It is known that America has no fixed friends or enemies as it operates mainly to protect its own interests. This fact is usually ignored by its Arab and Muslim agents in government. The Likes of the Shah of Persia, Bin Laden, Mullah Omar, Saddam, Markus and Noriega have faithfully served US strategic interests and were dumped when their services were no longer needed.
The recent visit of Obama to Turkey and not to Egypt triggered speculation that the pro-USraeli autocratic and corrupt Hosni Mubarak’s police state is about to be toppled. It is known that the CIA and MOSSAD have a free hand in Egypt and that Hosni Mubarak (Locally known as the laughing cow) had assisted the US twice in its wars on Iraq and continues to help the Israelis in their siege of Gaza. Furthermore, Mubarak was instrumental in sabotaging Arab summit meetings denouncing Israeli atrocities. What is good about the Americans is that they usually give hints before dumping a client regime. It is more likely for Mubarak to end like the Shah of Persia or Markus of the Phillippines but never fighting America like Bin Laden or Mullah Omar. The Palestinians and the Iraqis will be the happiest seeing another corrupt American autocrat being abandoned;
hoping that another leader will take his place to return Egypt to the Arab folds and to close down the Israeli embassy in Cairo.
According to the American Goebels, Obama, North Korea should stop developing long range missiles, Iran must stop its nuclear activities, the world must destroy its nuclear weapons, strict enforcement of nuclear non-proliferation treaty must be introduced bur never mentioned the massive Israeli nuclear arsenal. Obama's rhetoric remains empty unless he gets the courage and address Israel nuclear warheads that are fueling an armed race in the Middle East and threaten the peace of an important region of the world.
Most Arabs of countries occupied by Britain had sympathised with anti-British Hitler. Similarly, most Jews had supported Anti Hitler communists. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. There is one difference here, the descendants of the Jewish victims of Hitler's atrocities started to adopt Nazi practices. As an Iraqi, I support any person, group or country that opposes USraeli hegemony.
To start with, Israel has proliferated the nuclear arms and introduced them to a nuclear free Middle East. Israel is not a mature state as one have have put it. Israel is a rogue state in breach of 39 UN Security Council Resolutions.The mature Israel has been led since its establishment by terrorists (Begin, Shamir, Netanyahu), a criminal (Sharon) an assassin (Barak), corrupt (Olmert, Sharon, Netanyahu, Weizman) and a rapist (Kassav). According to some sources Israel has prepared its nukes for use in 1973 and in 1991, but were prevented by Nixon and Bush senior. The only department Israel is mature in, is its killings of Palestinians with impunity.
Nazi Germany and Hitler have long since perished. It is the Jewish NAZIs which we are witnessing their practices in Palestine today; complete with concentrations camps, torture chambers and Jewish Goebels, Jewish Himmlers and Jewish Dr Mengles, supported by Jewish Luftwaffe and Jewish Panzers. I assure you that Jewish NAZI ideas will not survive even if the Swastiks is replaced with a David star.
------------
A joke about 82-year-old Hosni Mubarak.
The president, a keen squash player – how else could he keep his jet-black hair? – calls up the sheikh of Al-Azhar, the highest Sunni Muslim cleric in the land, to ask if there are squash courts in heaven.
The sheikh asks for a couple of days to consult the Almighty. Two days later, he calls Mr Mubarak back.
"There's good news and bad news," he says. Give me the good news, snaps Mr Mubarak. "Well," says the sheikh, "there are lots of squash courts in heaven." And the bad news, asks the president?
"You have a match there in two weeks' time!"
Taken from the Independent.Co.Uk by Robert Fisk on Egypt after Mubarak
I hope you don't hear it a year from now!
The Americans never criticise autocrat Mubarak because he is their stooge with a fat CIA account in Switzerland, despite being a real pharoah. But democratically-elected Hamas and Ahmedinejad are being castigated. That says a lot about the US intention to encourage democracy in the Arab and Muslim world. The American democracy is highly manipulated by power centres. He who doesn't have a thing can't be expected to give.
During the cold war the Americans used a large number of Muslim religious leaders in their fight against the Soviet Union and communism. As a result, a number of religious Fatwas (edicts) were issued in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iraq to justify the killing of communists. The Baath regime’s law no 13 specifically called for the killing of communists in Iraq where hundreds were tortured and killed. During the Soviet Occupation of Afghanistan, close to 30000 Muslim fighters (Mujahideen) were recruited, trained, armed and financed by the CIA. The Arab autocrats, kings, Dictators, Emirs, Sultans and Sheikhs followed CIA recommendation by investing on the mosques and used the anti-communist campaign to fill their prisons with intellectuals, writers, leftists or to driving them outside their countries; leaving the political field filled with Muslim fundamentalists. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 a majority of Muslim preachers moved gradually away from praising the pro-Americans in power to defending Palestine and calling for the liberation of Jerusalem from American husband, the Zionists (the Jews have already married America). The American support for Israeli wars and atrocities on Arabs and the USraeli invasion of Lebanon have brought the Islamists to the fore. In 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini toppled the pro-USraeli Shah and handed the keys of the Israeli Embassy to Yasser Arafat who raised the Palestinian flag on its mast. Hamas and Hezbollah started to launch armed attacks on USraeli forces. Bin Laden organised his CIA-trained and armed followers into Al-Qaeda that attacked the HQ of the Jewish financial mafia in NY and the Pentagon that arms Israel on September 2001. In 2006 Hezbollah was able to stand its ground and to repel the Israeli armour supported by the air force using US-supplied warplanes and cluster bombs. Receb Tayyb Erdogan started to move Muslim Turkey away from Israel. Practically in every Muslim country from Nigeria to Indonesia, there is a very strong popular support for all armed resistance against the USraeli savages and their barbaric practices. Islam became the real medium binding closely over one billion Muslims and calling on them to resist the atrocities of the USraeli barbarian and those of their agents in power. Never in the history of mankind; so many people inhabit so many countries have united to fighting injustices. It is no wonder that Al-Qaeda fighters are receiving so much support in attacking at will USraeli agents. It seems that the invasion of Iraq was the catalyst where lies, deception and forgeries were used by the Western powers in order to destroy a Muslim country and to kill its people on behalf of Israel. The Americans must apologise and pay and accept collaborating with an international criminal tribunal investigating their war crimes in Iraq. The future is bleak since the arrogant Americans will refuse to apologise and will continue to finance, arm and support Israelis to commit Nazi-style atrocities against Arabs and Muslims.
Ramadan Kareem.
Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times
Monday, April 06, 2009
Dubai police accuse Chechnya official in killing
06 Apr 2009 13:15:19 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Corrects throughout to make clear official is a former deputy prime minister and not currently in that role)
* Dubai police say a Chechen official behind murder
* Delimkhanov says accusations against him a "provocation"
By Tamara Walid
DUBAI, April 5 (Reuters) - Dubai police accused a former deputy prime minister of Chechnya of masterminding the assassination of former Chechen military commander Sulim Yamadayev in an underground car park.
The attack on Yamadayev, a foe of Kremlin-backed leader of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov, was carried out with a Russian-made gold-coloured handgun, police said, showing the media a picture of a weapon and a pair of black gloves.
Yamadayev was shot on March 28 in the car park of a luxury seaside apartment block in Dubai, one of seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates.
Russian analysts suggested his death removed one of the last remaining powerful opponents of Kadyrov's increasingly strong control over Chechnya. Kadyrov's spokesman has dismissed any suggestion that the killing was linked to the Chechen president.
"The leads in the case indicate that a top official in the Chechen government named Adam Delimkhanov, who is the deputy prime minister in Chechnya, is the mastermind behind Sulim Yamadayev's assassination," the Dubai police chief, Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, told reporters on Sunday.
Delimkhanov's spokesman said he stopped being a deputy prime minister in Chechnya's government when he was elected a deputy of the State Duma lower house of Russia's parliament in 2007.
"The crime ... is 100 percent of Chechen making and it's an operation of settling accounts (among Chechens)," Tamim said.
Delimkhanov said the accusation was a "provocation".
"The Dubai police chief's statements ... aim to destabilise Chechen society," he told Russia's RIA news agency. "The (Dubai) police have failed to hold a professional investigation."
"I am ready to cooperate with police ... and answer concrete questions," said Delimkhanov. "But I will also fight to bring them to justice for slander."
Delimkhanov is now a member of the faction of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party and is a deputy chairman of the parliamentary committee on federal affairs and regional policy.
Dubai police said they were holding two suspects in connection with the killing and would seek an international arrest warrant for four others, including Delimkhanov.
A Russian prosecutor, who declined to be named, told Itar-Tass news agency that, in line with the law, Russia would not hand over any suspects even if Moscow received extradition requests but added they could be tried in Russia if there was evidence of them being involved in a serious crime abroad.
Yamadayev was the fifth Chechen living abroad to be killed in the past six months.
Kadyrov, 32, has pleased the Kremlin by calming the restive and mostly Muslim province -- which fought two separatist wars against Moscow -- but human rights activists have expressed alarm at extrajudicial killings and forced Islamisation.
Once one of Chechnya's most powerful men, Yamadayev was a former rebel who switched sides and backed the Kremlin, becoming a decorated military leader. He had challenged Kadyrov for control of local security forces until last year, when he was dismissed from command of an elite battalion and forced to flee.
Yamadayev fought against Russia in the first Chechen war of 1994-96, when Moscow suffered a humiliating defeat and had to pull out of the separatist southern province.
He became commander of the Vostok battalion, a unit of battle-hardened former rebels which local media said was linked to Russia's powerful military intelligence agency, the GRU. (Writing by Thomas Atkins; Additional reporting by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Alison Williams)
Source: Reuters
(Corrects throughout to make clear official is a former deputy prime minister and not currently in that role)
* Dubai police say a Chechen official behind murder
* Delimkhanov says accusations against him a "provocation"
By Tamara Walid
DUBAI, April 5 (Reuters) - Dubai police accused a former deputy prime minister of Chechnya of masterminding the assassination of former Chechen military commander Sulim Yamadayev in an underground car park.
The attack on Yamadayev, a foe of Kremlin-backed leader of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov, was carried out with a Russian-made gold-coloured handgun, police said, showing the media a picture of a weapon and a pair of black gloves.
Yamadayev was shot on March 28 in the car park of a luxury seaside apartment block in Dubai, one of seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates.
Russian analysts suggested his death removed one of the last remaining powerful opponents of Kadyrov's increasingly strong control over Chechnya. Kadyrov's spokesman has dismissed any suggestion that the killing was linked to the Chechen president.
"The leads in the case indicate that a top official in the Chechen government named Adam Delimkhanov, who is the deputy prime minister in Chechnya, is the mastermind behind Sulim Yamadayev's assassination," the Dubai police chief, Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, told reporters on Sunday.
Delimkhanov's spokesman said he stopped being a deputy prime minister in Chechnya's government when he was elected a deputy of the State Duma lower house of Russia's parliament in 2007.
"The crime ... is 100 percent of Chechen making and it's an operation of settling accounts (among Chechens)," Tamim said.
Delimkhanov said the accusation was a "provocation".
"The Dubai police chief's statements ... aim to destabilise Chechen society," he told Russia's RIA news agency. "The (Dubai) police have failed to hold a professional investigation."
"I am ready to cooperate with police ... and answer concrete questions," said Delimkhanov. "But I will also fight to bring them to justice for slander."
Delimkhanov is now a member of the faction of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party and is a deputy chairman of the parliamentary committee on federal affairs and regional policy.
Dubai police said they were holding two suspects in connection with the killing and would seek an international arrest warrant for four others, including Delimkhanov.
A Russian prosecutor, who declined to be named, told Itar-Tass news agency that, in line with the law, Russia would not hand over any suspects even if Moscow received extradition requests but added they could be tried in Russia if there was evidence of them being involved in a serious crime abroad.
Yamadayev was the fifth Chechen living abroad to be killed in the past six months.
Kadyrov, 32, has pleased the Kremlin by calming the restive and mostly Muslim province -- which fought two separatist wars against Moscow -- but human rights activists have expressed alarm at extrajudicial killings and forced Islamisation.
Once one of Chechnya's most powerful men, Yamadayev was a former rebel who switched sides and backed the Kremlin, becoming a decorated military leader. He had challenged Kadyrov for control of local security forces until last year, when he was dismissed from command of an elite battalion and forced to flee.
Yamadayev fought against Russia in the first Chechen war of 1994-96, when Moscow suffered a humiliating defeat and had to pull out of the separatist southern province.
He became commander of the Vostok battalion, a unit of battle-hardened former rebels which local media said was linked to Russia's powerful military intelligence agency, the GRU. (Writing by Thomas Atkins; Additional reporting by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Alison Williams)
Six car bombs kill 36 across Baghdad
06 Apr 2009 11:07:05 GMT
Source: Reuters
* Six bombs cause carnage across Iraqi capital
* May be reaction to crackdown on Sunni guards-analyst
(adds another bomb, paragraph 6, updates toll)
BAGHDAD, April 6 (Reuters) - Six car bombs exploded across Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 34 people and wounding scores, police said, after a spate of arrests targeting Sunni Arab fighters raised tensions in the Iraqi capital.
A blast at a popular market in eastern Baghdad's Shi'ite Sadr City slum killed at least 10 people and wounded 65.
Another car bomb blew up next to a group of labourers queuing for work, killing six people and wounding 16.
Two other blasts shook a market area of Husseiniya, on Baghdad's northern outskirts, killing four, and a street in eastern Baghdad, apparently targeting the convoy of an Interior Ministry official, killing one of his guards and a bystander.
"The explosion caused major damage to buildings and they even hurt some children," shopkeeper Abdul-Jabar Saad said of that attack, which he witnessed. "God damn these people."
Hours after the four early explosions, south Baghdad's Um al-Maalif neighbourhood was shaken by two separate blasts in the same market, killing 12 bystanders and wounding 25 others.
The latest spate of lethal attacks followed a week of arrests in Baghdad by Iraq's Shi'ite-led government of Sunni Arab fighters known as Awakening Councils, or Majalis al-Sahwa in Arabic.
Interior Ministry officials declined to comment on whether the bombs were a coordinated strike or a reaction to the arrests, one of which sparked clashes on Saturday between Iraqi forces and supporters of their arrested Sahwa leader.
The government insists it is only detaining those wanted for grave crimes, but the fighters -- many of them former insurgents -- fear it is settling sectarian scores.
Analyst Kadhum al-Muqdadi, a professor at Baghdad University, said such a connection was "not unlikely".
"Any security action carries the risk of a reaction," he told Reuters. "These could be the work of Sahwas or just of opportunists exploiting this issue."
The Sahwas first switched sides and joined with U.S. forces to battle Sunni Islamist al Qaeda in late 2006, manning checkpoints and conducting raids throughout the country.
The Iraqi government started taking control of their operations late last year, but mistrust between the two runs deep. Some of the guards complain they have not been paid for two months, although Iraqi officials say that was an administrative glitch that has now been fixed.
Iraqi and U.S. officials say a small number of the 90,000-odd Sunni guards have been infiltrated by al Qaeda and other insurgent groups.
Overall violence has fallen in Iraq to levels not seen since late 2003, but militants still carry out frequent, large-scale bomb attacks, especially in the capital and the northern provinces of Diyala and Nineveh. (Reporting by Aseel Kami; Additional reporting by Hadir Abbas; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Katie Nguyen)
-----------
Series of bombings in Baghdad Shiite areas kill 36
AP - Monday, April 06, 2009 10:54:13 AM
By HAMID AHMED
Series of bombings in Baghdad Shiite areas kill 36
AP
Six bombs rocked Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad on Monday, killing 36 people and wounding more than 110 in a dramatic escalation of violence as the U.S. military is thinning out its presence before a June 30 deadline to pull combat troops out of the cities.
Angry survivors hurled stones at Iraqi soldiers at the site of one of the blasts in Sadr City after troops fired shots in the air to disperse crowds of people trying to care for the injured, witnesses said.
No group claimed responsibility. But a U.S. military spokesman said the attacks appeared to be a coordinated assault by al-Qaida, saying the nature of the targets was consistent
Twelve people were killed in a market in western Baghdad when two car bombs exploded almost simultaneously, while 32 others were wounded, an Iraqi police official said.
Burned hulks of cars and twisted metal were scattered across the marketplace, as Iraqi soldiers and police officers surrounded the bombing site, driving off onlookers and journalists.
The day's violence started with a car bomb at 7:30 a.m. in the center of the capital that killed at least six people and wounded 17, said a police official, who said most of the victims were day laborers seeking work.
Later, a bomb in a parked car exploded at a market in the Shiite slum of Sadr City, also killed 12 people, including three women and four children, and wounded 37 others, said Iraqi police and medical officials. Within minutes, another bomb went off at another eastern Baghdad market, killing three more people and wounding 15, said a security official.
A roadside bomb targeting a three-vehicle police convoy carrying an Interior Ministry official in eastern Baghdad killed three people, including two of the official's guards, and wounded 12 others, said another police official.
Anger against Iraqi security forces boiled up after the blast in Sadr City, scene of heavy fighting last year between U.S.-Iraqi forces and militiamen loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Adnan al-Sudani, 37, said he and others rushed to the scene of the blast as black smoke billowed from the bombing site.
"We saw several people dead, and some were burned. We began to lift them along with the wounded into civilian cars to take them to nearby hospitals," he said. "When Iraqi army forces arrived, they began firing randomly on people to disperse them. But angry people began to throw stones at them."
U.S. officials insist that violence has fallen by 90 percent since the high point in 2007, but a recent uptick in attacks has raised concern that extremists may be regrouping.
----------
Series of bombings in Baghdad Shiite areas kill 36
AP - Monday, April 06, 2009 10:54:13 AM
By HAMID AHMED
Series of bombings in Baghdad Shiite areas kill 36
AP
"The nature of the attacks and targets are consistent with past al-Qaida in Iraq attacks," said a U.S. spokesman, Maj. David Shoupe. "We see this as a coordinated attack by terrorists against predominantly Shia targets that they gauge as vulnerable to instigate sectarian violence."
The U.S. military has begun to remove troops from Baghdad before the June 30 deadline for leaving the cities, as required by the U.S.-Iraq security agreement that took effect this year.
Tension has been increasing in Baghdad in recent weeks between the Shiite-led government and mostly Sunni paramilitary groups that the U.S. organized to provide security
Last month, Iraqi troops put down an uprising by a paramilitary group in central Baghdad that began after their leader was arrested. The paramilitaries, known as Awakening Councils or Sons of Iraq, also complain that a number of their members have been arrested in what they fear is an attempt to marginalize them.
Also Monday, the U.S. military announced that a U.S. soldier was killed in action the day before in Diyala province, where insurgents remain active.
It was the first combat death suffered by U.S. forces in Iraq since March 16, when a soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad.
Also in Diyala province, unidentified gunmen killed two Kurds Sunday night in a drive-by shooting in Jalula, 80 miles (125 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad, Iraqi army Capt. Sarjo Ahmed said Monday.
------
Associated Press Writer Chelsea J. Carter contributed to this report.
Source: Reuters
* Six bombs cause carnage across Iraqi capital
* May be reaction to crackdown on Sunni guards-analyst
(adds another bomb, paragraph 6, updates toll)
BAGHDAD, April 6 (Reuters) - Six car bombs exploded across Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 34 people and wounding scores, police said, after a spate of arrests targeting Sunni Arab fighters raised tensions in the Iraqi capital.
A blast at a popular market in eastern Baghdad's Shi'ite Sadr City slum killed at least 10 people and wounded 65.
Another car bomb blew up next to a group of labourers queuing for work, killing six people and wounding 16.
Two other blasts shook a market area of Husseiniya, on Baghdad's northern outskirts, killing four, and a street in eastern Baghdad, apparently targeting the convoy of an Interior Ministry official, killing one of his guards and a bystander.
"The explosion caused major damage to buildings and they even hurt some children," shopkeeper Abdul-Jabar Saad said of that attack, which he witnessed. "God damn these people."
Hours after the four early explosions, south Baghdad's Um al-Maalif neighbourhood was shaken by two separate blasts in the same market, killing 12 bystanders and wounding 25 others.
The latest spate of lethal attacks followed a week of arrests in Baghdad by Iraq's Shi'ite-led government of Sunni Arab fighters known as Awakening Councils, or Majalis al-Sahwa in Arabic.
Interior Ministry officials declined to comment on whether the bombs were a coordinated strike or a reaction to the arrests, one of which sparked clashes on Saturday between Iraqi forces and supporters of their arrested Sahwa leader.
The government insists it is only detaining those wanted for grave crimes, but the fighters -- many of them former insurgents -- fear it is settling sectarian scores.
Analyst Kadhum al-Muqdadi, a professor at Baghdad University, said such a connection was "not unlikely".
"Any security action carries the risk of a reaction," he told Reuters. "These could be the work of Sahwas or just of opportunists exploiting this issue."
The Sahwas first switched sides and joined with U.S. forces to battle Sunni Islamist al Qaeda in late 2006, manning checkpoints and conducting raids throughout the country.
The Iraqi government started taking control of their operations late last year, but mistrust between the two runs deep. Some of the guards complain they have not been paid for two months, although Iraqi officials say that was an administrative glitch that has now been fixed.
Iraqi and U.S. officials say a small number of the 90,000-odd Sunni guards have been infiltrated by al Qaeda and other insurgent groups.
Overall violence has fallen in Iraq to levels not seen since late 2003, but militants still carry out frequent, large-scale bomb attacks, especially in the capital and the northern provinces of Diyala and Nineveh. (Reporting by Aseel Kami; Additional reporting by Hadir Abbas; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Katie Nguyen)
-----------
Series of bombings in Baghdad Shiite areas kill 36
AP - Monday, April 06, 2009 10:54:13 AM
By HAMID AHMED
Series of bombings in Baghdad Shiite areas kill 36
AP
Six bombs rocked Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad on Monday, killing 36 people and wounding more than 110 in a dramatic escalation of violence as the U.S. military is thinning out its presence before a June 30 deadline to pull combat troops out of the cities.
Angry survivors hurled stones at Iraqi soldiers at the site of one of the blasts in Sadr City after troops fired shots in the air to disperse crowds of people trying to care for the injured, witnesses said.
No group claimed responsibility. But a U.S. military spokesman said the attacks appeared to be a coordinated assault by al-Qaida, saying the nature of the targets was consistent
Twelve people were killed in a market in western Baghdad when two car bombs exploded almost simultaneously, while 32 others were wounded, an Iraqi police official said.
Burned hulks of cars and twisted metal were scattered across the marketplace, as Iraqi soldiers and police officers surrounded the bombing site, driving off onlookers and journalists.
The day's violence started with a car bomb at 7:30 a.m. in the center of the capital that killed at least six people and wounded 17, said a police official, who said most of the victims were day laborers seeking work.
Later, a bomb in a parked car exploded at a market in the Shiite slum of Sadr City, also killed 12 people, including three women and four children, and wounded 37 others, said Iraqi police and medical officials. Within minutes, another bomb went off at another eastern Baghdad market, killing three more people and wounding 15, said a security official.
A roadside bomb targeting a three-vehicle police convoy carrying an Interior Ministry official in eastern Baghdad killed three people, including two of the official's guards, and wounded 12 others, said another police official.
Anger against Iraqi security forces boiled up after the blast in Sadr City, scene of heavy fighting last year between U.S.-Iraqi forces and militiamen loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Adnan al-Sudani, 37, said he and others rushed to the scene of the blast as black smoke billowed from the bombing site.
"We saw several people dead, and some were burned. We began to lift them along with the wounded into civilian cars to take them to nearby hospitals," he said. "When Iraqi army forces arrived, they began firing randomly on people to disperse them. But angry people began to throw stones at them."
U.S. officials insist that violence has fallen by 90 percent since the high point in 2007, but a recent uptick in attacks has raised concern that extremists may be regrouping.
----------
Series of bombings in Baghdad Shiite areas kill 36
AP - Monday, April 06, 2009 10:54:13 AM
By HAMID AHMED
Series of bombings in Baghdad Shiite areas kill 36
AP
"The nature of the attacks and targets are consistent with past al-Qaida in Iraq attacks," said a U.S. spokesman, Maj. David Shoupe. "We see this as a coordinated attack by terrorists against predominantly Shia targets that they gauge as vulnerable to instigate sectarian violence."
The U.S. military has begun to remove troops from Baghdad before the June 30 deadline for leaving the cities, as required by the U.S.-Iraq security agreement that took effect this year.
Tension has been increasing in Baghdad in recent weeks between the Shiite-led government and mostly Sunni paramilitary groups that the U.S. organized to provide security
Last month, Iraqi troops put down an uprising by a paramilitary group in central Baghdad that began after their leader was arrested. The paramilitaries, known as Awakening Councils or Sons of Iraq, also complain that a number of their members have been arrested in what they fear is an attempt to marginalize them.
Also Monday, the U.S. military announced that a U.S. soldier was killed in action the day before in Diyala province, where insurgents remain active.
It was the first combat death suffered by U.S. forces in Iraq since March 16, when a soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad.
Also in Diyala province, unidentified gunmen killed two Kurds Sunday night in a drive-by shooting in Jalula, 80 miles (125 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad, Iraqi army Capt. Sarjo Ahmed said Monday.
------
Associated Press Writer Chelsea J. Carter contributed to this report.
More than 260 dead in Italian quake - agency
Italy quake "virtually destroyed" some towns
06 Apr 2009 11:50:40 GMT
Source: Reuters
ROME, April 6 (Reuters) - The earthquake that struck central Italy on Monday "virtually destroyed" entire towns and left some 15,000 buildings off-limits, the speaker of Italy's lower house of parliament Gianfranco Fini said.
06 Apr 2009 12:41:30 GMT
Source: Reuters
ROME, April 6 (Reuters) - The death toll in the earthquake that struck central Italy on Monday has risen to more than 90, rescue workers were quoted saying by Italy's ANSA news agency.
----
Italy's worst earthquake in nearly 30 years strikes city of L'Aquila
06 Apr 2009 14:49:00 GMT
Source: British Red Cross Society - UK
216872 logo
6 April 2009
In the early hours of 6 April 2009, a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 on the Richter scale struck the city of L'Aquila in central Italy, 120 km northeast of Rome.
According to the Italian Red Cross at least 40 people have been killed, 400 injured and eight remain unaccounted for. The numbers of dead and injured are expected to grow. Tens of thousands of people have become homeless in the city, which has a population of 70,000.
The Italian Red Cross rescue teams were on the scene of the disaster within an hour after the earthquake struck. It is presently scaling up personnel and equipment in the affected area to reinforce capacity for search and rescue, as well as meals and blankets for the survivors.
Italian Red Cross responds
The Italian Red Cross is responding with health, first aid, logistics and humanitarian relief. It also established a field hospital to relieve the burden on local health facilities, which are under an enormous strain. The Italian Red Cross has also set up mobile kitchens able to provide 10,000 meals a day. Two soup kitchens providing 200-400 meals a day have been set up to respond to the needs of L'Aquila hospital which is being evacuated.
Thirty-six ambulances from the Italian Red Cross are on rotation to evacuate injured people from L'Aquila to the hospitals in Tagliacozzo, Pescina and Avezzano and it is also evacuating an orphanage in San Gregorio and will ensure care is provided for all the children. Additionally, five psychological support teams from the Italian Red Cross are now operational on the ground.
With up to 10,000 buildings in the city expected to be badly damaged, if not destroyed, the Italian Red Cross foresees growing problems with shelter, warm clothes and food provisions for the survivors. "Once we have addressed the need to reinforce emergency healthcare in the region, the next major challenge, apart from urgent search and rescue, is to find a solution for the thousands of homeless survivors," said Tommasso Della Longa, head of communication for the Italian Red Cross.
Co-ordinating emergency response
Working in close co-ordination with the Italian Civil Protection, the Italian Red Cross has activated its national operations centre, as well as four regional ones, to effectively address the needs of the population.
In consultation with the Italian Red Cross the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is currently assessing what assistance can be best provided right now to supplement and support the efforts of the Italian Red Cross.
Pete Garratt, British Red Cross relief operations manager, said: "The Italian Red Cross has significant resources in emergency response and is currently able to deal with the situation effectively. We are monitoring the situation and should the scale of need continue to grow, with request for international assistance, we are ready to respond."
---
Italy to hold quake funeral, rescuers dig in rubble
08 Apr 2009 12:00:22 GMT
Source: Reuters
* Quake death toll rises to 250, aftershocks continue
* First burial on Wednesday, state funeral on Friday
* Berlusconi tells victims "it's like camping"
* Damage estimated at 2-3 billion euros
(Adds estimate of damage, Berlusconi comments)
By Deepa Babington and Antonella Cinelli
L'AQUILA, Italy, April 8 (Reuters) - Italy prepared on Wednesday to begin burying some of the 250 people killed in medieval towns flattened by a quake, while rescuers hampered by aftershocks hunted for people buried alive in the rubble.
A mass state funeral for the victims and a national day of mourning are expected to be held on Friday, Italian officials said, although the first private service was due on Wednesday.
The death toll climbed overnight to 250 when rescuers pulled out 15 more bodies from the rubble. In Rome, Pope Benedict again prayed for the victims and said he would visit the area soon.
With about 17,000 people made homeless by the quake, Italy's worst in three decades, thousands of distraught people passed a fitful night in tent villages, terrified by strong aftershocks felt in mountainous Abruzzo and nearby Rome.
The strongest aftershock on Tuesday night toppled parts of the basilica and the station in the historic city of L'Aquila, which bore the brunt of the disaster. The 5.6 magnitude tremor killed one person and was felt in Rome, 100 km (60 miles) west.
"We're in shock because we have lost our loved ones, the town has been reduced to rubble with over 40 dead and lots of them were young, a whole generation cancelled out," said Antonella Massi in Onna, a village that once had 300 residents and was left with hardly a building untouched by the quake.
Some 20 tent camps and 16 field kitchens to house and feed 14,000 people were set up after Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi declared a national emergency and sent troops to the area.
One estimate for insurers put the damage to Italy's economy, which is already reeling from the worst recession since World War Two, at between 2 billion and 3 billion euros (between $1.5 billion and $2.2 billion), in the context of overall economic output for Italy of about 1.5 trillion euros.
Berlusconi, turning down most foreign aid offers, has taken a typically hands-on approach, travelling to the disaster zone every day so far and promising survivors rapid help. Pollsters say this could further boost his already high popularity rating.
But the gaffe-prone premier risked appearing insensitive when he told one German television channel that the thousands of people living in tents "should look on it as a camping weekend".
GRIM EASTER
Officials say the quake will have a huge impact in a region which mostly lives off tourism, farming and family businesses.
Berlusconi vowed to build a whole new town near L'Aquila and Agriculture Minister Luca Zaia, visiting Onna, urged Italians to help the region's economy "by thinking of them when the holiday season begins and principally buying products from Abruzzo".
The survivors face a grim Easter weekend. With many local churches badly damaged, people prepared to celebrate the feast in makeshift chapels in the tent villages.
The government and hotel owners offered free shelter for the homeless in hotels on the Adriatic coast.
"Go to the coast. It's Easter, take a break and we will pay for it," Berlusconi told victims at a tent camp on Tuesday.
At least 250 bodies were being stored in a makeshift mortuary outside L'Aquila. On Tuesday night rescuers burst into applause when a 20-year-old woman was found alive 42 hours after the quake in the ruins of a four-storey building.
"A rescue like this is worth six months' work," said Claudio, a fire-fighter from Venice.
Many of the victims were students at L'Aquila's university, such as 24-year-old student and soccer player Giuseppe Chiavaroli, due to be buried on Wednesday in his hometown.
One fire-fighter from the port of Pescara who came to help rescue efforts collapsed in tears after unearthing the body of his stepdaughter, who was studying there.
Italian soccer teams said revenue from this weekend's matches would be sent to help victims. Universities, papers and TV channels took collections, while hotels provided thousands of cheap rooms for survivors and rescuers.
Police increased their patrols on the streets amid reports of looting of homes and shops. Some residents and experts said they were angry that even supposedly earthquake-proof modern buildings had collapsed.
"In California, an earthquake like this one would not have killed a single person," said Franco Barberi, head of a committee assessing quake risks at the Civil Protection Agency.
Monday's quake was particularly lethal because it struck shortly after 3:30 a.m. (0130 GMT) as residents slept.
Flattening houses, centuries-old churches and other buildings in 26 cities and towns, it was the worst since November 1980, when some 2,735 people died in southern Italy. (Writing by Philip Pullella and Stephen Brown; additional reporting by Antonio Denti and Rome bureau and Franziska Scheven in Berlin; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
Secular but predominantly Muslim country's growing clout
Demonstrators clash with police during anti-U.S. protests in downtown Ankara April 6, 2009. U.S. President Barack Obama is visiting Turkey on the last leg of an eight-day trip that marks his debut as president on the world stage, is a recognition of the secular but predominantly Muslim country's growing clout and Washington's desire for its help to solve confrontations and conflicts from Iran to Afghanistan. REUTERS/Pawel Kopczynski (TURKEY POLITICS CONFLICT)
REUTERS/PAWEL KOPCZYNSKI
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Parents Hope to Visit Daughter Held in Iran
By Thomas Erdbrink
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, April 5, 2009; 2:06 PM
TEHRAN, Iran, April 5 -- The parents of an imprisoned Iranian-American journalist arrived in Tehran on Sunday from the United States to seek a meeting with their daughter, the family's lawyer said.
Reza Saberi and his wife Akiko are hoping to visit with their U.S.-born daughter, Roxana, who holds an Iranian passport and has been in custody in Tehran since January for allegedly buying alcohol, which is prohibited in the Islamic republic. Iranian officials have also said that she was working as a journalist without the necessary press credentials.
"The parents have come to boost their daughter's morale," their lawyer, Abdolsamad Khorramshai, said. He said the couple intended to stay until Saberi is released.
Saberi, who has reported for the BBC and the U.S.-based National Public Radio, has been living in Iran for six years, working as a journalist while also pursuing a master's degree in Iranian studies and international relations. Her journalist work-permit was revoked in 2007 by Iranian authorities, for unknown reasons. She was reportedly working on a book about Iran and planning to return to the U.S.
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Prosecutors have issued a formal indictment against Saberi, but her lawyer has not yet seen the charges, he said. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said last week the United States had given a letter to Iranian officials during a meeting in The Netherlands, seeking Iran's help in resolving Saberi's case, as well as those of Robert Levinson and Esha Momeni, two other Americans missing or detained in Iran.
Levinson, a private detective investigating cigarette smuggling, went missing in 2007 during a visit to the Iranian island of Kish. Momeni, an Iranian-American student at California State University at Northridge, was detained in Iran in October for supporting a campaign for women's rights. Momeni was later released, but is not allowed to leave the country.
Iranian leaders have repeatedly asked for the release of three Iranian diplomats who have been held without trial by U.S. forces in Iraq since 2007. The Iranians, who are accused of spying, were arrested during a raid at what Iran says was its official consulate in Irbil. U.S. forces, however, said the office was used by members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard.
Iran's foreign ministry called in a statement for the "speedy and unconditional freedom of its consulate officials."
---
Iran jails American-Iranian reporter for 8 years
TEHRAN, April 18, (RTRS): An Iranian-American journalist accused in Iran of spying for the United States has been jailed for eight years, her lawyer said on Saturday, five days after she was put on trial. An Iranian judiciary official, quoted by the ISNA news agency, confirmed the sentencing of Roxana Saberi, a US-born freelance reporter who has worked for the BBC and National Public Radio (NPR). US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was very disappointed by the sentencing and would raise the case with Tehran. Saberi’s jailing could become a source of US-Iranian tension at a time when Washington is trying to reach out to the Islamic Republic following three decades of mutual mistrust. The judiciary earlier this week said Saberi went on trial on Monday at a Revolutionary Court, which handles security cases.
“She has been sentenced to eight years ... I will appeal,” lawyer Abdolsamad Khorramshahi told Reuters.
ISNA quoted the unnamed judiciary official as saying: “Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court sentenced Roxana Saberi to eight years for espionage. She can appeal the sentence.”
Her father, Reza Saberi, told the NPR that his daughter had been coerced into statements that she later retracted.
“She was deceived,” he said. “She is quite depressed about this matter and she wants to go on a hunger strike. And if she does, she is so frail it can be very dangerous to her health.”
The United States has called the charges against Saberi “baseless” and demanded her immediate release.
“I am deeply disappointed by the reported sentencing of Roxana Saberi by the Iranian judiciary,” said Clinton in a statement released by the State Department in Washington.
“We will continue to vigorously raise our concerns to the Iranian government,” added Clinton. She said she was working closely with Swiss interlocutors who handle US interests in Iran to get details about Saberi’s court decision and to ensure her “well being”.
NPR chief executive Vivian Schiller said in a statement: “We are deeply distressed by this harsh and unwarranted sentence.”
Saberi, 31, who is a citizen of both the United States and Iran, was arrested in January for working in Iran after her press credentials had expired.
Her parents visited her in Tehran’s Evin jail on April 6, after arriving from the United States. Evin is a jail where rights groups say political prisoners are usually taken.
According to a website set up to campaign for her release, freeroxana.net, Saberi moved to Iran six years ago.
She grew up in Fargo, North Dakota, and holds Masters Degrees in Journalism and International Relations. She was chosen Miss North Dakota in 1997, the website says.
Washington cut ties with Iran shortly after the Islamic revolution in 1979 but US President Barack Obama has offered a new beginning of diplomatic engagement on a range of issues if Tehran “unclenches its fist.”
Iran says it wants to see a real switch in Washington’s policies away from those of former President George W. Bush, who led a drive to isolate the country because of nuclear work the West suspects has military aims, a charge Iran denies.
One Iranian analyst said Saberi’s sentencing should not be seen as a sign of Iran rebuffing Washington’s overture, but that she had been in the “wrong place at the wrong time.”
The sentence was likely to be commuted or reduced in a higher court, said the analyst, who declined to be named.
Paris-based media rights group Reporters Without Borders this week said Iran used the espionage charge to “arrest journalists and tighten the muzzle on free expression.”
Iran denies such accusations and says it respects freedom of speech based on Islamic rules.
------
By LUKAS I. ALPERT
Roxana Saberi
Roxana Saberi
Last updated: 6:54 pm
April 18, 2009
Posted: 11:58 am
April 18, 2009
So much for trying to deal with the Islamo-loons in Iran.
An American beauty queen-turned-journalist was convicted today of spying on the Iranian government and sentenced to eight years in a medieval prison days after a secretive, closed- door trial, her lawyer said.
Roxana Saberi, a 31-year-old dual US-Iranian citizen was duped into making incriminating statements by sinister Iranian officials, her father said.
"It was a trick," Reza Saberi told National Public Radio, for which his daughter did freelance reporting work. "They told her if she made statements, they would free her."
Saberi, a native of Fargo, ND, who won the 1997 Miss North Dakota pageant, had been living in Iran for the past six years and also did work for the BBC.
She was arrested in late January and initially charged with working without press credentials.
But earlier this month, an Iranian judge leveled the far more serious charge against her of spying for the United States.
Saberi was dragged before an Iranian court on Monday for a swift one-day trial held behind closed doors.
Her lawyer, Abdolsamad Khorramshahi, was permitted to attend but declined to discuss details.
"Saberi has been sentenced to eight years in jail. I'll definitely appeal the verdict," he said.
Her father said she intended to go on a hunger strike, but said she was very weak and "if she does do it, it can be very dangerous to her health."
Back in North Dakota, pals were shocked.
"I'll bet my bottom dollar she has not been spying," said Marilyn McGinley, president of the Miss North Dakota pageant. "She is not a spy. She loved the people over there, and her intention of going over there was to learn about her culture."
It was the first time Iran found an American journalist guilty of espionage, a crime that can carry the death penalty.
The ruling comes at a time when the Obama administration has tried to make overtures for better relations with the fanatical ayatollahs who run the country.
The White House said President Obama was "deeply disappointed" by the conviction.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the United States was working with Swiss diplomats, who represent US interests in Iran, to find out more about the court's decision and to ensure Saberi's well-being.
"We will continue to vigorously raise our concerns to the Iranian government," she said. With Post Wire Services
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, April 5, 2009; 2:06 PM
TEHRAN, Iran, April 5 -- The parents of an imprisoned Iranian-American journalist arrived in Tehran on Sunday from the United States to seek a meeting with their daughter, the family's lawyer said.
Reza Saberi and his wife Akiko are hoping to visit with their U.S.-born daughter, Roxana, who holds an Iranian passport and has been in custody in Tehran since January for allegedly buying alcohol, which is prohibited in the Islamic republic. Iranian officials have also said that she was working as a journalist without the necessary press credentials.
"The parents have come to boost their daughter's morale," their lawyer, Abdolsamad Khorramshai, said. He said the couple intended to stay until Saberi is released.
Saberi, who has reported for the BBC and the U.S.-based National Public Radio, has been living in Iran for six years, working as a journalist while also pursuing a master's degree in Iranian studies and international relations. Her journalist work-permit was revoked in 2007 by Iranian authorities, for unknown reasons. She was reportedly working on a book about Iran and planning to return to the U.S.
ad_icon
Prosecutors have issued a formal indictment against Saberi, but her lawyer has not yet seen the charges, he said. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said last week the United States had given a letter to Iranian officials during a meeting in The Netherlands, seeking Iran's help in resolving Saberi's case, as well as those of Robert Levinson and Esha Momeni, two other Americans missing or detained in Iran.
Levinson, a private detective investigating cigarette smuggling, went missing in 2007 during a visit to the Iranian island of Kish. Momeni, an Iranian-American student at California State University at Northridge, was detained in Iran in October for supporting a campaign for women's rights. Momeni was later released, but is not allowed to leave the country.
Iranian leaders have repeatedly asked for the release of three Iranian diplomats who have been held without trial by U.S. forces in Iraq since 2007. The Iranians, who are accused of spying, were arrested during a raid at what Iran says was its official consulate in Irbil. U.S. forces, however, said the office was used by members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard.
Iran's foreign ministry called in a statement for the "speedy and unconditional freedom of its consulate officials."
---
Iran jails American-Iranian reporter for 8 years
TEHRAN, April 18, (RTRS): An Iranian-American journalist accused in Iran of spying for the United States has been jailed for eight years, her lawyer said on Saturday, five days after she was put on trial. An Iranian judiciary official, quoted by the ISNA news agency, confirmed the sentencing of Roxana Saberi, a US-born freelance reporter who has worked for the BBC and National Public Radio (NPR). US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was very disappointed by the sentencing and would raise the case with Tehran. Saberi’s jailing could become a source of US-Iranian tension at a time when Washington is trying to reach out to the Islamic Republic following three decades of mutual mistrust. The judiciary earlier this week said Saberi went on trial on Monday at a Revolutionary Court, which handles security cases.
“She has been sentenced to eight years ... I will appeal,” lawyer Abdolsamad Khorramshahi told Reuters.
ISNA quoted the unnamed judiciary official as saying: “Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court sentenced Roxana Saberi to eight years for espionage. She can appeal the sentence.”
Her father, Reza Saberi, told the NPR that his daughter had been coerced into statements that she later retracted.
“She was deceived,” he said. “She is quite depressed about this matter and she wants to go on a hunger strike. And if she does, she is so frail it can be very dangerous to her health.”
The United States has called the charges against Saberi “baseless” and demanded her immediate release.
“I am deeply disappointed by the reported sentencing of Roxana Saberi by the Iranian judiciary,” said Clinton in a statement released by the State Department in Washington.
“We will continue to vigorously raise our concerns to the Iranian government,” added Clinton. She said she was working closely with Swiss interlocutors who handle US interests in Iran to get details about Saberi’s court decision and to ensure her “well being”.
NPR chief executive Vivian Schiller said in a statement: “We are deeply distressed by this harsh and unwarranted sentence.”
Saberi, 31, who is a citizen of both the United States and Iran, was arrested in January for working in Iran after her press credentials had expired.
Her parents visited her in Tehran’s Evin jail on April 6, after arriving from the United States. Evin is a jail where rights groups say political prisoners are usually taken.
According to a website set up to campaign for her release, freeroxana.net, Saberi moved to Iran six years ago.
She grew up in Fargo, North Dakota, and holds Masters Degrees in Journalism and International Relations. She was chosen Miss North Dakota in 1997, the website says.
Washington cut ties with Iran shortly after the Islamic revolution in 1979 but US President Barack Obama has offered a new beginning of diplomatic engagement on a range of issues if Tehran “unclenches its fist.”
Iran says it wants to see a real switch in Washington’s policies away from those of former President George W. Bush, who led a drive to isolate the country because of nuclear work the West suspects has military aims, a charge Iran denies.
One Iranian analyst said Saberi’s sentencing should not be seen as a sign of Iran rebuffing Washington’s overture, but that she had been in the “wrong place at the wrong time.”
The sentence was likely to be commuted or reduced in a higher court, said the analyst, who declined to be named.
Paris-based media rights group Reporters Without Borders this week said Iran used the espionage charge to “arrest journalists and tighten the muzzle on free expression.”
Iran denies such accusations and says it respects freedom of speech based on Islamic rules.
------
By LUKAS I. ALPERT
Roxana Saberi
Roxana Saberi
Last updated: 6:54 pm
April 18, 2009
Posted: 11:58 am
April 18, 2009
So much for trying to deal with the Islamo-loons in Iran.
An American beauty queen-turned-journalist was convicted today of spying on the Iranian government and sentenced to eight years in a medieval prison days after a secretive, closed- door trial, her lawyer said.
Roxana Saberi, a 31-year-old dual US-Iranian citizen was duped into making incriminating statements by sinister Iranian officials, her father said.
"It was a trick," Reza Saberi told National Public Radio, for which his daughter did freelance reporting work. "They told her if she made statements, they would free her."
Saberi, a native of Fargo, ND, who won the 1997 Miss North Dakota pageant, had been living in Iran for the past six years and also did work for the BBC.
She was arrested in late January and initially charged with working without press credentials.
But earlier this month, an Iranian judge leveled the far more serious charge against her of spying for the United States.
Saberi was dragged before an Iranian court on Monday for a swift one-day trial held behind closed doors.
Her lawyer, Abdolsamad Khorramshahi, was permitted to attend but declined to discuss details.
"Saberi has been sentenced to eight years in jail. I'll definitely appeal the verdict," he said.
Her father said she intended to go on a hunger strike, but said she was very weak and "if she does do it, it can be very dangerous to her health."
Back in North Dakota, pals were shocked.
"I'll bet my bottom dollar she has not been spying," said Marilyn McGinley, president of the Miss North Dakota pageant. "She is not a spy. She loved the people over there, and her intention of going over there was to learn about her culture."
It was the first time Iran found an American journalist guilty of espionage, a crime that can carry the death penalty.
The ruling comes at a time when the Obama administration has tried to make overtures for better relations with the fanatical ayatollahs who run the country.
The White House said President Obama was "deeply disappointed" by the conviction.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the United States was working with Swiss diplomats, who represent US interests in Iran, to find out more about the court's decision and to ensure Saberi's well-being.
"We will continue to vigorously raise our concerns to the Iranian government," she said. With Post Wire Services
30 dead, 35 injured in Chakwal Imambargah suicide blast
Updated at: 1515 PST, Sunday, April 05, 2009
CHAKWAL: At least 22 persons died and several were injured at the Imambargah suicide bombing here.
One killer blew himself up with explosives during annual Majlis Aza being held at the Imambargah located in the centre of the town at Mohala Sarpak of City police station area. The blast ripped apart the bodies of the faithful at the Imambargah, leaving a horrific scene of scattered body parts and blood all around the incident site.
Eyewitnesses said that following a Majlis, the faithful had crowded the main gate of the Imambargah, while those entering into the Imambargah were being frisked, when a youth 16/17 year old during checking blew himself up, which resulted in on the spot death of 20 persons, while the other two succumbed to their injuries in hospital. Four children were also included among the dead, they said.
The bodies and the injured were shifted to the Chakwal District Headquarter Hospital, while some injured were sent to Rawalpindi.
Ambulances from Rawalpindi and Jhelum reached the scene of incident and stated relief operations. High police officials, DCO and heavy contingents of police also arrived following the blast. The police besieging the area have collected the evidences.
Several vehicles were also damaged in the blast. Large number of people had thronged the hospital for finding out the welfare of their relatives, while the town remains drowned in an environment of mourning.
--------
24 dead, 35 injured in Chakwal Imambargah suicide blast
Updated at: 1545 PST, Sunday, April 05, 2009
CHAKWAL: At least 24 persons died and 35 were injured at the Imambargah suicide bombing here.
One killer blew himself up with explosives during annual Majlis Aza being held at the Imambargah located in the centre of the town at Mohala Sarpak of City police station area. The blast ripped apart the bodies of the faithful at the Imambargah, leaving a horrific scene of scattered body parts and blood all around the incident site.
Eyewitnesses said that following a Majlis, the faithful had crowded the main gate of the Imambargah, while those entering into the Imambargah were being frisked, when a youth 16/17 year old during checking blew himself up, which resulted in on the spot death of 20 persons, while the other four succumbed to their injuries in hospital. Four children were also included among the dead, they said.
The bodies and the injured were shifted to the Chakwal District Headquarter Hospital, while some injured were sent to Rawalpindi.
Ambulances from Rawalpindi and Jhelum reached the scene of incident and stated relief operations. High police officials, DCO and heavy contingents of police also arrived following the blast. The police besieging the area have collected the evidences.
Several vehicles were also damaged in the blast. Large number of people had thronged the hospital for finding out the welfare of their relatives, while the town remains drowned in an environment of mourning.
----
چکوال کے غلام رضا کی کہانی
آصف فاروقی
بی بی سی اردو ڈاٹ کام، چکوال
چکوال
ٹکڑوں کی شکل میں ہسپتال آنے والی لاشوں کے لیے لکڑی کے تابوت کا بندوبست کیا جا رہا ہے
چکوال کے محلہ کوٹ گنیش کے اس کچے پکے گھر کے صحن میں جب غلام رضا کی لاش رکھی گئی تو پوری گلی میں جیسے کہرام مچ گیا۔ اتوار کی شام اس چھوٹے سے محلے کی تقریباً ہرگلی میں ایسا ہی شور تھا۔
علاقے کی سب سے بڑی امام بارگاہ کے سامنے چکوال کا یہ محلہ اہل تشیع کی بڑی تعداد کی وجہ سے مشہور ہے۔ جہاں چند گھر سنی مسلک سے تعلق رکھنے والوں کے بھی ہیں۔
گھر سے قریب ہونے کے باعث امام بارگاہ کے بیشترانتظامی امور اسی محلے کے نوجوان انجام دیتے تھے۔ صفائی ستھرائی، پانی کی سبیلیں، حفاظتی انتظامات وغیرہ۔ اور اتوار کی دوپہر ہونے والے خودکش حملے کے بعد سب سے زیادہ لاشیں بھی اس محلے میں لائی گئیں۔
بائیس سالہ غلام رضا کے بڑے بھائی نے دو کمروں پر مشتمل اپنے گھر کے کچے صحن میں اپنے بھائی کی لاش کے سرہانے بیٹھ کر بی بی سی کو بتایا کہ امام بارگاہ محلہ سر پاک کی صفائی کرنا ہمارا آبائی کام ہے۔ ’ہمارے والد صاحب بھی اسی امام بارگاہ میں جھاڑو دار تھے اور ہم چاروں بھائی بھی شوق کی خاطر یہی کام کرتے ہیں‘۔
گلفام نے اپنے چھوٹے بھائی کی میت کی طرف اشارہ کر کے ڈبڈباتی آنکھوں سے کہا کہ ’ہم سے تو کبھی بھول چوک ہو جاتی تھی لیکن یہ ہمیشہ باقاعدگی سے اپنا کام کرتا رہا۔ آج بھی یہی بازی لے گیا‘
رضا خاندان تین بھائیوں اور تین بہنوں پر مشتمل ہے۔ دھماکے کے وقت پورا خاندان امام بارگاہ میں موجود تھا۔
گلفام نے بتایا کہ تینوں بھائی دیہاڑی پر محنت مزدوری کر کے اپنا گزارا کر رہے ہیں۔ غلام رضا کی ابھی شادی نہیں ہوئی تھی بلکہ ان کے بھائی کے بقول وہ ان کی شادی کی تاریخ طے کرنے کے لیے ان کی منگیتر کے گھر جانے کا پروگرام بنا رہے تھے۔’غلام رضا کام پر جائے یا نہ جائے، جھاڑو داری کے اپنے فرض سے کبھی غافل نہیں ہوا‘۔
میری زندگی میں اس علاقے کے سنی اور شیعہ مسالک کے درمیان کبھی جھگڑا بھی نہیں ہوا۔ پولیس محرم کے جلوس کے لیے حفاظتی اقدامات کرتی ہے لیکن وہ بھی رسمی ہو تے ہیں
جاوید شاہ
محلہ کوٹ گنیش کی تنگ گلیوں سے نکلیں تو بالکل سامنے وسیع و عریض مرکزی امام بارگاہ پڑتی ہے اور اس سے متصل اس سے بھی بڑا کھیلنے کا میدان ہے۔ اس میدان میں جگہ جگہ ٹولیوں کی شکل میں اہل محلہ اتوار کی شام تک بیٹھے اس نکتے پر بحث کرتے رہے تھے کہ علاقے میں کئی دہائیوں سے قائم شیعہ اور سنی مسالک کے افراد کے درمیان دوستی اور احترام کے رشتے کو کس کی نظر لگ گئی؟
ساٹھ سالہ جاوید شاہ کا کہنا تھا کہ یہ کارروائی انہی لوگوں نے کی ہے جو پورے ملک میں دہشت گردی پھیلا رہے ہیں۔انہوں نے کہا کہ ’میری زندگی میں اس علاقے کے سنی اور شیعہ مسالک کے درمیان کبھی جھگڑا بھی نہیں ہوا۔ پولیس محرم کے جلوس کے لیے حفاظتی اقدامات کرتی ہے لیکن وہ بھی رسمی ہو تے ہیں‘۔
اما بارگاہ کے حفاظتی انتاظامات کے انچارج تحسین نے کہا کہ علاقے کے سنی لوگ بھی اس سانحے پر اتنے ہی رنجیدہ ہیں جتنے کہ شیعہ آبادی۔ ’یہ لوگ ہمارے شہیدوں کے لیے قبریں تیار کر رہے ہیں، ہمارے جنازوں کو کندھا دے رہے ہیں اور ہمارے زخمیوں کے لیے خون دے رہے ہیں۔ ایسے میں کون مانے گا کہ یہ واردات فرقہ وارنہ ہے‘۔ تحسین کے مطابق یہ کام انہی ’طالبان نما‘ عناصر کا ہے جو حکومت پر دباؤ ڈالنے کے لیے پاکستانی قوم پر ظلم کر رہے ہیں تاکہ وہ حکومت کے خلاف اٹھ کھڑے ہوں۔
اسی قسم کے جذبات چکوال کے سب سے بڑے سول ہسپتال کی راہداریوں میں بھی سننے کو ملے جہاں لواحقین اپنے زخمی مریضوں کے سرہانے کھڑے اس سانحے کی وجوہات پر اپنی اپنی رائے کا اظہار کر تے نظر آئے۔
ہسپتال کے شعبہ حادثات کے صدر دروازے کے سامنے چارپائیوں اور لکڑی کے تابوتوں میں امام بارگاہ میں ہلاک ہونے والوں کی لاشیں رکھی ہوئی ہیں جہاں سے انہیں لواحقین کے حوالے کیا جا رہا ہے۔
ساتھ ہی ایک دیوار پر لگے نوٹس بورڈ پر یہ تحریر ہاتھ سے لکھ کر چسپاں کی گئی ہے۔’لواحقین اپنی لاشیں وصول کرنے کے بعد چیک کر لیں اگر ان کے اعضاء پورے نہ ہوں تو ہسپتال انتظامیہ سے رابطہ کیا جائے‘۔
یہ تحریر بتا رہی تھی کہ اس ہسپتال میں لاشیں کس حالت میں لائی گئی ہوں گی۔ اسی ضمن میں مزید معلوم کرنے پر بتایا گیا کہ جو لاشیں درست حالت میں تھیں انہیں چارپائیاں مہیا کی گئی ہیں جبکہ ٹکڑوں کی شکل میں ہسپتال آنے والی لاشوں کے لیے لکڑی کے تابوت کا بندوبست کیا جا رہا ہے۔
محلہ کوٹ گنیش کا غلام رضا اس لحاظ سے ’خوش قسمت‘ تصور کیا جائیگا کہ اس کی لاش چارپائی پر لائی گی ہے جبکہ محلے میں آنے والی بیشتر لاشیں تابوتوں میں ہی بند نظر آئیں
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