ARABIALINK Daily News – IRAQ – Excerpts from International Media Reports
[Links to full articles were active on the date posted here]
Graveyard in Najaf a Testament to Iraq’s Tragic History [May 31]
“Pictures of the two brothers stare out, side by side, separated by the gulf of a quarter century. Rahim Jabr died in 1981, a foot soldier in the bloody eight-year war with Iran, while Naeem was a casualty of the savage sectarian fighting that gripped Baghdad in 2006. They were reunited in the end, their tombstones placed side by side surrounded by a decorative metal cage in the vast Shiite graveyard of Najaf in southern Iraq. There is no holier place on earth for Shiites to be buried than this city of the dead, stretching to the horizon from the doorstep of the tomb of Imam Ali, the son-in-law of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). While Sunnis put their dead in local plots, Shiites for a 1,000 years have been burying their fallen here and everyone has at least one relative in the graveyard. That has made it a kind of map to Iraq’s history, at least that of its Shiite majority.. ..The violence that has overwhelmed Iraq since 2003, much of it directed against Shiites, fed a massive expansion of the graveyard, swelling it by 40 per cent..” [Complete Report]
U.S. on Track in Iraq, Casey Says [May 31]
“The drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq remains on track, and the military will meet the troop level benchmark laid out by President Obama, according to the Army Chief of Staff. In an interview with CNN Chief National Correspondent John King, Gen. George Casey said the military is slated to reduce troop levels to 50,000 by the end of August. “[I]t’s something we’ve been working on with the leadership in Iraq for more than 18 months. We have been gradually moving the extra equipment and things out. There’s a great plan in place and we’re executing that plan right now,” Casey said on CNN’s John King, USA. The U.S. now has more troops in Afghanistan than Iraq for the first time since 2003. When asked about the need for additional resources in Afghanistan – beyond the 30,000 additional troops scheduled to be deployed there – Casey said the number should be sufficient..” [Complete Report]
Iraq Arrests Two Over Baghdad Hotel Bombs [May 31]
“Iraqi security forces said on Monday they had arrested two suspected al Qaeda militants for the January bombing of three Baghdad hotels in which 36 people died. A spokesman for the Baghdad security command described the two men — Abbas Najim al-Jawari, 26, and Mohammed Nuri al-Abadi, 32 — as leaders of the Sunni al Qaeda network. Major-General Qassim al-Moussawi said they were accused of “supervising” the bombing of three well-known hotels in Baghdad on January 25. Abadi is also accused of running an assassination squad targeting police officers and government officials. Jawari was arrested on April 16 and Abadi on May 1 as part of an ongoing operation codenamed “Lion’s Leap,” he said. The operation resulted in the killing last month of al Qaeda’s top two leaders in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi. “Operation Lion’s Leap continues to strike a strong blow at the al Qaeda leadership,” Moussawi told a news conference..” [Complete Report]
Iraq’s Shi’ite Powers Haggle Over Powers of PM [May 31]
“raq’s two main Shi’ite political blocs agreed to unite weeks ago but the merger is hung up on disagreements about how to choose a prime minister and ways to limit his power, officials with the two coalitions said. Sorting out the disputes may further delay a new government after an inconclusive parliamentary election nearly three months ago, deepening a power vacuum that has opened a door to insurgents determined to attack Iraq’s nascent democracy. State of Law, headed by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, and the Iraqi National Alliance (INA), a bloc whose leaders have close ties to Iran, said on May 4 they would join to form a single bloc in parliament..” [Complete Report]
