Drew Christiansen, editor of "America," a national Catholic weekly magazine published by Jesuits, said that too often there is an overreaction or selective reaction to these attacks, and too little done by U.S. policymakers. “What is often unnoticed in the Middle East is the devastating effect of U.S. policy on Christians in the region,” he said. “U.S. policymakers have never taken the plight of Christians seriously, whether in Iraq or in Lebanon. There may be protests of specific violations, but not in those areas where the U.S. or Israelis have other strategic interests. For all the communication with U.S. government over the past 20 years, I have seen no serious action from any administration to improve protection for Christians. Religious freedom is basically a reporting matter and no more.” Predictably, there are often shrill responses to these kinds of attacks on churches, particularly from the Christian right and at times from right-wing Jewish groups that see peril in the whole message of Islam and are quick to see these attacks as evidence of that. Here’s an example. I recently sat with John Eibner, head of something called Christian Solidarity International, which is a Washington-based advocacy group focusing on the persecution of Christians around the world, said on the Christians in Iraq, "Only the U.S. can save them and if we don’t, the U.S. will be responsible for what amounts to genocide." "The human rights community doesn’t want to touch this because it is not politically correct," he said. There’s a kernal of truth in that and no reason to doubt Eibner is well intentioned, but overreacting to events in the Middle East can often conflate the problems and calling the violence and intimidation a "genocide" is ridiculous. Prince Turki Al Faisal, the longtime head of Saudi intelligence and the former ambassador to Washington, was in the United States in November and participated in an interfaith dialogue with Christian groups. In an interview with GlobalPost, he referred to the attacks in Iraq, saying, “It’s Al Qaeda being Al Qaeda. They are making a concerted strategy knowing it would cause a reaction and an overreaction in the West. They absolutely know what they are doing … We have to be careful not to let them succeed by overreacting.” The truth is just about everyone lives in fear in Iraq, and just about everyone has suffered violence. Many religious and ethnic groups have been targeted in much larger numbers in the violence and chaos that followed the 2003 invasion. Just two days after the church attack, a spate of bombs in Sunni and Shia neighborhoods killed 68 people and wounded hundreds. An article in Monday’s editions of<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/13/world/middleeast/13iraq.html?_r=1&ref=middleeast" class="external" target="_blank"> The New York Times</a> [2] provides an important piece of context to focus on: While Iraqi Christians represent only 3 percent of the population, they account for 20 percent of the Iraqis who have emigrated abroad. That’s largely because they have the connections to Western churches and family members who are already abroad in places like Detroit, Toronto, Los Angeles and elsewhere and therefore have a better chance of getting out. More than half of the Iraqi Christian community, estimated to be 800,000 prior to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, have left, according to the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute. But the threat to Christians and the violence they are suffering is just as bad as the threat to Shia or Sunni Muslims, who are also trying to be part of a new Iraq — one where violence is beginning to subside and where the governing crisis is finally settling down. Those Iraqis care about their Christian neighbors and friends and know the important role they play in Iraq moving forward. Those are the Iraqis who don’t want the Christians to flee. In 2006, I had a chance to actually ask Samuel Huntington about his 1996 book, "The Clash of Civilizations," and about whether it’s central premise might actually be self-fulfilling, particularly in the wake of Sept. 11. He often felt that his scholarship was taken out of context, he said, and he confided that he wished he had titled it differently, perhaps “Clashes of Civilizations” or something not to allow people to so easily misinterpret his work. Huntington passed away, but we have a chance to not allow people to misinterpret history or the events unfolding around us, and that’s how best to ponder the suffering of Christians — and everyone else — in Iraq. <blockquote></blockquote> Source: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/iraq/101213/iraq-christians-al-qaeda?page=0,0" class="external" target="_blank">Iraq | Christianity | Al Qaeda</a> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-10582"> <div class="postmetadata"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/05/18/17th-18th-may-2010-selected-english-language-coverage/#respond" title="Comment on 17th-18th May-2010 Selected English Language Coverage">No Comments</a> Posted on May 18th, 2010 by Nabil</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/05/18/17th-18th-may-2010-selected-english-language-coverage/" rel="bookmark" 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rel="tag">sinochem</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/soccer/" rel="tag">Soccer</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/society-and-economy/" rel="tag">Society And Economy</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/south-africa/" rel="tag">South Africa</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/state-of-law-coalition/" rel="tag">State of Law Coalition</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/suicide-bombers/" rel="tag">suicide bombers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/suicide-bombing/" rel="tag">suicide bombing</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/summaries/" rel="tag">Summaries</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tariq-hassan/" rel="tag">Tariq Hassan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tehran/" rel="tag">Tehran</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/the-nation/" rel="tag">The Nation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tigris/" rel="tag">Tigris</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tigris-river/" rel="tag">Tigris River</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tpao/" rel="tag">TPAO</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/turkey/" rel="tag">Turkey</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/turkish-petroleum-corporation/" rel="tag">Turkish Petroleum Corporation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d9%85%d9%82%d8%aa%d8%af%d9%89-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b5%d8%af%d8%b1/" rel="tag">مقتدى الصدر</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/violence/" rel="tag">violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/who/" rel="tag">WHO</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/world-cup/" rel="tag">World Cup</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/xinhua/" rel="tag">Xinhua</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%ad%d8%b1%d9%83%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b5%d8%af%d8%b1/" rel="tag">حركة الصدر</a> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> I have selected Nizar Latif’s article "<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100517/FOREIGN/705169809/1002/rss" class="external" target="_blank">Alliance could keep al Maliki in power</a>" in "The National" because it covers very well the situation that the other blocs find themselves in with regard to the Sadrists. In that context I should mention this posting (<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/05/18/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%82%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d8%aa%d8%b3%d8%aa%d8%b9%d8%af-%d9%84%d8%a5%d8%b1%d8%b3%d8%a7%d9%84-%d9%88%d9%81%d8%af-%d8%b1%d9%81%d9%8a%d8%b9-%d8%a5%d9%84%d9%89-%d8%a5%d9%8a%d8%b1/">العراقية تستعد لإرسال وفد رفيع إلى إيران لمقابلة السيد مقتدى الصدر | Gorilla’s Guides</a>) made by my colleague Nabil which reveals that a delegation from Allawi’s list (the Iraqiyal list) met members of the Sadrist trend’s political bureau and that they are preparing to send a delegation to Iran to meet Muqtada al-Sadr. I have also picked an article that appeared in the London "Times" about the plan to build a wall around Baghdad in the hope of keeping bombers out. More immediately there is a lot of interest in the two al-Qaeda members arrested and who apparently were planning to attack the World Cup in South Africa. A lot has been made of the claims that one of them was a Saudi military officer, "not so fast" say the Saudis. (And if you think from Major General Mansour al-Turki’s name that Saudi Arabia is a family business you’d be right). Did you know that <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=3.1.411141523" class="external" target="_blank">"most of the prisoners freed by American forces from their prisons in the last few years have become Al-Qaeda leaders once they are released"</a> ? No? No, I did not know it either, but it does explain why every time that an alleged al-Qaeda member is killed/captured/accidentally blows themself up that they are always described as being a "senior" al-Qaeda commander/leader/prince/warlord. 62 of them were sentenced to death today i don’t know how many of them received a fair trial or how many of them were truly members of an al-Qaeda affiliated movement. ( That there is an al-Qaeda inspired fighter movement in parts of Irak is true and they enforce their will brutally as the slaughter of two clergy proved). Nabil <h3 style="color: #800000">The Day(s) In Quotes:</h3> <ul> <li>Sheikh Dhea al Shouki, a leading preacher at Kufa mosque, in the Sadrists’ heartland to Nizar Latif on the political crisis: “I tell the Iraqi people to look out for themselves and to protect themselves because the coming situation will be one of sectarianism and interference in Iraq by neighbouring countries. The Iraqi government is corrupt and the Iraqi army is not serving the people well.” <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100517/FOREIGN/705169809/1002/rss" class="external" target="_blank">Source</a> </li> <li>Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman  Major General Mansour al-Turki to Asharq Al-Awsat on the identity of the Saudi military officer detained in Irak as an al-Qaeda commander  "The identity of the individual mentioned by the material evidence requires verification, especially as the public information confirms that he has previously impersonated another figure. " </li> </ul> <h3 style="color: #800000">Human Rights:</h3> 62 Iraqis sentenced to death: Xinhua <blockquote>RAMADI, Iraq, May 18 (Xinhua) — A court in Anbar province gave death penalties to 62 Iraqis and different prison terms, including life imprisonment, to 130 others, a source from Anbar police command said on Tuesday. The court in the province delivered the verdicts according to article 4 of the Iraqi counter-terrorism law after the court found them guilty for crimes of killings, bombings, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. Some senior leaders of the al-Qaida organization and leaders of other insurgent groups were among those who received death sentences, the source said. Many of the 130 convicts were either fighters of al-Qaida group or involved in assisting the group to carry out deadly attacks, the source added. "All the convicts were residents of Anbar province," he said <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-05/18/c_13301622.htm" class="external" target="_blank">read in full</a>: </blockquote> <h3 style="color: #800000">Politics and Security</h3> Alliance could keep al Maliki in power – The National Newspaper: <blockquote>snip Until yesterday it had seemed unlikely that Mr al Maliki would be chosen as the new alliance’s candidate for prime minister, with the Sadrists, a major faction in INA, saying they would veto his election. However, that threat has now apparently been withdrawn, giving a significant boost to Mr Maliki’s hopes of leading the country for another four years. “We have no veto over Mr al Maliki being chosen as prime minister and we can work with him, for the good of Iraq,” said Bahar al Araje, a senior Sadrist, confirming statements made by Saleh al Obeidi, a spokesman for the group’s leader, cleric Muqtada al Sadr. snip According to Mr al Araje, the Sadrists continue to harbour reservations about Mr al Maliki and he made it clear that, while the Sadr movement would not veto the prime minister’s coveted reappointment, it may not give him its outright support. “We still have criticisms of Mr al Maliki, including that he does not consult when he makes decisions, that he continues to detain followers of Muqtada al Sadr and that he has politicised the security forces,” Mr Araje said. “While we will not veto him, and while we will continue in an alliance with the State of Law coalition, I do not expect Mr al Maliki to be prime minister again, It will be another candidate.” The Sadr movement indicated it had laid down conditions for ending its veto against Mr al Maliki, including that he release scores of detainees. That has not yet happened. While a major obstruction to Mr al Maliki’s return as prime minister appears to have been removed, his position is far from certain. The State of Law/INA alliance has yet to name its leader, with a 14-member committee supposed to make the selection. snip Although the Sadrist leadership appears to have ended its open hostility to Mr al Maliki, Muqtada al Sadr’s followers seem far from convinced. With the atmosphere in Iraq increasingly one of alarm at rising violence and recent deadly sectarian attacks, Sheikh Dhea al Shouki, a leading preacher at Kufa mosque, in the Sadrists’ heartland, said he feared for the future. “I tell the Iraqi people to look out for themselves and to protect themselves because the coming situation will be one of sectarianism and interference in Iraq by neighbouring countries,” he said in a telephone interview. “The Iraqi government is corrupt and the Iraqi army is not serving the people well.” snip <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100517/FOREIGN/705169809/1002/rss" class="external" target="_blank">read in full</a>: </blockquote> Baghdad to enclose city with 15ft wall to keep suicide bombers out – Times Online: <blockquote>Baghdad is to resort to one of the oldest forms of defence by building a massive wall around the capital to keep out insurgents, The Times has learnt. A series of recent suicide bombings has driven the governor of the Iraqi capital to propose the concrete barrier, which will be 15ft (4.5m) high and 70 miles (112km) long. Every man, beast and vehicle entering will be searched at one of only eight gates along the main highways. Baghdad, roughly the same size as London and with approximately five million inhabitants, will face severe disruption as a result. Freedom of movement will be limited and workers and visitors alike will probably have to wait for at least an hour to enter. Once inside, though, it is hoped they will be much safer. Shatha al-Obeidi, an aide to Salah Abdul Razzaq, the governor, said: “We want to stop the terrorist from sneaking in. With the wall it will be much easier.” Building work is expected to take about a year. Once the wall is completed, officials plan to remove most of the 1,500 checkpoints and many miles of cement blast barriers that have sprung up inside Baghdad over the past few years. “We have become a city filled with concrete,” said Ms al-Obeidi. “That will change.” <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article7129217.ece" class="external" target="_blank">read in full</a>: </blockquote> Iraqi forces capture 2 non-Iraqi Arab Qaida leaders: Xinhua <blockquote> BAGHDAD, May 17 (Xinhua) — Iraqi security forces said Monday they have arrested two non-Iraqi Arab Qaida leaders, and one of them is said to be part of a plan to carry out terrorist act during the coming soccer World Cup in South Africa. The two were allegedly a Saudi and Algerian nationals who were captured in separate raids in Baghdad, according to a military spokesman. Azzam Saleh al-Qahtani, known as Sinan al-Saudi, 31, was an officer in the Saudi Army before he came to Iraq in 2004. Al-Saudi later became an al-Qaida security leader in Anbar and Salahudin provinces in western and central Iraq respectively, Major General Qassim Atta told a news conference. Atta said that al-Saudi was involved in "planning and coordination to carry out attacks during the World Cup in South Africa in complicity with Ayman al-Zawahiri (al-Qaida’s No. 2 top leader)." Al-Saudi was also involved in the Baghdad massive bombings and many robberies against jewellers and killings of many people, Atta added. Another Qaida leader named Tariq Hassan Abdul Qader, known as Abu Ysseen al-Jazairi, 34, an Algerian national, was also captured by a joint U.S. and Iraqi force, Atta said, adding that al-Jazairi was captured in November last year but his captured was not announced as he was interrogated for information about his terrorist group. Al-Jazairi, who entered Iraq in 2005 through Anbar province, was the leader of al-Qaida’s military wing in Karkh area, the west side of Tigris River that bisects the Iraqi capital, Atta said. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-05/17/c_13299597.htm" class="external" target="_blank">source</a>: </blockquote> Saudi Arabia Wants to Verify Identity of World Cup Terrorist Asharq Alawsat Newspaper (English): <blockquote> After the Iraqi security services announced their arrest of Saudi citizen Abdullah Azzam Saleh Misfar al-Qahtani, Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman Major General Mansour al-Turki informed Asharq Al-Awsat that Saudi Arabia is also looking for a fugitive with a similar name and characteristics. Iraq claims that al-Qahtani is a former Saudi army officer and a senior member in the Al Qaeda organization in Iraq, and that he was planning to carry out a terrorist attack at this year’s World Cup which is set to begin in South Africa in the next few weeks. Saudi Interior Ministry Security spokesman Major General Mansour al-Turki refused to confirm or deny that al-Qahtani had been arrested, telling Asharq Al-Awsat that "the identity of the individual mentioned by the material evidence requires verification, especially as the public information confirms that he has previously impersonated another figure. " In his statement to Asharq Al-Awsat, Major General al-Turki said that the information available to the Saudi security apparatus "refers to the departure of a Saudi citizen who has a similar name [to this] outside of Saudi Arabia as part of an unessential holiday in the month of Shawwal 1425 (2004) and that his return [to Saudi] has not been recorded until now." <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=20993" class="external" target="_blank">read in full</a>: </blockquote> Iraq: Former prisoners ‘becoming Al-Qaeda leaders’ – Adnkronos Security: <blockquote>Iraqi security forces are concerned that many of the prisoners released by US troops are becoming leaders in the Al-Qaeda terror network on their release. According to local news site, Al-Sumaria News, Baghdad security forces spokesman Major General Qassim Atta revealed the level of concern to reporters on a visit to Abu Ghraib prison. "Most of the prisoners freed by American forces from their prisons in the last few years have become Al-Qaeda leaders once they are released," he told reporters. "To stop this phenomenon we have signed a security accord with US troops, so that before freeing any prisoner they ask Iraqi forces their opinion." In the past US troops, who had more than 20,000 prisoners in Iraqi prisons, could release prisoners without informing local security forces. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=3.1.411141523" class="external" target="_blank">read in full</a>: </blockquote> News – World: Imams ’slaughtered in Iraq’: <blockquote>Baquba – Two Sunni Arab imams were brutally killed on Monday in Iraq, including one who was decapitated and had his head planted on a power pole, in attacks blamed on al-Qaeda, military officials said. The slayings in the province of Diyala, north-east of Baghdad, were against anti-Qaeda preachers who regularly railed against the terror network during Friday sermons. "At around 2.00pm (11.00 GMT), armed al-Qaeda members captured Sheikh Abdullah Shakur while he was in Saadiyah market," said a Diyala military command officer who declined to be identified, referring to the central town. "They returned an hour later with his head and attached it to an electricity post." Shakur, imam of Saadiyah’s mosque, had received several death threats from al-Qaeda, who had demanded that he leave the town, which is home to large Sunni, Shiite and Kurd populations. The town, located about 100 kilometres east of the Diyala provincial capital Baquba, was an al-Qaeda stronghold during Iraq’s sectarian conflict in 2006 and 2007. According to the Diyala military officer, in the village of Al-Bushaheen, 20 kilometres north of Baquba, gunmen burst into the home of Sheikh Hashim Arif at about 3.00am (00.00 GMT), dragged him to his garden and shot him dead in front of his family. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3&art_id=nw20100517165430331C338773" class="external" target="_blank">source</a>: </blockquote> <h3 style="color: #800000">Society and Economy:</h3> France24 – Iraq signs oil field deal with Chinese, Turkish firms: <blockquote>Iraq signed a deal with Chinese energy giant CNOOC and Turkey’s TPAO on Monday to develop a major southern oilfield complex, its 11th deal with foreign energy firms as Baghdad aims to boost crude output. Among the cluster of fields in the Maysan complex, along Iraq’s border with Iran, is a field partially claimed by Tehran, whose forces temporarily took over an oil well in the Fakka oilfield in December for several days but withdrew after talks between the two countries. snip CNOOC and TPAO agreed to be paid 2.30 dollars per barrel of oil extracted from the Maysan cluster of fields, which has proven reserves of 2.6 billion barrels of oil. Under the deal, output is projected to be ramped up to 450,000 barrels per day (bpd), compared to current production of around 100,000 bpd. The Chinese firm will have an 85-percent stake in the joint venture, while TPAO holds the remaining 15 percent. The Iraqi government will have a 25-percent stake in the overall project. The agreed deal was worth around a tenth of what was initially requested — CNOOC and Sinochem, another Chinese energy firm, had originally asked for 21.4 dollars per barrel when the field was auctioned to foreign firms last June. Sinochem has since pulled out of the deal. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.france24.com/en/20100517-iraq-signs-oil-field-deal-with-chinese-turkish-firms" class="external" target="_blank">read in full</a>: </blockquote> Iraq, Kuwait still going at it » Kuwait Times Website: <blockquote> A fierce legal fight between the national airlines of Iraq and Kuwait has revived deep resentments that have been simmering since Saddam Hussein first sent his army into oil-rich, neighboring Kuwait back in 1990. The dispute has been playing out in British courts since soon after the end of the first Gulf War, with Kuwait Airways claiming it is owed $1.2 billion by Iraqi Airways for 10 aircraft and spare parts that were looted during the occupation by Iraqi forces. Lawyers representing Kuwait have accused Iraq of perjury, forgery and a general pervasion of the justice system. In turn, Kuwait has been accused of exploiting Iraq’s instability and being insensitive to the suffering of the Iraqi people. The dispute resurfaced April 25 when the first Iraqi Airways flight from Baghdad to London in more than 20 years was met at Gatwick Airport by lawyers representing Kuwait Airway armed with an injunction issued by a British court. The authorities confiscated the passport of Iraqi Airways director Kifah Hassan Jabbar, and impounded the aircraft, which had been leased from a Swedish company. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MTMzNjM5NTE2NQ==" class="external" target="_blank">read in full</a>: </blockquote> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-10523"> <div class="postmetadata"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/05/16/15th-may-2010-selected-english-language-coverage/#respond" title="Comment on 15th-May-2010 Selected English Language Coverage">No Comments</a> Posted on May 16th, 2010 by Umm Fatima</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/05/16/15th-may-2010-selected-english-language-coverage/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to 15th-May-2010 Selected English Language Coverage">15th-May-2010 Selected English Language Coverage</a></h3> Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/abdulkarim-al-laibi/" rel="tag">Abdulkarim al-Laibi</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-arabiya/" rel="tag">al arabiya</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad/" rel="tag">Baghdad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad-university/" rel="tag">Baghdad University</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/bombings/" rel="tag">Bombings</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/cnpc/" rel="tag">CNPC</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/dura/" rel="tag">dura</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/international-oil-companies/" rel="tag">international oil companies</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/israel/" rel="tag">Israel</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iyad-allawi/" rel="tag">Iyad Allawi</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/joint-postings/" rel="tag">Joint Postings</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurds/" rel="tag">kurds</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/middle-east/" rel="tag">Middle East</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/news-sites/" rel="tag">News Sites</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/oil-contracts/" rel="tag">oil contracts</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/oil-field-development/" rel="tag">oil field development</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/politics-and-security/" rel="tag">Politics and Security</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/prince-turki-al-faisal/" rel="tag">prince turki al faisal</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/safety-precautions/" rel="tag">safety precautions</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/saudi/" rel="tag">Saudi</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/saudi-arabia/" rel="tag">Saudi Arabia</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/society-and-economy/" rel="tag">Society And Economy</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/southern-iraq/" rel="tag">southern iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/suicide-bombers/" rel="tag">suicide bombers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/summaries/" rel="tag">Summaries</a> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> In the English language reporting on Irak for May 15th Al Arabiya carried a story by AFP about the Baghdad University students of Hebrew: <blockquote>"At the festival, the joyous mood was tempered by bemusement among students at the peculiar circumstances that led them to study Hebrew and the lack of job opportunities for graduates. None of them originally chose to study Hebrew. They wanted English, French, German and Spanish but inadequate grades limited their options to Persian, Kurdish and Hebrew." </blockquote> It seems very strange and sad to me that only students with relatively poor grades study the languages of our neighbours (and in the Kurds’ case the language of our fellow Irakis). The report that Saudi Arabia’s former intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal is <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.france24.com/en/20100515-maliki-hijacking-iraq-elections-top-saudi-prince" class="external" target="_blank">accusing Maliki of trying to hijack the election results amd warning that this could lead to civil war</a>  is guaranteed to infuriate Irakis who are well aware that Saudis provide arms, funding, and suicide bombers to fightyer groups here. Maybe what Turki says is true and maybe it isn’t the damage that will be done to Allawi — who is saying the same things, comes from the fact that his political enemies will use it as ammunition to call him a Saudi stooge. The American military expert Colonel Patrick Lang cites the report about Turki  and says "<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2010/05/the-coming-civil-war-in-iraq.html#comments" class="external" target="_blank">there will be civil war with foreign Sunni suppoert</a>". Many of us fear he is right and <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37155384/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/" class="external" target="_blank">have been going back to taking the safety precautions</a>. The English language press are finally picking up on what the Sadrists have been saying all along – that <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/iraqs-maliki-edges-nearer-power-as-rival-warns-of-civil-war-20100516-v5s0.html" class="external" target="_blank">there are no absolute vetos on supporting Maliki provided he makes</a> and more importantly keeps his political promises — especially about releasing Sadrist prisoners. Umm Fatima <hr style="width: 250px" )=")"/> <h3 style="color: #800000">The Day In Quotes:</h3> Saudi Arabia’s former intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal on the continuing failure to form a government: <blockquote>"Adding to the brutal mayhem taking place there, we are watching a deliberate effort on the part of the incumbent prime minister, Mr al-Maliki, to hijack the results of the election and deny the Iraqi people their legitimately elected government. The consequences of that are more bloodshed and potential civil war". <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.france24.com/en/20100515-maliki-hijacking-iraq-elections-top-saudi-prince" class="external" target="_blank">source</a> </blockquote> Saleh al-Obeidi on the possibility of Sadrist support for Maliki as Prime Minister: <blockquote>“The Sadr movement does not object to Nuri al-Maliki taking the position of prime minister again but we have conditions. Maliki has not yet succeeded in giving us assurances about these conditions, which include (stopping) continuous arrests against Sadrists.” <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.khaleejtimes.com/darticlen.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2010/May/middleeast_May248.xml&section=middleeast" class="external" target="_blank">source</a>: </blockquote> <h3 style="color: #800000">Politics and Security</h3> Iraqis face ‘new cycle’ of violence – Conflict in Iraq- msnbc.com: <blockquote>Many Iraqis are increasingly uneasy that a wave of bombings and shootings may revive all-out sectarian warfare that ravaged the country several years ago. In Baghdad and other cities, some are falling back into old cautionary habits — going outside only when necessary and avoiding busy markets and other crowded places. These small but significant steps show the trepidation many Iraqis feel at a time when the country is floundering without a new government and facing threats of more attacks from al-Qaida-linked groups. "If this power vacuum and struggle continues, then everybody is expecting the worst. We are afraid that more attacks and more security deterioration will push the country in a new cycle" of violence, said Qassim Jassim, of Mahmoudiya, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) south of Baghdad. He said he and his family are staying home more often as a result. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37155384/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/" class="external" target="_blank">read in full</a>:   </blockquote> كونا : Al-Maliki calls for second term – الشؤون السياسية – 15/05/2010: <blockquote> BAGHDAD, May 15 (KUNA) — Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki called for another term in order to continue his first government’s accomplishments. During his meeting with different tribal sheikhs of the Al-Muthana province, Al-Maliki said his government faced many obstacles in the past term, and came short of achieving the goal of creating a durable sense of responsible "nationalism" among the populace. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2083575&Language=en" class="external" target="_blank">read in full</a>: </blockquote> France24 – Maliki ‘hijacking’ Iraq elections: top Saudi prince: <blockquote> AFP – Saudi Arabia’s former intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal on Saturday accused Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of trying to "hijack" the results of the general election held in Iraq in March. "Adding to the brutal mayhem taking place there, we are watching a deliberate effort on the part of the incumbent prime minister, Mr al-Maliki, to hijack the results of the election and deny the Iraqi people their legitimately elected government," he said. "The consequences of that are more bloodshed and potential civil war," Prince Turki, also a former Saudi ambassador to the United States and Britain, told an audience of diplomats, journalists and businessmen in a speech. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.france24.com/en/20100515-maliki-hijacking-iraq-elections-top-saudi-prince" class="external" target="_blank">read in full</a>: </blockquote> Maliki edges nearer power as rival warns of civil war – Yahoo! News: <blockquote> Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Saturday took a major step forward to staying in power in Iraq when a leading Shiite cleric said he would not block him, but an arch-rival warned of civil war. A spokesman for radical, anti-US cleric Moqtada al-Sadr told AFP the movement would drop a veto against Maliki seeking a new term as premier as long as he met its condition that around 2,000 Sadrist prisoners be freed. snip "If he will give us sufficient guarantees to end our reluctance, especially concerning the arrests of Sadrists, then we will not block his candidacy for a second term," spokesman Saleh al-Obeidi told AFP from the Shiite holy city of Najaf in southern Iraq. But he added: "Maliki has not yet succeeded in giving us assurances about these conditions." snip The latest announcement came as former premier Iyad Allawi, who narrowly beat Maliki in a March 7 general election, said if a "new wave" of violence sweeping Iraq were to continue then the country was headed for civil war. snip "We are just at the beginning, but if the violence continues we are heading towards civil war." snip <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100515/wl_mideast_afp/iraqpolitics" class="external" target="_blank">read in full</a>: </blockquote> <h3 style="color: #800000">Society and Economy:</h3> AFP: Iraq to boost oil output ‘above 3 mln bpd in 2011′: <blockquote>Iraq, which last year awarded 10 contracts to oil majors, expects to add 600,000 barrels per day of new oil to boost output to 3.2 million bpd by end 2011, a top official was quoted as saying. "We expect to increase production by around 600,000 bpd over the course of this year and next," Iraqi deputy oil minister for upstream Abdulkarim al-Laibi told the Middle East Economic Survey (MEES) in its edition to appear on Monday. The country’s current oil output capacity stands at around 2.6 million bpd. Iraq, which sits on the world’s third largest crude reserves, last year awarded 10 major development contracts to foreign companies in two rounds with the aim of raising output capacity to 12 million bpd by 2017. "In general the companies we signed with will make the 10 percent capacity rise for the first round awards and initial production rates for the second round fields within the next two years," Laibi said. The contract for Rumaila, Iraq’s largest oilfield, with BP and China’s CNPC, is expected to add 100,000 bpd by the end of this year, he said, and others will come on stream gradually. Iraq’s oil ministry is organising a major meeting in July with the international oil companies that won contracts to sort out logistical problems facing them, Laibi said. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h3HiUI2gM0RUPZ-bnbWSqrn1ucyA" class="external" target="_blank">read in full</a>: </blockquote> <h3 style="color: #800000">Commentary and Analysis</h3> News | Learning Hebrew is a mixed blessing for Iraqis: alarabiya.net <blockquote>Wearing an elegant pink headscarf, Marwa Abdel Karim serenades her fellow Baghdad University students with a heartfelt rendition of "Filled With Love," remarkable for the language in which it is sung — Hebrew. She is one of the 150 students at the university’s Hebraic department, studying the language of Israel in an Arab country that has never had ties with the Jewish state and where most people regard it as an enemy. For the first time since it was set up 40 years ago, the department organized a festival earlier this month where students sang songs and recited poetry for an enthralled audience of about 12D, and gifted tutors with presents. At the festival, the joyous mood was tempered by bemusement among students at the peculiar circumstances that led them to study Hebrew and the lack of job opportunities for graduates. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2010/05/15/108643.html" class="external" target="_blank">read in full</a>: </blockquote> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-10350"> <div class="postmetadata"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/05/04/4th-may-2010-selected-english-language-coverage/#respond" title="Comment on 4th-May-2010 Selected English Language Coverage">No Comments</a> Posted on May 4th, 2010 by Hussein Kareem</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/05/04/4th-may-2010-selected-english-language-coverage/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to 4th-May-2010 Selected English Language Coverage">4th-May-2010 Selected English Language Coverage</a></h3> Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/arbitrary-detention/" rel="tag">arbitrary detention</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/asylum-claims/" rel="tag">asylum claims</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad/" rel="tag">Baghdad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/bahrain/" rel="tag">Bahrain</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baquba/" rel="tag">Baquba</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/basra/" rel="tag">Basra</a>, <a 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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/qatar/" rel="tag">Qatar</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugees/" rel="tag">Refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/saudi/" rel="tag">Saudi</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sectarian-violence/" rel="tag">sectarian violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/society-and-economy/" rel="tag">Society And Economy</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sulaimaniya/" rel="tag">Sulaimaniya</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sulaimaniyah/" rel="tag">sulaimaniyah</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/summaries/" rel="tag">Summaries</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syrian-border/" rel="tag">Syrian border</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/trauma/" rel="tag">trauma</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water/" rel="tag">Water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/xinhua/" rel="tag">Xinhua</a> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <h3 style="color: #800000">Human Rights</h3> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.expatica.com/fr/news/french-news/france-germany-top-eu-asylum-table-as-requests-rise-to-260000_64389.html" class="external" target="_blank">France, Germany top EU asylum table as requests rise to 260,000 < French news | Expatica France</a>: <blockquote>Germany received the second largest amount of asylum claims in Europe, with more than 31,000, over 7,000 of whom were Iraqis. However it topped the table of positive decisions on those aslum applications, allowing in 9,765 to France’s 5,050. </blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.terra.net.lb/wp/Articles/DesktopArticle.aspx?ArticleID=514506&ChannelId=4" class="external" target="_blank">Lebanon: Calls for end to arbitrary deportation of refugees</a>: <blockquote>Lebanon must halt its practice of arbitrarily detaining and deporting refugees, a human rights organization said Monday.At least 14 refugees, mostly from Iraq, have been coerced into signing deportation orders since the beginning of 2010, said Berna Habib, secretary of the board at Frontiers Ruwad (FR). After unlimited periods of arbitrary detention in miserable prison conditions, the refugees are signing the orders “out of despair,” FR’s Habib told The Daily Star.Late last month, an Iraqi refugee was deported ahead of a court hearing which would have determined whether he could remain in Lebanon. Ali Faris, another recognized refugee from Iraq, was deported on March 31 through the Lebanon-Syrian border. A court hearing held after he left ruled against his expulsion, Habib said. “All deportation orders should be suspended and reviewed, meanwhile, refugees who are arbitrarily detained should be released immediately,” said Habib.At least 1,500 migrants have been detained since 2007, with half of those remaining in custody arbitrarily for months or years, she added. </blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-local_wires-navyseal_0504may04,0,7658734.story" class="external" target="_blank">Judge refuses to drop charges facing Navy SEAL – dailypress.com</a>: <blockquote>The court-martial of a Navy SEAL accused of punching a suspected terrorist in Iraq opened Monday with the judge rejecting a defense motion to dismiss the case based on something Geraldo Rivera said on television. Attorneys for Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew McCabe of Perrysburg, Ohio, introduced a transcript of an April 22 broadcast in which Rivera told the Fox network’s Bill O’Reilly that someone close to the military official who ordered the court-martial told him the official was pressured by a higher authority not to drop the case. snip McCabe attorney Haytham Faraj said Monday that the Rivera report suggested "unlawful command influence," and he asked that the charges be dismissed The judge, Capt. Moria Modzelewski, dismissed the TV commentary as speculation and declined the defense request. </blockquote> <h3 style="color: #800000">Health</h3> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g46-V90DS8j1vpyarmMkIkzYVz6QD9FFQV8O0" class="external" target="_blank">Iraqis try to heal mental scars after years of war: Google News</a> <blockquote>Jabar Abdul-Zahra’s flashbacks are so vivid he can feel the asphalt against his cheek that night six years ago when he lay pinned to the ground between his two critically wounded brothers, the three of them caught in the crossfire as American troops and local militiamen fought in a Baghdad neighborhood. The memory of waiting till dawn for the fighting to subside so he could ferry them to hospital has overshadowed the grief he felt when one brother later died from his wounds. But the 43-year-old computer engineer didn’t understand what was causing the flashbacks, or the palpitations and sheer terror that still overcome him whenever he sees people in uniform. Until he happened to get a contract to hook up the computers at a new center being set up in the backyard of the Imam Ali Hospital. There he met psychiatrist Haitham Abdul-Razaq — and found out he was one of tens of thousands of Iraqis with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. </blockquote> <h3 style="color: #800000">Politics and Security</h3> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/04/world/middleeast/04awakening.html?ref=world&pagewanted=print" class="external" target="_blank">Iraqi Sunnis Frustrated as Awakening Loses Clout – NYTimes.com</a>: <blockquote>FALLUJA, Iraq — Sheik Aiffan Saadoun al-Aiffan stepped across a scorched patch of farmland, raised his shotgun and fired once. A bird fell to the ground. “Shooting Qaeda,” he said, explaining how he had honed his accuracy, fighting alongside American forces. But those times of counterinsurgency, when tribal leaders like him switched sides in what became known as the Sunni Awakening, are giving way to the rise of a new political order in Iraq. The recent parliamentary elections were a serious blow to the Awakening, which has been regarded as not just a movement to pacify restive areas, but also as a potential political force to re-empower Sunnis. </blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2080586&Language=en" class="external" target="_blank">كونا : Iraqi electoral commission: Re-count results match previous results up to now – الشؤون السياسية – 04/05/2010</a>: <blockquote>BAGHDAD, May 4 (KUNA) — The Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) said the results of Monday and Tuesday’s recount of votes matched previous results up to now. Head of IHEC’s electoral department Hamdiya Al-Hussaini told KUNA here Tuesday that the results were the same, but more checking was still required. IHEC recounted on Monday votes of 600 out of Baghdad’s nearly 11,000 centers. On Tuesday, it would recount votes of 800 other centers. The Rule of Law Coalition said, Monday, it expects that the results of the recount would match previous results, if IHEC insists on ignoring the comparison of results with the voters records.(end) </blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1553036.php/Two-dead-in-Iraq-violence-two-al-Qaeda-leaders-arrested-1st-Lead" class="external" target="_blank">Two dead in Iraq violence, two al-Qaeda leaders arrested</a>: Deutsche Presse Agentur <blockquote>Two civilians were killed and 14 injured in a attacks in Iraq on Tuesday, while police arrested two al-Qaeda leaders, security officials said. The officials said gunmen shot and killed a pharmacist working at al-Salam hospital in the northern city of Mosul. Meanwhile police detained alleged Saudi al-Qaeda leader Mohamed Mahmoud Salama in a raid in western Mosul, a security source told the German Press Agency dpa. The two sides exchanged fire during the raid, leaving two policemen injured. Salama is believed to have entered Iraq in 2004. He was arrested by security forces in 2006 but managed to escape. Security forces announced that the imam of a Sunni mosque in Mosul was shot and killed by unknown gunmen after evening prayers on Monday night. On Monday, an Iraqi security operation targeting the hideouts of al-Qaeda militants in the city of Baquba led to the arrest of 25 al- Qaeda members, including a prominent leader. ‘Among those arrested is the emir of Baquba, known as Haji Basem, who is involved in the deaths of 24 people and the displacement of 50 families in the area during the years of escalated sectarian violence, between 2005 and 2007,’ a security source said on Tuesday. </blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-05/04/c_13277981.htm" class="external" target="_blank">Iraqi intelligence officer killed in Baghdad bombing</a>: Xinhua <blockquote>An intelligence officer affiliated to Iraqi Interior Ministry was killed and a government employee was wounded by two separate bomb explosions in their cars in Baghdad on Tuesday, the police said. Lieutenant Colonel Ali Hussein, head of intelligence service in northern Baghdad, was killed when a bomb planted in his car detonated in Baghdad’s northern district of Kadhmiyah, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The attack took place in the morning when the officer was driving to work, the source said. <div style="border-right: lightgrey 1px solid; padding-right: 5px; border-top: lightgrey 1px solid; padding-left: 5px; float: right; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-left: lightgrey 1px solid; width: 360px; padding-top: 5px; border-bottom: lightgrey 1px solid"> Editor’s note: The civil servant wounded in this bombing works  in the Prime minister’s office. Hussein Kareem </div> Meanwhile, another bomb attached to the car of an employee in the office of the Iraqi ministerial council detonated in the Qahtan Square in western Baghdad, wounding him and two civilians who were close to the scene, the source added. </blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-05/04/c_13277994.htm" class="external" target="_blank">13 wounded in car bombing in northern Iraq</a>: (Xinhua) <blockquote>A booby-trapped car parked in the dense populated neighborhood of al-Dawassa in central Mosul detonated in the morning, wounding 13 people and damaging several nearby buildings and civilian cars, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The blast occurred at the same neighborhood where the governor of Nineveh Atheel al-Nujaifi lives, the source said, adding that the blast caused no casualty to Nujaifi and his house </blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gQNZ-iDlwjFMX9HrXgX7-7y-RuGQD9FFRKL80" class="external" target="_blank">2 US soldiers in Iraq die in non-combat incidents</a>: Google News <blockquote>The U.S. military says two American soldiers have died in Iraq from injuries sustained in separate incidents unrelated to combat. </blockquote> <h3 style="color: #800000">Society and Economy:</h3> here <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.arabianbusiness.com/585058-muddying-the-waters" class="external" target="_blank">Muddying the waters – Energy – ArabianBusiness.com</a>: <blockquote>Iraq’s oil minister has raised questions over the country’s planned energy expansion by indicating Baghdad would consider OPEC output curbs that may keep supply well short of ambitious capacity targets. After Baghdad signed contracts to add around ten million barrels per day (bpd) to its oil supply, tough talks were expected within the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on an eventual output target for Iraq. But Iraqi oil minister Hussain Al Shahristani seems to have jumped straight to the end game before even sitting down at the negotiating table with his fellow ministers. </blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.bostonherald.com/news/international/middle_east/view/201005042_more_mideast_airlines_have_iraq_on_their_radar/" class="external" target="_blank">2 more Mideast airlines have Iraq on their radar – BostonHerald.com</a>: <blockquote>Two fast-growing Middle Eastern airlines said Tuesday they are considering starting up services to Iraq, looking to join the growing fleet of carriers serving the war-scarred country. The chief executives of FlyDubai and Qatar Airways each said they are weighing expansions to Baghdad and other Iraqi cities, including the Shiite holy city of Najaf and Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region. If the airlines go ahead, they will be joining a growing number of carriers — including Germany’s Lufthansa and Bahrain’s Gulf Air — entering the Iraqi market as security improves and business picks up. FlyDubai is also eyeing Sulaimaniyah in the north and Basra in the south, according to CEO Ghaith al-Ghaith. He told The Associated Press in an interview he is in talks with Iraqi and Emirati authorities to win approval for the routes. </blockquote> <h3 style="color: #800000">Commentary and Analysis</h3> here here here   أخبار العراق </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-10285"> <div class="postmetadata"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/05/03/asharq-al-awsat-talks-hoshyar-zebari/#respond" title="Comment on Asharq Al-Awsat Talks Hoshyar Zebari">No Comments</a> Posted on May 3rd, 2010 by Um Thalit</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/05/03/asharq-al-awsat-talks-hoshyar-zebari/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Asharq Al-Awsat Talks Hoshyar Zebari">Asharq Al-Awsat Talks Hoshyar Zebari</a></h3> Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" 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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/zebari-hoshyar/" rel="tag">Zebari - Hoshyar</a> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> London, <a title="Asharq Al-Awsat" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=3&id=20813" class="external" target="_blank">Asharq Al-Awsat</a>- Since the change of the Iraqi regime in 2003, four governments have succeeded each other in administering Iraq ranging between the government of Paul Bremer, US civil Administrator, and interim, and permanent governments. The Kurdish politician Hoshyar Zebari – leading member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party [KDP] led by Masud Barzani -has been a foreign minister in all these governments. In fact he was the first foreign minister after the end of the regime of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, and he still is while the prime ministers and other ministers have been changed. On the basis of this, Zebari has shouldered all the burdens, difficulties, and complications of the new construction of one of the most important ministries of the government, the Foreign Ministry, and he has become the most prominent engineer of the Iraqi foreign policy. Perhaps one of the most complex issues is being the first Iraqi foreign minister from the Kurdish nation, which constitutes the second national group in Iraq, and all these years he has had to sit down and confer with his Arab opposite numbers, who, according to his expression, have forged distinguished links with him. During his private visit to London, Zebari gave Asharq Al-Awsat exclusively an expanded and comprehensive interview about his work experience at the Foreign Ministry in which he explains the difficulties facing the Iraqi foreign policy. Today, Zebari is on the verge of leaving his post as the term of the government ends, and he is a member of the upcoming Iraqi Parliament for the Kurdistan Alliance, and of the committee stemming from the alliance for dialog with the other political blocs about the formation of the new government. The following is the text of the interview: [Asharq Al-Awsat] At the end of the term of the Government, what is your assessment of Iraqi foreign policy? [Zebari] I am greatly honored to have served in this post in four consecutive governments. This is a record achieved under the most difficult circumstances through which Iraq has gone. I take pride in my service during this period in which we have tried to serve our country. Our record testifies to the achievements and accomplishments we have made. The state was in ruins when we took over in September 2003 during the period of the Government Council; and the Foreign Ministry consisted of some isolated, besieged, burned, and ruined embassies. Thus, praise be to God, we have been able, through collective efforts and not individual ones, to rebuild and restore the ministry. This has been achieved as a result of us working on the basis of the principle of national reconciliation. We have been the first ministry to apply this principle. When we took over the ministry it included 1,200 employees ranging between diplomats and administrative officials, and supplemented them from among former members of the intelligence and the Baathists. We have dismissed more than 550 employees, because the Foreign Ministry under the previous regime was one of the security ministries, and was a closed shop for the Baath Party. We have kept the professional diplomats and administrators, and in practice they have proved their high level of efficiency and national sense. This is why we have been accused, while our aim was, and still is, to keep the wheel of work turning. It is true that when we took over the ministry we had the experience of working abroad, and of the foreign relations of the KDP, but the partisan work, or work in the opposition remains different from official work, the ministry, and work in the state. However, we utilized our previous relations for the benefit of our work in the Foreign Ministry. Moreover, we opened the work in the Foreign Ministry for all, and not only for the elite, the sons of the wealthy or upper-class families, and officials. Two years after we started work, we advertised in the media a training course for diplomatic work, and any Iraqi who satisfied the conditions was able to work in the ministry. We have accepted the highest grade graduates of the Iraqi universities. Also the issue in which I personally take pride is our interest in training and qualifying the cadres of diplomatic work. Moreover, the number of the employees of our ministry is the lowest among the Iraqi ministries compared to its services and importance, as there are less than 2,000 diplomats and administrators in the Foreign Ministry, which is a very small number. We have sent most of them, more then 1,200 employees, to training courses in diplomatic and language training abroad, which is something that is admired by our Arab counterparts. We also changed the culture of work in the Ministry, which used to be characterized by domination, militarism, and centralization, and the employee used to stand before the official as if he was his servant or slave; we have removed all these barriers. I am entitled to take pride in this issue. It is well known that Iraq is a big and old country in international politics. It is one of the founders of the United Nations, the Arab League, and the Non-Aligned Movement. Thus, we have decided to make the diplomatic representation extensive, or at least acceptable; now there are more than 83 diplomatic missions around the world, 67 embassies, and 16 consulates. Therefore, I can say that the upcoming Iraqi Government will take over a developed institution. Add to this that we have ratified the Foreign Service law, which is at the level of the international laws in this field. Despite all the suspicions and distortion that accompanied the work of the ministry, such as claiming that it is a Kurdish ministry and similar things, I do not say that our ministry is an ideal one that is devoid of administrative or financial corruption, but I say that compared to other ministries, the Foreign Ministry is one of the cleanest and most impartial ministries from the point of view of the good reports of the auditing departments and the Commission on Public Integrity. [Asharq Al-Awsat] There are accusations leveled at Iraqi foreign policy because of the bad relations between Iraq and some regional countries? [Zebari] Iraq was isolated, punished, and marginalized in all Arab and international forums. However, with great efforts we have been able to restore it to its important status, and we broke the isolation ring. To be frank and explicit, this has not taken place only as a result of our efforts, but also with the help and support of our allies in the US and UK Administrations, which liberated Iraq from dictatorship. The work of the Foreign Ministry is a reflection of the domestic policy of the country and its stances; if there is no united stance or a united domestic policy coupled with strong will, there will be no success in the foreign policy however relentless the efforts might be, because the foreign policy will reflect what is taking place domestically. [The same applies] if there is reconstruction, the security situation is solid, the economic situation is good, and the national unity is strong. I admit that one of the problems in which we failed is that we have not been able to play any role in the Arab forums. We have not been able to fulfill our commitments to the issues of destiny, such as the Palestinian issue, supporting the Palestinian Authority, or supporting the regional or international issues to which Iraq was contributing. We have inherited a huge legacy of international sanctions, effects of siege, fragile relations, and problems of water and borders with nearly all the neighboring countries. This is what we have been focusing on, and that is what any government ought to focus on, try to close all these dossiers, and rectify its relations. In the midst of this hysterical and difficult political situation, we have been able to progress with our work, and to reflect a positive image of the situation and work of the government. The Foreign Ministry does not make the policy, but it implements it; our policy exists in the Constitution, and in the government decisions and viewpoint, because the government is the one that determines Iraq’s foreign policy. One of the problems which we faced at the level of our foreign operations is the multiplicity of the sources of media statements and stances given by MP’s, advisers, and others. In many cases we receive instructions, but we act according to the interest of the country; thus we have adopted some stances that the others understood. [Asharq Al-Awsat] Was your stance at the last Arab summit in Libya one of these policies? [Zebari] At the last summit, and other summits, we acted according to our relations, and as representatives of the Iraqi Government. The other sides relied on what we said and not on the statement of this MP, or that adviser or politician. [Asharq Al-Awsat] How do the Arab officials receive you as a Kurd in your capacity as foreign minister of Iraq? [Zebari] In the beginning it was a surprise and a strange and odd thing. I remember that I attended my first meeting of Arab foreign ministers in the Arab League in September 2003. The Arab foreign ministers, in jest, said: Let us have fun at his (broken) Arabic. After I talked and delivered speeches, they said: We were wrong, because your Arabic is better than ours. This is a real experience. We behave as a national Iraqi official, and not as a Kurd, and we defend Iraq and the interests of Iraq. Now they have got used to us. At the Arab summit in Sirte (Libya) they said: We have become used to you. I said: This is politics, and we have a diplomatic system; today I am here, and tomorrow there is someone else. I have had excellent relations with my Arab counterparts, and achieved good relations with the Arab officials and leaders, and with the Arab League. [Asharq Al-Awsat] How do you explain the delay of some Arab countries in opening their embassies in Baghdad? [Zebari] The fact is this subject has been exaggerated, and politicized by some Iraqi political sides. They say that Iraq is distant from its Arab and Islamic environment; this is political one-upmanship. When an Iraqi politician meets an Arab leader, does this mean that he is close to that leader and we cannot do the same? For instance, I can meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak or any other Arab official any day. We tolerate the fact that Iraqi politicians meet Arab leaders outside the government framework; have we had a strong government, it would not have allowed to hold such meetings. This is not supposed to occur. I remember once that the leader of the British Conservative Party met Clinton or Bush in Washington, and there was a commotion that raised Cain in London, because it was considered defiance. Unfortunately, our leaders or politicians are complacent about this issue, and hence they lose their value. [Asharq Al-Awsat] How do you explain the bad relations between Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and some Arab countries, such as Syria, Saudi Arabia, and others? [Zebari] The prime minister is not responsible for these stances. Perhaps I have many issues related to work over which I disagree with the prime minister, but over this issue we have to be realistic. If there is a country or a side that wants to harm Iraq, we must not kiss their hands; this is inadmissible. Today, for instance, there are public activities by Muhammad Yunus al-Ahmad – leading member of the Iraqi Baath Party – in Damascus. We have asked the Syrians about him, and we told them that he was active against Iraq; they said: We do not know him at all. Now, here he is. What is his program or aims? Are his programs and aims related to participating in government, or developing the political process in Iraq? Definitely not, because he (Al-Ahmad) wants to destroy and blow up everything. There are some issues on which we have to draw the line. For instance, with regard to the relations with Saudi Arabia, the Saudi brethren are the ones who opened the doors, and they opened up to receive various Iraqi leaders, and are the ones who became convinced that there ought to be good relations with Iraq, with which they have the longest common borders; the initiative came from them. The Egyptians, after they realized that they were absent and that the non-Arab neighboring countries were the ones that would fill the vacuum, woke up and came and opened their embassy in Baghdad. [Asharq Al-Awsat] Have Iran and Turkey filled in the vacuum resulting from the Arab absence in Iraq? [Zebari] I have visited Tehran, Ankara, and even Damascus, and I have said to them beware, and do not think that you will fill in the vacuum that will occur due to the withdrawal of the US forces. The Iraqis will not accept anyone other then themselves to fill in the vacuum in their country. We have the legitimate right to do so. Iran, Turkey, and others are waiting for the withdrawal of the US forces, which are in a hurry to leave Iraq in August, to fill in the vacuum; this is a huge disaster. [Asharq Al-Awsat] What do you think of the Kuwaiti claims over the airplane hired by the Iraqi Airways, which they tried to detain in Britain? How will you deal with the problems with Kuwait? [Zebari] Let me tell you something, several times we have discussed the pending relations with the Kuwaiti brethren. At Sirte summit, we sat with the Amir, deputy prime minister, and foreign minister of Kuwait. There are pending problems between Kuwait and Iraq, and they ought to be resolved. The most prominent of these problems is the issue of the borders that have been demarcated according to UN Security Council Resolution 833, the recognition of which the constitutional Iraqi Government is supposed to reiterate. As for the rest of the issues, they are treatable. These borders have been imposed on Iraq following Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait. [Asharq Al-Awsat] Does Iraq recognize these borders? [Zebari] Saddam Hussein agreed to them in 1993. What is required of this government or the upcoming government is to reiterate its recognition of these borders. This is the key to the resolution of all the pending problems between Iraq and Kuwait. I say it frankly, neither the issue of the missing, the prisoners, nor the properties are the obstacles; this issue (the borders) still is pending. We have tried, and we have exerted huge efforts to resolve it; however, we have become convinced that it is a political and not a technical issue. The government has said, now we are on the verge of elections and we will leave this dossier to the upcoming government. [Asharq Al-Awsat] You have spoken of the professionalism of the Iraqi ambassadors, but the issue of the ambassadors constitutes a subject for the accusations leveled at the Foreign Ministry, as there are ambassadors who have been appointed at the level of extraordinary ambassador without any diplomatic background. How do you explain this? [Zebari] The ambassador is supposed to be a professional diplomat who has progressed in his diplomatic career until he reaches the grade of ambassador. However, in many countries there are political appointments, i.e. the government or the head of state chooses a former minister, military officer, or a friend as (former US President) Bush or (US President) Obama did. If you look into the background of some US ambassadors you will discover that they are friends of the president. However this happens within certain percentage such as 10 percent or more, and could be as much as 25 percent. The highest percentage of such appointments, as far as we know, is in Egypt. Also we have fixed a percentage of such appointment in the Foreign Service Law, which has been ratified by Parliament and government. However, we are in an interim stage, and all the political sides want to be represented in the diplomatic corpse. I would like to explain the mechanism we used. We have accepted 57 ambassadors out of 150 nominated by the various political blocs; and we have said to all the blocs that we would not accept anyone who does not satisfy even the minimum of the conditions set by our ministry. This is what has taken place, and it was my decision. Among those accepted there have been a large percentage of professional diplomats, and also there have been ambassadors nominated by sides not participating in the government, such as the former Al-Iraqiya List, national and religious minorities, and also women. The process has not taken place on the basis of quotas alone, but we also took into consideration the diversity of the Iraqi society in addition to those who have been nominated by sides in the government. Moreover, the deliberations and the discussions of the names between the ministry and the Parliament continued for two years until the list of names was given back to us; during that period we sent the candidates to training courses, and attached them to work within the departments of the ministry. After that came the difficult stage, even the most complex one, namely the organization and distribution of the ambassadors. This is a more complex process than forming the government. We were obliged to meet the political leaders and explain to them that the standard of the ambassador nominated by them is not suitable to be appointed to this-or-that country, but he has to be appointed to another country, and so on. There have been many opinions saying that we should not send the names to the countries until after the elections, but I insisted on sending them before the elections. I said: I will send them and you will see the confidence of the countries in us. Indeed, we sent the names of the ambassadors to the countries to which they were nominated. This is an achievement that ought to be recorded for the government and for our ministry. Ten days ago, we received 43 approvals out of 52 nominations to Arab and western countries, and to international organizations. [Asharq Al-Awsat] Why is the Foreign Ministry accused of being a Kurdish ministry? [Zebari] This is not true. If you count the number of Kurds among the administrators and diplomats in the Foreign Ministry you will realize that it is very small, and less than the percentage they deserve. The Kurds are Iraqis, and have the right to work in the diplomatic corps. Moreover, I am not promoting the Kurdish interests, but I promote the Iraqi interests, and the Kurds come within this context. [Asharq Al-Awsat] The Iraqi embassy in London has been, and still is without an ambassador. What are the reasons behind this? [Zebari] Indeed this is a problem. However, there is an ambassador who is a candidate for this post, but I cannot divulge his name now. [Asharq Al-Awsat] Will you remain the foreign minister in the upcoming government? [Zebari] I belong to the Kurdistan Alliance, and this issue is up to the alliance and not to me. When I served as a foreign minister, I was nominated by the Kurdistan Alliance. I am one of the people who consider themselves soldiers in the service of the leadership; this means that today we serve in this post, and tomorrow in another one that is chosen for us by the leadership. This is the first factor. Secondly, this depends of whether or not the Kurdistan Alliance will participate in the government. [Asharq Al-Awsat] Is there any doubt that you will participate in the upcoming government? [Zebari] It is possible to forge coalitions that will be able to form the government with no need for the Kurdistan Alliance, and it is possible to include some Kurds from outside the alliance in the upcoming government. [Asharq Al-Awsat] Do you think that such a possibility might take place? [Zebari] Theoretically, it is possible. The Kurdistan Alliance was strong in the previous elections, and it constituted the second parliamentary bloc. Today, it is the fourth list. However, politically and realistically I do not think that such a possibility might materialize, and all the other blocs agree on the importance of our participation in government. If the negotiations to form the government take place, one of the sovereignty ministries will be in our share. In the past, the choice and agreement was the Foreign Ministry because of the accumulation of expertise and other factors; today, as I said, this is not up to me, but to our leadership. [Asharq Al-Awsat] If the decision is up to you, will you stay at the Foreign Ministry? [Zebari] I can serve at this ministry, because we have accumulated developed experiences, and we have established good relations with our Arab and non-Arab counterparts. However, I reiterate that the political decision is not up to me. [Asharq Al-Awsat] As long as we are talking about the formation of the government, what do you think of the existing dispute on the political arena over this issue, I mean the formation of the new government? [Zebari] The disputes are very severe, and the situation has become extremely complicated for a number of reasons. One of those reasons is that the results are close between the two major blocs, the Al-Iraqiya (led by Iyad Allawi, former prime minister of the Iraqi Government) and the State of Law (led by Nuri al-Maliki, prime minister of the government whose term has ended). In the previous election there was one bloc that won the majority of the seats and formed the government. As for the current situation, the events will lead to prolonged and complicated negotiations; no serious alliances or dialogs will take place until the ratification of the results of the elections. You know that there are the manual recounting, the looking into the issue of the excluded because of the Debathification commission, and other issues; the longer the period, the more complications will appear. [Asharq Al-Awsat] Would you have preferred the results to be ratified without the issuing of the decision to have a manual recount? [Zebari] The problem lies in the electoral system. The (Independent High Electoral) Commission has done its utmost to make the elections succeed, but there are frightening shortcomings in its work, and it has not taken into consideration many issues. Moreover, there is the absence of the support and help from the United States and Britain that had a clear role in the previous elections; this role has been absent in these elections, which contributed to the increase in the difficulties despite the presence of the United Nations. What I mean exactly is the absence of a side that helps and contributes to gathering the winning blocs in order to agree and form the government. [Asharq Al-Awsat] Do you think that the US Administration has withdrawn its hand completely from Iraq? [Zebari] Unfortunately I say that the United States now is not bothered about anything other that withdrawing its forces from Iraq. If the new government is not formed by August, and in the light of these difficult security conditions, the withdrawal of the US forces will be too early, and immature. The US Administration has a problem now, if the government is not formed, the security challenges escalate, and the political problems get complicated, the situation will be extremely complicated, and in my opinion this might affect the timetable of the withdrawal of the US forces. [Asharq Al-Awsat] Have you explained this viewpoint of yours to the US side? [Zebari] Yes, we always meet the US ambassador to Baghdad, and there are dialogs with US Vice President Joe Biden, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and also her assistants. However, so far their viewpoint is to leave the Iraqis to solve their problems on their own. Their message to us is: Solve your problems quickly so that we can get out quickly. [Asharq Al-Awsat] Do you think that the current problem, with regard to the issue of manual recounting and the exclusion of some winners from Parliament, will be internationalized in order to find solutions for it? [Zebari] When the situation gets complicated, it is inevitable that an acceptable side intervenes to help in finding solutions; the candidate for such a role is the United Nations. The issue is not one of internationalization as much as it is giving help, especially as there is an international authorization to the United Nations from the UN Security Council with the agreement of the Iraqi Government to intervene in the situation in Iraq. This authorization is under Chapter 7. Therefore, the United Nations can play a clear role and to express its views in order to help in bringing the various sides together. [Asharq Al-Awsat] Are you optimistic about finding solutions and proceeding with the formation of the government? [Zebari] They call me the eternal optimist; however, after these elections the situation has become difficult. [Asharq Al-Awsat] Difficult? [Zebari] Yes, difficult. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=3&id=20813" class="external" target="_blank">Asharq Al-Awsat Talks to Iraqi FM Hoshyar Zebari Asharq Alawsat Newspaper (English)</a> By Ma’ad Fayad </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-9888"> <div class="postmetadata"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/04/20/19-04-2010-selected-english-language-coverage/#respond" title="Comment on 19-04-2010 Selected English Language Coverage">No Comments</a> Posted on April 20th, 2010 by Abdus-Samad</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/04/20/19-04-2010-selected-english-language-coverage/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to 19-04-2010 Selected English Language Coverage">19-04-2010 Selected English Language Coverage</a></h3> Category: <a 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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/xe-services-llc/" rel="tag">Xe Services LLC</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/xinhua/" rel="tag">Xinhua</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/zarqawi/" rel="tag">Zarqawi</a> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> Secret prison for Sunnis revealed in Baghdad – latimes.com: <blockquote><a title="20100419_screenshot_latimes_malikis_secret_prisons" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.flickr.com/photos/27086036@N02/4536503276/" class="external" target="_blank"><img style="border-right: silver 2px solid; border-top: silver 2px solid; display: inline; margin: 5px 0px 65px 15px; border-left: silver 2px solid; border-bottom: silver 2px solid" alt="20100419_screenshot_latimes_malikis_secret_prisons" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135im_/http://static.flickr.com/4009/4536503276_f5a4e1c073.jpg" align="right"/></a>Hundreds of Sunni men disappeared for months into a secret Baghdad prison under the jurisdiction of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki’s military office, where many were routinely tortured until the country’s Human Rights Ministry gained access to the facility, Iraqi officials say. The men were detained by the Iraqi army in October in sweeps targeting Sunni groups in Nineveh province, a stronghold of the group Al Qaeda in Iraq and other militants in the north. The provincial governor alleged at the time that ordinary citizens had been detained as well, often without a warrant. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/africa/la-fg-iraq-prison19-2010apr19,0,4657710.story" class="external" target="_blank">Read in full</a>: </blockquote> <h3>The Day In Quotes:</h3> <ol> <li>Ammar al-Hakim on Allawi and Maliki: "We are talking about a person who should be accepted on a national level. This is the most important point because the prime minister is not going to be a prime minister of his own party or his political movement, but for all of Iraq … On such a basis, we find it’s difficult for Mr. Maliki or even Mr. Ayad Allawi to gain the needed acceptance." <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100419/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq" class="external" target="_blank">Source</a>: </li> <li>Maliki on the killing of Abu Omar al Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al Masri: "I give the happy tidings of the strike, which targeted and killed Abu Omar al Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al Masri, who were hiding in a hole in Tharthar area," <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/04/19/92419/two-al-qaida-leaders-killed-in.html" class="external" target="_blank">Source</a>: </li> <li>Kamal el-Saadi on the Electoral Commission Ordering A Recount in Baghdad: "We expect that this will change the results for the benefit of State of Law,". <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE63I1AT" class="external" target="_blank">Source</a>: </li> </ol> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE63I12J.htm" class="external" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE63I12J.htm" class="external" target="_blank"></a> <h3>Political Coverage:</h3> <blockquote> </blockquote> Iraq appeals panel orders manual ballot recount in Baghdad | Xinhua : <blockquote>An Iraqi appeals panel ordered Monday manual recount for ballots in Baghdad after reviewing complaints by political blocs, an electoral commission official said. "The appeals panel tasked with reviewing the complaints of the political blocs about the parliamentary elections decided to carry out manual recount for Baghdad province only," Hamdiya al-Husseiny, a commission member told reporters. Earlier, several blocs, including incumbent Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s State of Law bloc, demanded manual recount, claiming that hundreds of thousands of votes have been manipulated in five provinces. On April 11, Hachim al-Hassani, spokesman of Maliki’s bloc said that his bloc demanded manual recount of five provinces, including Baghdad, but he added that his bloc would accept manual recount even if it is at least only in Baghdad. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-04/19/c_13258385.htm">Read in full</a>: </blockquote> Iraqi panel orders vote recount in Baghdad | Reuters: <blockquote>Electoral commissioner Hamdiya al-Husseini said the manual recount would begin immediately but she was not sure how long it would take. The capital accounts for 68 seats in the 325-seat parliament, making it a key prize, and Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s State of Law alliance had been seeking a recount after coming a close second in the election. "We expect that this will change the results for the benefit of State of Law," said Kamal el-Saadi, a senior member of Maliki’s coalition. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE63I1AT" class="external" target="_blank">Read in full</a>: </blockquote> Iraq Shiite cleric doubts front-runners in PM race – Yahoo! News: <blockquote>The cleric who heads one of Iraq’s key Shiite political parties says neither front-runner in the March 7 parliamentary elections has enough popular support to lead country in the next government. Ammar al-Hakim of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council says he wouldn’t reject either candidate, if all sides jockeying for power since the inconclusive elections agree on one of them. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100419/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq" class="external" target="_blank">Read in full</a>: </blockquote> Turkey on Iraq’s side in all conditions: FM: Xinhua: <blockquote> Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Monday that Turkey was and would be on Iraq’s side in all conditions. Davutoglu made the remarks at a joint press conference with the visiting Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi in the Turkish capital of Ankara. Turkey has good relations with all groups in Iraq, said Davutoglu, adding he is confident that all groups in Iraq would come together to build their country. Davutoglu said he discussed with al-Hashimi the post-election period in Iraq, adding Turkey views that the Iraqi parliament would possibly shape the next century of Iraq. For his part, al-Hashimi said the relations between Iraq and Turkey are "very constructive, successful and very clean." On his attitude towards the new Iraqi government, al-Hashimi said the most important thing in Iraq was to establish the new government according to the constitution. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-04/19/c_13258447.htm" class="external" target="_blank">Read in full</a>:   </blockquote> <h3>Security Coverage:</h3> Iraq says 2 top al-Qaida leaders killed — Maliki | xinhuanet: <blockquote> Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki announced Monday the killing of top leaders of Qaida in Iraq network, Abu Omer al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Musri. "A cell from our intelligence killed Abu Omer al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Musri during operation in Thirthar area in north of Baghdad," Maliki told reporters in a news conference. Maliki said that the Iraqi intelligence was following the al- Qaida top leaders for long time and the Iraqi troops managed to capture some leading Qaida militants who led the Iraqi security forces to the whereabouts of the two most wanted Qaida leaders in Iraq. Maliki also said that his troops got support from the U.S. troops "by helping the Iraqi side in checking verifying the intelligence reports. He also showed the news conference pictures of the two killed Qaida leaders. Abu Omer al-Baghdadi is the head of the self-style Islamic State of Iraq, which is an al-Qaida-led umbrella organization of extremist Sunni militants groups. Abu Ayyub al-Musri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, is the top leader of al-Qaida in Iraq network, who replaced the former Qaida leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, when Zarqawi was killed in a U. S. airstrike on June 7, 2006. Zarqawi’s killing was expected to undermine the Qaida organisation, but the main blow to the terrorist networks came when their local Sunni insurgent allies turned on them, sickened by their indiscriminate bloodshed against both Shiite and Sunni communities. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-04/19/c_13258638.htm" class="external" target="_blank">Read in full</a>: </blockquote> U.S. soldier dies in raid that kills top al Qaida in Iraq leaders | McClatchy: <blockquote> Iraqi and U.S. security forces said Monday that they’d killed the two top leaders of al Qaida in Iraq in what the American military said could be the most significant blow to the militant Sunni Muslim organization since it was formed. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki announced that the men known as Abu Omar al Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al Masri were killed Sunday in a raid in northern Iraq. He displayed photographs for state television of the bodies of Baghdadi and Masri, both noms de guerre for leaders of the group. "I give the happy tidings of the strike, which targeted and killed Abu Omar al Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al Masri, who were hiding in a hole in Tharthar area,” Maliki said at a news conference in Baghdad. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/04/19/92419/two-al-qaida-leaders-killed-in.html" class="external" target="_blank">Read in full</a>: </blockquote> Al-Qaeda killing is a morale boost – but the fighting’s not over – Times Online: <blockquote> The operation marks their biggest counter-terrorism success since the assassination three years ago of Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, the previous leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq. His demise was even more of a headline-grabbing triumph than the killing on Sunday of his successor, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, who headed the Islamic State of Iraq, a shadowy, Islamist umbrella group linked to al-Qaeda. Al-Zarqawi was a better-known figure, deployed extensively as a propaganda tool by both sides, with al-Qaeda using him to instil fear in its enemies, while the United States made him the face of an insurgency that was spiralling out of control. His death, however, failed to reduce the tempo of the sectarian slaughter and mass bombings that escalated under the command of al-Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, who is thought to be Egyptian. With that in mind, it is very unlikely that his death and that of al-Baghdadi will signal the collapse of al-Qaeda in Iraq, because others will take over. What it will do, however, is damage morale and put even greater pressure on an organisation that has already seen its ability to wreak havoc undermined since 2007, when the US-led military stepped up its efforts against it. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article7102312.ece" class="external" target="_blank">Read in full</a>: </blockquote> US soldier dies in non-combat incident in Iraq : <blockquote>The U.S. military says an American soldier has died of non-combat related injuries in Iraq. A statement by the military on Monday says the United States Division-South soldier died of injuries sustained in southern Iraq on Sunday. [snip] The death raises to at least 4,392 the number of U.S. military personnel who have died in Iraq since the war began in March 2003. That’s according to an Associated Press count. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_IRAQ_US_CASUALTIES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2010-04-19-07-57-15" class="external" target="_blank">Read in full</a> : </blockquote> <div style="border-right: silver 1px solid; padding-right: 5px; border-top: silver 1px solid; padding-left: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; border-left: silver 1px solid; padding-top: 5px; border-bottom: silver 1px solid">Reuters AlertNet – FACTBOX-Military and civilian deaths in Iraq: <blockquote> A U.S. soldier was killed and three were injured when their helicopter crashed in northern Iraq late on Saturday evening, the U.S. military said on Sunday. Following are the latest figures for soldiers and civilians killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003: U.S.-LED COALITION FORCES: <ul> <li>United States 4,391 </li> <li>Britain 179 </li> <li>Other nations 139 </li> </ul> IRAQIS: <ul> <li>Military Between 4,900 and 6,375# </li> <li>Civilians Between 95,888 and 104,595 * </li> </ul> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE6371KB.htm" class="external" target="_blank">Read in full</a>: </blockquote></div>   <h3>Economic Coverage:</h3> Carrefour leads the way into postwar Iraq – Times Online: <blockquote> Carrefour is set to become the first multinational retailer to enter the Iraqi market since the war. The world’s second-largest retailer will open a two-storey store in Iraq’s Kurdish north in September. Although Iraq has attracted natural resources groups, the country’s GDP of about £2,400 a head, coupled with political and military instability, has meant it has struggled to attract customer-focused companies. Carrefour’s store in Arbil, one of northern Iraq’s largest cities, will be run by Majid al-Futtaim Group (MAF), the French hypermarket group’s Dubai- based Middle East franchise partner. The store will anchor a development that will include an ice rink, a cinema complex and a bowling alley, according to the Arbil-based Kurdish Globe. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/retailing/article7102270.ece" class="external" target="_blank">Read in full</a>: </blockquote> <h3>Health Coverage:</h3> Cancer of the conflict zone: <blockquote> When my sister, 101st Airborne Army Capt. Chaplain Fran E. Stuart, returned from Iraq, she was forever changed. Not only had the desert sand, gun blasts and heat penetrated her psyche during her one-year deployment, but a carcinogen had made its way into her body as well. Unbeknown to her, the carcinogen was making a home in my sister’s body, along with the Anthrax vaccine, depleted uranium, burn pit smoke and contaminated water dished up at every meal. In March 2006, when my sister was 41, she was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive, stage-IV dysgerminoma cancer, also called “germ cell” cancer, which is usually only seen in pregnant women and teenage girls. The cancer was advancing quickly, wrapping itself around her internal organs like an octopus and gathering fuel from her central abdomen. My sister was flown to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington for immediate surgery and further testing, when a volleyball-sized tumor was removed from her abdomen. Fortunately, doctors were able to corral her cancer, but only after 10 months and 35 rounds of exhaustive chemotherapy. She wasn’t the only one undergoing such trauma. While visiting her at Walter Reed, I witnessed many soldiers returning from Iraq with cancer, unknown to the public and unacknowledged by the military. Walter Reed had two floors dedicated solely to the soldiers arriving daily with cancer. Their lives were spared on the battlefield, but the cancer was ravaging their bodies from within. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/opinion/2010/April/opinion_April116.xml&section=opinion&col=" class="external" target="_blank">Read in full</a>: </blockquote> <h3>Commentary and Analysis</h3> Blackwater Officials Indicted for Weapons Violations: <blockquote> Last week, the Justice Department announced that a federal grand jury had returned a fifteen-count indictment against five current and former Blackwater officials, charging them with conspiracy to violate a series of federal gun laws, obstruction of justice and making false statements to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Among those indicted were Blackwater owner Erik Prince’s longtime right-hand man, former company president Gary Jackson, Blackwater’s former legal counsel Andrew Howell and two former company vice presidents. Given Blackwater’s track record and the severity of other allegations against the company–including killing unarmed civilians–if the charges in this case stick, it would be somewhat akin to Al Capone going down for tax evasion. The one major difference being, the number-one man at Blackwater, Erik Prince, is evading prosecution and jail. Prince, who remains the Blackwater empire’s sole owner, was not indicted. [snip] </blockquote> <blockquote>Meanwhile, as Blackwater officials face another round of attempted criminal prosecutions, the company continues to fight off the remaining civil lawsuits stemming from the Nisour Square shooting. Last year Blackwater settled with most of the victims, reportedly for a total of $5 million. The only remaining suit against the company over Nisour Square was brought by a small group of Iraqis, most prominent among them Mohammed Kinani, the father of the youngest known victim of the shooting. His 9-year-old son, Ali, was shot in the head that day and died shortly after from his injuries. Kinani originally sued Blackwater in state court in North Carolina, but last week a federal judge sided with Blackwater and took control over the case. That judge, Terrence Boyle, was a former legislative aide to the late Republican Senator Jesse Helms, who urged President Ronald Reagan to appoint Boyle, which Reagan did. For more than a decade, Democrats blocked Boyle’s nomination to the appelate court, characterizing him as an ultraconservative who opposed civil rights and was often over-ruled on appeal. It is hard to imagine a better judge for Blackwater to draw in this case. As it has done in other cases, Blackwater has asked the Obama Justice Department to intervene in Kinani’s case and to make the US government–not Blackwater and the individual shooters in the case–the defendant. Legal experts have told The Nation that if the Justice Department did that, the case would be dead in the water. The Justice Department has not responded to Blackwater’s request. Blackwater, however, is not wasting any time seeking out alternatives. On April 7, lawyers for the six alleged shooters and Blackwater asked Judge Boyle to replace Blackwater and the shooters with the "United States" in the case, citing the Westfall Act, which was passed in 1988 "to protect federal employees from personal liability for common law torts committed within the scope of their employment, while providing persons injured by the common law torts of federal employees with an appropriate remedy against the United States." If Boyle were to do this, the case would likely be immediately dismissed. </blockquote> <blockquote><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100503/scahill2" class="external" target="_blank">Read in full</a>: </blockquote> Embedded war reporting cannot escape its own bias | Alison Banville | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk: <blockquote>The boast of "greater reality" attached to embedding is a falsehood which actually clouds the vision of anyone attempting to make sense of a conflict. News channels showing reports from journalists embedded with British troops while failing to give equal airtime to reports from embeds with opposing forces or civilians qualifies not only as blatant bias, it is fertile territory for propaganda. So why are we so eager to accommodate embeds? <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/apr/18/embedded-war-reporting-iraq-afghanistan" class="external" target="_blank">Read in full</a>: </blockquote> Does Saudi Arabia Really Want a United Iraq? | By Reidar Visser | The Gulf Research Unit’s Blog: <blockquote>The list of Iraqi guests at the palace in Riyadh over the past weeks prompts numerous questions about Saudi policy towards its eastern neighbour. For several years now, Riyadh’s Iraq policy has been a lot more passive than that of Iran, characterised by more muttering than meddling, and with relatively few attempts to reach out more broadly beyond Sunni-oriented leaders. For a long time it seemed as if the Saudi leaders still held on to futile dreams of an Iraq where Shiites could be almost excluded, as indicated for example by reports that Riyadh played a role in scuppering the tentative but promising alliance between Abu Risha (the awakening leader of Anbar) and Nuri al-Maliki last summer. But with recent visits to Riyadh by ISCI’s Ammar al-Hakim and Kurdish leaders Jalal Talabani and Masud Barzani, it is clear that the problem does not have to do with insurmountable ethno-sectarian barriers, but rather with the Saudi choice of guests. Between them, messieurs Hakim, Talabani and Barzani must take the lion’s share of the responsibility for the virtual wrecking of the Iraqi state through the design of the new, highly decentralising Iraqi constitution in 2005, as well as subsequent measures between 2005 and 2007 to consolidate the new order (including a law on implementing federalism south of Kurdistan). By way of contrast, Nuri al-Maliki, the Shiite leader who has made the greatest attempts at reversing some of the unfortunate results of the 2005 constitution, especially since 2008, was not invited to Riyadh. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gulfunit.wordpress.com/2010/04/19/does-saudi-arabia-really-want-a-united-iraq/" class="external" target="_blank">Read in full</a>: </blockquote> Update: The Manual Recount in Baghdad: What Maliki Wants « Iraq and Gulf Analysis: <blockquote> Prime minister Nuri al-Maliki and his SLA have been the driving force in demanding the recount. To better understand their aims it may be useful to revert to what a Maliki adviser, Ali al-Musawi, told media about their coalition visions back on 16 March, at a time when Maliki and Allawi were still neck and neck. He then said that SLA was looking to form a “political majority” with the “Kurds, parts of the Iraqi National Alliance, parts of Iraqiyya, Tawafuq and other small parties”. This would in many ways mean a return to the situation in 2007, after the defection of the Sadrists (November 2006, after the Maliki-Bush meeting) but before that of Tawafuq and Iraqiyya in the summer), though with Maliki in a relatively stronger position vis-à-vis the decentralisers among the Kurds and ISCI. It has also been suggested that the United States and Saudi Arabia would be happy with this kind of outcome, even though the ideological contradictions would still be much bigger than in a smaller, centralist Iraqiyya/SLA government, and to call it a “political majority” would be something of a euphemism. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gulfanalysis.wordpress.com/2010/04/19/the-manual-recount-in-baghdad-what-maliki-wants/#comments" class="external" target="_blank">Read in full</a>: </blockquote> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="navigation"> <div class="alignleft"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194135/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/saudi/page/2/">« Previous Entries</a></div> <div class="alignright"></div> </div> </div> <div id="sidebar" class="span-10 last"> <div class="span-10" id="tabs"> <ul> <li class="ui-tabs-nav-item"><a href="#featured-articles">Featured Articles</a></li> <li class="ui-tabs-nav-item"><a href="#latest-articles">Latest 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