holy wars continue: a million shiites ordered from karbala plus other incidents

1 million Shiites ordered out of Karbala

BAGHDAD – More than 1 million pilgrims were ordered to leave the Shiite holy city of Karbala on Tuesday and police imposed a curfew after two days of violence — including raging gunbattles between rival militias — claimed at least 35 lives during a religious festival.

Nearly 200 people were wounded, security officials said, and the government sent reinforcements from Baghdad to quell growing unrest and help clear the city.

Security officials told The Associated Press that Mahdi Army gunmen, loyalists of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, attacked guards around the two Karbala shrines that were under the protection of the Badr Brigade, the armed wing of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council.

In telephone calls to reporters in Karbala, gunfire and exploding mortar shells could be heard.

Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said “entrances and exits to Karbala have been secured and more forces are on the way from other provinces,” including Baghdad. The other officials said buses had been dispatched to Karbala to take pilgrims out of the city.

Gunshots rang out Tuesday in the area near the Shiite shrines which are the focal point of celebrations marking the birthday of the 12th and last Shiite imam, who disappeared in the 9th century. The festival was to have reached its high point Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

Thirty of the dead were killed in Tuesday’s fighting, five others died in an outbreak of violence Monday night pilgrims tried to push past frustratingly slow security checkpoints near the Imam al-Hussein mosque.

He called the gunmen who fought police “criminals,” adding that the curfew was imposed because of fears for the pilgrims.

A member of the city council said the center of town was in chaos with pilgrims running in all directions to escape the gunfire. No one, he said, was sure who was doing the shooting. He said a rocket-propelled grenade exploded near the shrine.

“We don’t know what’s going on,” said the councilman, who would not allow use of his name for security reasons. “All we know is the huge numbers of pilgrims was too much for the checkpoints to handle and now there is shooting.”

AP Television News pictures from the city, 50 miles south of Baghdad, of the Monday night melee showed pilgrims running helter-skelter as gunfire, apparently police shooting into the air, rang out in the streets near the mosque.

Al-Qaida battle
North of Baghdad, hundreds of U.S. and Iraqi forces backed by helicopters and jet fighters killed 33 Sunni insurgents who were holding back the water supply to the Shiite town of Khalis, the American command said in a statement Tuesday.

The assault began before dawn on Monday when a joint force was landed by helicopter in the village of Gubbiya, 10 miles east of Khalis. The assault force killed 13 fighters and attack aircraft killed 20 others, the military said. The area is known to be controlled by al-Qaida in Iraq. Khalis, 50 miles north of Baghdad, has been the scene of repeated Sunni insurgent bombings and mortar attacks.

“The objective of the mission was to open the spillway, which regulates water flow to the town of Khalis, restoring the essential service of water,” the statement said.

The assault uncovered three weapons caches, led to the capture of three men and “water is currently flowing unimpeded to Khalis,” the military said. The statement did not say if any U.S. or Iraqi soldiers were killed or wounded.

A Bradley Fighting Vehicle was seen engulfed in flames at the side of the road leading to Baghdad Airport Tuesday morning. The U.S. military said the armored vehicle had suffered an undetermined mechanical fault and none of the crew was hurt.

Fallujah mosque bombed
In Fallujah, the Sunni city 40 miles west of Baghdad, mourners buried 11 victims of a mosque suicide bombing Monday night. Ten people were wounded in the attack which police said targeted an anti-al-Qaida Sunni sheik who had just returned from Syria.

text of August 26 iraqi political agreement

 Text of Iraqi Political Agreement: “Foreign Hands” Behind Kidnapping, Assassinations

In the name of God, the Merciful the Compassionate:

THE CLOSING STATEMENT OF THE GATHERING OF THE POLITICAL LEADERS

The political leaders of Iraq (i.e. the leaders of the five parties concerned– Trans.) held a series of meetings in light of the critical present conditions through which our nation Iraq is passing, and which require serious work by all parties for the sake of developing solutions to overcome the political, administrative, and economic crises that Iraq faces, and on the basis of the review of the previous phase of the national unity government and all of the institutions and organs of the Iraqi state. (The meetings also sought to) consolidate and enhance participation (in the political process), to solve pressing concerns according to national priorities, and to work for wider participation of the political forces in the political process, (as well as) to restore security and build stability and deepen the spirit of citizenship and national belonging and to close (political) ranks in order to overcome this difficult phase.

The political leaders in their gathering discussed the results of the meetings of the preparatory committees formed to prepare for these meetings, and they esteemed highly (the committees’) efforts, as well as the suggestions and recommendations offered on their part. On this basis (the political leaders may) proceed with a heightened sense of the priorities of the people and the nation, and of the need to make the political process succeed and to build a federal, democratic, pluralistic Iraq, which is everyone’s responsibility, the meeting decided the following:

Firstly: Agreement on the suggestions upon which the preparatory committee reached agreement, and they are:

1) Taking steps to enhance participation in decision making and responsibility, and to contribute to the process of improving government performance and facilitating decision making over necessary legislation, among them:

a) Confirming the importance of the convening of periodic meetings between the president of the republic, his two deputies, and the prime minster to study the important strategic matters, and to reach agreement on them, and to follow up on the details of everyday issues on the part of the heads of the offices of the presidencies (president, vice presidents, prime minister), and the directors of the offices.

b) Activation of a minimal agreement on the work of the small ministry (i.e. the body formed by the leaders of the five parties) to facilitate and widen the work of the Council of Ministers within the powers that it enjoys according to the constitution, and the need to agree within the council of ministers on the internal system of organizing its work and to achieve through that the distribution of the portfolios and basic responsibilities to the different parties that make up the government.

c) The formation of a shared committee inside the Parliament made up of the heads of the parliamentary blocs, bearing the responsibility of following up on the basic and important issues, of taking unified positions on proposed legislation, and of facilitating the decision making on (such legislation) according to the rules of the parliamentary system.

2) The adoption of necessary steps that will help to enhance human rights and the implementation of justice, and to confirm the independence of the judiciary, among them:

a) The adoption of proposals to release detainees held without incriminating evidence, and the promulgation of a special amnesty for those who merit it, according to the legal parameters and on the basis of the document agreed to by the preparatory committee.

b) The involvement of representatives of the allied political parties in the committees dealing with detainees, whether they be purely Iraqi committees or involving the Multinational Forces.

3) For the sake of curbing and confronting the terrorist groups and those working against the sovereignty of Iraq and its interests, and in order to improve the security situation and to enhance the power of the Iraqi security apparatus, the meeting decided the following:

The leaders (of Iraq, i.e. of the five parties) reaffirm the desire of the Iraqi people to participate in security matters and to bear the responsibilities of preparing for this, and they affirm the positive position of the government, offering the requisite support in this regard.

For the sake of arresting the deterioration in the security situation, the leaders affirm the importance of arming, equipping, and strengthening the national armed forces, and the necessity of working to lift the obstacles to arming the Iraqi forces, and of working for serious coordination with the Multinational Forces to curb terrorism, armed groups, militias and those outside the law, without differentiation between them.

4) Legal proposals: In the meetings of the political leadership and the Political Council for National Security* detailed discussions took place over a package of laws and the committee reached agreement over some of them, thus the meeting decides:

a) The proposed law of a national High Commission for Accountability and Justice as a replacement of the de-Ba’thification Law, for the sake of ensuring transparency and fairness, and to give the process a legal, just, and humane character.

b) The proposed law for those provinces not organized into regions that will give these provinces the powers as provided in the text of the constitution, and will organize elections for their provincial councils.

5) The committee accepts the proposals of the preparatory committee regarding what has been completed by the national unity government, and what has not been completed. There is a (separate) document detailing this subject.

Secondly: The matters delegated to the preparatory committee to complete the study of them and to arrive at an agreement over them.

In light of the results of the meetings of the preparatory committee, the gathered leadership and the Political Council for National Security decided to continue in the discussions over the remaining matters in order to solve difficult problems and to unify their points of view that have, to a certain extent, converged, specifically:

1) The constitutional amendments and specifically powers reserved and shared.

2) The oil and gas law.

3) The law of financial resources

4) The formation of the necessary committees to realize national (i.e. sectarian and ethnic) balance in the institutions of the state, taking issues of competency and efficiency into consideration.

5) An inclusive national constitutional front to support the political process.

6) The activation of the role of the Political Council for National Security and the organization of its secretariat and its internal regime.

7) The completion of the study of the security file at the nearest opportunity.

Thirdly:

1) The meeting discussed the dangerous developments that occurred in the last weeks, such as a series of assassinations, including the dangerous and cowardly acts targeting the two martyrs, the governor of Diwaniya and the governor of Samawa, and likewise the series of horrific explosions that struck in a number of regions of Iraq, which reached its worst extent in the Sinjar area, where there are not less than 500 martyrs and a large number of injured.

In addition (the dangerous developments include) the violations of the laws that has gone as far as the abduction of the deputy minister of oil and a number of senior employees from the private residential compound of the (oil) ministry, which has a special guard.

These acts carry strong suspicions, and there is semi-conclusive evidence as to their perpetrators, whether they be in al-Qa’ida, or in local militias, or foreign hands. (The acts) require the firm official stance of the state, the government, and the security apparatuses, and likewise of the different authorities, and the political, popular, and tribal forces, to strip away any guise of legitimacy that may cover such acts as these, to confront them with all available means, and to expose their perpetrators and to impose the rule of law upon them.

2) The meetings affirmed the determination of the political leadership to empower Iraq to complete the building of its capabilities to provide for its own security and to realize its complete control over its security forces, away from any danger that these forces might be used again against the people, and away from any sectarianism, group prejudice, or partisanship, and permitting the Iraqis to completely assume the (role of providing the) security of their own people and their country. Likewise, the leadership affirmed the importance of the presence of the Multinational Forces at the present time, and their appreciation of their sacrifices offered to help Iraq in preserving its security and stability. The leadership highlights the importance of linking another year’s renewal of Security Council resolution 1723 to the end of Iraq’s subordination to the provisions of Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter,** and the complete restoration of Iraq as a whole and sovereign country, and its restoration to its proper international legal status, that is, to the condition before the promulgation of Security Council Resolution 661 in the year 1990. In this context, the leaders affirmed the need to arrive upon a long-term relationship with the American side — and with others, as the matter requires — based on shared interests, to cover the different areas of concern between the Republic of Iraq and the United States of America, a goal that should be realized in the near future.

Baghdad, August 26, 2007