16 ROADSIDE BOMBS IN SOUTHWESTERN BAGHDAD KILLS 72, WOUND 250- POLICE SOURCE

Iraq PM warns Sunnis could be shut from power وشهدت بغداد، صباح اليوم، سلسلة تفجيرات بسيارات مفخخة واحزمة ناسفة وعبوات في مناطق الكرادة والعلاوي وحي العامل والشعب والوزيرية وأبو دشير والشعلة والحارثية، اسفرت عن مقتل وإصابة العشرات من المدنيين. DEATH TOLL IN BAGHDAD'S COMMERCIAL KARRADA AREA BOMBING RISES TO AT LEAST 63 KILLED, 200 WOUNDED - HOSPITAL SOURCE By Suadad al-Salhy and Aseel Kami BAGHDAD | Wed Dec 21, 2011 5:31pm EST (Reuters) - Iraq's Sunni Muslim minority rejected a call for all-party talks on Wednesday, ignoring U.S. pressure for dialogue to resolve a sectarian crisis that has erupted since American forces left the country this week. With fears mounting that the nation of 30 million might one day fragment in chaos in the absence of the U.S. troops who toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003, Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki warned Saddam's fellow Sunnis they faced exclusion from power if they walked out on his ruling coalition. The main Sunni-backed party, furious at terrorism charges leveled by the Shi'ite-run authorities against Iraq's Sunni vice president on the day Americans left, rejected Maliki's call for all-party talks in the coming days and vowed to try and unseat the prime minister in parliament, a move unlikely to succeed. Having stuck by a decision to withdraw U.S. forces in 2011, a return of the kind of sectarian blood-letting that killed tens of thousands of Iraqis after Saddam fell could embarrass President Barack Obama as he campaigns for re-election. Vice President Joe Biden called Maliki and the Sunni speaker of parliament on Tuesday to press for urgent talks among Iraq's leaders. But there was little sign of a thaw on Wednesday, although it remained unclear how far the rhetoric reflected a real threat to the fragile coexistence of Sunnis with the majority Shi'ites and ethnic Kurds, both oppressed under Saddam. Maliki, calling on the Kurds to hand over Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi who has taken refuge in their autonomous region, said he wanted Hashemi's Sunni-backed Iraqiya block to end a boycott of parliament and of his year-old power-sharing government. "But," he warned, "If they insist, they are free to do so and they can withdraw permanently from the state and all its institutions." SUNNIS SLAM MALIKI Iraqiya said it would not attend talks with Maliki, "since he represents the main reason for the crisis and the problem, and he is not a positive element for a solution." As well as Hashemi, who stands accused of running death squads based on televised confessions by men claiming to be his bodyguards, the other most senior Sunni politician, deputy prime minister Saleh al-Mutlaq, is also under fire from Maliki, who has asked parliament to remove Mutlaq from office. Hashemi has dismissed the charges against him as a fabrication, a denial that has credibility in Washington, where one U.S. official said he believes the charges were unfounded. The White House on Tuesday said it was "obviously concerned" about the arrest warrant issued for Hashemi. In his calls to Baghdad, Biden had "stressed the urgent need for the prime minister and the leaders of the other major blocs to meet and work through their differences together." Shi'ite leaders insist there is no political motive behind the case against Hashemi. But Sunnis, outnumbered about two to one by Shi'ites, see it as proof that Maliki, now freed of the trammels of U.S. occupation, is determined to tighten his personal grip on government and to marginalize the Sunnis. In a system devised under U.S. occupation to divide power, Iraq has a Shi'ite prime minister with Sunni and Kurd deputies, a Kurdish president with Shi'ite and Sunni vice presidents, and a Sunni parliament speaker with Shi'ite and Kurd deputies. Having long shunned the U.S.-backed institutions set up when Saddam's decades of one-man rule ended, Sunni voters propelled Iraqiya into first place in a fragmented parliament last year. But Maliki was able to draw on other Shi'ite and Kurdish groups to build a coalition, in which Iraqiya eventually took part. Tensions among the major groups has, however, hamstrung the government, leaving key posts such as that of defense and interior minister unfilled and obstructing legislation that could clarify rules for investing and exploiting Iraq's vast oil and gas reserves. Iraq sits astride a Sunni-Shi'ite faultline running through the Middle East, fuelling mutual accusations of foreign influence, whether from Shi'ite Iran to the north or from the Sunni-ruled Arab states to the south. In an interview with Reuters, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari, an ethnic Kurd, said that the country's domestic schisms risked inviting more interference from outside: "As long as your internal front is fragmented and not united ... others who want to interfere will be encouraged," he said. "That's why it is very important to deal with this crisis as soon as possible." (Additional reporting by Serena Chaudry in Baghdad; Writing by Alastair Macdonald) TWO ROADSIDE BOMBS IN SOUTHWESTERN BAGHDAD KILL 7, WOUND 21- POL 22 Dec 2011 06:05 Source: Reuters // Reuters TWO ROADSIDE BOMBS IN SOUTHWESTERN BAGHDAD KILL 7, WOUND 21- POLICE SOURCE نجاة مستشار البنك المركزي من محاولة اغتيال بتفجير استهدف موكبه شرق بغداد (700) US trainers will stay in Iraq , Maliki 12/21/2011 7:30 PM BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Iraqi Premier Nouri al- Maliki said that 700 US trainers will work to train Iraqi forces, adding that the number of US embassy in Baghdad will not exceed 2000. In a press conference, held today, he added that they will be in their barracks, with possibilities to decrease this figure. Parliament foreign relations MP Sami al-Askari said, earlier, that the number of diplomats will reach to 1500, while other employees do not have US citizenship and have no immunity. Governmental responsible sources stated that 15.000 employees will remain in the US embassy after US forces withdrawal BAGHDAD - A series of explosions struck Baghdad on Thursday, the first apparently coordinated attacks on Iraq's capital since a crisis erupted between its Shi'ite-led government and Sunni rivals after the withdrawal of the last US troops, police said. Two roadside bombs exploded in the central....... Series of blasts hits Iraqi capital - police 22 Dec 2011 05:13 Source: Reuters // Reuters BAGHDAD, Dec 22 (Reuters) - A series of explosions struck Baghdad on Thursday, the first apparently coordinated attacks on Iraq's capital since a crisis erupted between its Shi'ite-led government and Sunni rivals after the withdrawal of the last U.S. troops, police said. Two roadside bombs exploded in the central Baghdad area, killing at least four people and wounding 14 more, while a car bomb hit the commercial Karrada district, wounding five people, police and security officials said. Two more explosions hit northern Baghdad, police and witnesses said. There were no immediate reports of casualties from those blasts. (Reporting by Kareem Raheem; writing by Patrick Markey) Bombs kill 10 in Baghdad, wound 27- police 22 Dec 2011 06:15 Source: Reuters // Reuters BAGHDAD, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Three bombs hit mainly Sh'ite areas in Iraq's capital, killing at least 10 people and wounding 27 others on Thursday, a police source said. Two roadside bombs blew up in Baghdad's southwestern Amil district and a car bomb struck Doura in the south, police said. A series of explosions struck Baghdad on Thursday, the first apparently coordinated attacks on Iraq's capital since a crisis erupted between its Shi'ite-led government and Sunni rivals after the withdrawal of the last U.S. troops. (Writing by Rania El Gamal; Editing by Michael Roddy) =========== BAGHDAD | Thu Dec 22, 2011 12:20am EST (Reuters) - A series of explosions struck Baghdad on Thursday, the first apparently coordinated attacks on Iraq's capital since a crisis erupted between its Shi'ite-led government and Sunni rivals after the withdrawal of the last U.S. troops, police said. Two roadside bombs exploded in the central Baghdad area, killing at least four people and wounding 14 more, while a car bomb hit the commercial Karrada district, wounding five people, police and security officials said. Two more explosions hit northern Baghdad, police and witnesses said. There were no immediate reports of casualties from those blasts. (Reporting by Kareem Raheem; writing by Patrick Markey) ================ Iraq: Death toll in Baghdad bomb wave climbs to 18 A soldier's boot and blood stains are seen on the ground after a bomb attack occurred in Alawi district in central Baghdad December 22, 2011. Baghdad blasts kill 17 as tensions rise 22 Dec 2011 07:11 Source: Reuters // Reuters * Most attacks in mainly Shi'ite neighbourhoods * Two roadside bombs hit Amil area, killing seven * Fragile power-sharing government gropes with crisis (Updates death toll, details) By Kareem Raheem BAGHDAD, Dec 22 (Reuters) - A series of blasts hit mainly Shi'ite areas in Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 17 people in the first wave of attacks on Iraq's capital since a crisis erupted between its Shi'ite-led government and Sunni rivals after the U.S. troop withdrawal. The apparently coordinated attacks are the first sign of rising violence since Iraq's Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki moved to sideline Sunni rivals, just a few years after sectarian slaughter drove the country to the edge of civil war. Two roadside bombs struck Baghdad's southwestern Amil district, killing at least seven people and wounding 21 others, while a car bomb blew up in a Shi'ite neighbourhood in Doura in the south, killing three people and wounding six, security sources said. More bombs ripped into the central Alawi area, the commercial Karrada neighbourhood, Shaab and Shula in the north -- all are mainly Shi'ite areas. One roadside bomb killed one and wounded five near the Sunni neighbourhood of Adhamiya, police and witnesses said. More than 70 were wounded in the blasts. "I saw all the windows were blown out and glass scattered everywhere. The children were scared and crying," said Raghad Khalid, a teacher at a kindergarten near the Karrada blast, where a car bomb blew up near a governmental office. "Some parts of the car bomb are inside our building." Smoke hung over the blast site in Karrada as ambulances rushed in to ferry the wounded to hospital. Violence in Iraq has ebbed since the height of sectarian slaughter in 2006-2007 when suicide bombers and hit-squads targeted Sunni and Shi'ite communities in attacks that killed thousands and pushed the country to the brink of civil war. Thursday's attacks were the first major offensive in Baghdad since November when three bombs exploded in a commercial Baghdad district and another blast hit the city's western outskirts on Saturday, killing at least 13 people. In October, bomb attacks on a busy commercial street in northeastern Baghdad killed at least 30, with scores wounded. Iraq is fighting a stubborn insurgency with Sunni Islamists tied to al-Qaeda and Shi'ite militias, who U.S. officials say are backed by Iran, still stage daily attacks. Days after the withdrawal of the last U.S. troops on Sunday nearly nine years after the invasion that toppled Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein, Iraq's fragile power-sharing government is grappling with its worst turmoil since its formation a year ago. Shi'ite Maliki is seeking the arrest of Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi on charges he organised assassinations and bombings, and he wants parliament to fire his Sunni deputy Saleh al-Mutlaq after he likened Maliki to Saddam. The move against the senior Sunni leaders are stirring sectarian tensions as Sunnis fear the prime minister wants to consolidate Shi'ite control. Iraq's Sunni minority feel marginalised since the rise of the Shi'ite majority in Iraq after the 2003 invasion. (Additional reporting by Aseel Kami; Writing by Patrick Markey and Rania El Gamal; Editing by Michael Roddy) KIRKUK - Two sticky bombs attached to two cars carrying a judge and his son killed the judge and his guard and wounded his son and two pedestrians in the city of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. Reuters – Smoke rises from the site of a bomb attack in central Baghdad December 22, 2011. A series of explosions … Slideshow:Iraq Play VideoIraq Video:Wisconsin doctor treats other Iraq veterans AP Play VideoIraq Video:PTSD Warning For Soldiers Returning Home From The Battlefield CBS 3 Philadelphia By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press – 23 mins ago BAGHDAD – Iraqi officials say the death toll in a wave of bombings in Baghdad has climbed to 18 people. There were at least nine blasts across the Iraqi capital on Thursday morning and dozens of people were injured. The worst attack was in the al-Amal neighborhood where at least seven people were killed in a blast that appeared to target rescuers and officials who came to the scene after a previous explosion. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The blasts were the worst violence to hit the country since a political crisis between Iraq's Sunni and Shiite factions erupted this weekend. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. BAGHDAD (AP) — A series of blasts Thursday morning in Baghdad killed at least seven people and injured dozens more in what appeared to be a coordinated attack across the Iraqi capital. The blasts were the worst violence to hit the country since a political crisis between Iraq's Sunni and Shiite factions erupted this weekend. The political spat, which pits Iraq's Shiite prime minister against the highest-ranking Sunni political leader, has raised fears that the Iraq's sectarian wounds will be reopened. Iraqi officials said at least seven blasts went off early Thursday morning in neighborhoods around the city. At least four people were killed in one western Baghdad neighborhood when two roadside bombs exploded. Three others died in three separate explosions. All the information came from police and hospital officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. In the southwestern neighborhood of Karrada, where one of the victims was killed, sirens could be heard as ambulances rushed to the scene and a large plume of smoke rose over the explosion site. While Baghdad and Iraq have gotten much safer over the years, explosions like Thursday's are still commonplace. ===================== Dead and wounded, a double car bombing north of Baghdad car bombs is the seventh of its kind today Editor: HAH Thursday, 22 k 1 2011 05:53 GMT Alsumaria News / Baghdad A source in the Iraqi police on Thursday that a number of people had been killed and wounded a double car bombing north of Baghdad car bombs, the seventh such incident today. The source said in an interview for "Alsumaria News", "the outcome of the bombing twin car bombs, this morning, in the Shaab district, north of Baghdad, was killed three people and injuring nine others were injured," likely "the high death toll due to the intensity of the bombing." The source, who asked not to be named "The ambulances ferried the wounded to a nearby hospital for treatment, and the bodies of the dead to the forensic medicine department, while the security forces imposed a security cordon at the scene and cut all roads leading to it." Baghdad has seen a day of eight bombings in the Karrada area and Allawi Group and inspired by the people and the Waziriya and Abu Dshir have left dozens dead and injured. The capital Baghdad and other provinces have been witnessing an escalation of months the violence has claimed hundreds of lives, including a number of officers and government officials, at a time when the country's ongoing disputes between politicians on the names of the ministers who will be the security bags. ============= Killed five people and injured children from one family, an armed attack northwest of Baquba Author: AK Editor: OH | HAH Thursday, 22 k 1 2011 07:01 GMT Alsumaria News / Diyala According to a police source in Diyala province, Thursday, that five people were killed and a child from one family, an armed attack targeted a house northwest of Baquba, while security forces arrested six suspects over the incident. The source said in an interview for "Alsumaria News", "Unidentified gunmen stormed in the early hours of this morning, a house belonging to a person named Abdul Barakat Almikdma in the village of Arab seventh of the area Hashimiyat, (12 km northwest of Baquba), and fired from weapons machine gun, killing the owner and his wife and his son, his wife and daughter and injured children were seriously injured. " The source, who asked not to be identified said that the "security force cordoned off the area of ​​the accident and transported the wounded to a nearby hospital for treatment, and the bodies of the dead to the forensic medicine department, as carried out the raids and searches and arrested six people suspected of involvement the incident." Diyala has seen, on Wednesday, arresting eight people make up a cell of al Qaeda hand in the great north of Baquba, wounding a mayor and a residential neighborhood armed attack by unknown assailants in the Mafraq area, 5 km west of Baquba. The security sources in the province of Diyala, 55 km northeast of Baghdad, referring to the families of genocide repeat the entire series of armed attacks, but that the investigation confirms that some of the motives of revenge, while the motive is revenge mostly armed groups linked to the families of some of its members Basahoat. ============= A source in the Iraqi police on Thursday that 74 people had been killed and wounded at least the outcome of the bombings, which saw the capital, Baghdad. Killed and injured in a car bombing in central Baghdad is the ninth of its kind today Death toll in Baghdad bombings rises to 40-official 22 Dec 2011 07:35 Source: Reuters // Reuters BAGHDAD, Dec 22 (Reuters) - The death toll from a series of bomb attacks in the Iraqi capital has climbed to at least 40, with scores wounded, a government health official said on Thursday. More than 10 explosions struck Baghdad on Thursday morning, in the first apparently coordinated attack on Iraq's capital since a crisis erupted between its Shi'ite-led government and Sunni rivals after the withdrawal of the last U.S. troops. At least 149 people were wounded, said Ziad Tareq, a spokesman of Iraq's health ministry. (Reporting by Aseel Kami; Writing by Rania El Gamal) ===================== Baghdad (CNN) -- A wave of explosions in Baghdad Thursday killed at least 63 people and wounded 185, authorities say, raising fears about the stability of the country amid political upheaval that threatens to undo Iraq's government just days after U.S. troops withdrew from the country. The explosions -- four car bombs and ten roadside bombs -- occurred within two hours of one another, targeting residential, commercial and government districts in the Iraqi capital, two police officials told CNN. There have been no immediate claims of responsibility, though the attacks resemble previous bombings that have been claimed by both the Sunni and Shiite insurgents as well as al Qaeda in Iraq. Among the attacks was a parked car bomb explosion outside the offices of the Integrity Commission, the country's main anti-corruption body, that killed at least one person and wounded five others, said the police officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release details to the media. At the Medical City hospital in central Baghdad, doctors treated the wounded whose bodies were peppered with what appeared to be shrapnel from explosions, according to CNN television footage. Images of bloodied, battered bodies and destroyed storefronts and homes were broadcast on Iraqi television stations. While violence in Iraq has fallen off in recent years, the latest spate of attacks are among the worst since August when a series of coordinated bombings killed at least 75 people in 17 Iraqi cities. ================ Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said the recent attacks which have left at least 72 people dead and more than 217 others injured were politically motivated. "The time and the place of such crimes underscore the political nature of the goals that they (attackers) want to achieve," Maliki said in a statement on Thursday. The statement said the perpetrators would be brought to justice, adding that “The criminals and those who stand behind them will not be able to change the course of events and the political process.” A wave of 16 bombings ripped across the capital Thursday, including a roadside bomb and then a car bomb in the latest attack in the evening, which both exploded outside a café in southwest Baghdad. The deadliest attack took place near a government building in Baghdad's Karrada district, sending up a huge smoke cloud and scattering car parts into a kindergarten. Several attacks were carried out in the Allawi, Bab al-Muatham and Karrada districts of central Baghdad, the Adhamiyah, Shuala and Shaab neighborhoods in the north, Jadriyah in the east, Ghazaliyah in the west and Amal and Dura in the south. =============== Baghdad Operations Command prevent reporters to shoot photos of areas attacked on Thursday 12/22/2011 2:03 PM BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: The Baghdad Operations Command (BOC)has witnessed reporters to shoot photos of areas that witnessed explosions in central Iraq's Karrrada district, where dozens of people were killed and injured, along with other Baghdad areas, that witnessed similar blast that killed 69 civilians and injured 185 others on Thursday, press sources reported. "The BOC has banned press photographers to shoot photos of the explosion site in Karrada, targeted against the office of the Integrity Commission, killing and wounding dozens of civilians and completely destroying the building," an Iraqi press photographer told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. Another reporter said that "the Integrity Commission's building, opposite to the Christian Nun's Hospital in Karrada, was completely destroyed, setting a huge fire to the building, along with causing damage to nearby shops and houses." Meanwhile, Iraqi Civil Defense sources told Aswat al-Iraq that "about 30 bodies of employees of the said Commission have been evacuated, whilst efforts continued to pull corpses of other victims of the destroyed building." Baghdad had witnessed a series of explosions of booby-trapped cars and other explosive charges on Thursday, that killed and injured dozens of civilians, following the outbreak of a huge political crisis that took place in the background of charges against Iraq's Vice- President, Tareq al-Hashimy, by Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, with having been involved in terrorist acts, along with another decision by Maliki to sack his Deputy Prime Minister, Saleh al-Mutlaq from his post, with both officials are leading members of al-Iraqiya Coalition, led by former Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki. ============== مقتل وإصابة 25 شخصا بانفجار عبوة ناسفة وسيارة مفخخة بالتزامن جنوب غرب بغداد المحرر: NQ | HAH الجمعة 23 ك1 2011 06:20 GMT السومرية نيوز/ بغداد أفاد مصدر في الشرطة العراقية، الجمعة، بأن 25 شخصا سقطوا بين قتيل وجريح بانفجار عبوة ناسفة وسيارة مفخخة بالتزامن جنوب غرب بغداد. وقال المصدر في حديث لـ"السومرية نيوز"، إن "عبوة ناسفة انفجرت، في ساعة متقدمة من ليل أمس، في سوق شعبية بمنطقة حي الجهاد، جنوب غرب بغداد، من دون معرفة الخسائر البشرية"، مضيفا أن "سيارة مفخخة انفجرت في المنطقة ذاتها مما أسفر عن مقتل خمسة مدنيين وإصابة عشرين آخرين جروح متفاوتة". وأضاف المصدر الذي طلب عدم الكشف عن اسمه أن "سيارات الاسعاف نقلت الجرحى إلى مستشفى قريب لتلقي العلاج وجثث القتلى إلى دائرة الطب العدلي، فيما فرضت قوة أمنية طوقا امنيا على منطقة الحادث وقطعت جميع الطرق المؤدية إلى المنطقة". وشهدت بغداد، يوم أمس، مقتل 58 شخصا وإصابة 177 آخرين في سلسلة تفجيرات بعبوات ناسفة ولاصقة وأحزمة ناسفة وسيارات مفخخة هزت مناطق عديدة من العاصمة، فيما نجا مستشار البنك المركزي العراقي من محاولة اغتيال، أسفرت عن إصابة احد عناصر حمايته بجروح شمال بغداد. وتأتي هذه التفجيرات في وقت تشهد فيه الساحة العراقية أزمة سياسية كبيرة، تتمثل بإصدار مذكرة قبض بحق نائب رئيس الجمهورية القيادي في القائمة العراقية طارق الهاشمي، وتقديم رئيس الوزراء نوري المالكي طلبا إلى البرلمان بسحب الثقة عن نائبه القيادي في القائمة العراقية أيضا صالح المطلك، الأمر الذي دفع القائمة العراقية بزعامة إياد علاوي إلى تعليق عضويتها في مجلسي الوزراء والنواب، وتقديمها طلبا إلى البرلمان بحجب الثقة عن رئيس الحكومة نوري المالكي، وتتزامن هذه الأزمة مع الانسحاب الأميركي من البلاد، والذي حذر الكثيرون من خطورته على البلاد. يذكر أن العاصمة بغداد ومحافظات أخرى تشهد منذ أشهر تصعيداً بأعمال العنف أودت بحياة المئات بينهم عدد من الضباط ومسؤولون حكوميون، في وقت تعيش فيه البلاد خلافات مستمرة بين السياسيين على أسماء الوزراء الذين سيتولون الحقائب الأمنية. ================ Iraq crisis stirs protests in Sunni strongholds 23 Dec 2011 16:56 Source: Reuters // Reuters * Protests in Sunni areas over VP arrest * Demonstrations come day after Baghdad bombings (Adds Allawi comment, background) By Ghazwan Hassan SAMARRA, Iraq, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Several thousand Iraqis in Sunni Muslim strongholds protested on Friday against Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, responding to his moves against two Sunni leaders and taking to the streets a day after fatal bombings hit the capital Baghdad. Maliki this week sought Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi's arrest on terrorism charges and moved to fire a Sunni deputy. On Thursday at least 72 people were killed in Baghdad by bombings in mainly Shi'ite neighbourhoods. The events threaten to splinter Iraq's fragile sectarian and ethnic faultlines and highlight the risk of the country tumbling into the kind of bloody slaughter that a few years ago led the OPEC oil-producer to the edge of civil war. After Friday prayers, with Sunni imams warning Maliki was seeking to foment sectarian divisions, protesters were on the streets of Sunni-dominated Samarra, Ramadi, Baiji and Qaim, many waving banners in support of Hashemi, and criticising the government. "The charges against Hashemi were orchestrated behind closed doors. Maliki is trying to remove Sunnis from power to get a tight grip, like as a new dictator of Iraq," said Ahmed al-Abbasi, a+ protester from Samarra. The crisis could scuttle a delicate power-sharing agreement that splits posts among Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish leaders just days after the last American troops withdrew nearly nine years after the invasion to oust Saddam Hussein. "What's happening in Iraq is settling political scores," Iyad Allawi, Maliki's predecessor and head of the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc, told al-Arabiya television. An emergency session in parliament among leaders of political blocs to debate the crisis was cancelled on Friday. For many Sunnis who feel marginalised by the rise of Iraq's Shi'ite majority since the fall of Saddam, Maliki's measures have deepened worries the Shi'ite leader is making a power grab to consolidate Shi'ite power. "Hashemi, fear not, with our blood we support you," one banner read in Samarra. Hashemi denies charges his office ran an assassination squad. After the interior ministry broadcast what it said were confessions from Hashemi's bodyguards, the Sunni leader left for semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan, where he is unlikely to be handed over to central government authorities. U.S. DIPLOMACY, REGIONAL WORRIES Baghdad was quiet on Friday with many people deciding to stay off the streets following Thursday's string of bombings, which included a suicide bomber, driving an ambulance, who detonated his explosives outside a government office. The last American troops left Iraq over the weekend, nearly nine years after the invasion that toppled Sunni dictator Saddam. Many Iraqis fear a return to sectarian violence without a U.S. military buffer. U.S. officials are trying to stay engaged in Iraq. Vice President Joe Biden called Iraqi President Jalal Talabani to support efforts to resolve tensions and Army Chief of Staff General Raymond Odierno met with Maliki on Thursday. U.S. intelligence agencies had warned that security gains in Iraq could degenerate into sectarian violence after the withdrawal. Turmoil in Iraq would have wider consequences in a region where a crisis in neighbouring Syria is becoming increasingly sectarian, and Shi'ite Iran, Turkey and Sunni Arab Gulf nations are all positioning for more influence. Iraqi Shi'ite leaders worry a shift to a hardline Sunni government in Damascus if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad falls would unbalance their country's own delicate sectarian makeup, or spill instability over the border. (Additional reporting by Ahmed Rasheed; Writing by Patrick Markey and Serena Chaudhry; Editing by Matthew Jones) ============= http://www.alsumarianews.com/ar/1/33484/news-details-Iraq%20politics%20news.html A protest in central Basra to demand the government to provide for the trial of al-Hashemi Author: MB Editor: SZ | AA Saturday, 24 k 1 2011 11:20 GMT Alsumaria News / Basra A number of activists in civic organizations, Saturday, in a protest in central Basra, demanding the government to provide the Vice-President Tariq al-Hashimi to the trial, called in to clean up the political process, a supporter of organizations and armed groups, and response to external interventions. He said one of the organizers of the vigil and called Makki al-Tamimi said in an interview for "Alsumaria News", "a number of young activists in the civil society organizations participated in the vigil which witnessed a public square in the tax collector, which is the center of the city of Basra to demand the government to expedite the provision of Tareq al-Hashemi and all political accused of supporting armed groups to trial, "noting that" the protesters demanded that the government is also responding to external interventions. " He Tamimi, a Secretary General of a local organization concerned with the care of children with cancer to be "participants in the vigil expressed their absolute rejection of the confusion deliberate policy issues, terrorism and corruption," explaining that "the people of Basra want more than ever, knowledge of those involved with bombings and acts of displacement and assassinations committed since the year 2004 until now. " Tamimi called on the government to "clearly announced for the killers of the people who made the cover of the political process for the implementation of malicious crimes," he says. In turn, said participating in the vigil Nuri al-Habib, Mohsen "Alsumaria News", "The goal of the vigil peaceful emphasis on the importance of the trial all the politicians accused of fomenting sectarian and support for terrorism, without exceptions based on considerations of political and sectarian," asserting that "citizens is about patience running out of the continued deterioration of basic services and frequency of attacks aimed at them. " He improved on that, "Hashemi should be brought before the judiciary in public." And see the political situation in Iraq accelerated dramatically in the events, most notably the Ministry of view and the confessions of some internal protections Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi on their acts of violence, and issued an arrest warrant for al-Hashemi on charges of "terrorism." The carry-Hashemi during a press conference held in Erbil on 20 December, the current Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, the responsibility of being accused of "terrorism," and expressed his readiness to appear before the courts if his case was transferred to the Kurdistan region. The president of the House of Representatives Osama Najafi, the confessions, the hallmarks of an explicit discourse of sectarian and promotion, calling for the formation of a joint committee of all the political blocs to oversee the investigation, and while he supported the initiative of President of Kurdistan region Masoud Barzani, to convene a national conference in general, called on President Jalal Talabani, to respect the work of and specialization of the judiciary and trust, non-interference in its affairs and to challenge its decisions. Warned the Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki during a press conference held in December 21 the current of the Kurdistan Regional Government to allow the escape Hashemi, stressing that the lack of extradition or allow him to escape will cause problems with the province, asked him to turn himself in to the Iraqi judiciary. The security forces in the Baghdad airport, banned in the 18 of December, the current, jet-Hashemi and seven wanted to protect him from quitting, as revealed political source that the security forces Geert Hashemi between extradition listed in the investigations as soon as possible or the application of legal procedures. Is not considered an arrest warrant issued against Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi on charges of terrorism is the first right of Iraqi political Over the past eight years have seen the Iraqi arena issuance of a series of arrest warrants have not been implemented for political reasons, and security was thus the first arrest warrant issued in 2005, against the president of the Muslim Scholars Harith al-Dhari, terrorism-related charges, in addition to the issuance of an arrest warrant for former Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan in 2005 on corruption charges. It also issued an arrest warrant for former Culture Minister Asad al-Hashemi in 2007 and a close associate of Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi on charges related to terrorism, including the killing of the sons of former MP Mithal al-Alusi, also issued several arrest warrants against several officials after or during their escape out of the country, including arrest warrant against former President of the Integrity Commission Radi Radi and former MP Mohammed Daini unknown residence for the bombing of the parliament. ================= 75 شيخ عشيرة بكربلاء يطالبون الهاشمي بالمثول أمام القضاء 23/12/2011 09:49 م كربلاء /أصوات العراق: طالب نحو 75 شيخ عشيرة في محافظة كربلاء، الجمعة، نائب رئيس الجمهورية طارق الهاشمي بالمثول أمام القضاء العراقي على خلفية إصدار مذكرة قبض بحقه، منددين بسلسلة التفجيرات التي ضربت العاصمة بغداد أمس. وتأتي هذه المطالبة مقابل مطالبات مضادة عبرت عنها عشائر في سامراء والرمادي، وسط أزمة سياسية فجرها بث اعترافات لأفراد من حمايات نائب رئيس الجمهورية طارق الهاشمي قالوا فيها إنهم قاموا بتنفيذ عمليات اغتيالات وزرع وتفجير عبوات ناسفة منذ 2007 بعلم الهاشمي وبتكليف من سكرتيره، ما أدى لإصدار مذكرة قبض بحقه بعد يوم من انتقاله إلى إقليم كردستان. وقال مدير عشائر كربلاء النقيب الحقوقي سلمان الحسناوي لوكالة (أصوات العراق ) "عقد نحو 75 شيخا من شيوخ عشائر كربلاء مؤتمرا لهم الجمعة ناقشوا فيه عدة قضايا مطروحة في العراق وطالبوا العراقيين بالوحدة والتصدي للهجمات الإرهابية التي تستهدف وحدتهم وتريدهم العودة للعنف الطائفي". واضاف الحسناوي أن "شيوخ العشائر طالبوا نائب رئيس الجمهورية طارق الهاشمي بالمثول أمام القضاء وهو الذي يحدد براءته رافضين حل الموضوع سياسيا". وتابع أن شيوخ العشائر الذين اجتمعوا في مبنى قيادة شرطة مدينة كربلاء وبحضور قائد عمليات الفرات الأوسط الفريق الركن عثمان الغانمي ومدير عام شرطة كربلاء اللواء علي زويني "سيقفون بقوة أمام كل من يستهدف وحدة العراقيين مهما كان منصبه ومكانته وإنهم سيخاطبون عشيرة الهاشمي بأن يعدل عن مواقفه". وندد شيوخ العشائر بالتفجيرات التي ضربت بغداد امس الخميس واسفرت عن سقوط العشرات من الجرحى والقتلى، وبحسب الحسناوي فإن الشيوخ "أعلنوا وقوفهم مع الأجهزة الأمنية في المرحلة المقبلة التي شهدت الانسحاب الكامل للقوات المحتلة". ع ن (خ -1) ============= INTERVIEW-Iraq Sunni leader says charges could reignite sectarian war 24 Dec 2011 20:35 Source: Reuters // Reuters Iraqi security forces arrest suspected militants during a raid in Basra, 420 km (261 miles) southeast of Baghdad December 23, 2011. REUTERS/Atef Hassan By Rania El Gamal QALACHOWLAN, Iraq, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Iraq's Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, wanted on charges he led death squads, called the case a plot to destroy opponents of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki that could reignite the sectarian slaughter of 2006-07. Iraq has been plunged into a political crisis in the week since the final U.S. troops withdrew, after Maliki's Shi'ite-led government unveiled an arrest warrant for Hashemi, who left Baghdad for the semi-autonomous Kurdish north of the country. Maliki also asked parliament to fire his Sunni deputy prime minister, sidelining Iraq's two most powerful Sunni Arab leaders and potentially undoing a shaky power-sharing deal that Washington hoped would keep peace after nine years of war. "Today the outcome of this crisis, which was unfortunately blown up by the prime minister, is very dangerous," Hashemi told Reuters in an interview at a guesthouse of Iraq's President Jalal Talabani, in the Kurdish north's Sulaimaniya province. "Today Iraqis live under the atmosphere of sectarian tension that we lived through in the hard years of 2005-2007," he said. Speaking about himself and his Sunni Arab community, Hashemi added: "Mr Maliki knows the supporters of Tareq al-Hashemi and which community he belongs to, and therefore he should have thought about the negative consequences of these issues." Violence in Iraq has subsided since the sectarian civil war of 2006-07, when Sunni insurgents and Shi'ite militia killed thousands of civilians each month, but without U.S. troops to act as a buffer, many Iraqis now fear a return to those days. At least 72 people were killed in bombings across Baghdad in mainly Shi'ite neighbourhoods on Thursday, in the first sign of a possible violent backlash against Maliki's moves. The main goal of U.S. policymakers in the final years of the war was to prevent a recurrence of that bloodshed by ensuring that Sunnis, Shi'ites and Kurds all remained represented in the government in Baghdad. A power-sharing deal reached a year ago kept Maliki in office at the helm of a fragile unity coalition. But that appears to have unravelled just as the final U.S. troops pulled out a week ago. Hashemi's Iraqiya bloc, the main Sunni-backed group has suspended its participation in parliament. "POLITICAL HIT" Hashemi said the timing of the accusations against him to coincide with the U.S. withdrawal was "deliberate". "The target is clear, a political hit for Tareq al-Hashemi... The political dimension for this is to get rid of all those who oppose Nuri al-Maliki, it is clear. So Iraq can stay in the grip of one-man rule and one-party rule." Shi'ite leaders say the case against Hashemi is criminal and not motivated by politics. It cannot be negotiated because it is now with the courts. Iraq's interior ministry broadcast taped confessions it said were from Hashemi's security detail, talking about payments Hashemi made to them to carry out assassinations and bombings. Hashemi denied all charges which he said were "fabricated". He said the three bodyguards worked for him but the confessions showed on Iraqi TV were "taken by force". Hashemi said he had no plans to seek political asylum or flee Iraq, but had requested that the case against him be moved to a court in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, rather than Baghdad where "the executive power controls the judiciary". "If they are seeking justice, let them agree to my request and I will stand trial and will accept any verdict by Kurdistan's courts," he said. "They are not part of Maliki's project and they are not part of Hashemi's project. Kurdistan will be the fair judge in this issue." Asked if he would consider leaving Iraq or seeking asylum, he said: "This is my country, these are not my thoughts and not in my plans... I will not run from justice." Looking weary during the interview, Hashemi said he had initially come to Sulaimaniya with a small suitcase and two suits - and had told his wife he would be back in Baghdad after 48 hours. He planned to stay in the semi-autonomous Kurdish zone for now, and his family had left Iraq after a wave of raids by security forces on his house and office and arrests of his staff, he said. (Editing by Patrick Markey) ==================== Two car bombs kill 10, wound 38 in Iraq capital 24 Jan 2012 07:10 Source: Reuters // Reuters * First blast hits labourers waiting for work * Latest attack of political crisis in Shi'ite areas (Adds details, quotes) By Kareem Raheem BAGHDAD, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Two car bombs exploded in Baghdad's Sadr City on Tuesday, killing at least 10 people and wounding 38 in the latest attack targeting Shi'ite areas as a political crisis threatens to revive sectarian strife in Iraq. The first blast hit a group of labourers gathering to wait for jobs, leaving a chaotic scene of scattered shoes and food, and pools of blood. The bomb killed at least eight people and wounded 24, police and hospital sources said. "We were all standing waiting to earn our living and all of a sudden it was like a black storm and I felt myself thrown on the ground," said Ahmed Ali, a 40-year-old labourer whose face and hair were burned by the explosion. "I fainted for a while then I woke up and hurried to one of the cars to take me to the hospital," said Ali, lying on a bed in the emergency room at Imam Ali hospital in Sadr City. The second blast near a traffic roundabout in Sadr City killed two people and wounded 14 others, the sources said. Violence in Iraq has dropped sharply from the height of sectarian killing in 2006-2007, but insurgents and militias still carry out daily attacks and assassinations in an attempt to undermine the government. Iraq has been hit by a series of bombings targeting Shi'ites during the worst political crisis in a year, which threatens to break up a fragile coalition government and has raised fears of renewed sectarian violence after U.S. troops left on Dec. 18. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government moved to arrest Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi on charges he ran a death squad and then sought to sideline a Sunni deputy prime minister after he branded Maliki a dictator. Hashemi denied the charges and sought refuge in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, where he is unlikely to be arrested. The Sunni-backed Iraqiya political bloc then announced a boycott of parliament and several Iraqiya ministers have stayed away from cabinet meetings in protest. Others have attended, underscoring splits in the alliance. The turmoil has fuelled fears that Maliki is trying to shore up Shi'ite power and sideline Iraqiya. The political blocs began talks last week to try to organise a national conference to resolve their differences. A series of bombings in Shi'ite areas of the capital on Dec. 22 killed at least 72 people and wounded 200 others. Scores more were killed in attacks targeting Shi'ite pilgrims this month. (Writing by Aseel Kami; Editing by Louise Ireland) ================ Car bombs kill 13, wound 75 in Iraq capital 24 Jan 2012 09:03 Source: Reuters // Reuters * Blasts hit mainly Shi'ite Muslim areas of Baghdad * Political crisis threatens coalition government (Adds two more bombings, updates toll) By Kareem Raheem BAGHDAD, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Four car bombs exploded in mainly Shi'ite Muslim areas of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 13 people and wounding 75, underlining a political crisis that threatens to revive sectarian strife in Iraq. The first blast hit a group of day labourers gathering for jobs in the poor northeastern Sadr City area of the capital, leaving a chaotic scene of scattered shoes and food, and pools of blood. The bomb killed at least eight people and wounded 24, police and hospital sources said. "We were all standing waiting to earn our living and all of a sudden it was like a black storm and I felt myself thrown on the ground," said Ahmed Ali, a 40-year-old labourer whose face and hair were burned by the explosion. "I fainted for a while then I woke up and hurried to one of the cars to take me to the hospital," said Ali, lying on a bed in the emergency room at Imam Ali hospital in Sadr City. The second blast near a traffic roundabout in Sadr City killed two people and wounded 26 others, the sources said. Two other car bombs exploded in mainly Shi'ite northwestern areas of Baghdad, killing three people and wounding 25, sources said. One car blew up near two schools in the Shula district, the other on a busy commercial street in Hurriya. Violence in Iraq has dropped sharply from the height of sectarian killing in 2006-07, but insurgents and militias still carry out daily attacks and assassinations in an attempt to undermine the government. Iraq has been hit by a series of bombings targeting Shi'ites during the worst political crisis in a year, which threatens to break up a fragile coalition government and has raised fears of renewed sectarian violence after U.S. troops left on Dec. 18. The government of Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki moved last month to arrest Sunni Muslim Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi on charges he ran a death squad and then sought to sideline a Sunni deputy prime minister after he branded Maliki a dictator. Hashemi denied the charges and sought refuge in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, where he is unlikely to be arrested. The Sunni-backed Iraqiya political bloc then announced a boycott of parliament and several Iraqiya ministers have stayed away from cabinet meetings in protest. Others have attended, underscoring splits in the alliance. The turmoil has fuelled fears that Maliki is trying to shore up Shi'ite power and sideline Iraqiya. The political blocs began talks last week to try to organise a national conference to resolve their differences. A series of bombings in Shi'ite areas of the capital on Dec. 22 killed at least 72 people and wounded 200 others. Scores more were killed in attacks targeting Shi'ite pilgrims this month. (Writing by Aseel Kami; Editing by Jim Loney and Mark Heinrich) ===== Sadr warns of U.S. Embassy personnel in Baghdad curfew Editor: SS | NQ Monday, 23 K 2 2012 10:20 GMT Cleric Moqtada al-Sadr Alsumaria News / Baghdad Warned cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, on Monday, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad from its employees roaming the streets of the capital, stressing that it will address them, "if not deterred." Sadr said in response to a question from his followers on the description of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad arrested four of its employees by the Iraqi security force action routine, and whether the function of the embassy to roam the streets with weapons, and received "Alsumaria News", a copy of it will "address so that the not deterred. " The chest, saying "I can wait for the resistance (exclusively) and it is not a reference for all of us," as he put it. The governor of Baghdad, Salah Abdul Razzaq, announced (12 January in the current), the arrest of four Americans, including two women in possession of pistols and machine guns were walking around in a car near his home, and called on the Iraqi Foreign Ministry to take diplomatic action and verification of this "breach," while the governor announced in (January 17 now), that the U.S. Embassy in Iraq apologized to him because of the incident, and stressed to prevent the exit of any foreign diplomat in the streets of Baghdad without the knowledge or consent of local government, and threatened to kill any person or group immediately and without investigation, if recurrence of the incident. He said the cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, in (January 19 now), the roaming armed Americans in Baghdad, the work of state terrorism, state terrorism, expressing support for the position of the province of Baghdad, Salah Abdul Razzaq on the arrest, while a student not to release them and prosecuted in Iraqi courts. He said the Sadrist movement, in (the twentieth of January now), that the presence of the U.S. embassy and security companies in Iraq is less dangerous for the presence of the "occupation", stressing that most of the murders that happen in Baghdad are linked to those companies, while the student government introduced the confessions of armed Americans who were arrested north of Baghdad. The United States ended official U.S. presence in Iraq in December of 2011, under the agreement signed between the two countries in 2008, after nine years of its military invasion in 2003, and the overthrow of President Saddam Hussein, a decision of the former U.S. President George W. Bush.