Iraqi Governor Killed By Roadside Bomb
Jim Holdaway, a graphics supervisor for the Port of Los Angeles, looks at the USS Iowa as the battleship is towed to the Port of Los Angeles near Los Angeles, Wednesday, May 30, 2012. The 887-foot long, 58,000-ton battlewagon is being towed to the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, where it will be transformed into an interactive naval museum. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) / Jae C. Hong
A powerful roadside bomb on Saturday killed the governor and police chief of a southern province that has seen fierce internal fighting between Shiite factions, officials said.
The bomb struck a convoy carrying the Khalil Jalil Hamza, the governor of the Qadisiyah province, and the provincial police chief home from a funeral service for a tribal sheik at about 5 p.m., army Brig. Gen. Othman al-Farood said.
Hamza and the police chief, Maj. Gen. Khalid Hassan, were killed, along with their driver and a body guard who were in the same SUV, according to al-Farood, the commander of the Iraqi army division in charge of the area.
The attack occurred in the town of Aajaf, as the convoy was headed back to the provincial capital of Diwaniyah, 80 miles south of Baghdad.
Diwaniyah has been the site of heavy clashes between U.S.-Iraqi security forces and Shiite militia fighters. The area also has seen a rise in internal rivalries between rival militia forces, including the Mahdi Army that is loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Authorities imposed an indefinite curfew on the city.
In Baghdad, militants bombed the house of a prominent anti-al Qaeda Sunni cleric, seriously wounding him and killing three of his relatives in what appeared to be an increased campaign against Sunnis who have turned against the terror network.
That attack, which was followed by a fierce firefight, came after Sheik Wathiq al-Obeidi called on residents in the northern Baghdad neighborhood of Azamiyah to rise up against foreign fighters, a reference to al Qaeda in Iraq, which recently has seen a surge in opposition from fellow Sunnis.
A Sunni insurgent umbrella group threatened the cleric on Tuesday, calling him a traitor and accusing him of working with the Anbar Salvation Council, an alliance of Sunni tribal leaders who are fighting al Qaeda in Iraq in the province of the same name west of Baghdad.
"The so-called Wathiq and his followers ... are a legitimate target for mujahedeen (holy warriors)," the statement said.
Followers denied the cleric, a former preacher at the Abu Hanifa mosque, was linked to the U.S.-backed Anbar group.
But he issued his own call against al Qaeda in Iraq last week during a funeral prayer for two nephews killed by militants believed to be linked to the group.
"We have to fight foreign fighters in our city," witnesses quoted him as saying. "We have to fight those linked to al Qaeda in Azamiyah."
The explosion struck al-Obeidi's house before dawn and was followed by gunfire that resounded across the predominantly Sunni neighborhood.
The cleric, a former preacher at the Abu Hanifa mosque, was seriously wounded and his brother and two female relatives were killed, according to the head of the neighborhood council Dawood al-Azami.
Azamiyah is one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Baghdad and has been surrounded by a security barrier as the U.S. and Iraqi militaries try to assert control over the area.
The U.S. attorney general who is under fire at home with calls for his resignation, meanwhile, arrived in Baghdad for his third trip to Iraq to meet with department officials who have been there to help fashion the country's legal system.
"I am pleased to see firsthand ... the progress that the men and women of the Justice Department have made to rebuild Iraq's legal system and law enforcement infrastructure," Alberto Gonzales said in a statement released by the Justice Department.
Gonzales got an update from Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and also planned to meet with Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, and other U.S. and Iraqi officials, the statement said.
Gonzales was an architect of U.S. policy on the treatment of prisoners abroad and author of a 2002 memo saying the president had the right to waive laws and treaties that protect war prisoners. U.S. President George W. Bush has staunchly defended the attorney general.
On the political front, Shiites and Sunnis had mixed reactions to the international community's decision to expand the U.N. role in Iraq and open the door for the world body to promote talks to ease Iraq's sectarian bloodshed.
The resolution adopted Friday by the Security Council authorizes the United Nations — at the request of the Iraqi government — to promote political talks among Iraqis and a regional dialogue on issues including border security, energy and refugees as well as help tackling the country's worsening humanitarian crisis which has spilled into neighboring countries.
"The U.N. is a neutral party that can play a good role in Iraq. They have played good role previously and now, we need them to re-activate that role and expand it, so we welcome this renewed chance for them here in Iraq," said Salim Abdullah, a spokesman for the Iraqi Accordance Front, the largest Sunni political bloc in parliament.
"Finding a third party, however, does not lift the responsibility from the shoulders of the American administration," he added. "It should be clear for the political powers inside Iraq that they cannot completely rely on the U.N., which should have a complementary role."
Independent Shiite politician Qassim Dawoud, however, worried the move was a precursor to a withdrawal of much-needed U.S. support for the country.
"When the Americans move the ball toward the U.N. court, it means the beginning of abandoning these commitments," he said. "We welcome any activation of the U.N. role on condition that the United States does not abandon its commitments."
Separately, the U.S. military on Saturday reported the death of a Task Force Lightning soldier in a non-combat incident.
In other violence reported by police:
— The bodies of four men abducted a week ago were found chopped into pieces in Dujail, 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Baghdad.
— A roadside bomb killed one civilian and wounded another while they were driving on the highway south of Baghdad.
— A police patrol was struck by a roadside bomb in northern Iraq, killing one officer and wounding two others.
The officials who reported the violence spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The bomb struck a convoy carrying the Khalil Jalil Hamza, the governor of the Qadisiyah province, and the provincial police chief home from a funeral service for a tribal sheik at about 5 p.m., army Brig. Gen. Othman al-Farood said.
Hamza and the police chief, Maj. Gen. Khalid Hassan, were killed, along with their driver and a body guard who were in the same SUV, according to al-Farood, the commander of the Iraqi army division in charge of the area.
The attack occurred in the town of Aajaf, as the convoy was headed back to the provincial capital of Diwaniyah, 80 miles south of Baghdad.
Diwaniyah has been the site of heavy clashes between U.S.-Iraqi security forces and Shiite militia fighters. The area also has seen a rise in internal rivalries between rival militia forces, including the Mahdi Army that is loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Authorities imposed an indefinite curfew on the city.
In Baghdad, militants bombed the house of a prominent anti-al Qaeda Sunni cleric, seriously wounding him and killing three of his relatives in what appeared to be an increased campaign against Sunnis who have turned against the terror network.
That attack, which was followed by a fierce firefight, came after Sheik Wathiq al-Obeidi called on residents in the northern Baghdad neighborhood of Azamiyah to rise up against foreign fighters, a reference to al Qaeda in Iraq, which recently has seen a surge in opposition from fellow Sunnis.
A Sunni insurgent umbrella group threatened the cleric on Tuesday, calling him a traitor and accusing him of working with the Anbar Salvation Council, an alliance of Sunni tribal leaders who are fighting al Qaeda in Iraq in the province of the same name west of Baghdad.
"The so-called Wathiq and his followers ... are a legitimate target for mujahedeen (holy warriors)," the statement said.
Followers denied the cleric, a former preacher at the Abu Hanifa mosque, was linked to the U.S.-backed Anbar group.
But he issued his own call against al Qaeda in Iraq last week during a funeral prayer for two nephews killed by militants believed to be linked to the group.
"We have to fight foreign fighters in our city," witnesses quoted him as saying. "We have to fight those linked to al Qaeda in Azamiyah."
The explosion struck al-Obeidi's house before dawn and was followed by gunfire that resounded across the predominantly Sunni neighborhood.
The cleric, a former preacher at the Abu Hanifa mosque, was seriously wounded and his brother and two female relatives were killed, according to the head of the neighborhood council Dawood al-Azami.
Azamiyah is one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Baghdad and has been surrounded by a security barrier as the U.S. and Iraqi militaries try to assert control over the area.
The U.S. attorney general who is under fire at home with calls for his resignation, meanwhile, arrived in Baghdad for his third trip to Iraq to meet with department officials who have been there to help fashion the country's legal system.
"I am pleased to see firsthand ... the progress that the men and women of the Justice Department have made to rebuild Iraq's legal system and law enforcement infrastructure," Alberto Gonzales said in a statement released by the Justice Department.
Gonzales got an update from Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and also planned to meet with Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, and other U.S. and Iraqi officials, the statement said.
Gonzales was an architect of U.S. policy on the treatment of prisoners abroad and author of a 2002 memo saying the president had the right to waive laws and treaties that protect war prisoners. U.S. President George W. Bush has staunchly defended the attorney general.
On the political front, Shiites and Sunnis had mixed reactions to the international community's decision to expand the U.N. role in Iraq and open the door for the world body to promote talks to ease Iraq's sectarian bloodshed.
The resolution adopted Friday by the Security Council authorizes the United Nations — at the request of the Iraqi government — to promote political talks among Iraqis and a regional dialogue on issues including border security, energy and refugees as well as help tackling the country's worsening humanitarian crisis which has spilled into neighboring countries.
"The U.N. is a neutral party that can play a good role in Iraq. They have played good role previously and now, we need them to re-activate that role and expand it, so we welcome this renewed chance for them here in Iraq," said Salim Abdullah, a spokesman for the Iraqi Accordance Front, the largest Sunni political bloc in parliament.
"Finding a third party, however, does not lift the responsibility from the shoulders of the American administration," he added. "It should be clear for the political powers inside Iraq that they cannot completely rely on the U.N., which should have a complementary role."
Independent Shiite politician Qassim Dawoud, however, worried the move was a precursor to a withdrawal of much-needed U.S. support for the country.
"When the Americans move the ball toward the U.N. court, it means the beginning of abandoning these commitments," he said. "We welcome any activation of the U.N. role on condition that the United States does not abandon its commitments."
Separately, the U.S. military on Saturday reported the death of a Task Force Lightning soldier in a non-combat incident.
In other violence reported by police:
— The bodies of four men abducted a week ago were found chopped into pieces in Dujail, 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Baghdad.
— A roadside bomb killed one civilian and wounded another while they were driving on the highway south of Baghdad.
— A police patrol was struck by a roadside bomb in northern Iraq, killing one officer and wounding two others.
The officials who reported the violence spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
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Posted by mcdazz at 01:17 AM : Aug 12, 2007
In their minds it would, but then again the Bush regime is looking more like the Nazi's everyday. Can't you just see Cheney in Goering's old uniform? Or Condi Rice dressed as Eva Braun like the mistress of the dictator should be. Also one of the very first thing Hitler did when he attained power was to take control of Germany's justice system and, under the German laws that his regime wrote, everything they did, from war to the Jewish extermination camps, were completely legal. Sort of like how Bush has Gonzales in power to make what he does, every crime he commits, legal. Bush needs to go in front of an international court for his war crimes.
Look mom: The surge is WORKING!!!
Look mom: The inSURGE is WORKING!!!
Look mom: The inSURGENTS are WORKING!!!
I knew they would get this dude eventually, only a matter of time, LOL the whole thing is just falling apart, but good job Bushey! good job Ricey! good job Brownie wherever you are!
NEVER VOTE REPUBLICAN AGAIN!
Hopefully there is an IED with his name on it.
And the same goes for anyone who "legalizes" torture and ignores human rights.
So, if Hitler had have had such approval, does that mean that the murder of millions of Jews was justified or legal?
I don't think so.
Try Bush as a war criminal and if found guilty, hang him from the nearest tree.
Justice - Gonzales style.
Quick! Someone change the doorlocks so this as*shole can't get back in! Keep him! Keep him! We don't want his sorry lying as*s back here! Where are the hostage takers when you really NEED them?!?
to keep halliburton and
bush in business-
situation on the ground sounds as bad as ever-
--go to politico.com the righties and neocons
are all holed up over there on the comments threads!
"The U.N. is a neutral party that can play a good role in Iraq. . . Finding a third party, however, does not lift the responsibility from the shoulders of the American administration," he added."
Good Job, George. No matter what we do in Iraq, we are damned if we stay and damned if we go. We will continue to be considered as less than honorable by everyone ~ the Iraqis, the American people, and the rest of the world. We are fast becoming regarded as a country which created a world problem and a country which has not a clue as to how to solve the problem that it created. All countries are willing to accept our money, but, like Iraq and Saudi Arabia, there comes a time when buying their loyalty will not work anymore. Iraq is our responsibility, as Colin Powell tried to explain to this dense administration, "You break it, you fix it" But, the administration, alas, does not understand that by just saying it is getting fixed, doesn't make it so, and convinces fewer people each time it is said.